the Messiah

All According to Plan

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.” – Mark 9:9-13 ESV

Being a disciple of Jesus must have been an emotional roller coaster. For three years, these 12 relatively uneducated men were exposed to mind-blowing, never-before-seen miracles and received a daily dose of profound, difficult-to-understand teaching that left even the scribes and Pharisees dumbfounded. Their time with Jesus was an adventure but also a head-spinning whirlwind of cryptic sayings and confounding experiences.

As Peter, James, and John made their way down the mountain, their minds must have been reeling from what they had just witnessed. Just minutes earlier, they watched Jesus transform right before their eyes. Suddenly, without warning or explanation, Jesus began to emanate a brilliant light. Mark described it this way: “his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them” (Mark 9:3 NLT). These three men had seen Jesus do many inexplicable and unprecedented things over the last three years, but nothing quite like this. Seeing Jesus walk on the water in the midst of a storm made a distinct impression. In fact, they had initially thought He was some kind of ghostly apparition. So what must have been going through their minds as they saw Jesus transfigured?

When the long-departed prophets Moses and Elijah suddenly appeared, the disciples seemed to begin putting two and two together. They knew that something spectacular was happening. As they took in the scene unfolding before them, they must have wondered if this was it — was Jesus getting ready to usher in His Kingdom? Had Moses, the great deliverer, come to help Jesus in His quest to free the people of Israel from their captivity under the Romans? Was Elijah’s appearance proof that the time had come? Was this the fulfillment of the long-awaited prophecy?

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” – Malachi 4:5-6 ESV

But the miracle on the mountain ended as quickly as it began. Suddenly, Elijah and Moses were gone, and Jesus stood before them just as He had been before. The glory was gone, but the moment’s impact lingered with the disciples. Peter, James, and John must have been bursting at the seams, eager to tell the other nine disciples what they had witnessed, but Jesus threw cold water on their plans, commanding them to keep it all to themselves until the proper time.

…he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. – Mark 9:9 NLT

Now stop and think about that statement for a moment. The disciples had just witnessed Jesus speaking to Moses and Elijah, and their minds must have been filled with thoughts of the coming Kingdom. Their hopes and dreams of Jesus being the long-awaited Messiah were about to come true. Yet He brings up the same topic He had raised before the transfiguration.

Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. – Mark 8:31 NLT

Peter found this news unacceptable and told Jesus so. But his verbal dismissal of Jesus’ words earned him a stern rebuke. Now Peter, James, and John were hearing Jesus bring up the same incomprehensible and objectionable subject again, and Mark makes it clear that they had no idea what Jesus was talking about.

…they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. – Mark 9:10 ESV

The disciples didn’t lack a concept of the resurrection; as Jews, they believed in a future resurrection of the dead. They were familiar with the writings of Isaiah and Daniel.

Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
    and the earth will give birth to the dead. – Isaiah 26:19 ESV

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. – Daniel 12:2-3 ESV

John would later record another occasion when Jesus told Martha that her dead brother Lazarus would “rise again” (John 11:23 ESV). She responded, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (John 11:24 ESV). She believed in a future resurrection at the end of the age, and so did the disciples. But they struggled to understand how any of this related to Jesus establishing His Kingdom.

Confused by Jesus’ words, the disciples ignored them and focused on the scene they had witnessed on the mountaintop. They had seen Elijah with their own eyes, and this most likely had led them to believe that the prophecy of Malachi was being fulfilled. So, searching for clarification, they asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?” (Mark 9:11 NLT).

Their question had a purpose. They had just seen Elijah, so they were asking Jesus to confirm that His messiahship was about to begin. One thing was meant to follow the other. Elijah had appeared; now it was time for Jesus to do His part. The disciples must have been thinking of another familiar Messianic passage from Malachi.

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.” – Malachi 3:1-4 NLT

Malachi’s imagery seems to corroborate what the disciples saw on the mountaintop: the blazing Messiah, reigning from His temple, and restoring Israel to its former glory.

The disciples seem to have linked their sighting of Elijah to the timing of the Messiah’s appearance. They had just seen Elijah, so it must be time for Jesus to drop the charade and reveal Himself for who He really was: The Messiah of Israel. It was time for Him to get down to the serious business of ruling and reigning from David’s throne. They no longer needed miracles or difficult-to-understand messages.

Jesus assured them that their interpretation of Malachi was correct. “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready” (Mark 9:12 NLT). But the scribes and the disciples had left out an important part of the prophecy: Elijah would come first, but the Messiah would also have to endure great suffering. The people of Israel had conveniently ignored the many Old Testament passages that alluded to the Messiah’s death. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, King David wrote about how men would treat the Messiah.

But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” – Psalm 22:6-8 ESV

Matthew records this prophecy’s fulfillment.

So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” – Matthew 27:41-43 ESV

The prophet Isaiah predicted the tremendous suffering and agony the Messiah would endure at the hands of sinful men.

See, my servant will prosper;
    he will be highly exalted.
But many were amazed when they saw him.
    His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human,
    and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. – Isaiah 52:13-14 NLT

He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care. – Isaiah 53:3 NLT

But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed. – Isaiah 53:5 NLT

He was oppressed and treated harshly,
    yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. – Isaiah 53:7 NLT

Jesus wanted His disciples to know that the same Scriptures that predict Elijah’s coming also predict the suffering of the Son of Man. So, He asked them, “Why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt?” (Mark 9:12 NLT). He wasn’t expecting an answer; He was making a point. God has a divine order; He has a plan, and every detail of that plan must unfold in order, including the Savior’s suffering. Then Jesus dropped the real news that must have exploded like a bombshell on the unsuspecting disciples.

“But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted.” – Mark 9:13 NLT

Jesus wasn’t referring to the Elijah they saw on the mountaintop; He meant John the Baptist. The angel who visited Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, confirmed this in his message.

Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” – Luke 1:13-17 NLT

When Jesus and His disciples descended the mountain, John the Baptist was already dead, a victim of King Herod’s wrath. Jesus let the disciples know that John’s death would precede His own.

“…they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” – Matthew 17:12 ESV

The disciples’ experience on the mountaintop left them eagerly anticipating the long-awaited Kingdom. But something else had to happen first; the Son of Man must suffer and die. The cross had to precede the crown. Ridicule and rejection must come before resurrection and reigning. Jesus would have to endure the pain and ignominy of crucifixion before He could experience the joy of glorification. It was all part of God’s plan, and while it made no sense to the disciples, the apostle Paul later explained the method behind God’s seeming madness.

Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
   he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:6-8 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

You’re Not Listening

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. – Mark 9:1-8 ESV

Verse 1 of Chapter 9 links the teachings of Jesus in the previous chapter to Mark’s account of Jesus’ transfiguration. Everything in Chapter 8 serves as a preface to what Mark describes next, including Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus’ revelation of His coming death, and His rebuke of Peter for refusing to accept God’s will.

The discussions recorded in Chapter 8 reveal the growing tension among Jesus’ disciples as they try to reconcile their understanding of His role as the Messiah with what they hear Him say and see Him doing. His actions and words confuse them, and His talk of suffering and death seems senseless to them. When they heard Him tell the crowd, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34 ESV), they were stunned.

Jesus knew His disciples well, so He understood their apprehensions and fears. Some of them were likely having second thoughts about their decision to follow Him. His arguments with the religious leaders had become embarrassing, and all kinds of rumors were circulating about Jesus and His followers. People pointed fingers at them, and the disciples must have cringed every time someone said Jesus was crazy or possessed of a demon. His cryptic teaching style left many confused, including them. So, when Jesus said, “whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38 ESV), it was a not-so-subtle reference to their doubts and fears.

That is why Jesus quickly added, “I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!” (Mark 9:1 NLT). He was not done providing His disciples with further proof of His identity and mission. He was about to confirm Peter’s earlier confession with incontrovertible evidence that He truly was the Messiah. A handful of His disciples would get a glimpse behind the curtain, with front-row seats to a spectacular display of Jesus’ glory. Instead of the plainly clad, thoroughly human Rabbi they saw every day, they were going to see the glorified Son of God.

Mark’s buildup to this remarkable event is somewhat disappointing. He simply states that six days later, Jesus took three of His disciples “and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them” (Mark 9:2 ESV). Not exactly a riveting description of what must have been a momentous, life-changing experience for Peter, James, and John. Mark simply states that Jesus was transfigured before them. The Greek word is metamorphoō, which means “to change into another form, to transform.”

In an instant, Jesus’ appearance changed radically. Mark gives few details, but he does describe the result: “his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them” (Mark 9:3 ESV). This imagery recalls John’s description of Jesus at the opening of his gospel.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:4-5 ESV

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. – John 1:9-10 ESV

The fact that John was one of the three disciples privileged to witness Jesus’ transfiguration helps explain his description of Jesus as light. Mark’s account of the transfiguration seems to subtly link to another spectacular event where God’s glory was put on full display. It is recorded in Exodus.

Then Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it. And the glory of the Lord settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. – Exodus 24:15-18 NLT

Notice the reference to six days. Perhaps Mark is trying to connect these two events, linking the manifestation of God’s glory to Moses at Sinai to the manifestation of Jesus’ glory to His disciples. Jesus, the Son of God, appeared to them like a dazzling light, like a consuming fire, and Moses and the prophet Elijah accompanied him.

Just imagine this spectacular scene. The three disciples watch in stunned silence as Jesus, ablaze with glory, speaks with two of the great patriarchs of the Hebrew people. We’re not told how the disciples recognized these two men, whom they had never seen before. Perhaps, as the disciples overheard the discussion between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, their names were mentioned, or some clue revealed their identity. Luke provides a bit more detail about what these two Old Testament saints discussed with Jesus.

Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. – Luke 9:30-31 NLT

Peter, James, and John listened in as Jesus, Moses, and Elijah discussed His “exodus.” Luke uses the Greek word exodos, which means “departing.” No two people were better qualified to discuss this topic than Moses and Elijah. Moses led the exodus, the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt, but He also “departed” this life in a rather extraordinary manner.

Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho…So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, just as the Lord had said. The Lord buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place. Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever. – Deuteronomy 34:1, 5-7 NLT

When Moses’ work was done and his life’s days were finished, God Himself conducted his burial service.

Elijah’s “exodus” from this life was no less spectacular. 2 Kings records that Elijah was walking with his successor, Elisha, when something remarkable happened.

As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress. – 2 Kings 2:11-12 NLT

So, these two “departure experts” shared their insights with Jesus. They discussed with Him the events that would surround His coming exodus from this world. Their words reinforced everything Jesus had told the disciples. They likely discussed the very events Jesus predicted would happen in Jerusalem and that Peter had rebuked Him for sharing. That’s when Peter spoke up; he couldn’t remain silent any longer.

Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. – Mark 9:5-6 NLT

Nervous excitement got the better of him. Whether he realized it or not, Peter stuck his foot in his mouth again. Hoping to prolong this amazing moment, Peter suggested that he, James, and John build three small shelters for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses. The Greek word Mark used is skēnē, which translates as “tabernacle.” It is almost as if Peter wanted to set up three little temples or holy structures to house these extraordinary individuals. We can only speculate what Peter was thinking, but he may have seen the appearance of Elijah and Moses as a sign that Jesus was about to set up His Kingdom on earth. As a good Jew, he would have been familiar with God’s promise, found in the Book of Malachi.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” – Malachi 4:5 ESV

He would also have known what Moses said about the coming Messiah.

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him…” – Deuteronomy 18:15 NLT

And God had given Moses further insight into the role of this coming prophet.

“I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.” – Deuteronomy 18:18-19 NLT

The final words in God’s prophecy are particularly pertinent to what happens next. Peter had expressed his misguided desire to prolong this holy convocation on the mountaintop. But God interrupted his little speech and declared, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mark 9:7 ESV).

In essence, God told Peter to stop talking and start listening. Peter had no business rebuking Jesus, and no one had asked him to build tabernacles. Peter could have used the advice that James would later give: “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry” (James 1:19 NLT). Peter didn’t need to say or do anything; he simply needed to shut up and listen.

As quickly as it started, it was over. The glory diminished, Elijah and Moses vanished, and the three disciples found themselves standing alone with Jesus. The two Old Testament prophets had departed the scene, and now all that remained was for Jesus to face His own exodus from this world. He still had to face the reality of the cross, and soon Jesus would find Himself alone. No Elijah or Moses would appear to comfort Him. His disciples would abandon Him. Instead of being cloaked in glory, Jesus would be mockingly draped in a purple robe and a crown of thorns. He would be ridiculed, beaten, and nailed to a wooden cross. Then He would make His exodus from this life — all according to the sovereign will of His Heavenly Father.

When Jesus told the disciples about His pending death, Peter rebuked Him. Now God told Peter, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mark 9:7 ESV). Peter needed to stop talking and start hearing what Jesus was trying to tell him. Jesus had warned His disciples that His message was not His own; it came from God and had eternal consequences.

“…all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.” – John 12:48-50 NLT

The quick-tongued Peter needed to slow down and process the message Jesus was trying to tell him. It would have paid to remember God’s warning in the Book of Exodus: “I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf” (Deuteronomy 18:19 NLT).

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Fixated On the Physical

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” – Mark 8:11-21 ESV

After dismissing the crowd that had benefited from His miraculous transformation of the bread and fish, Jesus and His disciples sailed across the Sea of Galilee to Dalmanutha, in the region of Magadan (Matthew 15:39). It seems likely that the disciples had stashed in the bow of the boat the 7 baskets of leftover bread and fish they had gathered. Mark offers no insight into the conversations these men may have had as they sailed to their next destination, but it makes sense that they would have discussed that day’s events, including the miracle Jesus had just performed.

As soon as their boat touched the shore, another contingent of Jewish religious leaders met them. Matthew records that, on this occasion, the Pharisees were accompanied by Sadducees.

“. . . the Sadducees were a wealthy, conservative party concentrated in Jerusalem. Their members were from aristocratic families of patrician and priestly stock. They refused adherence to the tradition of the elders and advocated a rigorous application of the law of Moses to the life of the nation. In general, they espoused a political and religious policy, including cooperation with Rome, aimed at preserving the status quo.” – Kingsbury, J. D., Conflict in Mark: Jesus, Authorities, Disciples. Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1989

Both the Pharisees and Sadducees had representatives who sat on the 70-member Sanhedrin, the high council of the Jews. But these two powerful, highly influential religious sects were not on friendly terms. While they shared a common belief in God and held the Hebrew Scriptures in high regard, they differed on many issues, including the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees rejected the idea of an afterlife, arguing instead that the soul simply perished at death. So, they rejected the whole concept of resurrection and a system of rewards and punishments after death. They also rejected any notion of a spiritual dimension populated by demons and angels, and these beliefs put them at odds with the Pharisees. Yet these two opposing parties were willing to set aside their differences to take on their common enemy: Jesus.

Mark indicates that these men confronted Jesus, “seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him” (Mark 8:11 ESV). They were not interested in seeing Jesus perform a miracle; they had already witnessed many of His more spectacular displays of power. They demanded a “sign from heaven”, some kind of celestial proof that would verify His claims once and for all. They had refused to accept any of His many miracles as evidence of His divine calling. Instead, they accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan (Mark 3:22). As Mark states, this latest encounter was nothing more than a test, an attempt to force Jesus’ hand and expose Him as the fraud they believed Him to be.

Exasperated by their stubborn refusal to receive Him as their Messiah, Jesus “sighed deeply in his spirit” and responded, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation” (Mark 8:12 ESV).

Jesus exposed their true intentions. Nothing He could have done would have satisfied their demand because they were already convinced He was a charlatan, and no sign or celestial manifestation would change their minds. Mark indicates that Jesus simply walked away, leaving these men with neither a sign from heaven nor the definitive proof that He was a fraud. But, in his gospel, Matthew adds an important detail to this same scene. He reports that Jesus confronted these men about their inability to recognize the obvious.

“You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times!” – Matthew 16:2-3 NLT

They could predict the weather based on “the signs” in the sky, but they couldn’t recognize the Messiah despite the overwhelming evidence around them. According to Jesus, everything He had said and done was more than enough proof of His claim to be the Son of God and the long-awaited Messiah. He would not give them any other “signs” besides “the sign of Jonah.”

“Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” – Matthew 16:4 NLT

This wasn’t the first time Jesus used this kind of language with the religious leaders. Matthew records an earlier encounter in which Jesus said the very same words and added, “For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40 NLT). Jesus used the well-known story of the Old Testament prophet Jonah to predict His own pending death, burial, and resurrection. The Jewish religious leaders would have been familiar with Jonah’s story but would not have understood the connection Jesus was making.

Jesus condemned these men for their stubborn refusal to accept Him as their Messiah. Jonah had been “resurrected” from the belly of the great fish and had taken God’s message to the people of Nineveh. As a result, they believed and repented. But Jesus reveals that even His death, burial, and resurrection would not be enough to make these stubborn religious leaders believe. He even predicts the outcome they will face for their unbelief.

“The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.” – Matthew 12:41 NLT

The Ninevites Jonah preached to were Gentile pagans, yet when they heard the message from God’s prophet, they repented and were saved. But the Jewish religious leaders refused to receive the message from the lips of the Son of God, choosing instead to remain unconvinced and unrepentant.  Unwilling to debate further, Jesus and His disciples got back in the boat and sailed away.

What happens next reveals much about the men Jesus had chosen as His disciples. Mark records that they got back in the boat and then adds, “they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat” (Mark 8:14 ESV). So they hadn’t brought the seven baskets of leftovers after all. We’re not told what they did with all that food, but only that they brought a single loaf of bread to share among 13 hungry men. Perhaps they thought Jesus could multiply that loaf too, so they decided to travel light and left the rest behind.

Whatever the thought process behind their decision, Jesus used the moment to teach a valuable lesson. His response to their oversight was a warning.

“Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” – Mark 8:15 ESV

Confused by Jesus’ words, the disciples immediately assumed He was upset with them for failing to bring enough bread. They likely began casting blame, each accusing the other for this obvious lapse in judgment. Jesus had to remind them that the quantity of bread wasn’t the issue; He wasn’t talking about literal bread at all.

“Why are you arguing about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? Don’t you remember?” – Mark 8:18-19 NLT

Had they already forgotten what He had done? Were they so hard-hearted that they couldn’t recall how He had miraculously fed thousands of people on two separate occasions with nothing more than a few loaves and fishes? Their problem wasn’t a lack of bread, but a lack of faith. Despite all Jesus had said and done, they still struggled to accept Him as the Messiah. Matthew adds that Jesus confronted them for their deficit of faith.

“O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?” – Matthew 16:8 ESV

They were fixated on the physical realm, arguing over who was responsible for their lack of bread. But Jesus was warning them about the teachings of the religious leaders. These men posed a serious threat because their prominent positions allowed them to propagate dangerous doctrines that could keep others from hearing and accepting Jesus as their Messiah. Jesus later condemned them for the infectious, deadly nature of their influence.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!” – Matthew 23:13-16 NLT

Jesus posed a rhetorical question to His disciples: “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:21 ESV). He knew the answer and was well aware that only after the Holy Spirit came would the disciples comprehend all He had said to them while He was with them. But He would continue to use His confrontations with the religious leaders as prime teaching opportunities to instruct His 12 disciples. He wanted them to keep believing, regardless of what the Pharisees and Sadducees might say.

The morning after Jesus had fed the 5,000, they showed up expecting another free meal. When Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven’ (John 6:32 NLT), they responded, “Give us that bread every day” (John 6:36 NLT). They missed the point. Their physical appetites prevented them from grasping the spiritual truths Jesus was trying to convey, and Jesus’ disciples suffered from the same problem. Despite their close relationship with Jesus, they were struggling to understand His identity as the Son of God. His miracles amazed them and His words confounded them, but they remained fixated on the physical realm.  

Their greatest need was not physical; it was spiritual. Jesus had proven He could provide bread, but they really needed the Bread of Life. They remained focused on the temporal, but Jesus kept exposing them to the eternal, just as He did with the Samaritan woman. He gave her a similar message.

“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” – John 4:13-14 NLT

The woman’s response was immediate and predictable.

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” – John 4:15 NLT

Jesus didn’t rebuke the woman for her lack of understanding; instead, He confronted her about her sinful lifestyle. He exposed that the real source of her problem was not physical but spiritual. She needed living water. Yet, when the disciples returned and saw Jesus talking with this woman, they were shocked. Yet John records that she “left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?’” (John 4:28-29 NLT).

When Jesus exposed the depth of her sinfulness, His ability to discern the darkness of her life shocked her, but His willingness to offer her eternal life amazed her. She believed and was saved, along with many of her neighbors. She forgot all about the well, the water, her past sins, and her less-than-stellar reputation in her community. She met the Messiah and was changed — for eternity.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The New Has Come

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” – Mark 2:18-22 ESV

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each reported this scene as having taken place immediately after Jesus shared a meal with “many tax collectors and sinners” (Mark 2:15 ESV). The timing matters because it sets the context for what happened next. Jesus’ decision to accept an invitation to dine at Levi’s (Matthew’s) house left the Jewish religious leaders disgusted. Their view of Him hit an all-time low because He chose to consort with known sinners. In addition to being a blasphemer and troublemaker, this radical Rabbi from Nazareth was a poor judge of character.

So, immediately after His dinner at Levi’s house, Jesus was questioned about His behavior, but the query came from an unexpected source. While Mark simply says that some “people” asked Jesus a question, Matthew reveals the actual source.

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” – Matthew 9:14 ESV

These men were confused by the behavior of Jesus and His disciples. They may have been just as alarmed by Jesus’ choice of dining companions, but instead of bringing up what Jesus had just done, they chose to question what He and His disciples failed to do: fast.

As good Jews, John’s disciples would have faithfully kept the various written and oral traditions of their people, and that would have included requirements regarding fasting. But under the Mosaic Law, God set apart only one day for fasting: the Day of Atonement.

It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you. – Leviticus 16:31 NLT

But over time, the Jews had prescribed additional fast days that were intended to demonstrate one’s dedication to God. By the time Jesus appeared, the Pharisees had instituted a twice-weekly fast, which is likely what the disciples of John referred. These additional fast days were visible acts of righteousness that let others know you took your religious commitments seriously. But Jesus warned about just such outward displays in His Sermon on the Mount.

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 6:1 NLT

Jesus purposefully focused on fasting and pointed out how this practice of self-denial had become a means of self-promotion.

“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:16-18 NLT

Yet the disciples of John asked why Jesus and His disciples failed to honor the twice-weekly fast as they did. By admitting that they were fasting, these men violated the warning Jesus had issued: “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious.” But for them, fasting had become a sign of righteousness and a mark of one’s spiritual commitment.

But they failed to realize that Jesus had come to bring something new. Their attempts at self-righteousness were insufficient, and their outward displays of self-denial could do nothing to elevate their standing in God’s eyes. Their attempts to earn God’s favor through self-effort and adherence to religious rituals were meaningless because their hearts remained unrepentant. Centuries earlier, God had rebuked His people for their vain attempts to replace repentance with rule-keeping.

Bring no more vain offerings;
    incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
    I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
    my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
    I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
    I will not listen;
    your hands are full of blood. – Isaiah 1:13-15 ESV

The apostle Paul discussed this same subject in some of his letters because he wanted his readers to know that God’s laws were never intended to produce righteousness.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. – Galatians 3:21 NLT

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. – Colossians 2:16-17 NLT

Paul offers much-needed insight into what is happening in Mark 2:18-22. With the coming of Jesus, all of the rules associated with Judaism were changing. The temple, the Sabbath, the feasts, and the festivals were all intended to point toward the coming of the Messiah. They were, as Paul put it, “shadows of the reality yet to come” (Colossians 2:17). And as Paul makes clear, “Christ himself is that reality.”

The author of Hebrews reinforces Paul’s understanding about the purpose behind rules and regulations associated with the law.

The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. – Hebrews 10:1 NLT

Jesus’ arrival had ushered in a new era; the old was giving way to the new. Jesus came to do what the law was never intended to do: Restore sinful men and women to a right relationship with God.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

Jesus drives home the point that His presence with them ruled out the need for fasting and rule-keeping. Their self-empowered efforts to earn God’s favor were no longer necessary. Just as a sick person cannot make themselves well, sinners cannot make themselves spiritually whole and acceptable to a holy God. They must admit they are sick and seek a physician.

So Jesus tells John’s disciples that their fasting was in vain. Rather than deny themselves food, they needed to recognize the Messiah’s presence and feast alongside Him. The tax collectors and sinners had dined with Jesus in Levi’s house, so Jesus invited John’s disciples to celebrate with Him, using the metaphor of a wedding feast to illustrate His point.

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.” – Mark 2:19 ESV

The thought of guests fasting and mourning while attending a wedding feast should have been ludicrous. Celebrating someone’s marriage was the wrong occasion to go without food; it was a time for joy and enjoyment. Jesus wanted these men to know that His presence among them was intended to be cause for celebration. Their long-awaited Messiah had finally come, and He was bringing “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10 ESV). The angels told the shepherds in the field on the night of Jesus’ birth: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11 ESV).

The Messiah (the bridegroom) had come, and that was cause for celebration. But Jesus indicates that a time of mourning would come soon enough.

“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.” – Mark 2:20 ESV

This somewhat cryptic statement referred to His pending death. While this foreshadowing of His future escaped His audience, it was meant to reinforce His call to celebrate. The Messiah was with them, and His presence should have brought joy and feasting. However, the Jewish religious leaders grumbled, doubted, and disbelieved, while John’s disciples fasted and mourned.

Jesus reinforced the radical new nature of the days in which they lived. He was disrupting the status quo, turning everything on its head, and introducing a whole new means for sinful mankind to be restored to God. His arrival wasn’t meant to be an add-on to the old way of doing things; it wasn’t going to be the law + Jesus. In fact, He had discussed this in His Sermon on the Mount.

“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.” – Matthew 5:17-18 NLT

He came to fulfill all that the law required and, in doing so, eliminated any requirement that men keep the law to assuage the anger of a just and righteous God. Jesus would satisfy God with the sacrifice of His own life.

To drive home His point, Jesus used the analogy of sewing a patch of new, unshrunk cloth onto an old garment. These two pieces of fabric would prove to be incompatible.  It would also make no sense to store new wine in an old wineskin because the fermentation of the new wine would cause the old wineskin to burst. Jesus had not come to add something new to the old; He had come to offer something completely different.

Jesus had come to do a new thing, and while the way He lived His life seemed to be inconsistent and incompatible with what the Jews had come to know, He was introducing “new cloth” and “new wine” – a new way that was meant to bring new hope to a lost and dying world. The apostle Paul would have us rejoice that the old has been replaced with the new, all because of Jesus.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! – 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Great Physician

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:13-17 ESV

Jesus had just displayed His power and authority over the physical realm by healing the paralyzed man. But more importantly, His astonishing ability to restore the man’s health demonstrated His God-given authority to forgive sin. As the Son of God, Jesus came to earth to set men free from slavery to sin and the death sentence that accompanied it. The formerly paralyzed man, while now physically whole and forgiven, would still commit sins and face the ultimate penalty for doing so: physical death and eternal separation from God.

But Jesus became a man so He could serve as the substitutionary atonement, the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of mankind. His death on behalf of sinful humanity would satisfy the just and righteous wrath of God, and provide all those who placed their faith in His atoning work with a way to be restored to a right relationship with His Father. As a result of Jesus’ selfless sacrifice, they would enjoy forgiveness of all their sins, past, present, and future. The author of Hebrews describes it this way:

…he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. – Hebrews 9:26 ESV

The psalmist gives a powerful reminder of the Son of God’s sin-forgiving power.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
 – Psalm 103:12 BSB

Mark transitions his narrative from the crowded confines of Simon and Andrew’s home to the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. But he maintains his emphasis on Jesus’ power and authority to forgive sin, and continues to reveal the growing divide between Jesus and the religious authorities.

While walking along the seashore, Jesus taught the crowds that continued to follow Him wherever He went. As they made their way along the roadway from Capernaum to Damascus and onto the shore of the Sea of Galilee, they came across the tax booth of a man named Levi. This was not some chance encounter but a divinely scheduled appointment. When Levi woke up that morning, he had no idea that his day would include a one-on-one meeting with the Messiah of Israel. Matthew’s account of the same scene reveals that he was the man whom Jesus called.

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. – Matthew 9:9 ESV

Luke describes Levi (Matthew) as a “tax collector” (Luke 5:27), whose chosen profession made him highly unpopular with his fellow Jews. As an employee of Herod Antipas, the Roman-appointed puppet king of Israel, Levi’s job was to collect all taxes related to trade and customs. Because Capernaum sat on a major trade route from Damascus, Levi would have collected export and import fees, sales and customs taxes, and tolls. But what made men like Levi particularly unpopular was their tendency to extort additional fees and surcharges from the fellow Jews. People saw tax collectors as social pariahs who worked for the enemy and took advantage of their own people to line their pockets.

So, when Jesus issued Levi an invitation to follow Him, the Jews would have been shocked and appalled. In their minds, Levi was a traitor to his people and the epitome of a godless sinner. To make matters worse, Mark reveals that Jesus chose to share a meal with this social outcast. Luke records that Levi threw a party in Jesus’ honor and invited many guests.

Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. – Luke 5:29 ESV

Mark clarifies that the “others” reclining at the table were sinners.

…many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. – Mark 2:15 ESV

It seems Levi invited his friends, who, like him, were considered the dregs of the community. Yet, Jesus accepted Levi’s invitation to dine at his house and willingly chose to associate with those whom the Jews considered as unclean and unacceptable. And Jesus’ actions did not go unnoticed.

But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” – Mark 2:16 NLT

They were shocked and disgusted by this shameless display of poor judgment on Jesus’ part; He should have known better. By entering Levi’s home and sharing a meal with this motley collection of sinners, Jesus and His disciples contaminated themselves and became ceremonially unclean.

A clear us-versus-them vibe is at play. The Pharisees viewed themselves as righteous because of their meticulous adherence to both the written and oral laws of the Jews. They were the law-keepers and the law-enforcers, and, as far as they were concerned, Jesus had chosen to associate with the scum of the earth. By entering Levi’s home, Jesus had done the unthinkable and unforgivable.

The Pharisees had no compassion for people like Levi and no desire to reach out to those whom they considered sinners. They felt no responsibility for the spiritual well-being of the less fortunate, whom they considered unworthy of mercy. In the minds of the Pharisees, the sin-prone common people held back the nation of Israel and kept it from enjoying the full favor of God. To the self-righteous Pharisees, it was the sorry likes of Levi and his friends that kept Israel from being all that it could be. These “sinners” were a blight on the nation. Yet Jesus revealed His love for the undeserving and irredeemable.

Jesus was fully aware of the disgust and distaste His actions had caused, and He chose to address the issue head-on.

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:17 ESV

With this simple statement, Jesus exposed the glaring difference between Himself and His accusers. They considered themselves spiritually healthy and whole and had no need of a Savior. But what they failed to understand was that their good deeds were of no value to God. As the prophet Isaiah wrote hundreds of years earlier: “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT).

Jesus was not impressed by the Pharisees and their outward displays of righteousness. He would later call them out for their hypocrisy and lack of compassion.

“…they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.” – Matthew 23:3-4 NLT

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.” – Matthew 23:13 NLT

These men considered themselves to be the cream of the crop, the religious elite of Israel whose unblemished behavior guaranteed them a place in God’s kingdom. But Jesus let them know that their self-confidence was misplaced and mistaken. He had come to minister to the sick, those who recognized their spiritual malady and sought help. Like the paralyzed man, the tax collectors and sinners gathered in Levi’s home needed assistance. They knew they were sinners and were fully aware that they lacked what was necessary to “heal” themselves.

The apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV). The sinners reclining around the table with Jesus were just the kind of people Jesus came to save. They were sinners who needed a Savior, and if they would only confess their sin, they would know the joy of having their sins forgiven and their spiritual illness healed.

But the Pharisees, riddled with pride and a misplaced sense of self-righteousness, could not see their need and were unwilling to confess their sins. But their self-confidence would ultimately result in their own self-destruction. Their stubborn insistence that they were spiritually whole would be their downfall. The apostle Paul describes the dangerous path they had chosen and its deadly destination.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. – Romans 1:21-22 NLT

They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. – Romans 1:30-32 NLT

Paul also seemed to have men like the Pharisees in mind when he warned Timothy to avoid those who “act religious” but whose lives are marked by lovelessness, cruelty, slander, pride, and a love of pleasure.

For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! – 2 Timothy 3:2-5 NLT

While the Pharisees were well-respected, even revered, by the common people, Jesus was unrelenting in His criticism of them. At one point, He accused them of using their religious authority to do harm, rather than good.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!” – Matthew 23:15 NLT

Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). His mission was to reach those in need of spiritual healing, and He was willing to risk “contamination” to see the sick made whole. When Jesus encountered the leper in need of healing, “he stretched out his hand and touched him…and immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean” (Mark 1:41-42 ESV). The Pharisees would have avoided this man like the plague. They would have banned him from entering the temple or synagogue. But in their arrogant display of self-righteousness, they were the unclean ones, passing their impurity on to everyone around them. This led Jesus to say of them, “You are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on” (Luke 11:44 NLT).

They were sick and in need of healing, but their pride blinded them to their true spiritual condition and Jesus’ role as the Great Physician. He came to offer hope and healing to the spiritually sick, so He took his message of restoration and reconciliation to those desperate enough to hear and receive it. Levi knew he was an outcast and a sinner, condemned and unclean. But he followed the doctor’s orders that day and received healing and forgiveness. And his admission of need led to a lifetime of service to the Son of God and the hope of eternal life.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Blind Eyes and Deaf Ears

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”

9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and bend their backs forever.” – Romans 11:7-10 ESV

Blind eyes and deaf ears. According to Paul, that was the current status of the majority of Jews “down to this very day” (Romans 11:8 ESV). They were unable to see Jesus for who He really was – their long-awaited Messiah, and they were incapable of hearing and comprehending the message of the gospel. As Paul had already stated,

They have stumbled over the stumbling stone. – Romans 9:32 ESV

Rather than accepting Jesus, the Son of God, as their Savior, they rejected Him because He had not met their preconceptions regarding the coming Messiah. He didn’t look like what they expected, and he didn’t do the things they hoped the Messiah would do. They believed the Messiah would come in the form of a conquering king, not a suffering servant. They were intrigued by Jesus’ miracles, but His message of repentance left them disappointed and disillusioned.

Paul has been pointing out the futility of pursuing a right relationship with God by attempting to keep His law. Paul has said that the Jewish people had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2). In other words, they wanted to do the right thing, but they were going about it in the wrong way. They had misunderstood the kind of righteousness God required of them; it could not be self-produced or earned.

For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. – Romans 10:3 ESV

They had refused to place their faith in Jesus, who was God’s chosen means for providing righteousness for all men, including the Jews.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. – Romans 10:4 ESV

With the coming of Christ, the misconception that men could be justified before God through human effort was brought to an end. And there had been some Jews who had heard and accepted this message of salvation through Christ. That is why Paul states, “The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:7 ESV). There was a believing remnant among the Jews who had embraced the gospel message, and Paul had been among them. However, many were hardened. Paul used the Greek word pōroō to refer to the condition of the majority of the Jews in his day. That word means “to grow hard, callous, become dull, lose the power of understanding” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

While many had heard the message of the gospel, only a few believed. The rest made a conscious decision to reject it and were left in a state of spiritual stupor, “which renders their souls torpid so insensible that they are not affected at all by the offer made them of salvation through the Messiah” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

Paul was very familiar with this condition because he encountered it virtually everywhere he went on his missionary journeys. One of his first objectives upon arriving in a new town was to visit the local synagogue, where he would share the gospel with his fellow Jews.

Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” – Acts 17:1-3 NLT

But the usual reception Paul received was less than welcoming.

But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.” – Acts 17:5-7 ESV

While Paul was ministering in Lystra, a group of Jews arrived and “stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town” (Acts 14:19-20 NLT). Paul was well acquainted with the hardened hearts of the Jews to whom he sought to share the gospel. He had experienced firsthand just how stubborn and opposed to the message of salvation they could be.

And this condition was not new for the Jews. Throughout their history, the Jews had exhibited a pattern of rebellion and resistance to God’s will.  God had repeatedly offered them messages of repentance and watched as they rejected His messengers and their message. The prophets had faithfully called the people of God to repentance, promising them salvation if they would repent. But they had refused. Instead, they turned down God’s offer of restoration and redemption. And they had continued to do so even when Jesus appeared on the scene.

Not long after beginning His earthly ministry, Jesus chastised the Jewish religious leaders for their obstinacy and accused them of following the lead of their rebellious ancestors.

“You testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.” – Matthew 23:31-34 NLT

Jesus mourned over the stubborn resistance of His own people and declared His desire that they would open their eyes and see Him as who He was: Their long-awaited Messiah.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” – Matthew 23:37-39 NLT

Paul, like Jesus, had a deep affection for the people of Israel and desired to see them come to faith in Christ. He longed to see them repent and return to the Lord. But he knew that most would refuse to accept Jesus as their Messiah and reject His offer of salvation. But that didn’t stop Paul from sharing. He continued to share the good news of Jesus Christ with every Jew he met.

Paul had no idea just how big or small God’s believing remnant would be; he refused to worry about that. Instead, he continued to faithfully proclaim the gospel, boldly, unapologetically, and fearlessly. He knew that the Jews could only be awakened from their spiritual stupor by the Spirit of God. So, he simply shared and left the rest up to God.

Father, like the prophets before him, there must have been days when Paul became discouraged and defeated by his lack of success among his own people. He shared the gospel repeatedly, but the Jews returned the favor by rejecting his message, running him out of town, and even stoning him and leaving him for dead. Yet, he never threw in the towel or gave up his quest to see his fellow Jews come to faith in Christ. He was committed to his commission to share the gospel with Jews and Gentiles alike. He even said, “preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!” (1 Corinthians 9:16 NLT). Paul never compromised his message, but he did make concessions, saying, “With those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law” (1 Corinthians 9:20 NLT), “doing everything I can to save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22 NLT). 

I want to have that kind of determination and dedication to Your will. I want to exhibit that kind of faith and sold-out commitment to Christ’s call to make disciples of all the nations. But too often, I allow the fear of man and the thought of failure keep me from fulfilling my role as an ambassador of Christ. Give me the boldness and love that permeated Paul’s life so that I might do everything I can to save some. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Willing To Die That Some Might Live

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. – Romans 9:1-5 ESV

Paul was a proud, card-carrying Jew. His Damascus road experience had introduced him to his Messiah and justified him before God, but it had not eliminated or altered his ethnicity in any way. His identity as a descendant of Abraham remained unaltered, and his Hebrew heritage remained intact. In fact, Paul was proud of his background. He once described himself as having been “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:5 ESV).

After his Damascus Road encounter with the resurrected Jesus, Paul received a commission to take the gospel to the Gentiles. But Paul never abandoned his desire to share the good news about the Messiah with his fellow Jews. The book of Acts records that, virtually every place Paul traveled on his missionary journeys, the first place he went was to the local synagogue.

Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. – Acts 13:14 NLT

The same thing happened in Iconium. Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. – Acts 14:1 NLT

While Paul’s assignment from God was to take the gospel to the Gentiles, he never lost his desire to see his fellow Jews come to faith.

Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” – Acts 17:1-3 NLT

As a former Pharisee, Paul was highly knowledgeable of the Hebrew Scriptures and understood that the Jews were God’s chosen people. That’s why he wrote, “They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned” (Romans 9:4-5 NLT).

The Jewish nation was the divinely ordained conduit through which God’s grace and mercy were to flow to all mankind. God had sovereignly orchestrated that His Son was born into a Jewish household. Jesus was a Jew, but not only that, He was the fulfillment of God’s long-awaited promise for a Messiah or deliverer.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14 ESV

And Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. – Galatians 3:16 ESV

Paul knew that the church in Rome was likely comprised of a blend of both Jews and Gentiles, and it would be easy for the Jews to be seen in a negative light. After all, they had rejected the Messiah and were complicit in His death. Peter made that fact painfully clear when he addressed the Jews in his sermon on the day of Pentecost.

“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” – Acts 3:13-15 ESV

But despite his harsh accusation, Peter was quick to offer them an opportunity to repent of their sin and accept Jesus as their Messiah.

“I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” – Acts 3:17-20 ESV

Both Peter and Paul longed to see their fellow Jews accept Jesus as their Savior. Paul has already stated in this letter that all men stand before God as guilty of sin and worthy of death. But he also made it clear that Jesus died so that all men, both Jews and Gentiles, might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus as their God-appointed deliverer.

Paul felt so strongly about his desire for the Jews to be saved that he was willing to be damned or cut off from Christ if it meant that his fellow Jews might come to faith.

I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.  – Romans 9:3 NLT

The Greek word Paul used was anathema, and it refers to “a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and if an animal, to be slain; therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction” (Outline of Biblical Usage). In a sense, Paul was saying that he was willing to give up his salvation if it meant that more of his Jewish brothers and sisters would come to faith in Christ. Of course, Paul knew that sacrificing his salvation could not redeem anyone, but his statement expresses his deep longing for them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus as their Messiah.

Despite the Jewish nation’s initial rejection of Jesus, there were many who had come to believe in Him, and their path to salvation was the same as everyone else’s. They had to come to Christ by faith alone; their Jewish heritage could not save them. When it came to God’s assessment of their sinfulness, their coveted position as Abraham’s descendants could not earn them special favor with God.

Remember, Paul started out this letter with his thesis that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV).

One of the hardest things for a Jew to do was to let go of his pride and trust in his own self-righteousness and accept the free gift of God’s grace offered through His Son’s death on the cross. Paul knew this firsthand, which led him to quote the words of God found in the book of Exodus.

For God said to Moses,

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
    and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. – Romans 9:15-16 NLT

Paul longed for Jews to come to faith in Christ; he deeply desired their salvation. But he knew that there was only one way for them to be saved, and he made that way known to Timothy, his son in the faith.

…there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. – 1 Timothy 2:5-6 NLT

Paul believed this message so strongly that he was willing to die that others might live, including his own people. He took his assignment as the apostle to the Gentiles seriously, but he never gave up his quest to reach his fellow Jews with the good news of the gospel.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. – 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 ESV

Father, Paul’s passion is both inspiring and convicting. He was so willing to share the gospel with his fellow Jews that he endured rejection, ridicule, and even the threat of death every time he entered a synagogue. His efforts to share Christ with his Jewish brothers and sisters were usually far from successful. He was repeatedly chased out of town and, on one occassion, even stoned and left for dead. But he kept on sharing. He persistenly and faithfully kept on calling his fellow Israelites to believe the wonderful news that their Messiah had come and His name was Jesus. I long to have that same kind of passion. As a Gentile, I have experienced the joy of being saved and sanctified by placing my faith in Christ, but I don’t share Paul’s passion and persistence to proclaim that good news to others. Light a fire within me that I too could say, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”  Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Good News Travels Fast

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. – 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 ESV

The church at Thessalonica may have been small, but it was effective. They were suffering persecution for their faith, but were not allowing their suffering to diminish their joy in the Lord. Paul compares their lives to the notes of an instrument “sounded forth…everywhere” (1 Thessalonians 8 ESV). The Greek word he used is exēcheō, and it means “to sound forth, to echo forth.” Their actions, attitudes, and outward expressions of their faith in Christ had traveled well beyond the borders of their city and into the surrounding regions.

There is no indication that the Thessalonian church had sent out actual missionaries to carry “the word of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV), but word of their transformed lives had spread beyond the borders of their town. Their lives were witness to the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite their less-than-satisfactory circumstances, they were exhibiting the sanctifying power of the Spirit in their daily lives. And because Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, and stood on the Via Egnatia, the Roman highway to the East, countless travelers would have heard the news of this fledgling religious community and their message of the resurrected Christ. It wasn’t long before stories of their faith and growing numbers were carried throughout the region.

Paul makes a somewhat hyperbolic statement in order to indicate the powerful nature of their witness: –…your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything… (1 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV). 

Obviously, Paul and his traveling companions were still sharing the gospel wherever they went, but they were hearing more and more stories of those who had come to faith because of the witness of the Thessalonian believers. Paul provides details regarding the exact nature of their testimony.

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God… – 1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV

The Thessalonian believers were living proof of the power of the gospel, providing irrefutable evidence that God could transform idol-worshiping, sin-enslaved people into Spirit-filled, faith-empowered disciples of Jesus Christ. Their lives were tangible proof of the transformative power of the gospel that Paul described it to Titus.

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God… – Titus 2:11-12 NLT

In the first part of verse 9, Paul mentions “the kind of reception” he and Silas had experienced when they arrived in Thessalonica on their second missionary journey. It’s interesting to note that the New Living Translation renders Paul’s words as “the wonderful welcome.” But that seems a bit of a reach when you consider the actual facts surrounding those fateful days from a year earlier. As Luke records in Acts 17, Paul and Silas initially found a somewhat receptive audience to their message.

…some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. – Acts 17:4 ESV

But the welcome of this handful of eager converts was not the only one Paul and Silas received in Thessalonica. Others offered a far less cordial reception to the two missionaries.

But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar… – Acts 17:4 ESV

When Paul describes these events, he uses the Greek phrase, hopoios veisodos, which can be translated “what manner of entering in.” He seems to be emphasizing the harsh nature of their “welcome.” They were met with strong resistance from a group of Jews whom Luke describes as “wicked men.” Yet, a great many devout Greeks and not a few leading women in the city had chosen to hear and receive Paul’s message regarding salvation through faith alone in Christ alone.

It was this unwelcoming reception, coupled with the decision of the Thessalonian believers to accept Christ, that gave their witness its power. They had come to faith under extremely difficult circumstances. They “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV). Their decision to follow Christ had not been made in a stress-free environment full of encouraging friends and family members. Each of the individuals who placed their faith in Christ had done so at great risk to their lives and livelihoods. When they chose “to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures” (Titus 2:12 NLT) and accept Paul’s message concerning the Messiah, they placed themselves in direct opposition to the Jews and Gentiles within their community. They became outcasts and targets for persecution.

Paul reminds them of the decisive nature of their decision:

…you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. – 1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV)

They chose to leave behind a lifestyle of idolatry, turned their backs on the pagan practices of their past, and “turned to” God. The Greek word Paul uses is epistrephō, and it conveys the idea of returning or reverting. It can be translated as “to come again.” These people were experiencing the joy of coming back to God, having been cleansed from their sins and made righteous in His eyes because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on their behalf. They had been reconciled to God, a powerful reality that Paul described to the believers in Colossae.

You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. – Colossians 1:21-22 NLT

This image of lost, sin-enslaved people returning to God with full access into His presence and their sins fully forgiven is what the gospel is all about. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul provides a powerful reminder of the reconciling nature of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NLT

The Thessalonian believers had come back to God, and now they were serving the living God, not a man-made, lifeless idol with no capacity to provide help or hope. They were serving the one true God, not one of many false gods whose statues could be found all over the city of Thessalonica.

As a result of their reconciliation to God, they had confidence that He would one day send His Son back to earth to redeem and rescue them from this sin-marred world. God had not only transformed their lives in the here-and-now, but He had also promised them eternal life in the hereafter. They were willing to suffer now to gain what God had in store for them in the future.

Their belief in the one true God came with a guarantee of His Son’s ultimate return, which is why Paul encouraged them “to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV). They might suffer for their faith in this life, but they would be delivered from the coming judgment of God; all because they had placed their hope in the gracious gift of God made possible by the sacrifice of His sinless Son.

Father, Your gracious gift of salvation is free. It doesn’t come with a price tag or require a heavy payment. Your Son paid the price with His life and made salvation cost-free to all who by faith accept His offer of righteousness and reconciiliation. Yet, with the free gift does come with consequences. In accepting Christ’s offer of salvation, we align ourselves with Him and experience the same animosity and hatred He experienced. We discover that the world hates us just as it hated Him. We find ourselves facing opposition and having to do battle with an enemy whose sole purpose is to discourage and defeat us. But, like the Thessalonian believers, we can find comfort in the presence of Your Spirit and the promise of Your Son’s return. We may suffer in this life, but we will not have to endure the judgment to come. All because of Jesus. Thank you for that much-needed reminder. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Playing the Long Game

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher. 26 For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27 But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place. – 2 Kings 14:23-29 ESV

Sometime during the reign of King Jehoash of Judah, the other King Jehoash of Israel made his son, Jeroboam II, his co-regent. He was named after the first king of the northern kingdom, who ruled after God divided the nation of Israel in half. This division of Solomon’s kingdom was done as a punishment for his idolatry and apostasy. In the latter years of his reign, Solomon had begun to worship the false gods of his many foreign wives.

So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. – 1 Kings 11:6-8 ESV

As punishment for Solomon’s unfaithfulness, God raised up Jeroboam and placed him over the ten northern tribes of Israel. But Jeroboam proved to be just as unfaithful as Solomon. One of his first official acts as king was to establish his own religion, complete with golden calf idols erected in the cities of Dan and Bethel. He even created his own priesthood and sacrificial system so that the ten northern tribes would have no reason to go to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple of Yahweh.

King Jehoash’s decision to name his son after this man reveals much about his character. But the author seems to assure his readers that the name was fitting because Jeroboam II lived up to the reputation of his infamous predecessor.

He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. – 2 Kings 14:24 NLT

At his father’s death, Jeroboam II transitioned from his position as co-regent to king of all the northern tribes, a title he would hold for 41 years. He would become the longest-reigning king in the history of Israel, outlasting the monarchy of King Jehoash of Judah and that of his son, Amaziah. But other than the note describing the sinful disposition of Jeroboam’s reign, the author provides few other details about his accomplishments. There is a brief mention of his expansion of Israel’s territorial boundaries, but it would appear that this was the work of God, not Jeroboam.

Verse 25 mentions the name of Jonah. He was one of three prophets, including Hosea and Amos, who ministered to the ten northern tribes of Israel. This is the same Jonah who would later receive a divine commission from God to call the pagan people of Ninevah to repentance (Jonah 1:1-2). But long before Jonah was sent to the Assyrians, his responsibility was to act as God’s spokesman to the kings and citizens of Israel. It would appear from the text that Jonah gave King Jeroboam a word from Yahweh, commanding him to expand Israel’s borders, and the king obeyed.

Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher. – 2 Kings 14:25 NLT

By faithfully fulfilling this divine mandate, Jeroboam II restored Israel’s borders to near their former extent under King Solomon. While Jeroboam was anything but a godly king, he proved an accomplished leader who helped reestablish Israel’s power and prominence. In fact, both the northern and southern kingdoms would experience unprecedented prosperity during this period. This fact seems difficult to reconcile when considering that both kingdoms were being ruled over by godless kings who promoted idolatry and apostasy. Yet, the author reveals that God was at work, behind the scenes, protecting and preserving His people.

And because the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely, he used Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, to save them. – 2 Kings 14:27 NLT

God had made a covenant commitment to preserve His people. Despite their repeated demonstrations of disobedience and unfaithfulness, He had never allowed them to suffer the full and well-deserved consequences of their sin. He stepped in and rescued them time and time again. Long before they ever entered the land of Canaan or established themselves as a nation, God had clearly communicated His expectations to them.

If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the LORD your God… – Deuteronomy 28:1-2 NLT

Then God outlined all the blessings they could expect if they lived in obedience to His will. But He also warned them that disobedience would bring curses.

But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you… – Deuteronomy 28:15 NLT

The list of potential curses that followed was intense and terrifying, and ended with the warning: “The LORD will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone! You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the LORD sends you[ (Deuteronomy 28:36-37 NLT).

Should they choose to disobey, there would be dire and devastating consequences. But as the author of 2 Kings reveals, “the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely” (2 Kings 14:27 NLT). While Yahweh had warned of destruction and even eventual deportation, He had never spoken of Israel’s obliteration. He was committed to keeping the promise He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and it was Jacob whom God renamed Israel.

“Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” So God renamed him Israel.

Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants! And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.” – Genesis 35:10-12 NLT

This scene took place in Bethel, and it just so happened that Bethel was one of the towns where the original Jeroboam set up a golden calf idol. The very place where God promised to make of Jacob (Israel) a great nation, Jeroboam I had erected an idol that would lead the people away from Yahweh. He had promoted disobedience and, in doing so, had brought upon the people of Israel the curses of God.  Yet the author of 2 Kings reveals that God chose to show compassion to His rebellious people.

…the LORD saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel, and that there was no one in Israel, slave or free, to help them. – 2 Kings 14:26 NLT

Yes, they were rebellious. The people of Israel had forsaken Him repeatedly, but Yahweh viewed His chosen people as helpless and hopeless; they had no one to save them. Their kings had proven themselves unwilling and incapable of providing godly leadership, and Jeroboam II was no different than his namesake. Yet, God chose to use this godless king to protect His chosen people.

…because the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely, he used Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, to save them. – 2 Kings 14:27 NLT

God was preserving His people, not because they deserved it, but because He had a plan that required their continued existence. Centuries earlier, God made a promise to the patriarch, Abraham:

“I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” – Genesis 22:17-18 NLT

God had made a commitment to bless the nations of the earth through Abraham’s descendants. Yet, as we have seen, the seed of Abraham had proven to be anything but a blessing. They brought shame to the name of Yahweh through their repeated demonstrations of unfaithfulness. But God chose to preserve them because He had a plan to bring about the blessing of the nations. He would accomplish this plan through the “seed” of Abraham, and the apostle Paul tells us exactly how God fulfilled that promise.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. – Galatians 3:16 NLT

God preserved the Israelites so that Jesus, who was born a descendant of Abraham, might become the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to bless the nations. Paul goes on to describe how God’s commitment to protect and preserve the nation of Israel has impacted all the nations of the earth.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. – Galatians 3:28-29 NLT

All along the way, God had been watching out for His chosen people because He had set them apart for a reason. They were to be the conduit through which He would bring the blessing of salvation to a lost and dying world. That is why, even after He eventually sent them into exile in Babylon, God restored them to the land of promise.

“I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!” – Ezekiel 34:15-16 NLT

Yahweh was faithful to keep His promise and preserve His people so that, one day, He might send His Son as the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. His plans for Israel were timeless and not temporary, and were never about the kingdoms of David or Solomon. The split of the kingdom, the fall of Israel, and Babylon’s defeat of Judah were all part of His sovereign strategy to prepare the way for the eventual King of kings and Lord of lords — Jesus Christ the Savior.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Take My Yoke

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

These three verses are highly familiar to most of us. But do we know the context in which they were spoken? As is always the case when studying Scripture, context plays a huge role in helping us understand and apply what the Word is trying to communicate to us. Here in Matthew, Jesus addresses a question from John the Baptist regarding His Messiahship.

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” – Matthew 11:2-3 ESV

John the Baptist had decided to confront King Herod for marrying the ex-wife of his brother, Philip. This bold decision to confront the Roman-appointed king of Israel resulted in his confinement in prison. While there, John had time to consider whether his cousin Jesus was truly the long-expected Messiah. John had been proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of heaven and had declared Jesus to be the Son of God.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.…And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” – John 1:29-31, 34 ESV

But now he was having second thoughts. Like any faithful Jew, John the Baptist had been raised to believe in God’s promise of a Messiah. The prophets had declared that a future descendant of David would one day appear on the scene and rule as the rightful King of Israel. Even Jesus’ 12 disciples followed Him because they believed Him to be the fulfillment of that promise. So, when Jesus received word that His own cousin was expressing doubts about His Messianic identity, He responded in a surprising way, launching into a stinging attack against the cities of Capernaum, Korazin and Bethsaida. These three small cities sat on the north side of the Sea of Galilee and would have been regular stops for Jesus during His earthly ministry. Capernaum had become His adopted hometown and base of ministry while He was in the region of Galilee. So the people living in these cities would have had regular glimpses of Jesus and heard His messages repeatedly. Yet Jesus condemns them for their unbelief. Despite all the miracles He had done right before their eyes, they remained non-repentent and unbelieving. Jesus shocks His disciples by comparing these Jewish cities to the infamous cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom. These three cities had a well-known reputation for wickedness and godlessness. Yet, Jesus indicates that if He had done miracles in these cities, they would have been convicted of their sins, repented, and believed in Him. But the hearts of the people living in Galilee were hardened, stubborn, and representative of the rest of the nation of Israel. They had witnessed Jesus, the Son of God, perform miracles and call them to repent and return to God, but they had refused. They continued to disbelieve despite the evidence proving His Messiahship.

In the middle of His stinging discourse, Jesus offers up a seemingly out-of-context prayer.

“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” – Matthew 11:25-26 ESV

He abruptly turned to His Father and thanked Him for hiding the truth of His message from the wise and clever but for making it plain to the childlike. Jesus recognized that the doubt expressed by John the Baptist’s question was part of God’s plan. Regardless of how many miracles Jesus performed, those who relied on their own wisdom and knowledge would fail to see Him for who He was. The Pharisees and religious leadership of Jesus’ day were perfect examples of this kind of arrogant ignorance. They were self-righteous and unwilling to recognize their own sinfulness and repent of it. They saw no need for a Savior for their sins; they simply wanted a Messiah to set them free from Roman rule. But Jesus knew that God reveals His truth to the childlike, those who are innocent, humble, and trusting. God chooses to reveal His Son to those whose lives are marred by sin, sorrow, and a recognition of their own helplessness and hopelessness. They are drawn to Jesus and have no trouble believing in Him. The blind, the lame, the diseased, the outcasts, and the chronic sinners are the ones who see and believe.

Jesus follows His prayer with an invitation with two parts. First, He addressed all those who were weary and weighed down to come to Him. His offer was to all who were burdened by sin and weighed down by the requirements of trying to live up to the requirements of the Mosaic Law.  They were worn out by trying to carry the heavy yoke of obedience to God’s exacting commands. They failed to recognize that the law was never meant to save them but to reveal their sinfulness and incapacity to satisfy the holy demands of a righteous God.

For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. – Romans 3:20 NLT

To all those who respond to His invitation, Jesus offers rest. But this offer of rest comes with a command to take up His yoke. They must exchange the yoke they are carrying for the one He offers. He describes His yoke as easy because they will find themselves partnered with Him. The yoke he described was a typical farm implement in which two oxen were harnessed for plowing purposes. Jesus offers to come alongside them to teach, train, and assist them. They will still have to work but they will find their burden lightened because of His presence. Unlike the arrogant and demanding religious leadership of the day, Jesus describes Himself as humble, gentle, caring, and compassionate. His yoke is easy to bear, and the burden He gives is light. Yes, there is work to do, and effort is required, but rather than weariness and heartache, Jesus offers rest, peace, and joy.

It seems that those who come to Jesus are the ones who are weary and worn out from trying to live life in their own power. They are beaten down by their own sinfulness and inability to do anything about it. Like a blind man, they know they have a problem but cannot fix it. Like a man who has a demon and is powerless to get rid of it, they must run to Jesus and beg Him for help. Jesus invites the weary to find rest in Him. But He also invites those same people to get in the yoke with Him, to begin focusing their efforts on accomplishing His will and living for His kingdom causes. He offers to replace their self-effort with His own power. He invited them to exchange their heavy burden for His light one. But it all begins with childlike, innocent, trusting faith in Him.

When Jesus’ disciples heard Him say, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,” His words must have brought to mind their oppressed status under Roman rule. His offer of rest conjured up images of rest from oppression, freedom from Roman rule, and a change in their current status as enslaved people. Like John the Baptist, the disciples were wondering if Jesus truly was the Messiah. They were waiting for Him to reveal Himself and set up His earthly kingdom but little did they know that their Messiah was to die. Their hope for relief from Roman oppression could end on a cruel Roman cross. The one for whom they had long waited would be crucified right before their eyes. The Son was going to be sacrificed.

Jesus had told them that He would die and He had warned them that His death was a necessary part of God’s plan for their future redemption. His death would secure their eternal life by satisfying God’s just punishment for their sins. Their promised Messiah would have to die so that their faith would be in God, the ultimate fulfiller of all promises. Their faith had become ill-placed. They had made a god out of their concept of the Messiah. They were looking for Jesus to be their political Savior and earthly king who would rule from a physical throne in Jerusalem. They wanted to be set free from physical oppression but God had more in store for them. He wanted them to trust His plan for them, not their perverted version of it. Their dreams would have to die. The promise they held to so tightly would have to be wrenched from their hands.

Jesus came to offer them a different kind of rest that provided release from a different kind of burden. But they would have to trust God. And the same is true for us today. We can still twist the promises of God and try to make them about our comfort, pleasure, and fulfillment in this life. We can make our walk with Him all about our happiness instead of our holiness. So, we must continually place our version of the promise on the altar and worship the one who made the promise in the first place. We must trust God and worship Him because His plan and timing are perfect.

Father, I find that the degree to which I find rest in Jesus is directly related to my willingness to recognize just how weary I am from trying to live the Christian life in my own strength. I can get too wise and clever for my own good, and begin to believe that I can somehow pull this off in my own strength. But it is when I run out of steam that I tend to run to Him. Keep me childlike and dependent. Don’t allow me to become arrogant and self-righteous. Keep me in the yoke with Christ, living in dependence on Him and resting in His love, strength and grace. Amen.

 

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.