The Cross

Who do you say Jesus is?

This post is a little different than previous posts. This time I am giving you a scripture to consider and some questions to guide your thoughts.

The Identity

Matthew 16:13-17
Jesus asked his disciples:
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Why do you think Jesus asked his disciples this question?
What did they answer?

• John the Baptist
• Elijah
• Jeremiah or one of the prophets

What is significant about these answers?

• All three of these men represented a messenger from God.
• According to what the disciples said, people saw Jesus as someone sent from God.
• Maybe even one of these men had come back from the dead.

Do you find it strange that the disciples did not mention something like these?

• They say he is a fraud.
• They say he is crazy.
• They say he is just trying to make a name for himself.
• They say he is from the devil.

Who do people around you say Jesus is?

Have you ever asked someone: 
What do you think of Jesus?

What would you say if someone asked you that question?

Then Jesus asked:
“But who do you say that I am?”
Of course Peter, the outspoken one,  is the one that answered.
“You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the Living God.”

 How does this answer go beyond what the other people were saying?
The Messiah goes beyond just being a prophet.

• To the Israelites, the Messiah would rescue them from oppression and make them a great nation again.
• But as Jesus said, he came for a personal spiritual rescue, not a national rescue.
• "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36 NET)
• Son of God goes beyond just being a human messenger of God. 
• Son of God means that God came down to live among us as a human being.

Jesus responds to Peter:

“You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.”

• “Flesh and blood” How do you understand this phrase?
• Two possible interpretations:
• Any human being: “You didn’t get this from someone else.”
• Peter himself: “You didn’t discover this on your own.”
• Why was Peter blessed?
• Because God made known to him the truth about Jesus.

The Cross

Matthew 16:21-23
Jesus started to tell his disciples what was going to happen to him before long:

• Suffer many things at the hands of the authorities
• Be killed
• Be raised from the dead

Peter…

• Took him aside
• “NO WAY, this can’t happen!”

Based on his comment, did Peter really understand what he had said earlier?
“You are the Messiah…”

Jesus' response:

• Get behind me Satan…
• You are a stumbling block to me…
• Your mind is not on God’s agenda, but on a human agenda.

What do you think of this response?

Your Cross

Matthew 16:24-25
Jesus took up his cross. We have a cross to take up too.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it." (Matthew 16:24-25 NET)

What do you think of this statement?
“To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion.” (NET Bible study note)

Galatians 6:12-15
But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Verse 14)

What do you think of this statement?

“Take up your cross” doesn’t mean we give up the things we do every day to survive and even enjoy life; It means we try to put Jesus in those things, use them for his kingdom.

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Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®
copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

The Golden Rule

The Law was given to Moses and the Israelites and written down about 1400 years before Jesus’ time here on earth. After the Babylonian captivity, about 500 years before Jesus, as the Jewish people struggled to understand the Law and live it out, they began to rely on a group of scholars and teachers whose purpose was to study, understand, interpret, and teach the Law for the benefit of the people. In English translations of the Bible, these men were known as “scribes”, lawyers”, or “experts in the Law”. Unfortunately, these men became entangled in the technicalities of the Law and they missed its true purpose.

As Jesus gained fame during his three and one half years of teaching and service in Palestine, he was acknowledged by many to be a rabbi, that is, a teacher who imparts wisdom and understanding concerning the Law. It could be said that the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ explanation of the true meaning of and purpose for the Law. As we have discussed in recent posts, it is clear that Jesus was trying to lead people to embrace the “spirit of the Law”. Jesus makes this statement as he explains the Law:

"In Everything, treat others as you would have them treat you, for this fulfills the Law and the Prophets."¹

This statement has become known as "The Golden Rule". This statement really includes a comparison: how you treat others compared to how you would want to be treated. And what is the context of this statement? I found it interesting that, leading up to this statement, Jesus was also talking about the consequences of judging people and I think there is a similarity here. He said:

Judging

"Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive."²

This is also describing a comparison: How we judge others compared to how we will be judged. Jesus is saying that we will be judged based on the same standard we use to judge others. It makes us think, doesn't it? How would we do when judged by our own standard? Do we really live up to our own standard?

The Speck and the Log

"Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own?"³

Here Jesus uses what we call hyperbole, that is, an extreme exaggeration. We see some flaw in our brother that is only the size of a speck of sawdust compared to the flaw in our own life which is the size of a wooden beam or log. The implication is that we see ourselves as better that the other person and, therefore, they need to change but we don't. What is Jesus' response to this situation?

"You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."⁴

• Hypocrite: I think the implication here is that, deep down, we know we are flawed but we don't want to admit it.
• First correct the shortcomings in your own life.
• Then you can help your brother with his shortcomings.

The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule is a comparison: it is comparing how we treat others to how we would like to be treated. Do you see others as equal to or even better than yourself? Whatever is "fair" for you should be "fair" for the other person. We all expect to be treated with kindness and love so we should do the same for others.

Jesus said, "for this fulfills the Law and the Prophets." "Keeping the Law" is not so much about "following the rules". it is about loving God and treating those people around you fairly, with kindness and compassion.

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1. Matthew 7:12 (NET)

2. Matthew 7:1-2 (NET)

3. Matthew 7:3-4 (NET)

4. Matthew 7:5 (NET)

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®
copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

Prayer

If you look at the ten commandments ¹ in the Old Testament you can see that four of them have to do with our relationship to God...

• You shall not have any other gods before me.
• You shall not make any carved images [fake gods].
• You shall not take my name in vain.
• Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy [set aside time in your life for God]

...and the other six commandments have to do with our relationship to others.

• Honor your parents
• Don't murder
• Don't commit adultery
• Don't steal
• Don't give false testimony [lie] about your neighbor
• Don't covet [wish you had for yourself] your neighbor's stuff or his wife.

 In addition, if you look at the other 600 plus laws recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, you will see that they all derive from the principles described in these ten.

While Jesus was here on earth living among us, a lawyer asked him what he thought was the greatest commandment in the Law, Jesus said,

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. ²

By quoting from the Law itself ³, Jesus made the point that the Law, summarized by the ten commandments, is all about loving (getting along with) God and your neighbor. And That is how Jesus lived out his life while he was here.

So you are asking, what does all this have to do with Prayer? "Getting along with" someone, whether God or your neighbor, involves communication. The best way to get to know someone, or to resolve a problem you have with someone, is to talk to them, and then listen to them. Think of prayer as our means of talking to God, or talking with God. And then God talks to us in several ways:

• Through his WORD, the Bible, his written message to us.
• Particularly through the words and life of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels.
• We discussed in a previous post that Jesus is the Son of God, God in the flesh, so Jesus' words are God's words.
• Through his Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
• That could be through some other disciple or follower of Jesus who has a word of encouragement or a word of good advice for you.
• Or through a family member who cares about you.
• Or through your own thoughts as you listen to and think about God's written word.

 In the gospels of Matthew and Luke Jesus gives us some examples of prayers that can help us understand how to pray.

The Arrogant Prayer

In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus gives us two different examples of people praying . He describes the prayer of a Pharisee who thinks he has everything under control. This man seems to be praying a boastful, prideful, self centered prayer to himself and about himself, a  prayer.

• "Thank you that I am not like these other people: swindlers, sinners, adulterers, or even this tax collector."
• "I fast twice a week.
• "I give a tenth of everything I get."

The Humble Prayer

Then Jesus gives an example of a humble prayer by a man who acknowledges his weaknesses. Compare the demeanor and words of this man with those of the Pharisee.

• He stood far off.
• He would not even look up to heaven. 
• He beat his chest (in sorrow and humility).
• "God be merciful to me, sinner that I am."

And notice the comment that Jesus made about these two men:

"I tell you that this man (the humble tax collector) went down to his home justified (that is, forgiven by God) rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Think about this last sentence. What do you think Jesus meant?

The "Model Prayer"

Jesus basically teaches over and over again that humility is the best and most rewarding lifestyle. In another setting (Matthew 6:5-14), maybe two years before the above incident, Jesus is speaking to his disciples and some others and he also addresses the subject of prayer. As in the other incident, he contrasts loud boastful prayer and quiet, humble, personal prayer. Then he gives his disciples (and us) an example, an outline of how we should pray. This is traditionally called "The Lord's Prayer",and it is a prayer, but it is more that that. It is a guide to lead us to a humble and meaningful prayer life. Here is the prayer with a few thoughts to consider.

• Our Father in heaven, Holy is your name.
• Our - we are all in this togehter.
• Father - A family member who loves you; he adopted you as his own
• Holy - he is the head of the household, worthy of respect
• Your kingdom come
• He is in control; better things will come. 
• Your will be done. 
• He has your best interest in mind and knows better than you what you need
• God’s will over your will - it will be better for you in the long run
• Seek his will.
• Give us this day our daily bread.
• Give us - Meet our basic needs
• Daily - Trust god daily to take care of you
• Forgive us our debts...
• Acknowledge our debt, obligation to God
• That we have failed to live up to his standard
• Forgive our debts - when we have fallen short of God’s standard and/or hurt or failed other people.
• As we forgive our debtors
• How can we ask for forgiveness if we are not willing to forgive others?
• Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
• Lead us - this is not suggesting that God causes temptation, but is a rhetorical way to ask for God’s protection from sin.
• Temptation - protect us from our own selfish desires
• Deliver from Evil - protect us from outside evil influences.
• We acknowledge that we need God’s help, we cannot avoid sin on our own.

Notice that in verse 14 Jesus specifically emphasizes the part about forgiving and being forgiven.

“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins."

If we receive and understand forgiveness, we will also be inspired to forgive others. Think about how these things are intertwined and cannot be separated. Prayer is directly linked to our daily relationships with God and with the people around us.


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1. Exodus 20:3-27

2. Matthew 22:37-40 (NET)  

3. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)
Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7
ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

Deeper Morality

Rules and Laws

What do you think about the rules and laws we live by every day? Laws enacted by governments. Unwritten rules of social interaction. Why do we need all these rules? Why can't we just have the freedom to do what we want? Secular philosophers would say that rules and laws exist so that people can interact with each other in a reasonably peaceful and orderly manner, to avoid conflicts as much as possible. Christian theologians would generally agree with that and would also add that rules and laws also exist so that people can have a peaceful and appropriate interaction with God.

Pharisees - "Letter of the Law"

There was a group of religious leaders in Judea during Jesus' time here on earth who had a very legalistic, technical understanding of the law. They would spend hours at a time studying, parsing, and discussing the Law of Moses. Their goal was to define the law in such a way that they could do certain things and avoid certain things so they could say they successfully obeyed all of the Law, that is, so they could say they were "righteous". What was their idea of "righteous"?

• What is the minimum I can do to stay within the letter of the law?
• What actions can I do to earn "brownie points" with God?
• What can I do to earn my ticket into Heaven?
• What can I do so that everyone will know that I obey all the rules?

Jesus - "Spirit of the Law"

In Matthew Chapter 5 Jesus gave us some guidance on how we should view laws and rules, and his guidance comes down to attitude and motive being the key to “keeping the law”; that “keeping the law” was about being concerned for and caring about others. I want to look at a couple of examples from that chapter.

Anger

“You have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’ But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment." (Matthew 5:21-22 NET)

In defining the true meaning of the law, Jesus goes beyond the action of murder to the motive or attitude of anger.  Jesus looks at our attitude, our motive, what is in our heart, before we ever take a violent action. If you are angry with your brother you are just as guilty of breaking the law as if you had murdered him. What is Jesus' remedy to this situation?

So then, if you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24 NET)

Jesus wants us to take the initiative and reconcile with our brother, to live in peace and harmony as much as possible. By the way, the word "brother" here does not just refer to your physical blood brother, it refers to relatives, friends, classmates, co-workers, anyone you know and interact with.

Getting Even

There is a term used today: "I will get even with him." There is a biblical term in the Law of Moses that has a similar meaning: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". Many saw this phrase in the law as approval for or even a requirement for retaliating for a wrong done to you, but this phrase was actually intended to be a limit on retaliation. In other words, if someone wrongfully takes something from you, you cannot take back any more than they took from you. But what does Jesus say about this:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your coat also. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you."
(Matther 5:38-42 NET)

 Jesus seems to go beyond limiting retaliation; he seems to say that, not only should we not retaliate ("get even"), we should sacrifice something of ourselves and do good to the person who has wronged us. Again, Jesus is looking at our motives and attitudes, not just our actions.

A Higher Standard

Jesus is calling us to a higher standard than just obeying the letter of the law, a standard of loving and caring about the other person, even if they have wronged us; a standard based not only on our actions, but more importantly on the attitude in our heart.

A few days before he was crucified, Jesus was being harassed by the legalistic Pharisees, trying to trip him up with their legal tricks. What was his response?

Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” 
(Matthew 22:34-40 NET)

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Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®
copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

Son of Man - Son of God

Last week I was working through Chapter 18 in Mark Moore's book entitled "Blessedness", but I already shared my thoughts on "happy" and "blessed" in a previous post entitled "Finding Happiness". In this post I would like to continue on the theme of Jesus as the Son of Man and Son of God.

We acknowledge that a Creator-God who is outside our space/time world created us in his image, that is, with certain of his characteristics, and that he wants to be in relationship with us. If you think about it, the best way for him to do that would be for him to come here to our world and live among us; and that is what he did in Jesus.

There are references to a Son of God - Son of Man figure throughout the Old Testament, and the New Testament indicates that person came as Jesus about 2000 years ago. In this post I am going to give you some scriptures to think about on this theme.

Creation

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NET)

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:26-28 NET)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. (John 1:1-3 NET)  

 Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. John testified about him and shouted out, “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’” For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another. (John 1:14-16 NET)

 Child

For a child has been born to us,
a son has been given to us.
He shoulders responsibility
and is called
Wonderful Adviser,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6 NET)

 When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him. He took his wife, but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus. (Matthew 1:20-25 NET)

 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:4-7 NET)

Shepherd

“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day.'" (Ezekiel 34:11-12 NET)

 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me—because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again."
(John 10:14-17 NET)

King

“I, the Lord, promise that a new time will certainly come
when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, a descendant of David.
He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding
and will do what is just and right in the land.
Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety
and Israel will live in security.
This is the name he will go by:
'The Lord has provided us with justice.’"
(Jeremiah 23:5-6 NET)

So Pilate went back into the governor’s residence, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”  Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:33-37 NET)

God in the Flesh

Moses said to God, “If I go to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’—what should I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM that I AM.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘The Lord—the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.’ (Exodus 3:13-15 NET)

I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys my teaching, he will never see death.” Then the Judeans responded, “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet you say, ‘If anyone obeys my teaching, he will never experience death.’ You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?” Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless. The one who glorifies me is my Father, about whom you people say, ‘He is our God.’ Yet you do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his teaching. Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Judeans replied, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!” (John 8:51-58 NET)

 Son of God - Son of Man

In the table below I have put together three Bible passages, Acts 1:9-11; Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Revelation 4:1-6; Revelation 5:1-14. Read these through as if they were describing a single event that begins on earth and moves to Heaven.

Jesus has been put to death, executed by crucifixion.
He has risen from the dead.
For 40 days he continues here on earth meeting with his disciples on several occasions.
Then he takes them out to an open area and speaks to them in person for the last time...

Acts 1:9-11
After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight. As they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly two men in white clothing stood near them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”
“While I was watching, thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His attire was white like snow; the hair of his head was like lamb’s wool. His throne was ablaze with fire and its wheels were all aflame. A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence. Many thousands were ministering to him; many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. The court convened and the books were opened.	After these things I looked, and there was a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said: “Come up here so that I can show you what must happen after these things.” Immediately I was in the Spirit, and a throne was standing in heaven with someone seated on it! And the one seated on it was like jasper and carnelian in appearance, and a rainbow looking like it was made of emerald encircled the throne. In a circle around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on those thrones were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white clothing and had golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came out flashes of lightning and roaring and crashes of thunder. Seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning in front of the throne and in front of the throne was something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
“ “I was watching in the night visions, And with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty. All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. His kingdom will not be destroyed.	Then I saw in the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne a scroll written on the front and back and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a powerful angel proclaiming in a loud voice: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. So I began weeping bitterly because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered; thus he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw standing in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been killed. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then he came and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne, and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground before the Lamb. Each of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand—thousands times thousands— all of whom were singing in a loud voice: “Worthy is the lamb who was killed to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature—in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them—singing: “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power forever and ever!” And the four living creatures were saying “Amen,” and the elders threw themselves to the ground and worshiped.
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 (NET)	Revelation 4:1-6; 5:1-14 (NET)

Praise God! Jesus has won the victory!

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Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®
copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

Son of God

Is Jesus really fully human and fully divine (God)?

Symbolism

"A picture is worth a thousand words." What is the point of a phrase like that? As an example, it can be very difficult to explain a complex machine to someone using only words, but if you can show them a photo of the machine or, better yet, show them the machine itself, they will have a much better understanding of it.

Another common phrase is "word picture". What is a word picture? We experience this when we read a novel and the author describes a scene in such a way that we can close our eyes and picture that scene in detail in our minds. And that contributes to our understanding and enjoyment of the novel.

God, as our creator, understands that we human beings think in terms of "word pictures", and that if a spiritual concept is described in that way we will be better able to understand and retain it. Therefore, God often uses symbolism or "word pictures" when he speaks to us through prophets in the Bible. Another example is Jesus' use of parables, which are really word pictures, to illustrate spiritual truths.

Heavenly Scene

Daniel chapter 7 is an example of God's use of symbolic language, "word pictures", to speak to us. He sends an angel to describe to Daniel some events that will take place on the earth and in Heaven in Daniel's future. He uses the symbolism of four large beasts, which are described in some detail, to describe four kingdoms and several rulers that will arise on the earth over time. Then the angel's message turns toward Heaven and he describes something that will happen there (verses 9-10):

While I was watching, thrones were set up,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His attire was white like snow;
the hair of his head was like lamb’s wool.
His throne was ablaze with fire
and its wheels were all aflame.
A river of fire was streaming forth
and proceeding from his presence.
Many thousands were ministering to him;
many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him.
The court convened
and the books were opened.

Then in verses 13-14 the description continues:

I was watching in the night visions,
And with the clouds of the sky
one like a son of man was approaching.
He went up to the Ancient of Days
and was escorted before him.
To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty.
All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him.
His authority is eternal and will not pass away.
His kingdom will not be destroyed.

Son of Man

Who are these two that are described here: the "Ancient of Days" and "one like a son of man"? I don't think there is any doubt that the "Ancient of Days" is Jehovah God, the creator.  Other English Bibles have translated it "the Ancient one", "One who has been living forever", and "the Eternal God". In our modern vernacular you might say "the one who has been around longer than anyone else".

But who is "one like a son of man"? In the Old Testament the phrase "son of man" is used over 100 times. It is used 93 times in the book of Ezekiel, and in every instance it is the title God uses to describe Ezekiel. So we have God speaking to a human being, the prophet Ezekiel, and calling him "son of man". In the few places the phrase is used other than Daniel and Ezekiel, it is in reference to human beings.¹

In the New Testament the phrase "son of man" is used 85 times. In all but five of those instances, Jesus uses the phrase to describe himself. I want to site two example in particular. In the first example Jesus is responding to his disciples who are arguing about who will be greatest in the coming kingdom. He says:

It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”²

Here Jesus seems to use the phrase to demonstrate the human connection between himself and the other human beings around him. Then when Jesus is on trial before the Sanhedrin, the High Priest asks him, "I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus' answer connects his position as the Son of God with the Son of Man title:

“You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”³

By his response, "You have said it yourself", Jesus is acknowledging under oath that he is the Son of God. In our modern time, the equivalent phrase would be, "You said it!" Further, by alluding to phrases from Daniel 7:13, Jesus is identifying himself with the divine Son of Man ruling at the right hand of God.The phrase "Son of God" emphasizes his divine nature and the phrase "Son of Man" emphasizes his human nature, first as a suffering servant and then as a sovereign ruler.

Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, emphasizes how Christianity is different from all other "religions". The one and only God who created us was willing to come down and live among us as one of us, serving us, sacrificing for us, so that he could identify with us and communicate with us on our level, and save us from our own failures.

The apostle Paul put it this way in Philippians 2:5-11:

You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
He humbled himself,
by becoming obedient to the point of death
—even death on a cross!
As a result God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow
—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.

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1. Examples would be Numbers 23:19, Job 25:6, and Job 35:8.

2. Matthew 20:26-28

3. Matthew 26:63-64

Scripture quoted by permission. All scripture quotations are taken from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

New Covenant

What advantages do Christians have under the New Covenant?

Even though separated by over 500 years, the writings of Jeremiah have a close connection to the life of Jesus while he was here on earth.

The Weeping Prophet

For hundreds of years the leaders of Israel had been taking advantage of and stealing from the people they were supposed to serve and protect. Many of the people had deserted God and followed after other “gods”, both supposedly spiritual gods and earthly “gods”. Israel was filled with greed, selfishness, and rebellion against God.

It is 587 BC and Jeremiah has warned for 30 years that there will be consequences for this behavior, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Over the years Jeremiah is so moved by the failure of his people to listen to his message from God and their refusal to turn back to God that his writings in the Old Testament books of Jeremiah and Lamentations sometimes describe his personal shedding of tears for his people.

Oh that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the daughter of my people!
(Jeremiah 9:1)

My eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping,

Until the Lord looks down
And sees from heaven.

My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
(Lamentations 3:48-51)

Hope Through a New Covenant

Then in Jeremiah chapter 31 the weeping ends, and an expression of hope begins. Through Jeremiah, God promises a New Covenant with the people of Israel.

"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

What is new and different about this covenant?

“I will put my Law within them and on their heart I will write it.”

• The “Old” Covenant
• The first covenant was written first on stone tablets and then on scrolls.¹
• That kind of material could be lost, forgotten, ignored, or altered.¹
• They had the Law in front of them, but they had failed to internalize it.¹
• The “New” Covenant
• The New Covenant, in contrast, would be written on their hearts.¹
• The content of the Law is essentially the same.¹
• What changes is their inner commitment to keep it.¹

“No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest."

• The word “know” here means more than just a casual acquaintance.
• It has the meaning of an "intimate personal knowledge which arises between two persons who are committed wholly to one another in a relationship that touches mind, emotion, and will."²
• Your brothers and neighbors will no longer have to encourage you to be faithful to God, because you will already have a close personal relationship with him.

“I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

• The trust and faith that exist in the close, intimate, personal relationship described above makes forgiveness possible.

After 40 years of speaking out warning messages to the people of Israel as they continued to ignore his warnings while at the same time persecuting him, Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem that God had described through his message.

The Weeping Messiah

Now fast forward over 500 years. It is 30 AD and Jesus has spent over three years calling his people to come to God, and yet most of them have rejected him and his message. In addition to that, the “religious leaders” of Israel are actively plotting to put him to death.

It is five days before Jesus’ crucifixion and the Passover, and it is time for the final confrontation. In fulfillment of prophecy and tradition, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey as many are lining the road and honoring Jesus as if he were their king.  They are mistakenly looking for an earthly Messiah, who will kick out the corrupt “religious leaders” and the Romans, but this is not his mission or his message. The Gospel of Luke records that, as he approached, Jesus wept over the city, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41-42) He is crying for his people who are struggling instead of trusting, who are not understanding his message. He knows that another destruction of Jerusalem is coming. In fact, in a couple of days he publicly prophetically announces to them that it is coming. His tears are tears of concern for them.

Meanwhile, at the temple, in advance of the coming Passover feast and ceremonies, the merchants have set up shop. They are hoping to make a killing selling the Passover necessities at a nice profit to all the travelers who are in town for the Passover festivities. Jesus dismounts the donkey, enters the temple, and proceeds to run all the merchants out of the temple. He says, "It is written, 'AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,' but you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."

What is the significance of that comment?

• “And my house shall be a house of prayer.”
• Here Jesus quotes a line from Isaiah 56:7 where Isaiah is writing words spoken by God. By calling the temple “My House”, Jesus is claiming to be God.
• “You have made it a robber’s den.”
• Here Jesus quotes from Jeremiah 7:11, again quoting words spoken by God.

“Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, ” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 7:11)

In his statement Jesus connects himself to the prophet Isaiah who described the Messiah as a lowly suffering servant who would be despised and then put to death, and he connects himself to the prophet Jeremiah who spoke of a coming “New Covenant” between God and his people.

The New Covenant Personified

A few days beyond those events, on the night of his arrest, Jesus is eating the Passover meal with his disciples. During the meal, he makes a personal connection between the New Covenant described in Jeremiah.

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Luke 22:19-20)

The New Covenant described in Jeremiah 31:31-34 is initiated through the person of Jesus.

• “I will be their God and they shall be my people.” (Verse 33) Jesus is God in human form living and walking among us.
• “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”  The death of Jesus made possible the forgiveness of the New Covenant, and his resurrection give us hope of resurrection.

Mark Moore sums this up well in his Core 52³ book:

There are three things promised in the new covenant: personal relationship with the Father, forgiveness of sin through the sacrifice of the Son, and the law of God in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.³

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1. Jeremiah 31:33 Study Note 80, quoted by permission, taken from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

2. Dr Constable's Expository Notes, copyright ©2010 Dr. Thomas R. Constable, quoted from the NET Bible notes, https://bible.org/

3. This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)
Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7
ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible

Atonement

He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds,
crushed because of our sins;
he endured punishment that resulted in our peace;
because of his wounds we have been healed.
(Isaiah 53:5) ¹

How does Jesus' death cover my sins?

Atonement

In his Core 52² book Mark Moore says, "Atonement basically means that you owe a debt and somebody else pays it for you." While the word itself may not be familiar, I'm sure almost everyone has experienced what it describes. Have you ever owed a debt of some kind and someone else stepped up and  took care of it for you? Or perhaps you yourself have helped out someone by taking care of a debt that they owe.

Blood Atonement

Lets talk about the Biblical concept of "sin". God has established a standard by which people can live their lives that would lead to peaceful person to person relationships as well as a peaceful relationship between a person and God. The key to that relationship is love, but God also gave us the freedom to make our own life decisions and to control our own actions. Why did he do that? Because love is based on free choice. One cannot exist without the other. So human beings have the choice to love or to hate, as well as a whole range of choices between those two.

But what about the blood thing? It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has lived in this world that sometimes human failure to live up to God's standard of love leads to bloodshed. Within one generation of the beginning of human life on earth with Adam and Eve, a man murdered his brother out of jealousy and hatred (Cain and Abel, Genesis chapter 4). And we see this pattern repeated throughout Biblical history as well as secular history as people continue to ignore God’s standard.
There is, however, another side to the shedding of blood throughout history and right up to our present day as soldiers, police officers, first responders, and even ordinary citizens sacrifice their lives to protect others. So blood is shed out of hatred, jealousy, and a rejection of God's standard, but the living out of love and concern for others also leads to bloodshed.

Even though it seems strange to us today, it should not be a surprise that, from the beginning of human history, the shedding of the blood of animals would become a means of "paying the debt" for the human failures that led to human bloodshed. Lets take a look at the progression of this concept through the Old Testament period.

Adam and Eve - Sin leads to death and the shedding of blood

Apparently Adam and Eve did not consider it appropriate to kill animals. When they sinned by eating from the forbidden tree, they made clothing for themselves from plants - fig leaves. When God confronted them about their failure, he killed an animal and made garments of skin for them (Genesis 3:21). The lesson here is that sin leads to death and the shedding of blood.

Abraham - God will provide a substitute

God told Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and that he would be a blessing to everyone on earth through his son Isaac, and then God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac by shedding his blood. By the way, before you criticize God for even suggesting such a thing, or criticize Abraham for even thinking about doing such a thing, keep in mind that this was a lesson, a learning experience for Abraham and us. The Bible suggests that Abraham fully expected that he would not have to complete this sacrifice (Genesis 22:8, Hebrews 11:17-19). Just as Abraham was raising the knife, God stopped him and showed him a ram (sheep) which he then used for the sacrifice. The lesson here is that God will provide a substitute.

The Passover - The shedding of blood can save

As God prepared to bring the last plague on Egypt, the death of the firstborn son, he told the Hebrews through his spokesperson Moses that they would be protected from the plague if they killed a lamb and placed the blood on their doorposts. This Passover was observed through the shedding of a lamb's blood as an annual ritual throughout the history of the Children of Israel from Moses and the tabernacle through the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. The lesson here is that God can save through the shedding of blood.

Jesus - The Lamb of God

A couple of years before his crucifixion Jesus began to prepare his disciples for what was coming. Then on the night of his arrest, as he was celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples, he made it clear that he was the final and ultimate Passover lamb:

"Then he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." (Luke 22:19-20)¹

With this comment Jesus is identifying himself as the "Passover Lamb". Later in the the same conversation Jesus identified himself with the prophesies of Isaiah chapters 52 and 53:

"For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me is being fulfilled.” (Luke 22:37, quoting Isaiah 53:12)¹

Look at how these prophesies line up with the life of Jesus in this table adapted from Mark Moore's Core 52² book.

Isaiah and Jesus’ Life Compared
Isaiah 52-53 (NET)	Jesus’ life
“he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man; his form was so marred he no longer looked human.” (52:14)	Jesus was brutally beaten.
"he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him." (53:2)	By trade Jesus was a “blue collar” peasant carpenter.
“He was despised and rejected by people.” (53:3)	This happened during his execution.
"But he lifted up our illnesses...he carried our pain...He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds...because of his wounds we have been healed...but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him...Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block...He was led away after an unjust trial...because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.” (53:4-8)	Descriptions of his death on the cross
“They intended to  bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb.” (53:9)	Jesus was crucified between two criminals but was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea who was a well known and well connected man of means.
"Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life, and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him." (53:10)	This predicts the resurrection of Jesus.
“Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.” (53:11)	This describes Jesus suffering and dying in our place.

During this Easter season we should note that Isaiah 53 also speaks of his resurrection and, therefore, of the hope of resurrection that we have in him.

Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,
once restitution is made,
he will see descendants and enjoy long life,
and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.
(Isaiah 53:10)¹

The phrases "he will see his descendants" and "the Lord's purpose will be accomplished through him" indicate he is alive.

While some cultures may still practice blood sacrifices, in God’s eyes this is no longer necessary because the final sacrifice has been made “once for all” by his son Jesus.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:8-11)¹

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1. Scripture quoted by permission. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

2. This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)
Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7
ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

Wisdom

How do I become wise?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines wisdom as "the ability to make good judgments based on what you have learned from your experience, or the knowledge and understanding that gives you this ability."¹ We probably all know someone whom we consider to be wise by that definition, but what is the source of that wisdom?

Image of God

Certainly we see human beings who have no connection or commitment to God exhibiting wisdom by that definition. I would suggest that, even for them, wisdom ultimately comes from God. In an earlier chapter of the Core 52⁴ book we saw that people are created in "the image of God". Looking at the definition above, certainly God possessed good judgement, experience knowledge, and understanding to a level of perfection that no human being can match. But because people are created in God's image, they can also possess wisdom at a lesser, imperfect level.

Word of God

In Deuteronomy 4:5-6 Moses is reminding the people of Israel of God's Laws which have been taught to them. He says:

"See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"²

This scripture seems to suggest that one can increase in wisdom by studying, understanding, and living out God's written Word.

Gift of God

Solomon had just taken over as King of Israel and had given his "inauguration  speech", after which he and the entire assembly went to worship God at the tabernacle (tent) that had been used for worship until this point (the brick and mortar temple was not completed yet). There they prayed and offered burnt offerings to God.

That night God revealed himself to Solomon and said, "Ask for what you would like me to give you."

Here is Solomon's response (2 Chronicles 1:8-10):

“You demonstrated great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place. Now, LORD God, may your promise to my father David be realized, for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth. Now give me wisdom and discernment so I can effectively lead this nation. Otherwise who would be able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours?”³

And God's response to Solomon (2 Chronicles 1:11-12):

“Because you desire this, and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, and because you did not ask for long life, but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king, you are granted wisdom and discernment."³

So in this case wisdom was a gift from God to Solomon because of his specific request.

Emmanuel - God with us

In 1 Corinthians 1:26-30 Paul says this:

"Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence. He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption."³

 Jesus is the ultimate source and embodiment of God’s wisdom:

• He revealed God in human form that we can see and understand.
• Yet He is also fully God.
• In the Bible we have God’s wisdom in the written word (because it reveals Jesus).
• In Jesus we have God’s Wisdom in the living word (John 1:1)

Can human beings exhibit wisdom without a commitment to God? Yes, to a degree. But the best, most complete wisdom comes from God and commitment to him through his written word and his living word, Jesus. Gain wisdom by seeking God through Jesus and living by his guidance.

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1. (Definition of wisdom from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

2. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible


3. Scripture quoted by permission, the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

4. This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

Jesus Rejected

If Jesus was rejected by his own people, why should I accept him?

Who is in charge here? (Matthew 21:23-27)

Jesus is teaching in the temple, which in itself is an affront to the chief priests and elders because they consider themselves to be the leaders of the people and the authority in the temple.
So they confront him.
“Who gave you the authority to teach here?”
The implication here is that they don’t want Jesus teaching here because he is usurping their authority.
But Jesus, knowing that the people were sympathetic to him, wasn’t going to give in to these guys that easily:

“If you answer my question, I will answer yours. Where did John the Baptist get his authority, from heaven or from men?”

Now the chief priests and elders find themselves in a predicament:

“If we say ‘from heaven’, he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say ‘from men’, the people won’t respect us because they think John was a prophet.”

So they answered, “We don’t know.”  To which Jesus said, “Then I’m not going to answer your question.” The fact is, however, They knew what Jesus would have answered; he had said it many times before; he would have said his authority came from God his Father.

The Moral of the Story (Mathew 21:28-41)

Now Jesus, still speaking in the presence of the chief priests and elders, tells two stories (we call them “parables”) to illustrate the unwillingness of Israel’s leaders to believe him. First, here is an explanation of the symbolism. In the Old Testament the nation of Israel is often described symbolically as a vineyard, and the people of Israel are the workers in the vineyard. Second, understand the attitude of the self-righteous religious leaders of the time: They saw themselves as the good guys who always obeyed God and they saw the “tax collectors and prostitutes” as the evil, worthless bad guys. Jesus purposely chose two of the most despised groups in their culture to make his point.

Here is Jesus’ first story (parable):

A man owns a vineyard and has two sons. He goes to both sons and asks them to go work in the vineyard.

• One son says, “I won’t go”, but later he has a change of heart and goes to work.
• One son says, “I will, sir”, but then did not go to work.

Jesus then asks those around him, including the elders, “Which of the two sons did what the father wanted? The chief priests and elders responded, “The first one”, that is, the one who at first said "no" but then changed his attitude and went.

Jesus then responds to them:

"I tell you the truth, tax collectors and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God! For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him." (NET)

Here is a summary and explanation of Jesus’ response.

• The father represents God.
• The son who said “no” at first but then went represents the “tax collectors and prostitutes”.
• They had, at first, rejected God but then, when Jesus came, they had a change of heart and embraced Jesus and God’s way.
• They are more likely to get into the kingdom of God than the religious leaders.
• The son who said “yes” but then did not go represents the religious leaders.
• They think they are following God’s way but they are not.
• God sent Jesus to them and yet they refuse to acknowledge him.
• Jesus then uses John the Baptist to further illustrate his point.
• John the Baptist came as God’s representative teaching repentance and righteousness.
• The “tax collectors and prostitutes” changed their minds, believed John, and turned to God.
• The religious leaders refused to change their hearts and minds when they heard John.

We are all children of God. Will we be the children who, even though we may have at first rebelled, turn and embrace God’s son?

Here is Jesus’ second story (parable):

A landowner planted a vineyard, complete with all the necessary components: a fence, A pit for the winepress, and a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went off on extended leave. When harvest time came he sent some of his employees to collect his percentage of the crop. The tenants grabbed the employees and beat them and killed them. When the owner didn’t hear from his employees, he sent another larger group of employees but the tenants treated them the same as the first. Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking that the tenants would respect his own son. When the tenants saw that the owner’s son was coming, they thought, “This is the heir. If we kill him we can get the inheritance - the vineyard will be ours!” So they grabbed his son and killed him.

Then Jesus asked them, “When the owner himself comes, what will he do with those tenants?” The religious leaders answered, “He will execute those evil murderers and lease the vineyard to other more honest, trustworthy tenants.”

Before we look at Jesus’ response to them, let’s explore the symbolism of this parable.

• The landowner represents God.
• The vineyard represents Israel.
• The tenants represent the civil and religious leaders of Israel who were supposed to watch over and care for the vineyard.
• The employees represent the prophets of the Old Testament whom God sent to Israel with his message to be faithful to Him. Many of them were persecuted and killed because the people, particularly the leaders, did not want to listen and accept what they said.
• The son represents Jesus, whom the religious leaders are already plotting to kill, and in fact, will be executed in just a few days.

The Rejected Stone (Matthew 21:42-44)

For his final comments on this parable, Jesus goes to their scriptures and quotes Psalm 118:22-23, applying it to himself.

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. (ESV)

Then he adds, speaking of the religious,civic leaders of Israel:

• “For this reason I tell you that the kingdom will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
• “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Jesus is the cornerstone, the foundation of this new people, this new “nation”,  that will carry on the banner of the kingdom of God. The old self righteous, self serving leaders are out; the new self-sacrificing servant leader is coming in.

If Jesus was rejected by his own people, why should I accept him?

Note that Matthew remarks here (verses 45-46) that, as they were listening to Jesus, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest Jesus but they were afraid of the common people who regarded Jesus as a prophet of God. So while it is true that the religious leaders rejected him, many of the other people accepted him as being sent by God.

Did the religious leaders reject Jesus? Yes they did. They rejected him in the face of overwhelming evidence. Their own self-centered attitude blinded them to the truth. Many others saw the truth and believed Jesus: “...because the crowds regarded him as a prophet.”

A “tax collector” named Matthew who, because of his profession, was despised and rejected by most of the citizens of Israel, accepted and followed Jesus. As a result, he wrote down many events of Jesus life and many of the words Jesus spoke. Matthew is known and respected today because of his humble service to Jesus and to the kingdom of God.

 About 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter, a small business man, stood up and gave an inspiring speech in front of thousands of people in Jerusalem defending Jesus as the Son of God. He concluded his speech with these words, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.” As a result, over 3000 people chose to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and to turn to God through baptism.

So, yes, a few hundred self righteous religious leaders rejected Jesus, but within two months of their rejection thousands of people embraced Jesus as coming from God.

Have you ever noticed that rejection seems to be part of life? Have you ever felt rejection? We all have. Jesus has been there. He has experienced rejection just like we have, so maybe he can help us get through it. Sometimes rejection can be debilitating, but sometimes it can lead to new opportunities. Let Jesus help you discover those opportunities.

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This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4

Messiah

Is there proof that Jesus is the Messiah?

A theme runs throughout the Hebrew scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. That theme is something like this: “Someone is coming; he will be a great and powerful leader and he will make us a great nation again.” It also says of him:

• He will be a human being, a descendant of David.
• He will also be the Son of God.
• He is often called “the anointed one”.

Defining terms: Messiah and Christ

• English “Messiah” from the Hebrew masiah, means “anointed one”.
• English “Christ” from Greek christos, means “anointed one”.

When you see words like this in an English Bible translation, they are “transliterations” of the original language word. That is, rather than “translate” the original word with an already existing English word or phrase (“anointed one”), they created a new English word that “sounds like” the original word (“Messiah”, “Christ”).

Defining terms: LORD and Lord

• The English LORD (with all capital letters) is used to translate the original Hebrew word ehyeh, the official name of God which he explained to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15.
• When God says it speaking of himself, it would be ehyeh, English “I AM”.
• When the people said it speaking of God, they said yahweh, English transliteration “Jehovah”, which means “he is”.
• The English word “lord” or “Lord” in lower-case letters is a translation of the Hebrew adonai which means “Lord, Lord” in English. It comes from the Hebrew adon which means “lord”, or “master”, or “boss”.

Confrontation - Matthew 22:15-46

We are in Jerusalem three days before Jesus is crucified and he is teaching in the temple area. The religious leaders are already plotting to kill him, but they want to discredit him so they can justify their actions to the people. they come to Jesus and confront him with "trick" questions that they hope will trip him up. Matthew 23:15 says,"Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap him in what he said."

First, they ask him about paying taxes: "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" If he says they should not pay taxes, he would be violating Roman law and they could use that to have him arrested. If he says they should pay taxes the people would not like the response because they all hated the Roman taxes and tax collectors. So Jesus gave a very careful, clever answer, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and give to God the things that are God's.

Next, the Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection, came and asked him another trick question, which was really meant to mock the idea of resurrection. Here is a simplified summary of their question:

A woman's husband dies before they have any children. She remarries and that husband also dies before they have any children. This happens seven times. After the resurrection, when they are all raised from the dead, which one of them will be her husband?

Jesus answers, "You are mistaken, because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God. After the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."

Next, they send a lawyer, an expert in the Law of Moses, to ask him a question: "Which commandment in the Law of Moses is the greatest?" Jesus gives an answer that summarizes the Law completely and perfectly:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

Now Jesus turns the tables and asks them a question: "What do you think about the Christ [Messiah, anointed one]? Whose son is he?

They know what their scripture says, so they answer: "The son [descendant] of David."

Jesus asks them a couple of  followup questions using Psalm 110:1

• Then how does David in the Spirit call him 'Lord', saying, 'the LORD said to my Lord, "sit and my right hand, until I put your enemies beneath your feet"'? 
• If David calls him 'Lord", how can he be his son?

The Pharisees were not able to answer the question without contradicting their cultural and religious beliefs.

Explanation

In order to understand what Jesus did here, we need to understand some cultural beliefs of the time.

• A father was always considered to be greater than a son.
• A descendant many generations later was still considered to be a "son".
• They believed that Psalm 110 was speaking of the coming Messiah King.
• They saw in their scripture that the coming Messiah (anointed one) would be a great human ruler
• They missed the part in their scripture about the Messiah being the "Son of God".

They were unable to answer Jesus because they could not accept that the one David was speaking about was more than just a man. In their minds, David would never have called this person "Lord" (master) if he were just a human descendant.

Psalm 110 and Jesus

In this Psalm, God says two things to the person who is the subject of the Psalm. First, he says:

"The LORD (Jehovah God) said to my Lord (master): Sit at my right hand..."

• David acknowledged that this person was greater than himself.
• To sit at the right hand of God means being equal to God.
• Then in verses 2 and 3 this person is described as being a ruler or king.

About fifty days after Jesus' resurrection Peter was speaking about Jesus to a large crowd in Jerusalem. He spoke about his crucifixion and his resurrection, and then he said Jesus had been exalted to the "right hand of God". Peter quotes Psalm 110:1 and then says, "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ."  (Acts 2:36)

The second thing God says about this person is this:

"You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."

• In the Jewish mind, it would be unusual, even unacceptable, for the same person to be both priest and king.

Jesus, descendant of David and Son of God, uniquely fits the description of the person in Psalm 110. He completed the role of the priest once and for all by humbling himself and sacrificing his life for us, he has been raised from the dead, and he is now at the right hand of God ruling over his spiritual kingdom.

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This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

ebook isbn 978-0-525-65326-4