There was approximately 500 years between the last writings
of the Old Testament and the birth of John the baptist and Jesus
Christ. The following outline is in part taken from a writing by
Leon J. Davis in 1960.
The great Persian Empire was used by God to restore the
chastened Jews to their home land and to help them re-establish
their old way of life. The Jews were ruled by high priests, who
acted under the Syrian governors who had annexed Palestine. These
priests were both spiritual and civil heads of state. An assembly
of leaders, called the Sanhedrin, advised the priests and checked
his power.
In religious life, scribes replaced the prophets to guard
and recopy the sacred Scriptures. It was while in captivity that
the Jews started to assemble in small groups throughout the land
on the Sabbath day, in order to keep alive their religious
worship towards God. This was the start of the popular Synagogue
gathering custom that was firmly established as a part of the
religious practice by the time of the birth of John the baptist
and Jesus.
The Persian Empire under which the Jews were granted favor
to re-establish themselves in the land of promise, reached the
height of her power in about 500 B.C., but in time of her fifth
emperor, Nehemiah's Artaxerxes 1, she weakened.
The seat of power gradually changed from Asia to Europe, and
Greece became the world power.
In 334 B.C. Alexander the Great defeated the Persians.
Afterwards, he took possession of northern Africa and went on to
conquer Jerusalem. He treated the Jews well and encouraged them
to settle in new cities, particularly Alexandria, Egypt.
In 301 B.C., after Alexander's death and a time of civil
strife, four generals began to divide the empire. Palestine went
to a man named Ptolemy from Egypt, as did Libya and Arabia.
Another one of the four generals was Seleccus, who obtained Syria
and the Asian countries not given to Ptolemy. Hence, Seucid kings
were kings from Asia, and Ptolemy kings were from Africa.
The Palestinian Jews had their own priests as they had under
Persian domination, but now they had to pay tribute to the
Egyptian government. Ptolemy had brought many thousands of Jews
from palestine to Egypt and gave them religious freedom and full
citizenship rights. Greek culture prevailed there and Jews found
it difficult to maintain their separation.
In about 280 B.C. a group of Jewish scholars began to
translate the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, the common
language of the day, for the Jews in Alexandria and other places
were now speaking Greek. Seventy-two men did the translating; it
was to many a holy and supernatural event; each translation
produced the same words and phrases, which was seen by many to be
a miracle from God's guiding hand. It took 150 years to complete
the entire Old Testament and is called the Septuagint Version
today (translation of the seventy).
During these centuries from the return of the Jews to
Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah and the Ptolemy kings there
arose two distinct religious parties among the Jews. They were
the Sadducees, who mainly came from the higher class
intellectuals and sophisticated members of the Jewish people.
Some claimed they were descendants of the priests of Moses' time.
The Sadducees did for most of the time, right down to the
days of christ, govern the physical aspects of the Temple in
Jerusalem. The other part of religious leaders were called the
Pharisees. They were religious leaders from mainly the common
people. They were very orthodox and as time went on they added
hundreds of laws to the basic laws of the Old Testament. By the
time of Christ they taught that it was unholy and sin to break
even all these hundreds of added laws. It was these religious
leaders that governed the Sabbath services in the local
synagogues throughout the land of Palestine.
The famous Jerusalem Sanhedrin (a governing body of men that
set the announcement of the new month day, as well as other
religious and none-religious matters for the Jews), by the time
of Christ consisted of men from both the Sadducean and Pharisean
parts, as well as elders (men who had gained local respect as
older wise men of the community) from the Jewish population.
In 204 B.C. the last strong Ptolemy ruler died and their
rival, the Selucid kings began to control Palestine. It was
Antiochus the Great that took Palestine from a weak king of
Egypt. His son, Antichus 1, wanted to make a great empire for
himself. His goal was to destroy the Jewish religion and its
teaching that they had the One true God and His true religion. In
Palestine he replaced spiritual priests with unspiritual ones; he
outlawed Judaism, desecrated the temple, abolished worship of the
Jewish God, and set up pagan worship with its sacrilege and
immorality. Further, in 168 B.C. he forced the Jews to sacrifice
on heathen altars to heathen gods.
The Jews eventually rose up and prepared to oppose the
decrees of this king. Mattahias, an aged priest objected and
killed a Syrian officer. His son, Judas Maccabeus, became the
Jewish military leader and organized people to oppose and fight
what they considered an evil and satanic government. Thousands of
Jews were killed in the ensuing conflict, including Judas
himself. His two brothers, Jonathan and Simon led the fight to
bring political and religious independence and freedom back to
the Jews.
The Jews began to make alliance with Rome at this time, to
help guarantee its independence. By December 25, 164 B.C. the
Jews had cleansed and re-dedicated the Temple.
Civil war broke out in Palestine led by two opposing
brothers. One brother, Aristobolus, who was in power in
Jerusalem, was planning to lead a revolt against Rome. Pompey, a
great Roman military leader. quickly besieged Jerusalem in 63
B.C. and took it over; 12,000 Jews were killed. Pompey made the
other brother, Hyracanus, the governor of Palestine and required
him to pay annual tribute or taxes, a certain amount of money to
him each year.
A man named Herod reigned from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. over
Jerusalem and Palestine. It was this man that was responsible for
the orders to kill the Bethlehem children, as he wanted Jesus the
baby to die. All this and the reason why we shall see later as we
go through the birth of Jesus Christ.
In 20 B.C. this man Herod began to rebuild the Temple at
Jerusalem, partly to please the Jews and partly for his own
glory.
END QUOTE FROM DAVIS For the Gospels I used "A HARMONY of the GOSPELS" by Ralph Daniel Heim [1947]
ANNOUNCEMENT to Zacharias --BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
In the days of Herod, the king of Judea, one of the priests
serving in the Temple at Jerusalem was a man called Zacharias and
his wife was called Elizabeth. They were both very dedicated to
the work of God and were righteous in the eyes of the Lord. They
lived and walked in all the commandments of God blameless. This
does not mean they never sinned or made mistakes in their life,
for all human beings make mistakes at times. But their attitude
of wanting to walk humbly with God and to keep His commandments
meant that God forgave them their mistakes, remembered not their
mistakes and so were in His eyes blameless.
This priest and his wife had no children, and now as they
were getting very old, it certainly looked like they would never
have any children. They had given up hope of ever expecting to
have any children (Luke 1:5-7). But one day while he was doing
his priestly work in the Temple, and the people were praying
outside, an angel from the Lord appeared to him. He was very
fearful and became troubled as to what this was all about.
The angel said to him, "Fear not Zacharias for your prayer
has been heard by God, and your wife Elizabeth shall have a
child, a male child, and you shall call him John. You both shall
have joy and gladness, and many others will rejoice at his birth.
For he shall be great in the eyes of the Lord. He shall be filled
with the Holy Spirit, even from the time he is within his
mother's stomach, before he is born. He shall help bring many of
the children of Israel to walk in the ways of God, and shall
speak as the prophet Elijah, with the same attitude of mind and
power of life. At his preaching many people will be brought
together to acknowledge what are the true values of life and
family. Those many shall turn to the wisdom of the righteous and
so a people will be prepared for the Lord to work with" (Luke
1:13-17).
The promise that this man John would come in the spirit and
power of Elijah had been a promise and prophecy from the Lord
hundreds of years before. The prophet Malachi (the last book of
the Old Testament in most Bibles bears the name of this prophet
Malachi) wrote about a man that would come in the likeness of the
famous Elijah. Jesus Himself also reaffirmed that John fulfilled
this Elijah prophecy in Matthew 17, which we shall come to later.
Zacharias wanted to believe what the angel had said. Oh, how
his wife and he had wanted a son, so he really did want to
believe the angel, yet Zacharias was a human man and he knew that
both he and his wife were very old, and he knew his wife was
passed the years of being able to have a child. So he asked the
angel how he might know that this miracle would take place.
"I am Gabriel, that stands in the very presence of God,"
said the angel, "and I have been sent to speak to you this truth
and give you this good news. But if you need to have a sign, then
this is what it shall be." The angel Gabriel continued to say,
"You shall loose your voice and shall not be able to speak until
the child is born, because you have doubted that which the Lord
has promised to you and your wife" (Luke 1:18-20).
The appearance of the angel to Zacharias took some time, and
so his stay inside the Temple was longer than usual, and the
people outside knew that he was taking longer to fulfil his
priestly duties. They marvelled at how long he was within the
Temple. When he did come out they soon realized he could not
speak to them, and by the look on his face and by his hand
gestures they knew he had seen a miraculous vision of some sort
in the Temple.
Zacharias continued to serve his allotted time in the Temple
for that season of the year (the many priests took turns of a
certain number of days to work in the Temple, what the Bible
calls "order of his course" - Luke 1:8), and then returned home
to his wife.
It was not long after he returned home that his wife
Elizabeth got pregnant, and so was going to have a baby just as
the angel from the Lord had announced to Zacharias.
Elizabeth was overjoyed, yet she stayed around home for five
months, not telling anyone that she was going to have a child
(Luke 1:23-25).
..........................
To be continued
 chapter two
Announcement that Mary is to Bear God's Son
God the Father had promised and prophesied many times in different ages under the Old Testament period that one day He would send a Messiah Savior to earth to not only live a holy
sinless life, to show people the perfect ways of the Lord, but
also to die for the sins of every person who has ever lived. This
Savior would have to be more than just a human person as you and
I are, in order to be able to take upon Himself the sins
of every person. He would also have to be a part of God.
It was during the sixth month of Elizabeth carrying the baby
John that God the Father would start to fulfil those many Old
Testament prophecies concerning the one to come who would be a
part of Himself, would be His very own Son, yet born of a
physical woman, and in that way this Messiah would be both of the
human family and the God family. It would all come about in such
a manner that it would be a miracle never done before nor again
after.
The angelic messenger Gabriel was sent to a town in the
district of Galilee in Palestine, called Nazareth. He was to go
to the cousin of Elizabeth, to a young lady called Mary, who was
to be married to a man named Joseph. She had never been married,
and had never slept with a man, so she was what we call a virgin.
Gabriel came to her and said, "Hello Mary. You are highly
favored, and the Lord God is with you. You are very blessed among
women."
When Mary saw the angel Gabriel she was troubled and
perplexed. She wondered in her mind what these words from Gabriel
meant. The angel could see that she was troubled by the words he
spoke and went on to explain to her why God had favored her
and what the blessing would be that she would receive.
"Fear not and be not upset Mary, for you have truly found
favor with God. You shall become pregnant, have a baby growing
inside of you, in your womb. The baby shall be a male child, and
you shall call him Jesus (meaning Savior, someone who saves
others). He shall be great, and shall also be called the Son of
the Most High. The Lord God shall give unto Him one day the
throne of the ancient king David, whom you are descended from,
and shall reign over the people of Jacob for ever. And of His
Kingdom there shall never be an end."
We have seen from the Bible Story of the Old Testament that
Jacob was the father of 12 sons who became, through their
descendants, the 12 tribes of Israel. David was later the second
and most famous king of Israel. God had promised to him that his
throne, his line of children, would always exist. And the most
famous and by far the greatest of his line of children would be
this promised Messiah Savior, whom today most of the world knows
as Jesus Christ. To this Jesus, God the Father had also promised
Him the throne of king David and a Kingdom that would never end.
There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that confirm these
two important promises to be given to Jesus one day. Those two
promises were never realized or fulfilled in the physical life
time of Jesus, but they still stand, yet to be given to Him
sometime in the future.
Mary was now even more puzzled at all these words from
Gabriel, telling him that she could not understand how this could
come about, becoming pregnant with a child, for she was not
married and had never slept with any man.
Gabriel answered her, and explained more, "The Holy Spirit,
the very nature and power of God shall come upon you, work a
miracle in your body, and you shall become pregnant with a holy
child. This child shall not be from a physical man but a child
from God, so He shall be called the Son of God."
The angel wanted Mary to know that for God there was nothing
He could not do, and so went on to say, "Your cousin Elizabeth is
very old, passed the years of normally being able to have a
child, yet she is also pregnant with a baby, and this is the
sixth month of her pregnancy. So you see, with God there is
nothing that is impossible for Him to do."
Mary being a godly and faithful woman, now had trust and
assurance in her heart that what Gabriel had told her would
indeed come to pass, and be fulfilled just as God had said. She
was happy and delighted to be the one whom the Lord God had
chosen to bear His Son. She told the angel this and Gabriel then
departed from her (Luke 1:26-38).
What a blessing indeed this was for Mary. I'm sure she must
have been stunned and speechless for a few days, as she meditated
and thought about these words from the angel Gabriel. God the
Father would need a woman of outstanding service, loyalty,
and spiritual dedication, to be the mother of His Son. Someone
who would care and protect and guide His son in every physical
and spiritual way. What an honor indeed to be the woman chosen by
God to undertake this service and duty.
The honor is even more when we consider the very possible
age of Mary when she would become the mother of the Son of the
Most High. The Jewish society back then was much different than
most of our nations of the western world today. It was the
general practice and custom of the Jews in those days to marry
very young. In fact it was looked upon as a family disgrace if
the son was not married by age eighteen. And the young girls, or
ladies of the family were often only in their middle teenage
years when they married. So it is very probable that Mary was not
yet out of her teens when Gabriel came to her with the wonderful
news that she was the woman chosen by God to bear His son Jesus.
Mary must have truly been a wonderfully serious and
dedicated woman in the ways of the Lord, living and loving Him
with all of her heart, all of her life, and all of her mind.
MARY GOES TO VISIT ELIZABETH
After the wonderment of all this had finally sunk into the
mind of Mary, she was all excited and quickly wanted to visit
Elizabeth her cousin. With speed she headed for the hill country
of Judea and entered the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth.
As Mary entered the home and called out the usual greetings
of those times and culture of Jewish society, the baby John in
Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy and Elizabeth was filled even
more with the Holy Spirit, being inspired to know that Mary was
carrying in her womb the very Lord Messiah. With a loud and
electrifying voice Elizabeth exclaimed, "Blessed are you among
women Mary, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. What an honor
to have the mother of my Lord come to visit me, for as soon as
your voice was heard in this house, greeting us, the babe in my
womb leaped for joy. And what a blessing that you believed what
was told you from the Lord God."
In passing we can note here that the reaction of baby John
in Elizabeth's womb, to the entering of Mary into the house, and
the baby Jesus in her womb, shows that babies not yet born but
still inside the mother's stomach, are little persons, who can
have feelings and reactions of their own, independent from the
mother. They are small living persons not just a kind of
nothingness mass of bones, blood, and skin, that people can
kill and tear out of their body at the pleasure of their own
heart and mind, as if it is a bothersome sore or pimple to get
rid of.
Mary was also inspired by all this, and burst out in praise
to God with these words, "My life does praise the Lord, and my
mind does rejoice in God my Savior. For he has looked down upon
His handmaid, and all generations will know I am blessed. He that
is mighty has done great things in my life and body. He is truly
Holy, and His mercy and love is indeed upon them that
respectfully fear Him, from generation to generation. He
can put down those who are proud and mighty in their own eyes,
and exalt and set on high those of humble attitude of mind.
Those who are hungry for good righteous things He fills, and
those who think they are rich in knowledge He gives none of His
truths to. He has been faithful with the promises He gave to
Israel, and remembers His mercy that He said He would give to our
fathers, to Abraham, and to his descendants forever."
Here we see some of the mindset attitude of this young lady
Mary. An attitude of humbleness and a willingness to be filled
with the true ways, the good ways of the Lord God. She was even
as a young woman, a fine example of what a servant and child of
God should be.
And Mary stayed in the home of Elizabeth for about three
months and then returned to her own household (Luke 1:39-56).
THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JOHN
At last the nine month period of pregnancy for Elizabeth had
come to an end and it was time to bring forth her boy into the
world for all to see. All went well in her delivery and many of
her neighbors and cousins rejoiced with her, knowing that God had
performed great mercy towards her in her old age by giving her
and Zacharias a son.
As was the law of God, the parents came on the eighth day to
circumcise the child. And as was also the common custom of the
day, the child was going to be given the name of his father. He
was going to be called Zacharias. But his mother protested and
said, "No, he is not to be called Zacharias, but he is to be
called John."
The people around were taken a back by this, for there was
not one in the immediate descent of the family that was called by
the name of John, and calling a child by a name that none in the
family was called was just not done in those days. The people
looked at Zacharias, making signs to him with their hands, for as
yet Zacharias could still not speak. They wanted to know what he
had to say on this matter of the naming of the
child.
Zacharias asked for a writing tablet which was brought to
him. He wrote, "His name shall be called John." Everyone just
marvelled at this whole thing. It was not the way it was usually
done.
As soon as Zacharias wrote those words God performed another
miracle, as He immediately gave him his voice back, which he
used right away to praise God.
You can imagine the scene. Many were there who were there
when Zacharias came out of the Temple about nine months earlier
not able to speak, and now when Zacharias officially named the
baby with the name of John (according as Gabriel the angel had
said he was to be named nine months earlier), his voice was
restored to him and he could speak once again. A fear of God came
upon all that stood there, and what had taken place was told to
others all over the hill country of Judea.
People that heard all this began to wonder and think about
what this child John would do in his life time. They knew
something special was to become of this child.
Indeed it was to be so, and the hand of the Lord was with
John, for the Lord did have a special work for him to perform
later in his life.
God inspired Zacharias at that time to speak forth that
which was the overall teaching and promises of the Lord by the
holy prophets from the Old Testament.
"Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has come to
visit and to redeem His people, and has raised up salvation for
us in the house of His servant David, as was spoken by His holy
prophets from old time. That we should be saved from our enemies,
and from those who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to us
from the time of our ancient fathers, to remember His covenant
and the oath which He swore to our father Abraham. To grant us
deliverance from our enemies, so we could serve Him without fear.
To serve Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our
life."
As we read these words spoken by Zacharias we could be
puzzled by them somewhat. For, even today, two thousand years
later, the Jews are not delivered from their enemies and from
those who hate them. Over in the land of Palestine there is still
much trouble, fighting, killing, and hate going on between the
Jews, the Arabs, and the Palestinians.
Yes, God had given a promise, a covenant, and swore by an
oath to people like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the great fathers
of the Jews and people of Israel) that one day the children of
Israel would be fully and completely delivered from their enemies
to serve God in holiness and righteousness, without any fear of
being persecuted or killed. Many of the prophets of the Old
Testament have so written also. God will in His time bring all
those promised to pass. The ancient prophets show that the
literal fulfillment of those promises and of what Zacharias was
saying, will not take place until Jesus the Messiah comes again
in power and glory to set up the Kingdom of God on earth. Then
the people of Israel will be delivered from the fear of hate and
killing that often comes from their enemies.
So how are we then to understand these words of Zacharias in
the context of the birth of this man-child John?
We are to understand them in a "spiritual" sense, that the
time had come for God to work a wonderful work of salvation in
many of the lives of the Jews and people of Israel. Many were to
be delivered from all the mental and emotional sorrow of the
mind, from the inner fear of the heart. They would find
deliverance from sin and guilt, so they could live with peace in
their mind, to serve God in holiness and righteousness.
This understanding is clearly what Zacharias wanted to
convey to the people there at that time and to us today, as we
read the remaining words that he spoke.
"And you child (referring to John) shall be known as the
prophet of the Most High; for you shall go before the Lord (Jesus
the Messiah) to prepare His ways. To give the knowledge of
salvation to His people, the forgiveness of their sins, through
the loving mercies of our God. When the day them comes from on
high to give light to those who are in darkness and in the shadow
of death. To then guide our feet into the way of peace."
Ah yes, the wonderful promised time had arrived when God the
Father was about to fulfil the sending of His Son to earth to
take upon Himself the sins of the whole world, so His mercy could
be given to all those who would be called to receive it. So many
in Israel and in all other nations could find the forgiveness of
their sins, and be guided into the way of salvation and peace of
heart and mind.
In this plan of God, it had been decreed that a human man
would go before the coming of the Messiah Savior, to preach
repentance and forgiveness of sins to all who would listen. To
prepare the hearts of some for the coming of the Son of God, and
the true spiritual deliverance He would bring. This prophet of
the Lord God to go before the Messiah Jesus, was to be this child
called John.
And so it came about as we have just read. And this child
John grew and became strong in his mind for the truths and the
ways of the Almighty God. And he lived most of his life in the
outdoors and the wilderness, until the day came to go forth to
preach and teach the word of God to the people.
.............................
Chapters one and two written November 2000
To be continued  Chapter Three:
An Angel Comes to Joseph
 Mary was engaged to be married to a man called Joseph, who
was from the descent of the famous king David we can read about
in the Old Testament. As we read the account in the Gospel of
Matthew chapter one, it also says that Joseph was Mary's
"husband" and Mary was his "wife" but also that Mary was engaged
to Joseph, which means to us in the western world that she was
not yet Joseph's wife, only engaged or promised to him as to be
his wife one day. This all seems contradictory and hard to
understand. The truth of the matter all comes clear when we
understand the laws and customs of marriage in the Jewish society
of Joseph's and Mary's day.
The marriage customs of those days in Jewish life were very
different from our customs today. When a couple were engaged or
promised in marriage to each other, unlike our custom, they were
not only looked upon as married (but not yet performing a wedding
day ceremony and living together in the same house and sleeping
together in the same bed), but if the man should die before they
came together on the wedding day and started to live together
after that day, then the woman was looked upon and even called a
"widow."
The engagement of two people back in those days among the
Jews was a lawful marriage. If the man for some reason wanted to
break the engagement and not have a wedding day and not want to
live with the woman, he was obliged to have to give her an
official divorce, written on paper.
So, under Jewish law in those times, an engaged couple were
also officially and legally looked upon as "husband" and "wife"
to each other. It was often many months later that the actual
wedding day occurred, which was often not just a day but a week
(seven days in length) of celebrations.
Although they were legally husband and wife during the
engagement period, the man and woman did not come together to
sleep in the same bed and live in the same house, until the
wedding day.
This may all seem very odd to us today, but that was the way
couples were married back then in the Jewish society of those
days.
With that background we can now understand the words of
Matthew when he
wrote:
" ....Mary had been betrothed (or engaged) to Joseph, before
they came together she was found to be with child (pregnant,
carrying a baby inside her) of the Holy Spirit (Joseph had no
idea it was a miracle from God, but thought Mary had slept with
another man, and was pregnant from him). And her husband Joseph,
(being kind and merciful) a righteous man, was unwilling to put
her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly (Mat.1:18-19).
It was also within the laws of the Jews that if a woman was
unfaithful to her husband, she could be publicly announced as
breaking the 7th of the great Ten Commandments of the Lord, as
found in Exodus 20. Under the Old Covenant such a woman could be
put to death by stoning. All of that would certainly have "put
her to shame."
It was also a point of the old laws of Moses under the Old
Testament, to be merciful at times. Many forgot that part of the
writings of the Old Testament, but Joseph being a righteous and
just man, a man who knew all the teachings of the Old Testament,
had not forgotten those laws and precepts of showing kindness and
mercy, and was determined to act with mercy towards Mary. He
would divorce her with no public declaration and humiliating
commotion or hullabaloo, but in a quiet and private way.
As Joseph was thinking Mary was pregnant from another man,
and considering he would then divorce her, an angel from the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said:
"Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife
and have your wedding day and live with her, for that which is
conceived in her womb is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son,
and you shall name Him Jesus (meaning, to save) for He will save
many of His people from their sins. All this is in fulfillment of
what God has spoken through the prophets of old: ' Behold, a
virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be
called Immanuel (which means, God with us) " (Matthew 1: 20-23).
This prophecy is found in the book of Isaiah, chapter seven
and verse fourteen.
Joseph woke from his dream and knew that the Lord God had
spoken the truth to him about the situation with Mary and her
being with child, not from another human man but from God
Himself. So with faith and confidence he did as the angel
commanded and went ahead with the planned wedding day and living
with Mary his wife. But until after the baby Jesus was born he
did not sleep with Mary nor have sexual relations with her
(Mat.1: 24,25).
JESUS IS BORN AT BETHLEHEM
In those days when Mary was carrying the baby Jesus, the
Jews were under the domain and governing authority of the mighty
Roman Empire and the great Caesar Augustus. He was the Emperor
or what today might be called the President (if living in such a
country as the United Stated of America). His first name was
Octavianus. He was nephew of the very famous Julius Caesar of
Roman Empire history. He obtained the rulership of the Empire
after Julius' death. He took the name Augustus (meaning honorable
or mighty) as a compliment to his own greatness in his eyes. And
it is from him that we get our month in the Roman calendar called
August, which before him was called Sextilis. He thought he was
so great that a month in the Roman calendar should be named after
himself.
During the months Mary was pregnant, Caesar Augustus sent
forth a commandment that all the Jews in Palestine should be
enrolled. In some old translations of the English language of the
New Testament, it is given as a commandment to be "taxed." To us
today we think of "tax" as money given by the people of a nation
to the government of that nation, so that government can use it
to do certain things with, such as running the public school
systems or paying the wages for the police or firemen. But
in the original language of Greek that the New Testament was
written in, that is not the meaning.
It means rather, to "enroll" or to take a list of the
citizens with their employment, the amount of their property,
etc., equivalent or the same as to what we mean today by
taking a "census" which most nations do from time to time. As
most adults know, in a "census taking" the nation will often ask
many questions, some get so personal that many people are
offended by it all, and think the government is getting too nosey
in people's lives and business affairs.
Well, whatever else this enrollment was all about, Caesar
Augustus demanded the male heads of households go to their
original home city of their family tree line. Joseph then had to
travel to Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, because he was from the
family line of king David, who was from Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16).
In talking about this enrollment, Luke, the author of the
Gospel that bears his name, uses a phrase that we need to always
keep and understand within its context. He says, "Caesar Augustus
decreed that 'the whole world' should be enrolled."
The clear fact is, as proven from historical sources, that
of course people living in China, North or South America, people
on the African continent, or in India, as well as many other
parts of the whole earth at the time, did not come to Palestine,
to be "enrolled."
This was a decree and commandment for the Jews of Palestine
only. Such a phrase as used by Luke, in a specific context use,
really means "all the people of the land." The land being that
of Palestine, or the Jews within the lands of the Roman empire.
So all the male heads of household went to the town of their
family descent to be counted and enrolled (Luke 2: 1-4).
As we continue to read in the account by Luke, we see that
Joseph took Mary with him from Nazareth in the area of Galilee,
to Bethlehem near Jerusalem, not a short distance. Mary was in
her ninth month of pregnancy, very close to giving birth to the
child Jesus. There were no quick ways to travel in those days. No
airplanes, no buses, or trains, or cars. Travel in those times on
land, for people such as Joseph and Mary was either by foot or on
donkey. Mary did not need to go with Joseph to be enrolled under
Augustus' command. So why then did Joseph take Mary all that way
to Bethlehem?
The answer probably lies, as many have seen, in two main
areas. The time of the year together with Jewish religious
festival practices, and of course the will and prophecies that
the Lord God had given in the Old Testament prophets about where
the child Jesus would be born, in the town of Bethlehem (see
Micah 5: 2).
Going back to the first reason mentioned (Jewish religious
festival practices), many Bible scholars and those who study
Bible chronology (putting events into time frames of the year or
years all events were within) have seen that Jesus was not born
on December the twenty-fifth or even in the month of December.
They have come to see that Jesus was born around the great Jewish
feast of Tabernacles. They have come to see that it was certainly
during the fall Festival days of the seventh month on the Jewish
calendar (from about the time of the Feast of Trumpets to the end
of the Feast of Tabernacles, see Leviticus 23) that Jesus was
most likely born in Bethlehem. This would correspond to our
September/October months on our Roman calendar we use in most of
the western Christian world.
This being the case, as most Bible scholars now admit, then
it becomes clearer as to why Mary also went with Joseph to
Bethlehem near Jerusalem for this enrollment. Bethlehem was less
than a days walking distance from Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary
would also observe the great fall Festivals on the Jewish
calendar at the same time as Joseph would enroll in Bethlehem as
decreed by Caesar Augustus.
It was a long tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem
for both Joseph and Mary, but especially for Mary, yet they knew
this was God's child Mary was carrying, and they had faith the
Lord would protect and give them strength in this undertaking.
Joseph was wanting to give Mary a nice restful room and bed in
the local Inn or Hotel as we would call it today, with a soothing
hot bath and some good food prepared and cooked by the Hotel
staff. But, as it was the fall festival time, Jerusalem and the
surrounding towns were overflowing with people from all parts of
Palestine and even various far away places of the Roman empire
where many Jews had settled, and who travelled to Jerusalem to
observe the Feats of the Lord.
There was no room for them in any of the Inns in Bethlehem.
Desperate for any reasonable warm and dry place for Mary to rest,
Joseph asked if there was anyone who could offer any place for
them to stay.
"I'm sorry I have no room for you in my home, " said one
man, " My house is just jam packed with relatives, but....well
I'm kind of embarrassed to say it....I do have a stable. I know a
stable is a pretty poor substitute for a room in an Inn or home,
especially when your wife is close to giving birth, yet, it is
warm and dry. You are welcome to bed down there, if you cannot
find a room in a house somewhere."
"Thank you kindly," replied Joseph, "yes, we will take your
offer as it seems there is no room anywhere in any Inn or home in
Bethlehem. And my wife needs to lie down and rest even if it is
on a bed of straw. The warmth and dryness will be appreciated."
So with smiles and thankful hearts Joseph and Mary made
their way to the strangers stable of hospitality.
And while they were there the time came for Mary to give
birth to the baby Jesus. This would be Mary's firstborn son as
Luke recorded, for she and Joseph did have more children later on
as they lived a normal life as husband and wife.
Among the lowly stable animals, no relatives or friends of
Joseph and Mary being there with them, the Son of God came into
this world as a human being. It was no fancy home, or large
richly decorated and furnished palace that Jesus was born in and
breathed His first breath of air. It was in an animal stable
where He was born, maybe dry and warm but an animal stable never
the less.
The Son of God, the King of kings, the one to rule and
govern this whole earth one day, was born in a straw laden stable
among a bunch of animals. Now that is a lesson in humbleness if
there ever was one. And that is taking greatness and still being
down to earth with it. Greatness does not have to be surrounded
with pomp and material splendor. Greatness is what you are with
God and how you serve Him and your fellow mankind. And as we
shall see the baby Jesus grew up to be the greatest of any human
in both of those areas of life, setting us the perfect example.
There was no splendid hospital bed or crib for God's Son.
Mary took Him and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, a blanket or
whatever cloths she and Joseph had brought with them from
Nazareth, and laid Him in a manger, the part of the stable where
the hay and other foods for horses and donkeys are put for them
to eat from.
But the God of heaven was not about to let the birth of His
Son go completely without notice and praise from at least a few.
Oh, it was not going to be announced on worldwide TV or make
headlines in every newspaper in all nations of the world. He was
not going to send millions of angels flying around the earth to
announce the birth of His Son to all peoples on earth, which He
could have done.
Yet He would send an angel to let a few people know about
this miracle birth.
AN ANGEL SENT TO NEARBY SHEPHERDS
Yes, sent to shepherds, not to some wealthy, famous, or
powerful people at all, but to common everyday shepherds watching
over their flocks out in the field, as the Gospel of Luke
records.
They were still at this time of the year out in the fields,
the flocks and the shepherds. This also proves the time of year
was not December, for it is too cold in Palestine in December to
still have the flocks of sheep out in the fields. The shepherds
bring their flocks in from the fields before the month of
December arrives.
"Look, what on earth is that up there in the sky?" shouted
one shepherd with excitement in his voice.
"I see something also," exclaimed another shepherd, "but I
must be going crazy. I have to be seeing things."
"Oh, it is something very terrible I think, " added yet a
third shepherd.
"We are all going to die," a fourth shepherd chimed in with
trembling in his voice.
A magnificent and exceedingly bright light shone all around
them. It was as if it was the sun shining in full strength on a
cloudless day. Great fear came sweeping into their hearts as they
all felt sure they had not long to live.
" Fear not, " said the angel, " for, behold I bring you good
news of wonderful joy, which shall be good for all people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is
Christ (meaning in the Greek language "anointed") the Lord. And
this shall be a sign for you; You shall find the babe wrapped in
everyday blankets, lying in a stable manger."
Suddenly, out of no where it seemed, the shepherds could see
that there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts,
praising God, and saying, " Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased."
God the Father took note of the day of His Son's birth. To
Him it was a very blessed day, for the potential that could arise
from the life of Jesus was like nothing that the whole universe
had ever experienced before. The potential of this one life, this
Immanuel life, this God with us in the flesh life, would mean
that many millions of others could one day reach the potential
that they were created for, to become very sons and daughters in
the family of God.
After the angels were gone from them back into heaven, the
shepherds busily talked among themselves and they all decided
they wanted to walk over to Bethlehem and to see for themselves
that which the Lord had made known to them. They went as quickly
as they could. We are not told how many stables, if more than
one, that there was in Bethlehem, or how long it took them to
find the correct stable, but we are told they did find it, where
Joseph and Mary were, and indeed found the babe Jesus lying in a
manger.
After seeing the factual truth of what the angels had said
to them, the shepherds immediately began telling others in
Bethlehem what the angels had told them about this new born
child, and many who heard all this kept the words in their heart
and mind, and wondered what it could all mean. Mary also was one
who never let anything slip out of her mind, but would ponder on
them often over the following years to come.
The shepherds returned finally to their jobs of watching
over sheep, but they returned glorifying and praising God for all
that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them
(Luke 2: 8-20).
.......................
Written November 2000
 Chapter Four:
Joseph & Mary Perform the Temple Rituals
 As prescribed in the laws of Moses in the Old Testament when
the eighth day arrived after the birth of the child Jesus, Joseph
and Mary made sure He was circumcised, and at that time the babe
was officially named "Jesus" (as we have seen, meaning, one who
saves), as the angel from the Lord had said to them that He
should be so named. Having a male child circumcised on the eighth
day was in accordance to Leviticus 12:1-3.
The laws of Moses further prescribed that if a woman gave
birth to a male child, she should continue in her body's blood
cleansing, the healing and restoring of her body back to a more
normal condition as when not carrying and giving birth to a baby,
for another 33 days. During that time she was not to come into
the Temple or Tabernacle to participate in the ritual religious
practices of Israel as given by God from the days of Moses.
This law is found in Leviticus 12:4.
Also in the laws of Moses for the people to observe was a
law that if the first child that a woman gave birth to, was a
male, then he was to be dedicated to the Lord. Originally he was
to be given to serve the Lord in the physical work of God in the
religious life of Israel, working in the Tabernacle. Then God
decided to have one tribe of Israel, the tribe of Levi, to do all
that work and be the priests to serve in the Temple. All this can
be seen from Exodus 13:1-2,12-16; 22: 29; Numbers 8:15-17.
The firstborn of males among the animals could not be
redeemed or bought back, but were to be offered in sacrifice to
the Lord (except for those born to unclean animals, as noted in
Numbers 18: 15). The firstborn of male children were to be
redeemed, by using other offerings, so they did not automatically
have to serve in the physical work of God.
The reason for all this is stated by God in Exodus 13:14-16.
It may seem a little strange to us today, but under the
circumstances as to how and what God did in order to bring the
people of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and slavery, to the
Israelites back in the days of Moses and for other generations to
come afterwards, it was a constant reminder of the miracle God
performed in delivering them from Egyptian domain and slavery.
As we have said, God then decided to take the males of the
tribe of Levi to serve in His physical work in the Tabernacle or
Temple, as we find in passages such as Numbers 3:11-13, 41, 44,
45; 8:13-22; 18: 6.
Joseph and Mary came then to the Temple in Jerusalem not
only to have the baby Jesus circumcised on the eighth day after
His birth, but came again to redeem and dedicate Him to the Lord,
after another 33 days had gone by. With that dedication they
offered a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons according as
it is written in the laws of the Lord, for those who were not
able to offer a lamb for whatever reasons. This was all allowed
for in the law of Leviticus 12: 8.
From this passage as written in the Gospel of Luke (chapter
2:21-24) we see that Joseph and Mary stayed in the area of
Jerusalem for at least 40 days and maybe longer, before they left
and returned to their own town of Nazareth in the region of
Galilee (note verse 39).
The wise men from the East had not yet come to pay respects
to the child Jesus. We shall see shortly that it was not till
after Joseph and Mary with the new born Son of God, had returned
to Nazareth, that the wise men arrived in search of the new child
to pay homage and present their gifts.
IN THE TEMPLE WITH SIMEON
Joseph and Mary had entered the Temple enclosure to perform
the ceremonial rites and sacrifices as ordained in the laws of
Moses. Unknown to them there was also another man within the
Temple grounds by the name of Simeon. He was a very devoutly
religious man, righteously following the ways of the Lord God,
and was looking for the comfort and salvation of Israel that God
had promised in the Old Testament Scriptures.
The Holy Spirit had been upon Simeon for a long time. In
fact so close to God was he and so dedicated to serving Him that
the Holy Spirit of the Lord had already revealed to him that he
was not going to die until he had seen with his eyes the very man
child that was the Son of God, the Lord's Christ or Messiah, the
Anointed One (Luke 2:25-27).
Simeon saw Joseph and Mary with the little babe Jesus and
through the revelation of the Holy Spirit guiding him, he knew
immediately that this baby was the Lord's Anointed One, the
Messiah.
His heart started to pound inside his chest, great joy and
excitement overwhelmed his mind, walking over to Joseph he
politely asked if he could hold the baby in his arms, and Joseph
replied that he could.
Simeon, taking the baby Jesus in his arms, and looking up to
heaven with praise, said, " Lord, now I am ready to die in
peace. You have fulfilled your promise towards me. I have seen
the Savior that you have brought into this world for salvation to
all people. He is the light to the nations, and is the glory of
your people Israel. "
Both Joseph and Mary, although they had seen and been told
many things by the angels sent to them, were still in some
amazement on hearing the words of Simeon.
Then under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Simeon blessed
them both. Afterwards he turned and looking more at Mary than
Joseph, said, " This child will be rejected by many in Israel,
and so it will be their undoing and loss. But He will be the
greatest joy to many others. The deepest thoughts and attitudes
of minds will be revealed. A sword of mental pain will pierce
your very life."
Mary would have seen how true and how drastically that
prophecy of Simeon came to pass as she later would have to suffer
the mental and emotional pain of seeing her firstborn, the Son of
God, put to death in a most horrible manner. But before trying to
relate that event in human words, there is much to recall and
expound to you about the life and the teachings of God's Messiah.
We shall come to how He died much later.
ANNA THE PROPHETESS
The Lord, in doing His work and proclaiming His truths,
would sometimes give a special spiritual gift to some women.
Those women could often see ahead of time, certain events that
were to happen. Sometimes God would give them a special message
that they were to tell His people about or pass on to other
leaders of His people. Then on the other hand the Eternal God
would just inspire them to preach His truths to others in a
dynamic way. These women are called "prophetesses" as a group, or
"prophetess" as a single person, in the pages of the Bible.
Such a prophetess there was in Jerusalem when Joseph and
Mary came to the Temple with the baby Jesus.
Her name was Anna. She came from the tribe of Asher. One of
a few (from the 10 northern tribes of Israel, known as the House
of Israel in the books of Kings and Chronicles and in the
prophetic books from Isaiah to Malachi) who escaped the captivity
under the Assyrian armies that progressively took the northern
Kingdom of Israel into captivity from about 745 to 718 B.C.
Some of the northern people of the House of Israel fled to the
south and became a part of the Kingdom of Judah. The ancestors
of Anna were some of those who came to live in Judea. She was the
daughter of Phanuel, but nothing is recorded about him in the New
Testament, except he was of the tribe of Asher.
Anna, it is recorded was of "great age." She had been
married to a husband for seven years from the time of her
virginity, which is another way of saying from the day of her
wedding and marriage. Somehow she lost her husband, but we are
not told under what circumstances she lost him and became a
widow. The word "widow" is given to a lady who was married but
lost her husband in some way.
As we have seen, most young women in the Jewish society of
that time, were married in their teenage years, often in their
middle teens. If this was the case with Anna, then she may have
been around the age of twenty-two or twenty-four when she lost
her husband.
The Greek in Luke 2:37 can be understood as saying she had
been a widow for eighty-four years, or, being a widow she was now
eighty-four years old. If the first understanding be the correct
one then Anna could have been over one hundred years old. This is
not out of the question, for an increasing number of people today
in North America are living to be over a hundred years of age.
If the second understanding is the correct one, we can still see
that the age of eighty-four could be termed "great age"
especially to younger people and children who have not yet even
become adults.
It is stated by Luke that at this old age Anna did not
depart from the Temple, probably meaning that it was her daily
way of life to be in the Temple each day. She was in constant
worship to the Lord with fastings and prayers night and day,
which is again a way of saying that she had dedicated her life to
doing lots of fasting (missing meals during the week) and
spending much of her day and evenings in prayer.
She must have been in fine physical strength to live this
kind of life style, most of us feel pretty weak in the knees
after missing just one meal now and again. Well, I'm sure
she was given strength from the Almighty to dedicate herself in
this manner as she served Him as one of His prophetesses.
Anna, coming into the Temple when Joseph and Mary were there
with Jesus, instantly knew that this baby was God's Anointed One,
the promised Messiah. She immediately started to praise the Lord
God. And Luke also records another very important job that Anna
then performed. She went out and shared the good news of the man
child that would bring saving redemption and salvation to the
people of Jerusalem and others from around the world.
Luke records that Anna, "spoke of Him to all who were
looking for the redemption of Jerusalem." This tells us a few
things we need to take note of. Anna did not necessarily go up
and down the streets of Jerusalem knocking on every door of every
house, to preach God's truth to them. She spoke of this Jesus the
Messiah to all that were of the mind of God and who were looking
for the redeeming Savior that God had promised was to come. She
was speaking in a personal way to people who were spiritually
minded about the things of God.
And this example also shows us that if there are times when
God works with us in a special way, in clearly revealing His will
and way and promises to us, then we should get excited and
enthusiastic, and share it with other members of the Church of
God, or those looking for and desiring to know the word of the
Lord.
When Joseph and Mary had performed all the laws of Moses,
which were the laws of God given under the leadership of Moses,
it is said that they returned into Galilee, to their own city of
Nazareth. We have seen this was at least 40 days after the birth
of Jesus. Up to this time the wise men from the East had not yet
arrived in Jerusalem. Indeed they would come from the East to
inquire of Herod the king where this Christ child was, but not
till after Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had returned to Nazareth.
They did not find the infant that was born to be King of
kings and Lord of lords in a stable as did the shepherds. All
this we shall see in chapter five.
Luke finished this part of his Gospel by telling us that
Jesus, while in Nazareth growing up, grew in physical health and
strength, that He was filled with wisdom, and the favor and grace
of God was upon Him (Luke 2: 36-40).
................................
Written November 2000
 Chapter Five:
Eastern Wise Men Come to Jerusalem
 It was Matthew (who was the author of the Gospel that bears
his name) who was inspired to record for us the coming of the
wise men from the East to Jerusalem to inquire about the one born
to be king of the Jews.
We do not know from where they came in the East, some have
speculated from which nations or nation they may have come from,
but there is nothing in the Bible or secular history that shows
in any certain manner where in the East these wise men made
their homes.
Nor do we know how many wise men there were. Just because
three gifts are mentioned that they finally present to Joseph and
Mary and Jesus, does not prove that it was three wise men only,
it may have been more.
They arrived in Jerusalem asking where this child, that they
understood to be born to be a king, was to be found. They had
come to worship him they said, and they told people they had seen
this King's star in the East.
We now have a question as to what was this "star" that they
saw. A few have written technical studies trying to show at that
time in history there was a great physical "star" phenomenon in
the heavenly sky over the East and over Palestine. It may be hard
to understand how a physical star in the heavens could eventually
come and rest over the dwelling place where Jesus lived, as
Matthew records. But it may be possible if you as skilled in the
movements of the stars in the heavens and if God had sent a
special meteor type star to guide them to the Christ child.
On the other hand the first chapters of the book of
Revelation use the word "star" to represent "angels" of the
Lord.
Could it have been that God sent an angel, which to the wise
men looked like a star in the sky, to guide them to the very
place where Jesus was now living? Yes, it could be possible that
is how the Lord God did it.
Either way, we know God's guiding hand was in all of this,
to bring the wise men from the East to worship this new born king
that was named Jesus. And further, the wise men must have had
some earlier knowledge from some source that a special king was
to be born in the region of Jerusalem, in Palestine. It may have
been possible that they had copies of the Hebrew Old Testament as
we call it today. The Jews had been in captivity in Babylon and
many did not return to Palestine with Ezra and Nehemiah about
five hundred years earlier, but chose to live in other parts of
the known world. Some may have gone further east and taken their
Holy Scriptures with them. Hence, others coming into contact with
those Jews could have had access to God's known word of that
time. They could have read and understood the prophecies
concerning the human birth of the Messiah and the area of the
world He was to be born in.
Part of why they were called "wise men" by Matthew may have
been because they were wise in the understanding of the Old
Testament Scriptures.
Well, these men from the East arrived in Jerusalem asking
about this child born to be king, and when the one who was ruling
as king over Judea, Herod the king as he was called, heard this
questioning from these men, he was naturally very troubled,
upset, and not a little disconcerted. He thought his power and
might and authority was going to be challenged and ripped away
from him, by someone who was to grow up and lead the Jews in
revolt against himself. All Jerusalem, Matthew states, was also
troubled by the questions from these men of the East. So troubled
was Herod that he called for the Jewish chief priests and scribes
(kind of lawyers of the day) to inquire of them where their
Scriptures said this Christ was to be born. They told him that
the town of Bethlehem was the place that the prophets of old had
said He was to be born or to come from. This was foretold by the
prophet Micah. We can see that prophecy in the book that is
called after him, chapter five and verse two. The prophecy reads:
"And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art by no means
least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler
who will govern my people Israel; whose going forth and living
have been from old, from everlasting (or as the Hebrew can read,
the days of eternity)."
This also shows us why Isaiah said the Jesus child would
also be Immanuel, which word means "God with us." For He existed
as God, a member of the Godhead or family of God before His human
birth. He truly was from the days of eternity. The first chapter
of the Gospel of John also bears witness to this truth, that the
one we know as Jesus existed as God yet with God (the one we now
call the Father) before He came to earth to be born of a woman
called Mary (Matthew 2: 1-6).
Maybe you, or your parents reading this to you, would like
to stop here for a moment, and read the first part of the first
chapter of the Gospel of John.
HEROD SECRETLY TALKS TO THE WISE MEN
Herod was a cunning and crafty king. He sent for the wise
men by secret and brought them to himself without anyone in
Jerusalem knowing. He wanted to ascertain from them what time in
the past they saw the star. Oh, how nice and sweet he talked to
them, just as sweet as honey. He made out that he was on their
side, telling them, "You go to Bethlehem, for I am told he
should be there. Search diligently for the child, and then
when you have found him, bring me word of where he is there, so I
can come also and worship him."
King Herod had no intention at all in wanting to worship the
child Jesus. He had much darker and more evil plans as to what he
would do to Jesus if he could find where He was.
The wise men departed from Herod, and no sooner were they
getting ready to leave Jerusalem, when the star once more
appeared to them. They could see it was moving and leading them
further and further away from the city of Jerusalem. Finally it
came to stop over the very place where Jesus was dwelling.
Matthew records, "When they saw the star, they rejoiced
exceedingly with great joy, and going into the house they saw the
child with Mary his mother and they bowed down and worshipped
Him."
We have already seen that Luke recorded that after the
Temple rituals had been performed for the birth of a firstborn
man child, Joseph and Mary returned to their home town of
Nazareth, way north of Jerusalem, in the region of Galilee. The
baby Jesus is now called a "child" and the wise men go into a
"house" not a stable. All this (and something else that we shall
note shortly) bears evidence that the wise men did not come
from the East until sometime later, when Jesus was no longer a
baby but thought of as a child, and was living in the home or
house of Joseph and Mary in Nazareth.
Well, the wise men had finally found the one they had come
looking for, the one born to be king of the Jews.
They had brought treasures with them, and opening their
containers they offered and gave three gifts, the first being
that of "gold." Now, pure gold is one of the most incorruptible
substances on the earth. It can rest in water for hundreds, even
thousands of years and never rust or decay.
The life of this Christ child would be pure gold so to
speak. He would never do any wrong in actions, in thoughts, or in
words. He would be always purely incorruptible, what the New
Testament calls sinless. It is written that Jesus never sinned,
no not once.
The wise men gave the gift of "frankincense." The Hebrew
word is "lebona" and is a whitish, greasy, sticky, gum resin
substance from a bush type plant that especially grows in Persia,
east of Palestine, It was one of the constituents of the sacred
incense that was burnt on the altar in the Temple. By itself it
has a pungent odor and taste, but which, when mixed with fragrant
substances, has the effect of increasing the odor and keeping the
then fragrant smell lasting longer.
Jesus was to endure forever as the first begotten and first
born Son of God the Father. His life on the sacrificial altar was
to be an everlasting sweet smelling odor to God.
The third gift that the wise men gave was that of "myrrh."
The Hebrew is "mor" which means distilling. The Greek is "smyrna"
which we translate as "myrrh." It is a well-known gum resin
extracted from the Arabian "Balsamoderndron Myrrha." It was used
as a perfume for embalming, and as an ingredient of the holy
anointing oil.
This was to represent the lovely smell to God the Father
that the death (embalming was done to the body of the dead to
help preserve it for a while and to see that the body decayed in
a nice smelling way) of Jesus would bring for His plan of the
salvation of mankind to His glory.
The plan of the Almighty could be carried out in no other
way than that a God type person should come as a human to live a
perfect life, to take the sins of mankind upon Himself and to
sacrifice Himself in death for those sins. We shall talk a lot
more about all this when we near the end of the Gospels which
record the facts and the reasons of the death of Jesus.
The wise men, being deceived by the cunning king Herod,
would have returned to him to inform him of the location of this
child Jesus, but an angel from the Lord came to them in a dream
to warm them of the real intent of Herod (the intent being to
kill the child).
So once that was explained to them they departed for their
homeland another way, and never saw or spoke to king Herod again
(Matthew 2: 7-12).
HEROD KILLS THE CHILDREN TWO YEARS OLD AND UNDER
Back at Herod's palace, the king is walking the floor with
more and more agitation as the days pass by in which the wise men
do not return to him with information as to the whereabouts of
the boy born to be king of the Jews.
"I am king Herod, look what I've done for these Jews. I've
built them a great and magnificent Temple here in Jerusalem, as
well as other fine buildings around Palestine. And what do I
find? They claim their Scriptures say a child is to be born to
them in Bethlehem who is to be king of the Jews. I am their king,
they will have no other."
More days passed by and still the wise men did not return.
Finally Herod knew he had been tricked and that they would not
return with the information he so desperately wanted.
"I will show these Jews," he shouted as his face grew red
with anger, " I will show them who has the power and who will be
their only king," he continued in his now furious rage. With his
hands trembling in fuming hateful thoughts, and the veins of his
neck protruding in stark enlargement, Herod shouted out that the
chiefs of his army should come to him immediately.
On entering his presence they heard these chilling words
from his mouth.
"The men from the East said they saw a star of this child
king about two years ago. You will take some of our soldiers and
go to the city of Bethlehem and the region round about, and they
will kill all the male children that are two years old and
under."
Even those hardened men of war were taken aback and stunned
by this command they had to carry out, but they knew it was
either carry out his demand or they would loose their own heads
by the sword. They felt they had no choice but to comply and do
as Herod commanded.
So it was done. All the male children from the age of two
and under in the region of Bethlehem were put to death by the
order of king Herod, in his hope that one of the dead children
would be this child the Jews claimed was born to be their king.
You will notice that it was from two years of age and under
that Herod had the male children killed. This could indicate that
the wise men did not arrive in Palestine in search of Jesus until
around two years (less a few months for their visit with Herod
and then finding Jesus and returning home a different way) after
Jesus was born.
It is hard to imagine the weeping and anguish of mothers and
entire families where all male children under two years old were
put to death. It had been foretold by the prophet Jeremiah. God
had known beforehand it would happen, and the great prophet
Jeremiah under inspiration from the Lord had spoken of it when he
had said:
" A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud sorrow.
Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted,
because they were no more alive."
But Herod could not fight against the Almighty God, who knew
the intentions of his evil heart. After the wise men from the
East had departed, God had sent an angel to tell Joseph to take
Mary and Jesus to Egypt because Herod was planning and hoping to
kill the child (Matthew 2: 13,14). All this was also fulfilling
the prophecy of Hosea 11:1 that had said, "Out of Egypt have I
called my son."
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were now safe in the land of Egypt,
when king Herod killed the children of two years and under. It
was not that many months later when the king suddenly died.
Probably the hand of the Lord was in that untimely death of his.
Well, upon it happening, an angel from the Lord once more
appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, " Pack up your things
Joseph, and take the child and His mother back to the land
of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead."
Joseph was pleased to hear this news and quickly did as the
angel instructed. He was thinking it would be nice to settle in
the area of Judea, somewhat near Jerusalem, but on hearing that
Archelaus, the son of Herod, was now reigning in Judea in place
of his father, he decided it was better to live outside of the
region of Judea. Joseph decided his old stomping ground of the
city of Nazareth would be the best place to raise this child
of God.
No doubt the Lord God was inspiring him to make this
decision for it had been prophesied by the old prophets that
Jesus was to be called a Nazarene, meaning one who was from the
city or town of Nazareth (Judges 13:5).
As we look at this prophecy in the book of Judges, it is
hard to relate it to the time of Jesus, but the nature of some
prophecies can have a number of different applications down
through the centuries. Obviously this one in Judges is a case in
point (Matthew 2:13-23).
JESUS AT THE PASSOVER AT AGE TWELVE
We are told nothing about the life of Jesus or Joseph and
Mary, from the time they returned to the land of Palestine from
Egypt, until they all as a family, went to Jerusalem to observe
the Passover when Jesus was twelve years old. This account is
recorded for us in Luke 2:41-50.
We can be assured that Mary would have raised the child
Jesus in the very best Jewish manner, as to schooling and
religious education. I think we can correctly assume that Jesus'
childhood life was without any great noticeable declaration. He
was probably like many other Jewish boys of His time, enjoying
His education both in secular and religious studies, as well as
the fun of the great outdoors. We are not told that He did any
miracles or tried to manifest any super-natural power as a child
and young adult, hence it is likely He did not. Yet, as the Son
of God, who was sinless all His life, His thoughts, words, and
actions, as a child would have been noticed by adults, I'm sure.
Most people will take note of a child that is outstandingly
mannerly, polite, kind, thoughtful, respectful of adults, and
self-controlled in actions and words.
Joseph and Mary made it a custom to attend and celebrate the
Passover in Jerusalem each year in the spring time, when the
Passover feast is celebrated. This is one of the 7 great
festivals of the Lord as outlined and described in Leviticus 23.
This time when they were leaving to return to Nazareth,
Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. For the first day of the
journey they did not miss Him. We might wonder why this was. When
we read in Luke that they sought for Him among their kinsfolk and
friends, we are perhaps given the answer. There were many of
Joseph's and Mary's family relatives as well as close friends
with them on this journey. The Jewish people tend even today, to
be a very close knit group of people. It is natural for them,
especially blood related family members, to mingle with each
other, as one large family. Joseph and Mary simply thought Jesus
was somewhere within the larger family of their relations and
friends, and so did not get concerned until after the first day
had gone by. Jesus not returning to be with them for the night
(without asking) was something He obviously did not do before in
His life as a child, so then they missed Him and went looking for
Him.
Jesus could not be found among any of their relatives or
friends. There was only one other place they could think of where
He might be. That place was the city of Jerusalem. So, back they
went to Jerusalem and started their search for Him up and down
the streets, in every place where they thought a twelve year old
could or would go.
For three days they searched for Him but He was nowhere to
be found.
Whether it was some people in Jerusalem or God putting the
thought in their minds, whichever it was, they finally decided
the only place left to look for Him was in the great huge Temple
of Jerusalem. And sure enough, there He was, sitting among the
Jewish Temple teachers, listening to them and also asking them
questions, and obviously answering some, for all who heard Him
were amazed at His understanding and His answers.
Joseph and Mary, bless their hearts, still could not see the
clear picture of the life of this child from God that they had
been given to raise and care for. They were very upset at what
Jesus had done and all the trouble they thought it had caused
them over the last four days. Mary said to Him, " Son, why have
you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking
for you anxiously."
Jesus, relying to her said, "Why have you sought me
anxiously? Do you not understand after twelve years that I must
be in my Father's house."
Joseph and Mary did not understand what Jesus was meaning by
this answer to them. They had been visited by angels twelve years
earlier, had seen miracles happen, had seen how Jesus had grown
from a baby into a child and up to this age of twelve. They had seen how
He had grown without ever committing one sin. They knew there was
something very special about this person, but just could not at
this period in His life put the picture in clear focus.
Jesus was now at age twelve, to really get into first gear
so to speak, in a spiritual way, heading for third and fourth
gear and full speed ahead, to do the work of His real Father in
heaven.
Many of us today in the Western world would think Jesus was
at age twelve, being very disrespectful and high handed towards
Joseph and Mary in His actions at this particular Passover season
as recorded by Luke. But when we understand that in that time of
Jewish culture, the age of twelve was when you were deemed an
adult, to take on an adult mindset, and adult responsibilities,
then we see that was just what Jesus was doing. He was taking a
serious adult mindset towards His Father in heaven and the
spiritual work He must now really focus on as He moved from
childhood to adulthood. Not that He had not done so in the past,
but now as a young adult it took on even more importance.
JESUS GROWS IN A FOUR FOLD WAY
Luke records in very simple and short sentences the growing
life of the now young adult Jesus, until He was made manifest
with might and power to the masses of the people of Israel. Luke
says, " And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was
obedient to them; and His mother kept all these things in her
heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor
with God and man " (Luke 2:51,52).
Jesus, as the very Son of the Most High, was not handed it
all on a silver platter, just having the perfection of God as if
falling off a log, having it so easy that it was just a "shoe in"
as we often say.
Jesus was also born of a woman, of Mary, and so was also
very human as we are. He had to learn, to study, to think and to
meditate, as we also have to do.
As we should do, Jesus increased in wisdom and in mental
stature, and in favor with God and man.
..................................
Written December 2000
 Chapter Six:
John Begins His Ministry
 We must not forget about John, the child born to the priest
Zachariah and Elizabeth his wife, also in a miraculous way. Many
years have now passed, a dozen or more, since the account of
Jesus at the Passover when at the age of twelve. It was now
the appointed time from God for John to fulfil his ministry, for
which he was especially born.
It was in the days when Pontius Pilate was governor of
Judea, and Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great (whom was
the Herod in our previous chapters) was ruler over Galilee, that
John did his preaching and teaching in the wilderness of Judea.
He went into the region about Jordan and so fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, I send my messenger before your (the
Messiah's) face, who shall prepare your way."
John preached a baptism of repentance, and so became known
as John the baptist.
Luke says, "As it is written in the book of the words of
Isaiah the prophet, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every
valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be
brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the
salvation of God' " (Isaiah 40: 3-5).
Many prophecies have a dual meaning and fulfilment. As we
look at this prophecy in the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, as we
note the whole context before and after, it becomes evident that
this is one of those dual prophecies. It was to have a fulfilment
at the first coming of the Messiah, but it is to have a
fulfilment also at His coming with power and glory, with a strong
hand and when He is to rule and do much work during the time
the book of Revelation calls the 1,000 years (see Isaiah 40: 10,
11 with Rev.20: 1-4).
The things to be made straight, the hills to be brought low,
the rough to be made smooth, and the salvation to be seen, in the
first fulfilment at the time of John and into Jesus' ministry,
was an analogy and typology of spiritual and repentance matters,
being humbled and finding the straight and smooth truths of the
salvation of God.
Matthew records that John wore a garment of camel's hair,
and a leather girdle around his waist, and that a good part of
his diet was wild honey and locusts (Matthew 3: 4).
There are strong indications from what the angel said about
John when announcing his birth to Zachariah and Elizabeth (which
we saw in earlier chapters), that John may have been under a
Nazarite vow (mentioned in Numbers 6) from birth. If so, then his
hair would have never been cut. By the time he started to preach
in the wilderness of Judea, his hair would have been extremely
long, probably reaching half way down his back or even more.
From what Matthew records we may want to jump to the thought
that John looked something like a wild cave-man type person we
often see in school books on the history of mankind.
This thought could be very wrong. Garments of camel's hair
could be spun and made to look quite attractive. It would also be
very warm for him as he faced the cold nights that could come in
the desert of Judea. We today do not think twice about wearing
leather belts around our waist, so a leather band around John's
waist should not cause us to think of him as a wild cave-man
type.
Tens of thousands today eat wild honey in many different
countries around the world as part of their regular diet, so
nothing unusual about that per se. As John was preaching in the
wilderness, his honey eating would have been from the wild bees,
as opposed to those in towns and villages who had bee hives, and
so what we would call "domestic" bees.
To our Western ear the strangest thing might be the fact
that John ate locusts. But, that is mainly because in our Western
nations we have never practiced eating locusts. We do not even
import them to eat as food. God, in giving Israel His food laws
as found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, gave the laws
regarding what insects were fit to eat and which ones were not.
It was all a matter of how He had created them in the "cell" and
"atom" construction to jive with our cell and atom construction.
Some, for health purposes we could eat and some God has never
wanted us to eat.
The locust was within the "good" food laws as given in the
books of Moses. Maybe most of the city dwellers in Palestine,
were not in the habit of eating locusts, hence Matthew records
that John ate locusts. Different maybe, but certainly not outside
of the food laws of the Lord God.
John preached and taught with such power and conviction the
Gospels say that most people from Jerusalem and all Judea with
the region about Jordan, went out to hear him, and most of them
were baptized by him in the river of Jordan, confessing their
sins.
This was indeed a time of great spiritual revival and humble
repentance before God. John was preparing many hearts for the
coming of the work of the Messiah Jesus.
John was indeed different from most of the religious
preachers of his day. He did not mingle with the established
popular religious leaders of the two main theological
groups or "denominations" as we would call them, the Pharisees
and the Sadducees. John lived in the desert and was certainly
known as an independent preacher of the word of God.
He also knew that much of the teaching and practicing
traditions of the Pharisees and Sadducees were way off base from
the truth of God's word. He knew that a great deal of their
theology was founded upon wrong ideas and interpretations of the
Scriptures, as well as man-made customs and traditions that had
crept into their religions over the centuries.
He especially had insight into the heart and mind of most of
the teachers of those two religious parties. He knew they did not
want to know the pure truths of the Lord, that they were quite
content to maintain their religious positions with its "status
quo" - keep it as it had been for centuries. He knew they were
not of a humble, teachable, repentant mindset, willing to be
corrected and to change when shown and proven to be wrong in
their teachings, beliefs, and practices.
John had become very popular with the masses of the people, and
they thronged to go out and hear him speak the word of God. All
this of course was noticed by the religious leaders of the two
dominant denominations.
One day many of them as a group looked at each other and
said, "This man John is causing quite a commotion of sorts. The
people are flocking to hear him. Many are being baptized by him.
We as a group of theological leaders need to go and see this man
in action, so we can first-hand get a better plan as to how to
combat him and safe-guard our positions that we have held with
the people for so long a time."
So, off they went into the desert by the river Jordan to
hear John preach, but it sure was not because they wanted to
repent of their wrong teachings and practices. Some were even
willing to be baptized by him in order to try and gain his
respect for them, and to fool the people into believing they were
really humble repentant fellows.
Matthew records that John knew some of them were willing to
go as far as being baptized by him, but he knowing their hearts,
seeing them come, looked upon them with righteous anger, and
lifting up his voice with power and clarity, said to them in
front of all the crowds around about, " You brood of snakes! Who
warned you to flee God's coming judgment? Prove by the way you
live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to
God. Don't just say, 'We're safe - we're the descendants of
Abraham.' That proves absolutely nothing of and by itself. God
can change the stones here into children of Abraham. Being
physical flesh of anyone, even Abraham, does not automatically
mean you are the children of God in the spiritual sense."
Looking upon them with further discontent, John went on to
say, " Even now the axe of God's judgment is poised, ready to
sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good
fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire."
Most of the crowd hearing these words were sincerely struck
in the heart and wanted to know from John, in specific ways, what
they needed to do to be on the Lord's side and to have His love
and mercy and favor.
John answered them by saying, " If you have two coats, give
one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are
hungry."
John was telling them that real true Godliness, wanting to
walk with the Lord and to do His will and way of life, contained
a very practical aspect. You had to not only be religious in
beliefs and attending church, reading the Bible, praying, fasting
at times, but you had to serve others in a down-to-earth manner.
It meant giving to people in tangible ways, some of the physical
blessings that God had given you. A willingness to share with
others less fortunate than yourself, some of the physical goods
you possessed.
Some of the corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized of
John, asking him what they needed to do to get their lives in
order with God. John told them, "Be honest, show your honesty in
how you collect taxes for the Roman government. Do not collect
more taxes than is required by the Roman authorities."
Some you see, collected more taxes than required, so they
could line their own pockets with extra money, above that which
the Roman government paid them for collecting taxes.
Even soldiers employed by Rome, came to John asking what
they should do to be in favor with God. His rely to them was, "
Rob no one by violence or by false accusation."
It would have been relatively easy with the authority and
the physical skills and weapons they had as soldiers, to rob
people in a forceful and violent manner, as well as by false
accusation of alleged wrongs (people fearing what would happen to
them, and so paying the soldiers money) they could bring to
higher government leaders, which could have led to imprisonment
and even death. This would be termed "bribery" today. The
soldiers would say to people that they would report them as
having done this or that evil (when not having done so) unless
the person gave them a certain amount of money.
John also told the soldiers to be content with their wages.
It is probably very easy when employed by the National Government
in work that is dangerous and could cost you your life, such as
those employed as soldiers and police and firemen, to moan and
groan and complain that you should be paid a wage twice or three
times more than what you are receiving. While people with
dangerous jobs should be well paid, it is just a fact of economic
life that governments just do not have a never ending wealth of
money to pay astronomical wages to such persons in dangerous
government occupations. Hence John told them there comes a time
when such people must learn to be content with their wages.
Luke in his third chapter records that many people were in
expectation of the coming of the promised Messiah. They knew the
time was near from what God had written in the prophets of old,
that the Messiah would appear. Some were questioning in their
minds if this promised Messiah was not in fact having its
fulfilment in this very unusual man who was preaching and
teaching the word of God with such power and conviction, in the
desert. Many were thinking that John was indeed the Christ, the
anointed one to come.
John himself answered them by saying, " I baptize with
water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am - so
much greater that I am not worthy to untie His sandals. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to
separate the chaff from the grain with His winnowing fork. Then
He will clean up the threshing area, storing the grain into His
barn but burning up the chaff with fire that cannot be put out."
It is said that John used many such warnings and analogies
as he prepared the way for the Messiah to come.
In the analogy above John was saying what the twentieth
chapter of Revelation and other passages of Scripture (such as
Malachi 4; Psalm 37; 2 Peter 3) tell us. Namely, that God will in
His plan give everyone a chance to know the truth, to repent, to
accept Jesus as the saving Messiah, and to enter the Kingdom of
God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. All that will refuse
shall be destroyed in a worldwide fire that shall burn them and
this earth up, that cannot be put out by humans hands, at the end
of the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth. Then shall come the
new heavens and new earth and all that is foretold in Revelation
21 and 22.
Luke also tells us that John was bold enough to publicly
criticize and denounce Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, for
taking Herodias, his brother's wife, and for many other wrongs he
had done. Herod finally put John in prison, but had no intention
of executing him, for he feared the people would rise up in armed
revolt against himself, as they held John with such admiration.
It was through some trickery that Herod gave command to execute
John. How that came about we shall see later.
As to the story behind John's denouncing Herod Antipas for
his taking of his brother's wife, it goes like this.
Herod's brother was called Philip, and his wife was named
Herodias. They had a daughter called Salome. Josephus the Jewish
historian of the first century, says that this marriage of herod
Antipas with Herodias took place while he was on a journey to
Rome. He stopped at his brother's; fell in love with his wife;
agreed to put away his own wife, and Herodias agreed to leave her
own husband, and live with him.
There was no Roman or Biblical law from God that allowed
them to do such a thing. This was pure lusting after another
man's wife, which in the first century A.D. even Roman law
frowned upon men taking another man's wife through covertness.
Then adding to all this, Herodias was grand-daughter of
Herod the Great, who was the father of Herod Antipas. This
relationship would have been classified as "incest" and not
allowed under God's law. Close relatives were not permitted to
marry under the laws of the Lord. As Herod was governor of a part
of Palestine, and so was also upholding Jewish laws, allowing
them freedom of religious faith and proclamation of it, John
would have felt quite at liberty to denounce Herod for this and
other wrong conduct in his life.
JESUS IS BAPTIZED BY JOHN
Going back again to the time John was living and preaching
in the wilderness by the river Jordan, one day Jesus came to him
to be baptized. John was shocked at such a request from Christ
the Messiah, and with amazement said to Him, "It is I that need
to be baptized by you. Why on earth do you request to be baptized
by me? No, this should not be Lord. I do not understand why you
request this."
Jesus, with a soft tone of voice and an understanding heart
as to why John would think this way, replied, "Let it be as I
request, for it is right and proper for me to fulfil all that is
the righteousness of God."
John then understood when Jesus put it this way. For baptism
was something that John knew God had ordained for the New
Covenant age, as a part of the very perfection and righteousness
of Himself. John knew that Jesus wanted to set the full and
perfect example of doing all that was the will and the plan and
the righteousness of God. Although Jesus had never sinned, had
nothing to repent of, and so had no need to be baptized for the
remission of sins, John now knew Jesus wanted to set the perfect
example of doing God's will, and so consented to baptize Him in
the river Jordan.
Jesus, after being baptized, went up out of the river
Jordan, and the heavens were opened, and John saw the Spirit of
God descend like a dove upon Him. All three Gospel writers
(Matthew, Mark, and Luke) relate that a voice came from heaven
saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Jesus had continued to grow in favor and in grace with the
Father in heaven during all of His life. His Father in heaven,
the one who can be our heavenly Father, was well pleased with all
that Jesus put His hand to do, especially as He now prepared
Himself to fulfil the reason as to why He had been born as a
human being.
The time had come for the Christ Messiah to fight one more
final battle against Satan the Devil, and then to march on into
His ministry of proclaiming salvation and the Kingdom of God to
those living in Palestine.
....................................
Written December 2000
 Chapter Seven:
Jesus' Three Temptations from Satan
 Many of the servants and prophets of God before the time
Jesus was to enter His teaching ministry, had fasted (going
without food, and often without water also) for a certain number
of days, in order to really draw close to God, and put their mind
on the task that lay before them. Moses and the prophet Elijah
were two that it is said and written of them, that they fasted
for 40 days. Moses did it twice, so it is written in the book
of Exodus.
Jesus was certainly no less than those two great men. He was
in fact greater than them. So it should be no surprise for us
that Matthew and Luke both mention, " And Jesus, full of the Holy
Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for
forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And He ate
nothing in those days; and when they were ended, He was very
hungry" (Luke 4:1-2).
Jesus needed to prepare Himself for the job ahead of Him. He
needed to draw very close to the Father, and Satan the Devil knew
he had one last big chance to do battle with Jesus and to try and
defeat Him before He even got started.
At the end of the forty days Jesus was very hungry indeed.
Oh, the Devil may have tried tempting Him all along during all
those forty days, as His body began to weaken. Mark implies that
was the case, as he records that angels came to serve Him,
probably giving Him protection from evil demons trying to hurt
Him in some way. But at the end of those forty days, when Jesus
was really physically weak and so very hungry, Satan himself,
personally, came to Jesus to tempt Him to do wrong, to sin, and
to sign up for his team against the God in heaven.
The Devil with sarcasm in his voice, said to Jesus, "Now IF
you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."
Actually, the Devil knew very well that Jesus was the Son of
God, so it was with a sarcastic voice he said those words, trying
to needle Jesus into getting upset at his seeming doubt that He
really was God's Son.
Satan hoped Jesus would slip up and angrily abuse His power
and authority, and do exactly as the Devil wanted Him to do -
make bread to eat, from stones. If He had, it would have all been
from the wrong motive under this seductive temptation from the
Devil.
Jesus did not fall for this trick from Satan. He knew His
Bible, and replied to the Devil by quoting it. He said, " It is
written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
Jesus left the desert and went to Jerusalem and ascended up
to the top of the pinnacle of the Temple. As He looked out over
the land before Him, Satan came along once more and said to Him,
" IF you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is
written, 'He will give His angels charge over you' and 'On their
hands they will bear you up, less you strike your foot against a
stone.' "
Not only was the Devil still being sarcastic and acting by
trying to put doubt into the mind of Jesus by saying, "If you be
the Son of God" but he was now even quoting Scripture to tempt
Jesus to abuse and play with His power and also the Father's will
that there should be no harm or death to His Son before the time
appointed.
Jesus knew that no Scripture stood as an island unto itself,
but must always be understood in the light of all other
Scriptures written through the inspiration of God. So, Jesus,
knowing all the other Scriptures, was able to answer the Devil
by saying, "Again, it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord
your God.' "
It is very true that God can protect us from harm such as
falling from a high place, or if in a car accident, but because
we know that God can send angels to protect us from physical
harm, does not mean we deliberately jump from a ten story
building, or stand in front of an on coming train, to say to God
that we want Him to prove He will protect us.
Jesus came down from the pinnacle of the Temple and went to
the top of one of the high mountains around Jerusalem. He could
see far off into the distance. His mind knew many kingdoms of
different nations and empires were out there in the world,
including the great Roman Empire, that ruled much of the main hub
of the central world at that time.
"Ah, see all these mighty kingdoms, " said the Devil to
Jesus, "Do you see in your mind all the glory they have. Well, if
you will come on my side, worship me, and do my will, I will give
you control of all the world. You can in this physical life be
the greatest world ruler this earth has ever seen."
Now, at this temptation, Jesus got righteously angry with
Satan. " Get out of here, be gone, Satan," was Jesus' reply to
him. "For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God,
and Him only shall you serve.' " (Mat.4: 3-11).
With those final words from Jesus, the Devil left Him. For
the time being he left Him, for Luke recorded in his Gospel
account that Satan departed from Him until an opportune time came
once more (Luke 4:13).
We are not told in any of the Gospels that the Devil ever
had another opportunity like that, to tempt Jesus to sin, as when
He fasted for forty days.
SOME OF THE RECORDINGS OF THE APOSTLE JOHN
There are sections of the Gospel of John that are very hard,
if not impossible, to put into chronological order in the life
and ministry of Jesus Christ. There is no specific indication as
to when exactly they may have taken place during His ministry and
years of teaching and preaching, leading up to His death.
Some, who have tried to compile a "harmony" of the Gospels,
trying to put it all in chronological order, have placed these
sections of John at the very beginning and very early on in the
public ministry of Jesus.
We also will do the same. Some from their very nature of
events are indeed at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, but some
others are not so clear that they were.
JESUS' FIRST DISCIPLES
It was the next day after John the baptist had baptized
Jesus in the river Jordan. The sun had risen over the desert
hills of Judea, the air was clean, the birds were singing
their merry songs. John was getting ready to once more proclaim
the salvation and the Kingdom of God to the people coming out to
hear him speak the words of God. He was reflecting on the
preceding day, how he had known somewhat of this one called
Jesus, that through the years he had borne witness to how perfect
and sinless this man was. He had known there was something
special about Him, but yet, not having any direct revelation from
God during those years, he was not sure if this Jesus was the
Messiah Christ to come.
Then the Lord God had spoken to him and told him that the
one whom he would baptize and the one whom he would see the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and remaining upon Him, that
someone would be the very Son of God, the very promised Messiah.
Oh, John surely knew now who the Anointed One was. And as he
was standing and talking to and teaching a few of his disciples,
who should walk by but Jesus once again. John noticed Jesus the
Christ and said to those within ear distance of him, "Behold, the
Lamb of God!"
Two of John's disciples heard what he had said, and
immediately started to follow Jesus. John had taught them that
one greater than he was to come, who would be the promised
Messiah. The two disciples knew this was the man for John had now
clearly pointed Him out to them.
Jesus knew two men were following Him. He turned and said to
them, "What do you seek?"
They answering said, "Rabbi (which means Teacher), where are
you staying?" To which Jesus replied, "Well, why don't you come
with me and see."
They needed no more invitation than that, and so went with
Jesus and stayed with Him, as it was about 4 p.m. by the time
they arrived where He was lodging for the evening and the night.
One of the two men was called Andrew, the brother of Simon
Peter, and this Peter is well known by those who have read the
four Gospels, being an outspoken and forceful man, who became one
of the inner twelve disciples chosen by the Lord Jesus, a little
later in His ministry.
Andrew was very excited at finding this Christ (which word
meant Messiah to them). So excited was he that he just had to run
off and find his brother Simon Peter, and not only tell him the
good news of their find, but to bring Peter back with him to meet
Jesus.
When Jesus sees Simon He knows his basic human character and
personality, and says to him, "So you are Simon the son of Jona.
You we shall call Cephas (in English we say Peter, and which
means, a stone or boulder)."
I'm sure they had lots to talk about with each other that
evening. The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He wanted
to find a man called Philip and He did find him. And Jesus told
him to follow along and be one of His disciples. Philip happened
to also be from the same town as Andrew and Peter, the town of
Bethsaida (which word means, house or place of fishing), and is
situated on the north-east coast of the sea of Galilee. You may
want to look it up on a map which some Bibles contain.
Well, Philip ran off to find a friend called Nathaniel, and
said to him in an exited joyous voice, "Oh friend, we have found
the man whom Moses and the prophets have written about, He is
called Jesus, comes from the town of Nazareth, and is the son of
the man called Joseph."
Nathaniel, with a slight grin, more like a smirk on his
face, answered by saying, "Oh, tell me another one. Can anything
good possibly come out of a pip-squeak town like Nazareth?"
Well, you come and see for yourself then, if you think you
have the answers to this whole expectation we are looking for,"
Philip answered back to him.
Nathaniel was up to that challenge, and so off he went with
Philip to see for himself this man called Jesus the Christ.
Jesus sees him coming from a little way down the road. He
looks intensely at him as he got closer and closer. When within
ear shot, Jesus raised His voice and said to Nathaniel, " Behold,
an Israelite indeed, and one in whom there is no deceit, an
honest man."
"How do you know about me," Nathaniel asked Jesus.
"Oh, I could see you under the fig tree, before Philip came
to you," replied Jesus, just astounding Nathaniel even more, for
he was very sure that neither of them had ever met or seen each
other before this moment.
With wonder and joy in his voice, Nathaniel exclaimed,
"Teacher, you are the Son of God - the King of Israel!"
At this faithful statement, Jesus said, "Do you believe all
this, believe that I am the Son of God, because I told you I saw
you under the fig tree? This is really nothing as to the things
you will see. For you will see heaven open and the angels of God
going up and down upon the Son of Man."
Jesus was pleasantly surprised that Nathaniel could so
quickly come to recognize that He was the Messiah, the Son of the
Most High, and related to him the greater wonders he would yet
see one day. He would see the angels serving the Son of Man.
That is all that is ever said about what Nathaniel would one
day see. When it took place, if it was for Nathaniel's life time
in the flesh, and not when he shall be in the Kingdom of God, we
are not told (John 1:35-51).
JESUS ATTENDS A WEDDING AND PERFORMS A MIRACLE
A few days later (according to the continued reading in the
Gospel by the apostle John), there was a marriage at Cana in
Galilee. Jesus, His mother and His disciples were all invited.
And they all went.
A Jewish marriage back in those days could be a very large,
festive occasion, often celebrated for a number of days, even up
to a week in length. Good wine for all the guests was the common
drink, as people came and went, offering their congratulations
and best wishes for the bridegroom and his bride.
So many people came to this wedding that all the wine was
used up, or as we would say today, "they ran out of wine."
Jesus' mother, knowing of course that He was from God, and
had special powers, came quietly to Him and said, "They have no
wine." The way she looked at Him and the way she said those
words, Jesus knew instantly what His mother was requesting Him to
do. Miraculously make more wine.
Jesus Himself was not intending to do a public miracle, or
make some kind of a big show, at this wedding. He answered His
mother by saying, "O woman, this does not concern you and me. My
time has not yet come." Meaning He did not yet want to go public
with His miracle working power.
But, His mother (as mothers often have an inner sense for
things) knew He would supply the needed wine. And so she told the
servants to do whatever Jesus instructed them to do.
There were six stone water-pots in the area, used for the
Jewish ceremonial purposes, and held about twenty to thirty
gallons each. Jesus told the servants, "Fill those jars with
water." And when they had been filled to the brim, He told them
to dip some out and take it to the master of the wedding feast.
And the servants did exactly as Jesus told them to do.
When the master of the wedding feast tasted the water (which
had been made into wine), not knowing where it had come from
(though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom
over saying to him, "Usually a host serves the best wine first,
then when everyone is full and has enjoyed the best wine, he
brings out the less expensive wines. But you have kept the best
until now!"
Jesus not only did an instant water into wine miracle, but
"aged" it, as it is called in the wine making trade. The very
best wine must age for a long period of time. Some wines that
have been bottled for a hundred or so years, are classified as
the best, and are expensive to buy.
This, John says, was Jesus' first open display of His
miraculous power. The servants knew who did this miracle and
would have soon whispered it to others, until everyone there
would have known it was Jesus who had turned water into the best
of wine.
With this miracle, the knowledge that He was the Messiah,
the Son of God, was deeper imbedded into the minds of Jesus'
disciples.
After the wedding the apostle John tells us that Jesus went
to Capernaum for a few days, with His mother, His brothers, and
His disciples.
It is more than just interesting, that John puts Jesus'
"brothers" and His "disciples" into two distinct and separate
groups.
We have evidence from the other Gospel writers also, that
Joseph and Mary had biological children, as most married couples
hope for when they marry. Jesus had brothers, well they would
have been what we term as "half brothers" - all having the same
mother (Mary) but not the same father. Joseph was not the father
of Jesus, as we have seen, God was His father (John 2: 1-12).
...............................
Written January 2001
TO BE CONTINUED
 Chapter 8:
Jesus Clears Out the Merchants from the Temple  The apostle John early records a Passover that Jesus
attended in Jerusalem during His ministry. The Temple in
Jerusalem did not only consist of the sanctuary of the
"holy place" and "most holy place" (the Temple, as the original
Tabernacle in the time of Moses, was divided into two sections),
but also had different court-yards around it. It was a very
elaborate building indeed. You may want to take time to read
about it all in a good Bible Dictionary or Encyclopedia.
It was in one of those court-yards of the Temple that Jesus
found those who were selling oxen, sheep, pigeons, and such
animals and birds, as well as money-changers (for people offering
money to the Temple priests for the service and upkeep of the
Temple, and who came from different parts of the Roman Empire, so
needing to exchange Roman money into Jewish money) used by the
people to fulfil the sacrifices that were prescribed by the laws
of Moses (see the first chapters of the book of Leviticus) under
the Old Covenant.
The mindset and character of those selling and exchanging
money Jesus knew was far from pure and honorable. They were out
to line their own pockets, to rob the people, to cheat them, to
simply do a business and take advantage of the pure hearts of
the people coming to worship God at the Temple and fulfil the
laws of God as given to Israel through Moses.
This is a good illustration that shows God accepted the
enlarged Temple structure, because the people as a whole accepted
it in their minds, as being and belonging to God and as an
extension of the holy Sanctuary proper. This shows that there is
a "spirit" of the law that goes beyond the "letter" of the law,
which God honors, sometimes even under the Old Covenant. The
original Sanctuary and Temple under Moses and Solomon, only
needed to be a tent or building of one structure divided into two
parts, a "holy place" and a "most holy place" inside just one
fenced area or court-yard. By the time of Christ, the Jews had
extended this building to include a number of court-yards. The
outer court-yard was where the merchants had set up their market
place. To them, and so to God, this was part of the overall
Temple of the Lord.
Jesus could see that those merchants were making the very
House of God into something it was never intended to become - a
merchant market place for profit.
His anger grew more and more as He saw what was going on.
The Bible says, "Be angry, but sin not." There is a time to
become righteously angry. Many passages show that God can and
does get righteously angry at times. Yet, it is always righteous
anger, without any sin. There are times we must get very upset at
sin and wrong doing. This was one of those times for Jesus.
He made a long whip from string cords that came from boxes
and packages that were sent to those merchants or that were used
to tie up the animals they were selling. Jesus whirling the whip
around His head, much like an American cowboy whirls his lariat
over his head when roping a steer, drove the animals out of the
temple, and threw over the tables of the money-exchangers, the
coins rolling all over the place.
As He was doing all this, He raised His voice and exclaimed
to those thieving and wrong minded merchants, "Take these things
away! You shall not make my Father's house into a house of
merchandise and business trade."
The disciples of Jesus, many of them knowing much of what
was written in the word of God, remembered the verse where it was
written, "Zeal for Your house will consume me" (Ps.69:9).
But, most of the Jews and merchants there, were not so
perceptive and so spiritually in tune with who the Messiah was or
what were the true ways of the Lord. They just looked at Jesus
and declared, "Who gave you this authority to do this thing, to
drive out the merchants from the Temple? What sign will you give
us to demonstrate and prove what you have done has the authority
of God Himself behind it?"
Jesus answered them by saying, "Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up."
Once more the Jews had no idea what He was really speaking
about, and thought He was talking about the physical stone
building of the Temple they were all standing within. They,
laughing at Jesus said, "It has taken forty-six years to build
this Temple, and you say that if it was destroyed you could build
it back again in only three days. You must be out of your head,
vain and mad, by saying such words."
Jesus was not speaking about the physical Temple in
Jerusalem, but was speaking about the temple of His body. The
Holy Spirit dwelling in Jesus made His body like a temple of
holiness to God the Father. So it is with anyone who had God
dwelling within them (see 2 Cor. 6:16-18).
Jesus was indeed giving them a sign of His power and
authority from God. He was foretelling them that one day, though
the Jews would kill Him, He would rise from the dead after three
days. He was foretelling them of His resurrection to life and
glory.
His disciples at the time, did not understand fully what
Jesus was referring to either. It was only after His resurrection
that they remembered those words of His, and clearly understood
then what He had told the Jews. All of this of course, after
Jesus' resurrection, helped the disciples to believe in no
uncertain way, all the Scriptures and all the words that Jesus
had spoken during His ministry.
Because of the miraculous signs He did in Jerusalem at this
Passover celebration, many people were convinced that He was
indeed the Messiah. Well, in an outward kind of manner they were
convinced. But Jesus didn't trust them. He could see their deep
inner heart and He knew what people were really like, who were
not truly connected with God through humble repentance (John
2:13-25).
No one for sure, needed to tell Him about human nature, what
it could do and think on the outside surface, but not be that way
in the depth of heart, especially when people would get offended
by what He would say and teach, and the way He would live. And
that is exactly what happened to many, even some of His
disciples, later on. They got offended in Him, upset, bewildered,
and confused, by things He said, and they walked away from Him.
Though many believed on Him at that Passover, they did not
continue to believe on and in Him later on, as we shall see.
NICODEMUS COMES TO JESUS IN THE NIGHT
There was a man by the name of Nicodemus, one of the leaders
in the Jewish Sanhedrin (a court of the Jews that decided certain
civil and religious matters, made up of leaders from the Pharisee
and Sadducee denominations, and respected Elders among the Jewish
people), and of the Pharisee religious party. He came to Jesus
secretly, by night, and confessed, " Rabbi, we know that you are
a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you
do, unless God is with him. "
You will notice, Nicodemus did not say that they, leaders of
the Jews and leaders from his religious party, knew and admitted
that Jesus was the very Son of God. What he said was that they
knew He was a true teacher of the word of the Lord, that God was
with Him.
Yes, secretly, many of the Jewish leaders admitted this
among themselves, but would not openly declare it, for they
feared loosing their followers, who would then follow Jesus, who
like John the baptist, made it clear to them that He would not
become a member of one of their sects. They knew He was very
independent, hence a threat and to them a competition for the
support of the people.
Nicodemus at this point in his life, would not come openly,
in the day time, to admit this to Jesus, no doubt fearing what
the other leaders of the Jews would try to do to him, certainly
in a spiritual position way, and maybe even in a physical way. So
he came at night, but did admit to Jesus that they knew God was
with Him.
Jesus got right down to the foundation and goal of why
mankind was put on this earth, and what it would involve for
Nicodemus to attain it.
" I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see
the Kingdom of God."
Nicodemus was taken a back by what Jesus said, " What do you
mean? How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be
born again? "
You will notice that Nicodemus clearly understood that Jesus
was talking about a "birth" - thinking Jesus was meaning that to
enter and see the Kingdom of God, a grown person somehow had to
re-enter the womb of his mother and be literally born once more.
Jesus was not talking about that kind of physical birth, but
it was a birth that He was talking about.
He went on to explain with a physical comparison, exactly
what you must become like in order to see and be in the Kingdom
of God.
" The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without
being born of water and the Spirit. Humans give birth to that
which is physical but the Spirit gives birth to that which is
spirit. Do not get all wide eyed and amazed and try to make what
I'm telling you into some theological doctrine of the heart. For
being born again is like this: The wind blows and does things,
you can see the effect if may have, even hear it at times as it
works among physical objects, but you cannot see the wind, it is
invisible to the human eye. So then likewise is everyone who is
born of the Spirit. "
The words of Jesus are pretty plain and quite simple. Jesus
was telling Nicodemus that to enter the Kingdom of God, you do
have to be born in this physical world as a physical flesh and
blood person. You have to be conceived and grow in a sack of
water in your mother's womb, and after being nourished and
growing to a certain physical stage, then the water in the sack
breakes and you are born into the world of air breathing flesh and
blood creatures. That which is flesh is flesh. Everyone must
first be flesh before they can be later born of the Spirit and
become like the wind, invisible to the human eye.
Jesus said that which is born of the Spirit IS spirit, and
He likened this Spirit to the wind - invisible but having
evidence that humans can relate to as indeed having effects
on the physical world around us.
In John 4:24 Jesus said that God IS Spirit. Many passages
in the Bible show that God does have form and shape, that He does
have a "body." The last chapters of the book of Revelation tell
us that one day God's children will actually see His "face." His
body is made of Spirit, not physical flesh, blood, and bone. God
lives in a different world, a world of a different dimension. He
lives in a "spirit" world that is, unless He chooses to reveal it
to the human eye, an invisible world to our vision of our
physical eyes.
We know the Bible teaches there are good spirit creatures
called "angels" and there are bad and evil spirit creatures
called "demons." A few of the chief angels are mentioned by name
in the pages of God's word, such as Gabriel, whom we have seen
came to Mary to tell her she had been chosen to bear God's Son.
Then the chief fallen and sinful spirit creature is mentioned by
name also. We know him as being mainly called Satan, or the
Devil. We cannot see these spirit creatures unless they either
manifest themselves to us as if looking like humans, or if God
works a miracle with our eye sight, enabling us to see them,
which was granted to a few in the Old Testament (read 2 Kings
6 to see this truth).
The book of Daniel is an interesting book in places. It
tells us a little about this basically unseen spirit world that
lies all around us. It mentions a few specifics as to what
is happening among the "good" spirit creatures and the "bad"
spirit creatures that oppose each other.
God is composed of Spirit in His invisible glory form. And
those who are to be His literal children, born of Him, who will
enter the Kingdom of God, will also be spirit, for as the apostle
Paul was inspired to write, "...Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the Kingdom of God..." (1 Cor.15: 50). A large part of Paul's
fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, is devoted to explaining the
"change" that is to come, that must come, to those in whom God
dwells (His sons and daughters, see 2 Cor.6:16) in order to
IN-herit, see and enter the Kingdom of God, at the resurrection
when the last trumpet sounds (see Matthew 24: 30-31).
Jesus was saying the same thing to Nicodemus but in a
shorter, nut-shell way. Of course being born of God, born of THE
Spirit, means He must come and beget you first, making you in
this life time His child through the indwelling of His nature, or
Holy Spirit as the New Testament often calls it. All this means
you are converted to His mind and way of thinking and wanting to
live by His every word, as Jesus said we should (Mat.4:4).
It means you remain His child to the end of your life. It
means no matter what the trials, tests, hardships, problems, no
matter what difficulties physically, mentally, or emotionally,
that life may bring, you endure and remain His child, loving Him
and doing His will to the end, until death.
Then just as a child in its mother's womb has endured, been
nourished, grown, and is finally born, so it will be for the
child of God. He/she will one day be born of God, born of THE God
Spirit, and enter His Kingdom.
Jesus was telling Nicodemus that that was the very purpose
as to why mankind was created upon this earth, to be born of the
Spirit, to become part of the invisible Spirit world. This is far
greater than anything that science-fiction movies have ever
thought up.
But old Nicodemus was befuddled by what Christ was telling
him. He just could not comprehend it and exclaimed in
bewilderment, "How can these things be at all possible?"
" Are you a teacher in Israel " Jesus answered him, " Is it
not your job to read the Scriptures of the Lord, and to come to
understand what it says, and you know not these things that I
speak about? "
Jesus was telling him that by reading and understanding and
believing the Scriptures, he should have already known what He
was expounding. Furthermore, Jesus told him, "But if you don't
even believe me when I tell you about earthly things such as
the wind and what is represented by it, then how can you possibly
believe the things going on in heaven? For I know what heaven is
truly like, as only I, the Son of Man, have come from heaven to
earth, and will return to heaven again. "
This last part of Jesus' statement here is very revealing if
we will but believe it for what it says. The King James
translation of the Bible in 1611 put it this way: "No man has
ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even
the Son of man."
Jesus, of all human beings to ever live and walk this earth,
is the only one to have been in heaven. The reality that death is
a sleep, and that we do not continue to think and act after
death, either in a heaven or a hell, is vividly brought out in a
later chapter of the Gospel of John, when we see how Jesus raised
a man called Lazarus back to life after being dead for four days.
Jesus continued to tell Nicodemus, " And as Moses lifted up
the bronze snake (Num.21:9) on a pole in the wilderness, so I,
the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole, so that everyone who
believes in me can have eternal life in the Kingdom of God. "
Here Jesus is telling Nicodemus and all who read this, that
He, the Son of Man, was the Messiah, the Anointed One from God,
the one who would come from God, live a perfect live, never do
any wrong, take all sins of mankind upon Himself, die on a cross,
thus forgiving the sins of all those who would believe and accept
Him as the Saving Messiah. And in so doing they could have
eternal life.
Jesus added yet more, to show and to amplify, the one main
purpose that God the Father had when He decided to create the
physical human kind:
" For God so loved the world (the people in it) that He gave
His only Son, so that all who believe in Him do not have to
perish but can have eternal life. God did not send His Son into
the world to condemn it, but to save it, to give people a chance
for eternal life. There is no condemning those who trust and have
faith in Him. But those who do not have trust in Him are
condemning themselves for not believing in the only Son of God.
Their condemnation is based on this fact: That light from heaven
came into the world, but they loved the darkness of sin and
wrong-doing more than the light of righteousness, for their
actions were evil. They do not like the light because they desire
to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light because
they fear that the light will expose their sins, and then they
would have to make a choice to either live in the light or to
live in darkness. But, those who want to do what is right come
to the light gladly, so all people can see that they are doing
the will of God " (John 3:1-21).
Nicodemus, a religious leader of the Jews, came to Jesus by
night, secretly, and to be unseen . He admitted to Jesus that he
and others like him, knew He was from God, that God was with Him,
but stopped short of saying He was the Son of God, and the
saving Messiah to come.
Jesus, got right down to business, hit the nail on the head,
pulled no punches, and not only told Nicodemus that He was the
Son of God, sent to save and give eternal life to those who would
believe on Him, but told him that the main purpose of God,
because He had so much love, was to save people to eternal life,
not to condemn them to death.
Jesus said it was the purpose of God to have people born of
Him, born of the Spirit, and so be like Himself, to live in a
dimension that was mighty and powerful like the wind was at
times, and also invisible to the human eye, as also was the wind.
Jesus told Nicodemus that to be born of the Spirit, would
mean you were willing to come to the light of truth and
righteousness, to be willing to have your wrongs and sins clearly
revealed to you by the light, and to walk in the ways of the Lord
God. Such people would then acknowledge that He Jesus, the
Christ, was the very Son of God, and would gladly come to the
light, so the light could lead and guide them into doing the will
of God.
Jesus was teaching Nicodemus the purpose for human
existence, and the true and only way to salvation or eternal
life.
This was also a kind but corrective rebuke to Nicodemus as
he had at this point in his life not yet come to acknowledge that
Jesus was the very Son of God, and so was still not yet in the
mindset of loving all the light.
It is a lesson everyone of us need to take to our heart and
mind. To walk in the light as He (God) is light. Then one day we
can be born of the Spirit, and see the Kingdom of God.
..................................
Written February 2001
TO BE CONTINUED
 Chapter Nine:
John Exalts Jesus  Jesus and His disciples were once more in the land of Judea,
and John was near Salim, also baptizing many people who came to
him. He had not yet been put in prison, as later he was (John
3:22-24).
John's followers got into a discussion with a Jew about the
rites of some of the purification laws. It must have triggered
something in their minds, because they came to John saying,
" Teacher, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you
gave witness, He is not far away, also baptizing, and many are
going to Him. We are confused about where you stand with God and
what ministry is left for you to do. "
John looked at them in patient understanding at the
puzzlement showing on their faces, and explained to them:
" No one can do anything that is truly of God unless it
comes from and is given to him to do from God. You yourselves
heard me say openly to all that I am not the Christ, but that I
was sent by God to make and prepare a way before Him. The one who
has the bride is the bridegroom, and his friend, who stands
besides him to hear him, rejoices greatly to hear him. So it is
that I joy in hearing the voice of the Christ. I am full of joy,
so I want you also to be. The Christ must increase in popularity
and ministry, while I must decrease.
He who comes from above, who once lived in heaven with God,
is above all, much greater than I. For he who is of the earth
and not from heaven, as I am, belongs to the earth, speaks as an
earthling. He who comes from heaven is then above all earthly
persons. He truly bears witness to that which He has both seen
and heard, as He once lived in heaven. Yet few will receive His
testimony. But for those who do, they will have set the seal to
attest to everyone that God is indeed true to His word and
promises.
The very special one that God has sent utters the pure words
of that God. For to Him the Spirit is given not my measure, in
bits and pieces, but in its entire fullness. The Father God loves
the Son, and all things are committed into His hands. So he who
believes in the Son will have eternal life; he who does not obey
the Son shall not see eternal life, but will face the wrath and
punishment of God " (John 3:25-36).
JESUS TEACHES THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELL
Jesus heard via the grape-vine, that the Pharisee religious
party had heard that Jesus was baptizing and getting more popular
among the people than John. Jesus Himself did not do the literal
baptizing, but He had His disciples doing that for Him, yet
it was all under His authority. All this was going to cause much
problems for Jesus, way sooner than He wanted or wished. So He
decided to leave the area of Judea and go back up north to
Galilee. Now, to go from Judea to Galilee you had to pass through
an area of land called Samaria.
This was only a relatively small area of Palestine, and it
was not the famous land area of the Old Testament called Samaria.
You may want to look at the maps in the back of many Bible to
compare the Samaria of Jesus' day with that of the time of the
kings of Israel and Judah under what we call the Old Testament of
the Bible. There is a huge difference.
For Jesus to go north and get back to Galilee He had to walk
through this small land area called Samaria (John 4:1-4).
Within this little Samaria land was a people known as
Samaritans. They were a very religious people as a whole. The
Jewish Encyclopedia (that most large public Libraries posses) has
a long in-depth article on these people, who are still in
existence today in Palestine, though there is only about 1,000 of
them or less.
Those Samaritans claim descent from Jacob, one of the great
fathers of ancient Israel, and more specifically from Joseph, one
of the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the time of
Christ, they had their own Temple, Priesthood and sacrificial
system. They only accepted the books of Moses, the first five
books of the OT, as their Bible. They also looked for a coming
Messiah from God, but some of their basic religious teachings
(such as having their own Temple and priesthood) was so far from
what the Jews in Judea and Jerusalem taught, that the religious
Jews of Judea and the rest of Palestine, hated them with a
passion, and would have nothing to do with them.
When you also understand how most Jewish women were treated
and looked upon by many of the Jewish religious teachers of the
day, as kind of second class citizens, undeserving of much if any
attention when it came to religious matters, then what the
apostle John relates to us about Jesus meeting with and talking
"religion" to this Samaritan woman at a well, is all that more
amazing. What He did was certainly amazing to His disciples, as
they had grow up in a Jewish religious world that was many times
far removed from that which was really of God.
Jesus came to a city of Samaria called Sychar. It was near
the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph many centuries
earlier. There was a water well there called "Jacob's well."
Jesus was getting very tired from walking and sat down to
rest beside this well. It was nearing the hottest part of the
day, about noon. With the sun blazing down from above, the
coolness of the well, with the thought of a nice cold drink, was
very appealing to Jesus.
At the same time up walks a woman from Samaria to collect
water from the well in her container. Jesus' disciples had all
gone to the city to buy food. He had no container to drop down
into the well and retrieve any water.
" I would like you to give me a drink please " said Jesus to
the woman. With utter astonishment the woman replied, " How on
earth is it that you being a Jew, talk and ask me for a drink,
when you know I'm a Samaritan woman? "
John informs his readers that the Jews had no dealings
whatsoever with Samaritans (John 4:5-9).
Jesus now started on what would be a religious conversation
that would lead to great results over the next two days.
" If you knew the very gift of God that sits before you, and
who it actually is that is talking to you and asking you for a
drink of physical water, it would be you who would be asking Him
for the living water that He could give you. "
The woman again looked at Jesus in amazement and said, "
Sir, you speak strangely, for you have no container to draw water
from the well which is very deep, so how could you possibly get
any what you call living water from it? Are you greater than
our father Jacob who gave us the well, and drank from it himself,
as did also his sons and his cattle? "
" Oh, everyone who drinks of this water, " said Jesus, "
shall thirst once more, but whoever drinks of the water that I
shall give them will never thirst. The water that I give will
become like a spring of water welling up and flowing constantly
to eternal life. "
The woman still not getting that Jesus was speaking about
spiritual matters, living spirit, Holy Spirit water remaining and
flowing within the believer, was eager to have some kind of
physical miracle, and so replied, " Sir, please give me this
water, that will make me never thirst again, and never have to
come to this deep well to draw out water. It is hard on my back
and arms to have to do this daily physical chore. "
Jesus knew she was not getting the insight of the true
message He was conveying to her. So He tried another approach.
" Go, call your husband, and come back here " Jesus
requested. " But I have no husband, " replied the woman.
" That is very true, " responded Jesus, " for you have had
five husbands, and the one you are now with is not your husband,
so in saying you have no husband you have answered correctly
indeed. "
" I surely perceive you are a prophet, " said the woman, and
then continued with, " Our fathers worshipped on this mountain;
and you Jews say that the main city to worship God at is
Jerusalem. "
" Well lady, " Jesus replied, " I can tell you this. The
hour is coming when you will not worship the Father either on
this mountain nor in Jerusalem. The hour is coming and even now
is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for that is the kind of people the Father is
looking for to worship Him. God is spirit not flesh and blood,
and so those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and
truth. "
Jesus was here referring to the time that was to come when
the armies of Rome under Titus would invade Palestine in 70 A.D.,
destroy Jerusalem and other places and scatter the Jews, so no
organized worship of God in some central location would take
place anywhere in that land. Then also Jesus was making a lesson
that certain physical things in the worship of God really meant
nothing to the Father unless the heart was right with Him.
Outward ceremony even in a place that God could approve of was
useless if the inner heart was not acceptable to Him.
" I know the Messiah is coming, he who is called the Christ.
When he comes, he will be able to tell us all things, as you seem
to be able to do, " the Samaritan woman said confidently, but
with a questioning mind as she looked at this man she had called
a prophet.
" I who speak to you am this Messiah, " Jesus said kindly
but firmly to her.
It was at this point, before she could answer or say
anything about what Jesus had just told her, that the disciples
returned from the city and stood there in shock to see Jesus
talking to a woman in private, and a Samaritan woman at that.
They were shocked but none was willing to question Jesus as to
the reason why. The woman knew what was going through the minds
of these other men and so quickly ran off back to the town,
leaving her water jar behind. She was too excited and amazed by
the whole event to worry about a water pot.
The only thing on her mind was to get back to town so she
could tell as many people as would listen, about a man who told
her all that she had ever done. She asked them if it was
possible that this was the Messiah to come. She told them to go
and see for themselves, and many of them did head out of the city
to see the man she was telling them about (John 4: 10-30).
Meanwhile, as all this was happening in the city, Jesus'
disciples were asking Him to eat of the food they had brought to
Him. " I have food to eat of which you know nothing of, " was
Jesus' reply to them.
" Who has brought Him food while we were gone? " said some
disciples to others.
Jesus then told them exactly what He was meaning. " My
nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and
from finishing the work He sent me to do. Do you think harvesting
will not start until the summer is over, four months from now?
Take a look around you! There are vast fields ripening before
your eyes, and are ready for harvesting at this present time. The
harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is
people brought to eternal life. I'm not talking about fruits from
trees and vines. There is great joy for both the planter and the
harvester. You know what they say, 'One persons plants and
another person harvests.' That saying is very true, for I'm
sending you to harvest where you did not plant; others had
already done that work, and you will gather the harvest. "
For centuries God had sent His servants to teach and preach
His word to the people of Israel. Before Jesus came to do the
work of God, there was John the baptist and his disciples
preparing the hearts of the people for Jesus' disciples to reap
what had already been planted in their hearts. It was a spiritual
harvest of food that Jesus was talking about, as the main and most
important food to eat and to get busy harvesting.
THE SPIRITUAL HARVEST IN SAMARIA
The apostle John in his Gospel tells us that many Samaritans
from the city the woman came from, believed her testimony that
the man she had encountered at the well did tell her things in
her life that were very true. Many went out to Jesus and asked
Him to stay in that town with them and expound more things to
them about God and His word. Jesus indeed did do so and stayed
with them for two days.
Because their hearts and minds were receptive to be
instructed and taught the truths of God, many more believed the
words of Jesus.
They privately told the woman who first talked to Jesus at
the water well, this: " It is no longer because of your words
that we believe, for we have heard from Him ourselves, and we
know that this man is indeed the Savior of the world, the
promised Messiah, that God in His word said would one day come to
this earth. "
After the second day of being with the Samaritans Jesus
departed and headed for Galilee. He did not go to His own town or
neighborhood for He had said that a true prophet of God is seldom
accepted and given honor by those who knew him running around,
going to school, and growing up in their community.
When it comes to the true religion of God and someone boldly
teaching and preaching it, this is so very true. Many communities
will praise and honor a local person who gets fame, makes it big
time, in say, the movie industry, or singing or music arts, or
professional sports. But teaching the truths of God, that call
for personal repentance and a change of life to conform to the
will of God, that is a whole new ball game, and most who have
known this person from a child, in the local community, will not
give much honor to him.
Especially was this true of Jesus' community, for Jesus was
also preaching that He was the Messiah, the Son of man, and even
the Son of God. Those who had seen Mary and Joseph bring this
Jesus child home with them from Jerusalem, and had lived around
them for years, just could not accept Him as the Son of God, the
promised Messiah.
Jesus was able to harvest a spiritual people into the
Kingdom of God from many parts of Palestine, and the area of
Samaria, but not so from His own area and town where He grew up
as a boy and young man.
AN OFFICIAL'S SON IS HEALED
Arriving once more in Cana of Galilee, where He had made the
water into wine at the wedding feast, an official of some sort
from Capernaum came and begged Jesus to come and heal his son,
who was at the point of death (John 4:46-47).
Jesus a little disconcerted because the man wanted Him to
literally go to Capernaum and do a miracle over the sick body of
his son, said to him, " Unless you see some physical signs and
wonders from my hands, you just will not have faith to simply
believe my words. "
The man's mind just did not really hear Jesus' words, but he
said once again to Him, " Sir, come to my city before my child
dies. "
Jesus answered him by saying, " Go back home, your son will
live. " These words did get through to the official, and he
believed them. So he started on the journey back to his town.
Before he arrived, his servants came out to me him, and told him
that his son was alive and well. He inquired of them as to the
time when his son recovered from near death.
" Well it was at the seventh hour yesterday when the fever
left him, " said his servants. With that information the father
knew that that was the exact hour when Jesus had said to him,
" Your son will live. " The official and all his household
believed that this man called Jesus was from God and very
special.
John tells us that this miracle was the second sign that
Jesus did when He had come from Judea to Galilee (John 4: 48-54).
...........................
Written March 2001
To be continued
 Chapter Ten:
Christ's Early Teaching and Healing John the baptist had already told his disciples that the
time was very near when he, John, must decrease in his work for
God, and the one called Jesus, the Messiah, must increase in His
work for the Lord. That time had now come.
John was a very outspoken prophet and minister of the
Eternal God. He often called a spade a spade, laid in on the
line, put the cards on the table as they say. He was this way
with other religious leaders as we have seen. He was this way
with even some of the secular rulers of the Government of Rome.
He was not afraid to call sin what it was, sin. So disturbed did
a few Roman governors get that finally they could stand it no
longer, and John was thrown into prison.
Jesus, on hearing this news withdrew from Galilee, and
leaving Nazareth He went and dwelt in Capernaum by the seaside,
which was in the territory of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali
when those tribes lived before they were deported by the
Assyrians way back in about 720 B.C.
This was actually a fulfillment of that written about by
Isaiah, " The land of Zebulun and the land O Naphtali, towards
the east, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles - the people
who lived in darkness have come to see a wonderful light, and for
those who sat in the place and in the shadow of death, light has
dawned upon them " (Isaiah 9:1-3).
This is another instance that makes prophecy interesting to
say the least. For as you read Isaiah 9, not many would gather
from it that it would have a fulfillment in this account of Jesus
going to stay there as recorded by the Gospel of Matthew
(Mat.4:12-16).
It was from that time forth that Christ really began to
proclaim, " The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at
hand, repent, and believe in the gospel " (Mark 1:14,15).
Then Jesus returned to Galilee with great power from the
Spirit. Much report went out concerning Him into all the
surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues,
being well received and praised and glorified by all (Luke 4:
14,15).
JESUS RETURNS TO NAZARETH AND IS REJECTED
Jesus was a regular Sabbath synagogue attender, and on
returning to His home town Nazareth, where He spent much of His
childhood, He naturally went to church on the Sabbath day.
Part of the service was to always have someone read from the
Scriptures. Jesus stood and all knew He was willing and wanting
to read from God's holy word. He was handed the book of Isaiah,
the ancient prophet. Jesus opened the book and deliberately
found a certain passage, and He began to read:
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed
me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to
proclaim freedom to the captives and to give sight to the
blind, to set at rest and peace those who are oppressed, to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. "
He then stopped reading, closed the book and sat down. How
He read those words must have caught the attention of every
single person in the building, for it is stated that all eyes
were fixed on Him. If they thought His presence and voice was
dynamic, they certainly were not expecting His next words to
them.
" Today this very Scripture has been fulfilled right in your
sight and your hearing."
They really did not quite "get it" - they all continued to
speak well of Him and wondered at the eloquent words coming from
His lips.
Then they began to mutter among themselves, " Isn't this
young fellow the son of Joseph. " And by that they were meaning
to say that Jesus was just the son of a tradesman, a carpenter,
not the son of some prince, or king, or prestigious rich person
who could have been given some expensive and honored education in
the top Universities within the lands of the Roman Empire.
Jesus knew their thoughts, how they were thinking He could
amount to no great acclaim, for to them He was just a "no-body"
like themselves.
Christ answered them, " Doubtless you will quote to me the
proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did
over in Capernaum, well do here also in your own place of
upbringing.' "
He went on speaking, " It is a truth that no prophet is
acceptable in his own home land. I tell you, there were many
widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens
were shut up for three years and six months, when there was a
great famine in all the land. And Elijah was sent to none of them
but only to one widow of Zarephath in the land of Sion. And there
were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha; and
none of them were cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. "
Oh, they got the message now alright. He was now telling
them that many who should have "been with it" and should have had
God with them, were out in left field, sat on the grass eating
their lunch, when they should have been part of the big ball
game, and playing on the winning team. On the team where the only
true Holy God was captain, and Jesus as His vice-captain. If they
had been spiritually mental and ready to join that team then
miracles would have happened to them as it did to that one widow
and to that Naaman the Syrian. Jesus was telling them they just
were not alert and driving in the drivers seat, but were curled
up in the back seat, sleeping.
Oh, yes, they got the picture this time, and were they ever
white hot with anger.
So full of wrath they were that they pushed Him along out of
the city, to a brow of the hill that the city was built on. There
they were planning to actually throw Him down head-first, with a
possible result being death. They were ready to kill Him.
Jesus must have looked at them at this point in such a way,
and with the very power of the Spirit of God flowing from Him,
that they were stunned. Just could not move, could not bring
themselves to throw Him down the cliff. Jesus, we are told,
simply walked through the middle of the crowd and went His way
(Luke 4: 16-30).
PETER, ANDREW, JAMES, JOHN, ARE OFFICIALLY CALLED
TO JESUS' MINISTRY, AFTER A GREAT CATCH OF FISH
Jesus had already been with some of the men who would now be
called by Him to follow Him on a constant basis during His
ministry. We have seen this in past chapters.
There was a time of overlapping of the ministry of John the
baptist and the ministry of Jesus. Jesus had been out here and
there, getting His feet wet as we might say, easing into the main
full time work that was now ahead of Him. He had, on some of
those occasions taken along a number of men, all whom we could
classify as "His disciples."
Now, it was time for picking ones whom He wanted to follow
Him on a daily basis, as a way of life with Him, until the time
for His death.
The Gospel writer that covers this account in-depth is Luke.
He takes eleven verses to fill us in on the details of these four
men (Peter, Andrew, James and John) being called from their
normal secular work jobs to full time in Jesus' ministry.
Jesus was by the lake of Gennesaret. He was preaching to
them the word of God. The crowd grew and grew, until they were
pressing all around Him. He saw two boats, empty, for the
fishermen were washing their nets on the shore. Jesus climbs into
one, which belonged to Peter, and asked him to move it out, away
from the shore. Now He could teach the people and not have them
pressing too close to Him.
After the teaching session, Jesus asked Peter (and it would
seem Andrew his brother was with him, if we look at the other
Gospel writers) to pull further out into the water. This they
were glad to do as they could cast their nets out to pull in some
fish. Not far away was another fishing boat with James and John,
also two brothers, and with them was their father Zebedee. They
were fishing partners with Peter and Andrew.
Peter was not sure if he really wanted to cast out his net
for they had worked all night and had caught not one fish. Jesus
said, " Go out into the deep and put down your nets for a catch."
" Well...okay, " said Peter, " For you we will do so, but I
do not see the point of all this, for we got nothing all night
long. "
It was not long before Peter's face turned into a look of
astonishment. The catch of fish was so great the nets were
breaking. So Peter called on their friends and fellow
fishermen, James and John, in the boat nearby, to come and help
them. The help was given and both boats were filled so full with
fish that they were close to sinking.
Simon Peter was so awe stuck at all this, he knew he was in
the presence of God in the flesh, Immanuel , and that hit him
like a plank of wood between the eyes, that he, Simon Peter, was
a sinner. He cried out for Jesus to leave Him, saying, " Depart
from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man. "
All the men that were there were just as astonished. But
all this was done to teach those men something much more
permanent in nature. Something of far more important value than
catching mere physical fish. Jesus said to Peter and the others,
" Do not be afraid; from this time forth you will be catching
men. "
Of course Christ was meaning that their new job was to catch
or bring people into the spiritual family of God, into the
Kingdom of God, by proclaiming the Gospel of salvation.
Jesus now beckoned those four men to put away being
fishermen and to be with Him as part of His daily life disciples.
They immediately obeyed and went with Him. Zebedee (the father of
James and John) and some hired hands were not called to go with
Jesus, they stayed and presumably continued the fishing
partnership and business, but without Peter, Andrew, James and
John ( Luke 5:1-11; Mat.4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; ).
TEACHING IN CAPERNAUM
Back to Capernaum goes Jesus, and on the Sabbath day He
immediately goes to the synagogue and teaches. They were, it is
written, astonished at His teaching and His words, for they knew
He was teaching them as one having authority, being very sure of
Himself, and that what He taught was the very truth of God. This
was indeed different to them, for the scribes taught in no such
way, for they were not at all sure many times as to what the
Scriptures taught or said, or how to understand them ( Mark
1:21,22 ).
JESUS HEALS A MAN WITH A DEMON
As He was teaching in the synagogue there came up to Him a
man possessed with a demon. " Ah, why are you having anything to
do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? " the demon cried out in a loud
voice through the man. " I know who you are, others may not,
but I sure know who you are. You are the Holy One, of God " the
demon cried out further.
"Be quiet, and come out of him," answered Jesus.
The demon throw the man to the ground, but did not hurt him.
Then the demon came out of him as Jesus commanded.
The people around were all shocked with amazement. " What is
this word He speaks? For with authority and with power He
commands the evil spirits, and they come out of people. "
So, the report of the mighty words and powerful acts of
Jesus spread into all the surrounding regions (Luke 4:33-37).
JESUS HEALS PETER'S MOTHER-IN-LAW AND OTHERS
After the synagogue meeting was over Jesus was invited over
to the house of Peter and Andrew. James and John were invited to
come also. There in the house was Peter's mother-in-law, who was
very sick with a fever.
He came in and took her by the hand, so lifting her up, and
the fever immediately left her. She was now able to serve them
and provide them with physical food for a good Sabbath meal. Yes,
others may have been able to have done all that, but Jesus wanted
this relatively small sickness that this lady had to be gone from
her, so she could also enjoy a fine Sabbath meal with them. It
was a small kindness miracle that Jesus did, somewhat like when
He turned water into wine at the wedding feast we read about
earlier.
When evening had come, and the sun was setting, many brought
friends and relatives who had various sicknesses, to Him to be
healed.
You will notice, this large work of healing was not done on
the Sabbath, but after the Sabbath was over, when the sun was
setting and the evening had come. Jesus did a few Sabbath
healings, but the large numerous healings were not on the Sabbath
day. It took much effort and work and strength out of Jesus,
after doing healing upon healing. Jesus would often have to go
away by Himself into the hills to refresh Himself after
spending hours healing people. Such hard continous work was
clearly not what He wanted to do during the Sabbath hours.
At this healing session many demons came out of people
crying, " You are the Son of God. " Yet, He rebuked them and
told them not to speak, because they knew He was the very Christ.
For some reason, known perhaps only to Jesus, He did not
want this truth of Him being the Son of God shouted around. At
this particular time Jesus had a reason, although we are not told
what it was or why He told the demons to be silent with those
words.
PREACHING IN OTHER CITIES
The next day, very early, Jesus was up and away to a lonely
spot where He could pray and meditate. But the solitude was not
to last long, as the people discovered where He had gone. They
would have kept Him there to continue to heal every kind of
disease, sickness, pain, and the paralytics, the epileptics and
those troubled with demons. His fame was spreading like
wild-fire, even into the land of Syria as well as all over
Palestine.
Simon Peter and many other of His disciples came to Him and
told Him that everyone in that local area was searching for Him.
At the hearing of this, Jesus said to them, " Let us go on to the
next towns, that I may preach the good news of the Kingdom
of God there also; for that is why I am here, that is my job and
commission given to me of the Father. "
And He went throughout Galilee, teaching and preaching in
the synagogues and casting out demons (Mat.4:23-25; Mark 1:35-39;
Luke 4:42-44).
CLEANSING A LEPER
Coming from the secluded mountain spot and moving on to the
next town, great crowds of people were following Him, and out of
the crowd a man suffering from the disease of leprosy (a terrible
skin disease that can easily be passed on to others, hence
most people kept far away from those with that sickness) fell
before Him on his knees and cried out, " If you will, you can
make me whole and clean. "
Jesus looked upon him with great pity, stretched out His
hand and touched him (no one would ever touch a leper as they
knew they would likely come down with the same disease), and
answering him said, " I will make you whole. Be indeed clean. "
And immediately the leprosy disappeared from his skin.
Jesus, in sending him away, charged him to tell no person
what had happened to him, and added, "....but go, show yourself
to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded,
for a proof to the people. "
Christ was very respectful of all the word of God and
knowing that the Old Covenant had not yet in an official way been
replaced by the New Covenant, He expected people to abide by all
the laws and commandments, even the physical ceremonial ones that
had to do with offerings to be given through the priests at the
Temple in Jerusalem, concerning after being made clean from
certain diseases.
.............................
Written in May 2001
To be continued
  Chapter Eleven:The Rise of Opposition by Jewish LeadersJESUS AT HOME
Certainly the Gospels show and record that Jesus was a
wandering preacher, moving about all over the Holy Land. It is
also recorded that at times He really did not know where He was
going to rest and sleep for the night, and there were probably
many times He and His disciples slept under the stars during the
warmer parts of the year.
While all the above is true, there is recorded for us an
interesting verse in the Gospel of Mark. We read in chapter two,
and verse one, " And when He was come to Capernaum after some
days, it was reported that He was AT HOME. "
Mark does not say He was in the home of a friend, or
relative, or in the home of one of His disciples. Mark says He
"was at home." A phrase that within the context of words around
it, would indicate this home was Jesus' home.
And coming from a background of the carpenter trade, it
should not take us by surprise that either with Joseph (His
earthly adoptive-father) and/or with His other brothers, they built a
house for themselves, or specifically for Jesus, at some point in
past time.
Mark puts it in such language that indicates this was Jesus'
home at Capernaum. And while "at home" we have the story that
follows, which contains certainly one large important truth Jesus
was again revealing to the masses and to the religious leaders of
the day.
JESUS HEALS A PARALYTIC AND FORGIVES SIN
We shall let Luke tells us the story, found in his fifth
chapter. Jesus was teaching (as we have seen, at home in
Capernaum), and some of the Pharisees and teachers of
the law were sitting there. They had come from every town of
Galilee and Judea, even from the city of Jerusalem itself.
Some men carrying a man on a bed, one who was paralyzed,
came to the house hoping to bring the paralytic to Jesus for
healing. Yet there was such a large crowd of people in the house
and door-ways, it was impossible to get through to where Jesus
was. But, they were not about to give up that quickly. One of the
men suggested they go up on the roof top (the houses were built
with flat roofs in the Holy Land in those days), remove some
tiles and let the paralyzed man on his bed down to Jesus from the
roof top. The others all thought this was an excellent idea and
so proceeded to follow that suggestion.
Imagine the scene. First, a hole appearers in the roof, all
look up, and secondly, behold down comes a bed with a paralyzed
man laying on it. It would seem Jesus (and probably all the
other people present) knew exactly what they wanted done. He
perceived they had much faith. He looks at the paralytic and
says, " Man, your sins are forgiven you. "
Sometimes in the foolishness of our mind we may do a silly
or dare-devil physical act (that God would not have wanted us to
do) and it sometimes ends in the physical breaking of our body in
some form. Whatever this man had done to bring about his
paralyzation, Jesus knew it was a sin (not revealed to us exactly
what or when or how), and told him He would forgive that sin.
Now, other examples in the Gospels show us that not all bad
physical problems that happen to us are the result of some sin we
do, but there are times it could be. This is a case of where
Jesus knew the man's physical problem was the result of some
foolish physical sin he had done. In the most part God does not
inflict us with physical ailments when we sin in mind, thought,
or word. If He did then most of us would be crippled a thousand
times over. But there are times God allows some of our foolish
physical actions to move in dire results. He may not always
step in and prevent the tragic end result of our physical errors.
Jesus forgave the sins of this man and was willing to heal
his physical body.
Well, at those words by Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees
looked at each other in shock and anger, saying among themselves,
" Who can forgive sins but God only? "
Jesus knew what they were saying. He could read their hearts
and the looks on their faces.
" Why do you question in your hearts, " said Jesus to them,
" which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to
say, 'Rise and walk'? But I said it the way I said it so you may
know the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. "
Now, the scribes and Pharisees were correct in thinking that
only God can forgive sins in the strictest sense, and certainly
in any healing where sins are to be forgiven. Jesus was again
showing and proving to them and all the people standing by, that
He was God in the flesh, that He was the Immanuel (God with us)
that was promised to come by the prophet Isaiah. He was showing
them that as God in the flesh, He did have authority to forgive
sins. He was teaching them that He was part of the Elohim (a
singular God with a plural form) they all knew about in the Old
Testament Scriptures.
Jesus once more turned to the paralyzed man and said, " I
say to you, pick up your bed (in those times people's beds were
often a roll up type mattress) and go home. "
Immediately the man rose up and departed, glorifying God as
he went his way. Needless to say the crowd was just amazed,
filled with awe, and praising God they said, " We have seen
strange yet wonderful things today " (Luke 5: 17-26).
LEVI (MATTHEW), A TAX COLLECTOR, IS CALLED TO BE A DISCIPLE
Jesus left the home and went again besides the sea, where
even more of a crowd gathered around him. And He taught them many
things about the Kingdom of God. He was walking along a little
while later and He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus (this is he that
was called Matthew and the one whom we believe wrote the Gospel
of Matthew), sitting at the table of the tax gathering office,
and He said to him, " I want you to come and follow me. "
We are not told any "behinds the scene" details as to
whether Levi knew Jesus from some other time before. Whatever the
case may have been, Matthew immediately rose up and went with
Jesus. The place they were going to was Matthew's very own
house. It would seem Jesus had no hesitation at times in inviting
Himself over to certain individual's homes, and enjoying a meal
with them and others. This we must look upon as not being
"forward" or "ill-mannered" but in the context of doing the work
of God, teaching people the truths of God, calling disciples to
follow Him. It was often the way Jesus did things, and nobody it
seems got offended at that way.
Now, some did get offended by the company of persons Jesus
did allow to be around Him when in someone's home. This was the
case here while in Levi's home enjoying a meal, teaching and
relaxing.
Mark, in his Gospel says, many other tax collectors were
present (they not being liked at all by the Jews for they
collected taxes for the Roman Government), as well as
"sinners." This word "sinners" is used often in the Gospels to
refer to "sexually immoral" people, and especially to women who
sold their bodies to men for sexual gratification.
Well, when the Scribes (writers of the books of God as we
have in the OT) and the Pharisees (leaders of the popular common
religious party bearing that name) saw Jesus keeping company with
such people they looked down their nose and got quite indignant
about the whole scene. " Why do you eat and drink with tax
collectors and sinners? " they asked of Jesus.
Jesus gave them an answer that they could not but clearly
understand what He was meaning. " Those who are well and healthy
do not need to go to a doctor, but it is those who are sick who
need the help of a doctor, " Christ first said to them, and
concluded with, " I have come to do a work not among those who
are spiritually righteous and healthy, but among those who know
they are sinners " (Mark 2:13-17).
Jesus was certainly not intending to mean that He thought
the Scribes and Pharisee leaders were righteously healthy, for
other parts of the Gospels make it very clear He thought nothing
of the kind about them. We will see some pretty plain words
later that Jesus used to tell them where He thought they stood
when it came to spirituality.
What He said to them here was with tongue in cheek. The
scribes and Pharisees could not see their sins and lack of true
spirituality, but many others could see their own sins, such as
tax collectors (who often cheated the people through power of
authority and with fear tactics, and gained more taxes than
required by the law, pocketing it and becoming quite wealthy) and
sexually immoral persons.
Jesus, was telling those self-righteous Scribes and
Pharisees, He was concerned with, and was there to serve and
help, those who could see their sins and wanted spiritual
healing. Those who could not, but thought they were spiritually
fine and dandy, He could not help.
We must all come to see that no matter how "righteous" we
may be in the eyes of the society we live in, and our own
standards of life, that we still have sins, that we are sinners
in the light of the perfect holiness of God.
JESUS TALKS ABOUT FASTING
Many people at large knew some who were either disciples of
John the baptist or disciples of the Pharisee sect. They knew
that disciples of both often fasted (going without food and water
for a day or even many days). For years they had seen and heard
of those disciples setting one or more days aside to devote to
pray, study, meditation, on the things of God. But, in observing
Jesus' disciples for maybe months, they could never see, nor did
they hear about, any of His disciples ever fasting for any length
of time.
Finally, some were just so bewildered by it all they had to
ask Jesus about it, that is, why His disciples did not fast,
while other disciples from other religious leaders did fast.
Jesus gave His answer as found in the Gospel of Luke.
" Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is
with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away
from them, and then after that they will fast. No one tears a
piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it as a patch on an
old garment; if he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from
the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old
wineskins; if he does the new wine will, as it ferments, burst
the skins and it will all spill out, and the skins will be
useless. But new wine must be put into new wineskins. Further, no
one after drinking old wine desires to drink new wine, for he
will usually say, 'The old tastes better' " (Luke 5:33-39).
Fasting is done to draw close to God, to really put aside
all physical things like work, play, preparing and eating food,
and to devote all the time to getting as spiritually close to God
as can be humanly possible. Fasting is to learn from God through
His word, through pray, through meditating on His word, and
letting the Spirit of the Lord teach and guide you.
With Jesus being God in the flesh, the Immanuel, the perfect
teacher, the one to set the perfect example of human holiness
through the Spirit, and as He was also there right in their
midst, they were as close to Him, to God, as could be expected
and desired for in this physical life. Jesus' disciples had no
need to fast to get spiritually close to and in tune with God. He
was already close to them, and all the help, all the teaching,
all the answers to their questions, was there rubbing shoulders
so to speak, with them.
Fasting, under those circumstances was not a correct or
needed mixture for spiritual insight. The old way of getting
close to God was not needed while the new way and perfect example
of spirituality, was living, walking, and talking among His close
disciples.
As Jesus had said to them, fasting is also a time for
serious mindedness and it has some inner sadness to it, not that
that is not a good thing at times, for such can and should
produce spiritual growth and joy. But having Jesus with them was
like being at a wedding. It was a time to live with physical (and
of course mental) happiness and excitement, enjoying the day and
hour that belonged to the bridegroom.
For Jesus' disciples it was not a time to wander off by
ones-self, leaving Him behind, heading for the wilderness to fast
in order to get insight and teaching from God, for God was right
there with them in the flesh, in the form of Jesus Christ, to
teach and bring them insights from the Father in heaven.
Jesus would not always be physically in their midst. One day
He would return to heaven. After that day, then fasting for His
disciples would be once more important as a method to draw close
to God, to learn of Him, to be corrected and taught by Him
through the Spirit. Until then, fasting for Jesus' disciples was
not needed as the perfect new way was so very close to them,
hence the purpose for fasting was quite redundant and unnecessary
for those who were Jesus' close disciples.
JESUS HEALS A MAN ON THE SABBATH AND ENCOUNTERS
TROUBLE FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS
There was in the city of Jerusalem by the sheep gate a
famous pool of water, called in the Hebrew language "Bethesda"
which means "house of grace." It had a roof with five porches,
giving ample protection from the heat of the sun and yet easy
access to the pool itself.
This pool was indeed a gracious place, for when the waters
moved, miraculously at times, and the invalids, blind, lame, and
paralyzed, got into the water, they were healed.
God, through this water miracle, was granting physical
healings to some of the people.
It was one of the Festival times and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem and on a Sabbath day He visited this Bethesda pool.
There He saw a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. He
was lying under one of the porches, hoping to get into the pool
when the waters moved.
" Do you want to be healed? " asked Jesus of this man. " Oh,
yes sir, but I have no one to help me into the pool when the
water is moving. And while I'm trying to get there on my own,
someone else always gets there before me, " answered the man.
It would seem that the miracle God gave was on a "first
come, first served" basis. It only lasted for a very short time.
Jesus looked with sympathy and compassion upon the man and
said, " Rise, pick up your bed-roll and walk. "
Immediately the Gospel of John records, the man was healed,
stood up, picked up his bed-roll and walked away praising God.
It was soon noised abroad what Jesus had done. Some of the
religious leaders heard Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day. They
found the healed man and looking down their nose with a
condemning attitude said to him, " Do you not know it is the
Sabbath, and therefore it is not lawful for you to be carrying
around your bed-roll. "
The religious leaders of the Pharisee sect had about 600
laws for Sabbath observance. Most of them were of their own
making. It was all to do mainly with physical do's and don'ts.
They had become so materially minded about keeping the Sabbath
that doing kindness, showing love, having mercy, and even serving
someone in need on the Sabbath, was put to one side in favor of
keeping hundreds of physical man-made laws, one of them being
that people should not carry their bed-roll on the Sabbath. Doing
that to those religious leaders was carrying a "burden" and so
working, hence breaking the Sabbath.
The healed man, at this moment in time, could have cared
less about any man made rule or law of Sabbath observance. All he
knew was that God had healed him and he was walking.
" Well, the man who healed me, told me to take up my
bed-roll and walk, " replied the happy hearted man to the
questioners and condemners.
" So who is this man that told you to do this thing? "
asked the religious leaders.
The healed man was now kind of stunned, for he then realized
he did not know who this man was. He would have liked to have
known, but he now remembered that after the healing the man
immediately walked away into the large crowd. At this time the
man could not tell them who it was that healed him.
It so happened that a little later in the day, in the
Temple, Jesus found the man He had healed and spoke once more to
him. " Ah, you are well and healthy again. Be careful to sin no
more, lest a worse sickness befall you, " Jesus said to him.
We have seen already that some of our physical problems in
life can be our own fault, because we have done something against
the natural laws of nature. Sometimes breaking those laws, what
Jesus clearly called "sin" - sin in the physical, can lead to
physical sickness and troubles for us. Sometimes we do foolish
things without thinking we may end up hurting ourselves. We may
be walking along going to school, and we see this thin brick
wall, about three feet high. We think it would be fun to try and
balance walk along the top of it, so without much more thought up
we get and with one foot in front of the other away we try to
balance walk. But we maybe never did this before and certainly
had never practiced on something much lower to develop our skill
first, before trying it on a three foot wall.
Well, we slip and fall, smash a knee, twist an ankle, or
even break a leg, as we hit the ground. We have done a type of
sin, a physical sin against the laws of gravity and our own human
body.
It would seem this man had done such a sin in his life (but
we are not told exactly what it was he had done) that left him
unable to walk. Whatever it was Jesus called it a sin, and told
him to be careful and not sin in this manner again, or something
worse than not being able to walk, may come upon him.
The New Testament teaches that our physical bodies are the Temple of
God. God can dwell in us through His Holy Spirit, and so we then
become His spiritual Temple in a manner. He wants us to
appreciate and look after and take care of our physical bodies.
We should stop and think before we act or do certain physical
things in life, as to whether it is too dangerous, and could
possibly injure us if doing such a thing does not go smoothly.
Some things can be too "reckless" - too "far out" - too "wild"
and we are then taking chances with out body and mind that God
would not have us take chances with, for as He has written, our
body is His Temple for Him to dwell in.
After Jesus had found the man and spoken to him again about
his healing, the man went and told the religious leaders who the
person was that healed him. He told them it was Jesus.
All of this happening on the Sabbath was just another reason
for those leaders to seek out Jesus and persecute Him, for
breaking one of their made up laws of Sabbath observance.
Jesus looked at them, probably with some anger, as he saw
their cold, unkind, unmerciful hearts, and said, " My Father is
still working, still doing good things on the Sabbath, and so I
will do good works also on the Sabbath. "
It's true, God the Father still feeds the birds on the
Sabbath day, still brings up the sun, or sends the rain to feed
the trees and flowers. Doing good to people that come our way,
and that really need a helping hand on the Sabbath is living
within the laws and love of God. It is also doing correct good
works just as God is still doing on the Sabbath.
Well, with those words from Jesus' lips, that God was His
Father, those Jews knew He was making Himself equal with God, a
part of the very Godhead, above any angel, putting Himself right
up there on the God level of existence, as a part of God. This
made them see red hot fire. It was bursting their blood vessels.
Now they were so angry with Him for not only in their eyes
breaking their Sabbath laws, but now having the affront to
say God was His Father.
Those Jews now sought all the more to find a way to kill
Him. They knew what making someone your "father" meant. They knew
it was putting yourself in that "family" with that father, in as
close relationship as literally possible. Jesus had told them
before that He was God in the flesh, that He had authority as a
part of the God family, to forgive sins on earth. Telling them
here that God the Father was His Father, was telling them again
what He had told them before, but putting it in a different way.
They clearly got the message, understood fully what He was
saying, and to them it was blasphemy, and so were more determined
than ever to want to see Him dead (John 5: 1-18).
The wonderful truth of the matter is that the NT makes it
abundantly clear that all true children of God today, have God as
their Father, and Jesus Christ as their elder brother, in as
literal a way as can be possible. Spirit filled Christians are
now and will be in the future, a part of the very family of God,
bearing the nature and name of God. God the Father is enlarging
Himself, by having many sons and daughters born of Him (2 Cor.
6: 16-18). All in that family will be equal in the sense that
they are equal family members, all bearing the name of that
family. But as in the human family, not all will have the same
authority or the same gifts. God the Father will always be the
head of that family (1 Cor.11:3).
It is a wonderful wonderful honor and privilege to call God,
"Our Father." Jesus did, and so may we.
................................
Written June 2001
  Chapter Twelve:Jesus has more problems with the PhariseesCHRIST LAYS IT ON THE LINE
Many were the disputes and the problems Jesus had with the
religious leaders of the Pharisee sect, and others also of the
Sadducee priestly group and the Scribes. What John records for
us in his chapter five (verses 19-47) of the Gospel book that
bears his name, are words from Christ that are plain, no punches
pulled, with Jesus being very God in the flesh, He had the
authority to speak those words with a dogmatic tone of voice.
Jesus said to them, " Truly, with truth, I say to you, the
Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the
Father doing; for it is whatever He does that the Son also does
likewise. The Father loves the Son, and shows Him all that He
Himself is doing. And yes even greater works than these He will
show Him, that you may be astonished and marvel.
As the Father can raise the dead and give them life, so the
Son as well will give life to whom He will.
The Father has decided to judge and condemn no one, but has
given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even
as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not
honor the Father who sent the Son.
It is the truth, that I say unto you, he who hears my words
and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life. He will not come
into condemnation, but has passed from death to life eternal.
Once more it is the truth that the hour is coming, and even
now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and
those who hear will live. "
Jesus, by saying the hour now was here, did not mean to say
there were resurrections taking place, and people coming back to
eternal life, as He was speaking those words in His teachings in
the towns and country-side. He was meaning that many
"spiritually" dead in their sins, were believing His words,
repenting, and gaining grace and eternal life. Then one day all
such people will be raised to life in a resurrection, at the
trumpet voice of the Son of God when He returns to this earth.
That truth is taught in many passages throughout the NT and in
the Gospels, as we shall later come to see and read about.
Jesus then went on to further explain what He was meaning:
" As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the
Son also to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to
execute judgment and condemnation, because He is the Son of man,
and knows what human life is all about, having experienced it.
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who
are in the graves will hear His voice and shall come forth from
death. Those who have done good, to the resurrection of eternal
life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of
judgment."
Putting all the passages together in the NT that talk about
this subject of resurrections, we come to see that there will be
at least two great resurrections. The one resurrection is for all
the true children of God that have lived in faith from Adam to
the coming again in glory and power of the Son of God, when His
voice will go forth with a shout. Those dead in the graves will
rise together with the children of God alive in the flesh, at the
coming of Christ. They will all be glorified together with
eternal life, and meet Jesus in the clouds of this earth, and so
be with Him forever more (1 Cor.15 and 1 Thes. 4: 13-18).
There will also be another general resurrection for many
people who were not called to salvation in this life time. The
20th chapter of the book of Revelation mentions this
resurrection, where it indicates the book of life will be opened
to them. This is after the 1,000 year reign of Jesus and the
saints upon this earth, as the first part of the chapter
describes.
It is the Father's will that all persons be given a full and
clear opportunity to know the only name whereby anyone can be
saved, to repent, and find the way to eternal life (Acts 4:12; 2
Peter 3:9).
Jesus said all that are in the graves will one day hear the
voice of the Son of man and come forth to live again. But, it
will not all happen in just one resurrection at one single event
in history.
Christ now really started to get specific and hit the nail
on the head with many listening to Him.
" I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge;
and my judgment is very just, because I seek not my will but the
will and way of Him who sent me. If I bear witness to myself,
testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But
there is someone else who is testifying about me, and I can
assure you that everything He says about me is true.
In fact you sent people to listen to John the Baptist, and
he was preaching the truth. But the best testimony about me is
not from a man, though I mention to you John's testimony that you
might be saved. For John and his ministry shone brightly for a
while and you benefited and rejoiced, well some of you did.
But I have a much greater witness than John - my teachings
and my miracles. They have been assigned to me by the Father, and
they testify that the Father has indeed sent me.
And again, the Father Himself has also testified about me."
Jesus continued, " You have never heard His voice or seen
Him face to face as I have. You also do not have His message in
your hearts, because you do not believe me, the one He sent to
you.
You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you
eternal life, yet it is those very Scriptures that point to me!
But you refuse to come to me so that I may give you eternal life.
Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me, because I
know your hearts that you do not have the love of God within you.
I have come to you representing the Father, and you refuse to
welcome me, even though you accept others who only represent
themselves. It is no wonder you cannot believe me! You can honor
each other, pat each other on the back, but you do not really
care about the true honor that comes from God alone."
In His final breath on this matter, Jesus told them, " Yet,
it is not I who will accuse you first, of this dishonor before
the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, the one on whom
you set your hopes. But if you had fully believed Moses and what
he wrote, you would have believed me because he it was that wrote
about me. And since you do not then believe what he wrote, how
then it is possible for you to believe what I say ? "
Wow! Yes indeed, Jesus hit them right between the eyes with
all those words. He made it very clear where many of those
religious leaders of His day stood in spiritual relationship with
the Father. They just simply did not! They had no connection
with the Father at all. They were playing at religion, playing
among themselves, patting each other on the back, accepting each
other on human terms, but their hearts were far from seeking
the ways of the true God in heaven and believing His written
word. With proudness they accepted Moses as their great physical
ancestor. But in the area of where it really counted, believing
what Moses had written, they struck out three times. And so they
could not, would not, did not see that this Jesus was indeed the
Son of God, the one who had been with the Father from the
beginning, and the one whom the Father had sent to earth to teach
His truths and perform His miracles.
PHARISEES ACCUSE JESUS' DISCIPLES OF BREAKING THE SABBATH
Matthew in his Gospel tells us that it was about the same
time the above took place that Jesus and His disciples were
walking through the grain-fields on the Sabbath day. His
disciples were getting quite hungry and so began to pluck the
ears of grain, rub them between their hands and eat the flour
substance then produced by that action.
The Pharisees were tagging along not far behind. They
noticed what Jesus' disciples were doing. With indignation they
shouted, " Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to
do on the Sabbath."
If you read this account as given by all three Gospel
writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke) you will notice the Pharisees did
not quote any verse to back up their dogmatic utterance.
Even after Jesus answered them, they did not attempt to support
their accusation with any Old Testament law of Sabbath
observance. Why not? Very simple, there was not and is not any
such law in the written word of God.
What the Pharisees were accusing Jesus' disciples of doing
was breaking a point of one of their man-made Sabbath laws, that
they, the Pharisees together with the Scribes, had manufactured
and invented. Recorded history tells us that the Pharisees had
about 600 Sabbath laws. They had the mind-set that their invented
laws of Sabbath observance had the stamp of approval on them by
God Himself. Such was not the case at all, as Jesus went on to
explain.
Jesus reminded them (written in the Scriptures they all
read) of the time when David and his men were so hungry that they
went to the House of God and asked the priest to give them the
holy bread that in the letter of the law was only for the priests
to eat, and not for anyone else.
Jesus did not go into all the details of this account when
answering the Pharisees.
They got the point with the basic answer Jesus gave. But
looking at it in 1 Samuel 21, and the context, you will see that
David asked the priest, and the priest went to inquire from the
Lord if he should grant David his request. The answer came back
as, yes.
God, as Lord of the Sabbath, the one in charge of Sabbath
regulations and observance, was going to set aside a letter of
the law command concerning the holy bread of the Temple, and was
going to allow David and his men to eat it, as they were very
weak in the knees (as we may say) from hunger.
God was looking at a situation that was at hand in the
physical lives of some of His people, and was quite willing to
set aside a physical law in order to fulfil a greater law, one
that entailed showing kindness, mercy, love, compassion. And all
such greater laws were quite in line with the observance of the
Sabbath.
Then again, as God is the one in charge, as He is the law
maker, the governor of all that is good and right and lawful, He
has the authority to govern the observance of the Sabbath, even
His Temple, as He chooses under any particular circumstance and
situation that may arise in any era of time.
Jesus did not stop with the example of David and his men and
the bread of the Temple, but also gave them another example to
meditate on.
" Or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the
Priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? "
In a technical letter of the law way, when reading the words
of the fourth commandment, and understanding that the Priests in
the Temple still continued to do the work of administering the
animal sacrifices on the Sabbath, you could say they most
certainly did "work" on the seventh day of the week. So, in that
technical letter of the law way they broke the Sabbath
commandment, of not working on that day at your secular
job.
But, we also read in the law of Moses that God allowed the
Priests to work on the Sabbath day and He held them guiltless,
blameless. He did not look upon them as breaking the Sabbath day.
As God is the creator of all things, physical and spiritual, as
He is the creator of the Sabbath day and the rules that apply to
observing it, He can then set the rules as He chooses in how to
observe the Sabbath day. And for the Priests in the Temple,
doing much physical work on the Sabbath, God said the rule of not
working at your secular job on the Sabbath, did not apply to
them.
God was Lord of the Sabbath. He was in charge as to how the
rules for observing it would apply in any given situation, and
with whomever persons within any situation that arose on the
Sabbath day.
What Jesus continued to tell these religious leaders was
very meaningful and significant.
" I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here. And
if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not
sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the
Son of man is lord of the Sabbath " (Mat. 12:1-8).
The something greater than the Temple standing there, was
Jesus Himself. If they had recognized that He was Immanuel, God
in the flesh, the promised Messiah, the very Son of God, they
would have realized He had authority over what He allowed His
disciples to do on the Sabbath day, and allowing them to then
pluck grain and eat it as they strolled through the fields, was
not sin, or was not breaking the Sabbath.
Also, if they had understood the mind and love of God, in
that God does in many circumstances, put mercy and kindness to
serve people in their physical needs of comfort (such as not
going hungry) before some letter of the law, then they also would
have not condemned Jesus' disciples in their actions as they
walked through the grain fields. They would have realized the
mercy, love, and kindness of God, was far above any of their
self-righteous man-made laws of Sabbath observance.
Then lastly, if they had really known, if they had been
willing to admit, that Jesus was the Son of man, God in the
flesh, the creator of the Sabbath, the one greater than the
Sabbath, the one who was in charge of setting the rules for
Sabbath observance in any situation, they would have understood
that as Jesus did not stop the disciples from plucking the grain
and eating it, then He had set the rule in that situation that
such actions on the part of the disciples, was not in any way
breaking the observance of the Sabbath day.
They would have recognized Jesus was lord, governor, of all
rules for Sabbath observance under all situations, and that He
had the authority to adjust those rules as the circumstance arose
for any specific condition on any Sabbath day. What the disciples
were doing, in Jesus' mind, was in no manner breaking the law of
Sabbath observance.
JESUS HEALS ON THE SABBATH AND ANGERS MANY
On another Sabbath day when Jesus was in the synagogue and
was teaching the word of the Lord, there was a man there who had
a right hand that was withered up in some manner. It may have
been a disformed hand from birth, or maybe it had been burnt
in a fire, or some other accident had caused it to be withered.
Well, the scribes and Pharisees, knowing what Jesus had done
on other Sabbath days, were watching Him out of the corner of
their eyes to see what He would do when He noticed this man with
the withered hand. They were probably hoping within their minds
that He would help this poor man, but not to praise Him and give
God the glory, but to accuse Him of breaking their man-made
Sabbath laws.
Oh, for sure, Jesus knew their evil thoughts. He said to the
man with the twisted and gnarled up hand, " Come over here my
friend, and stand by me."
The man arose and came and stood by Jesus.
"I ask you," said Jesus, looked at everyone, but especially
the scribes and Pharisees, " is it lawful and proper on the
Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or destroy it? "
Looking around again upon them all He went on to say to him
with the withered hand, " Stretch out your hand."
The man did as Jesus told him to do and his hand was
restored to its normal size and function.
The self-righteous scribes and Pharisees were just boiling
over with fury, and with whispers among themselves they discussed
with one another what they might be able to do against this Jesus
fellow that they considered a great Sabbath breaker (Luke 6:6-
11).
JESUS CONTINUES TO HEAL AND FULFILL A PROPHECY OF ISAIAH
Jesus knew the hearts of those religious leaders were
against Him, so with His disciples He withdrew to the sea shore.
Yet by this time His fame had spread so far abroad that a huge
crowd of people followed Him. They came from Galilee, from Judea
and Jerusalem, from beyond the Jordan, even from the region Tyre
and Sidon, up on the west coast of Palestine, quite a distance
from Jerusalem. They all came to hear Him speak. So many there
was that He had to tell His disciples to have a boat ready that
He could get into off shore, lest He be crushed by all the people
around Him.
Another reason why so many followed Him, and came from so
far away, was because of His healing powers. They wanted to touch
Him to be healed. Many who had evil demon spirits within them
fell down before Him and cried out, " You are the Son of God."
Yes, those evil spirits knew exactly who He was and through the
mouths of humans confessed it in a public manner. Jesus more
often than not ordered them not to make Him known in this public
way. It was not yet time for such open publication, in that
manner.
All this was to fulfil that which Isaiah the prophet had
spoken, in the forty-second chapter.
" Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with
whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and
he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or
cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will
not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick, till he
brings justice to victory; and in his name will the Gentiles
hope. "
Jesus was not coming with great fan-fare, the blowing of
trumpets, a big firework display, to announce His teaching and
preaching. He was not coming with large display ads in the local
news papers. He did not want publicity campaign managers running
all over the land announcing His fame and unique origin.
As for the talk about a bruised reed and smoldering wick,
one of the old master Bible commentators, Albert Barnes, gives
the meaning of all this. We read these words in his commentary on
this passage:
" The reed is an emblem of feebleness, as well as change
(Mat.11:7). A bruised, broken reed, is an emblem of the poor and
oppressed. It means that he would not oppress the feeble and
poor, as victorious warriors and conquerors did. It is also an
expressive emblem of the soul, broken and contrite on account of
sin, weeping and mourning for transgression. He will not break
it. That is, he will not be haughty, unforgiving, and cruel. He
will heal it, pardon it, and give it strength.
Smoking flax. This refers to the wick of a lamp when the oil
is exhausted - the dying. flickering flame and smoke that hang
over it. It is an emblem, also, of feebleness and infirmity. He
would not further oppress it, and extinguish it. He would not be
like the Jews, proud and overbearing, and trampling down the
poor.....He will not treat them harshly or unkindly, but will
cherish the feeble flame, minister the oil of grace, and kindle
it into a flame.
Till he send forth judgment unto victory. Judgment here
means truth - the truth of God, the gospel. It shall be
victorious. It shall not be vanquished. Though not such a
conqueror as the Jews expected, but he shall conquer......"
Jesus was to conquer, but not in the way and manner that
most of the religious leaders of the day and their followers
thought and taught that the Messiah would come. They could only
see the prophecies in the Old Testament that talked about a
powerful warring Messiah to come to set up His Kingdom on the
earth and rule all nations (which prophecies are yet to be
fulfilled). They had overlooked all the prophecies of His coming
as a life giving Messiah. A Messiah to bring love, peace,
forgiveness, to repentant souls longing to be strengthened and
brought back from a smoldering wick ready to die out, into
a bright burning flame of joyful salvation (Mat.12:15-21; Mark
3:7-12).
Here again on the sea shore Jesus was living and doing the
very words that Isaiah the prophet was inspired to say He would
do.
......................
Written August 2001
  Chapter Thirteen:The Great Sermon on the Mount (part one)JESUS' CHOICE OF THE TWELVE
The time had come for Jesus to call and start a special
group of disciples from within His larger body of followers. This
was something new and different from what John the baptist had
done with his disciples and indeed different from what Jesus had
done so far in His ministry. He was about to choose a special 12
disciples, and as they were going to be chosen for some different
work and gospel commissions for the then present and into the
future, from what the other disciples would do, it was very
important that He chose the twelve with much thought and prayer.
Jesus went up into the hills alone to pray as He often did
at other times. He continued all night in prayer. This decision
of which twelve to pick for His inner circle of close disciples
called for all night prayer and meditation. Jesus set us an
example in all things He did. There could well be times in our
life when confronted with serious and large decisions that we
must make, that all night prayer and meditation is needed to
ensure we make the correct decision. When other Elders in the
Church are to commend and ordain other men to the ministry, a
very serious undertaking and commission to be given to others, it
should be done under prayer and fasting, which could be for more
than a day, maybe for a number of days over a period of time
(Acts 14: 21-23).
Jesus took time to pray about the choosing of these twelve
disciples, even praying all night long. When it was daybreak, He
called all His disciples to Himself and from them He chose this
special twelve. He named them "apostles" which means "ones sent
forth." Here was also a new name given to a new formed section
within the New Testament Church of God. The function then of
apostles was brought into being by Jesus. This newly created
position by Jesus shows us that it is not wrong for new functions
to be created within the body of Christ, the Church of Christ,
when and if certain functions are needed for doing the work of
God.
Why did Jesus choose twelve at this time? There was indeed
a very important reason for calling twelve. Jesus was not just
looking at the present, but way into the future when the Kingdom
of God would come to be established on the earth, when it
would rule all nations, when all the prophecies of the Old
Testament concerning the literal government of God ruling the
entire earth, would come to pass. Many prophecies in the
prophetic books of the Old Testament tell us that when Jesus
returns in glory to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, then
the literal people of Israel and Judah will be again united as
one people, or 12 tribes united under one banner so to speak.
They are to return to the land area we call the Middle East
today, where the city of Jerusalem is located (Ezekiel 37;
Jeremiah 30, 31, 33; Isa.11). Jesus promised that the twelve
disciples would each sit upon a throne of authority governing a
tribe of Israel (Mat.19: 27, 28). And so for the plan of God to
contain this governing structure for the people of Israel
during the 1,000 year reign of God's Kingdom on earth, Jesus knew
there needed to be a special twelve called out from among His
many disciples who would each be given rule over one of the
twelve tribes of Israel, in that coming Kingdom age.
The names of these twelve specially called out disciples
were:
Simon, whom Jesus named Peter.
Andrew, who was Peter's brother.
James and John.
Philip and Bartholomew.
Matthew and Thomas.
James the son of Alphaeus.
Simon who was called the Zealot.
Judas the son of James.
Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor (Luke 6: 12-19).
After Jesus had chosen the twelve He came with all His
disciples down from the hills and stood on a large flat area of
land. Soon a huge multitude of people came to Him from all Judea
and Jerusalem and even from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon. They
came to hear Him speak and to be healed of their diseases. Those
who were troubled with evil spirits were also cured. Such was the
power that came from Him all the people clambered to get close
enough to touch Him and so be healed of their sicknesses and
demons.
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Many have thought that Jesus gave this famous so-called
sermon on the mount to all the crowd of people that came to Him
from Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast. But the Gospel writer
Matthew shows us that this was not the case at all. After Jesus
had spent some time with the crowds that came to Him, He wanted
once more to get away, they were pressing in on Him all wanting
to touch Him as we have seen. Jesus again retreated into the
mountains. He sat down and it was His disciples that came to Him.
It was His disciples not the vast crowds that He taught. The
words of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 were given to them, not the
general population (Matthew 5: 3).
Much of what I record Jesus as saying in His sermon on the
mount is my paraphrasing.
And Jesus opened His mouth and taught them saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness'
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you
when men shall revile you and persecute you and utter all
kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and
be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men
persecuted the prophets who were before you"
(Mat.5: 3-12).
Here in a few verses Jesus gives the heart and the core, the
foundation of what is a true Christian, a true son and daughter
of God the Father.
The poor in spirit are those who have put away pride and
human vanity. They have been willing to see themselves in the
light of God's word, in the light of the Holiness of God Himself.
They have humbled themselves to acknowledge their sins and wrong
ways and words and thoughts. They have repented of being a human
sinner, repented of breaking in one way or another the holy laws,
commandments, statutes, and precepts, of God. They see they are
nothing compared to a Holy God. They have cried out for His
mercy, for His grace, for His love. They have put themselves into
the spirit of mind that they will love the Lord their God with
all their heart, with all their life, with all their mind.
They are willing to serve Him, to do His will not their own, to
love and obey His commandments. They stand in respectful awe of
the entire word of God.
It is to this person with this attitude of mind that God
will look and take note of and call His child (Isa. 66: 2). To
such a person Jesus promised that the Kingdom of heaven would be
theirs, that they would be a part of it, that they would live
forever in the very Kingdom family of God.
Those who mourn and shall be comforted are those who first
of all mourn within themselves as they see the sins and faults
and errors they have done in their lives. As they see where they
have missed the mark in what the heavenly Father would have them
do, think, and speak, they are deeply sorry. This gives them a
repentant mindset and places them in the position to receive
God's loving forgiveness and so be comforted with His salvation.
Those who mourn are those who also go on after being
comforted with personal salvation, to mourn for the evil and sins
they see around them in the world from day to day. The child of
God at times really gets upset, mourns and sometimes literally
cries (Jesus shed tears at times over the sins of Jerusalem and
the people around Him) when they see or hear about certain evils
that happen in the world or in their local town or city.
Such children of God often cry out for His Kingdom to soon come
to earth that all the pain, sorrow, and evil, the world contains
will be a thing of the past. One day, as the heavenly Father has
promised, His children who now mourn at times will be
everlastingly comforted when His Kingdom is set up on this earth.
The meek are those who do not think of themselves above what
they should. They are not full of vain bigheaded thoughts about
themselves or their talents or abilities. They realize all they
have is from God. They realize all they can be is from God. They
are willing to be corrected, to learn, to be shown and led into
the ways and truths of the Lord.
They are humble enough to want to serve and do the commandments
of God. They know that meekness is not the same as "weakness."
They understand that people like Moses was meek, and even said
of him that he was the meekest man of his time. But they know
that Moses was not "weak." But was strong in and for the Lord. Being
meek is really being strong in the ways and life of how God wants
you to live.
Meekness is being righteous and Jesus was probably thinking
about Psalm 37 when He uttered these words. For in that Psalm it
is the righteous (those who do and live in a right way with God)
who shall it is said, inherit the earth. Yes, the children of God
are to live forever on this earth. They are to inherit the
Kingdom of God or heaven, but that Kingdom is to come to this
earth as Revelations 19 through to 22 fully explains and shows
us. So to inherit the Kingdom of heaven is indeed to also
inherit forever this earth.
Jesus said it was blessed to hunger and thirst after
righteousness. Now one Bible definition for righteousness is
found in Psalm 119: 172. There we see that all of God's
commandments are righteousness. Many today want you to believe it
is not important to seek after God's commandments. Many today
want you to believe God has "done away with" His holy law of the
ten commandments and just about all of His other commandments
also. Many today say if you seek after the commandments of God
you are trying to gain salvation by human works.
Well, many today have many ideas as to why you should not
hunger and thirst after the righteous commandments of God. But
for Jesus, as far as He was concerned, if you did hunger and
thirst after them, you would not only be filled and satisfied,
but you would be also very blessed.
Jesus went on to say that it was also a blessing to be a
merciful person, to show kindness, a loving and forgiving
attitude towards others.
There will be many times in life, many situations will come
our way, when people will do us harm, do us dirt as they say.
People at times will say nasty things about us, talk behind our
back, call us names, tell bad stories about us that are not true.
They may plot to harm us in different ways. They may get jealous
of us for whatever reason and become our enemy. They may try to
take revenge on us for something they consider we have done to
them.
There will be plenty of opportunity in life to act and to
think in a merciful manner towards others, to not pay back in
kind as others have done to us. There will be times when some
people will come to us and acknowledge they have acted badly
towards us and ask us to forgive them. Jesus said it was a
blessing to be merciful towards others. For by being merciful you
would also obtain mercy. He was no doubt especially thinking
of the mercy that the Father in heaven would show towards you,
for you showing mercy towards your fellow man.
The pure in heart were also a blessed people, so blessed
Jesus said, that they would see God. The clear inference is that
those who did not have a pure heart would not see God. All of the
children of God will one day see the very face of their heavenly
Father (Revelation 21 tells us that). If you do not see God the
Father, it means you will not be living. It means you will not
have had a pure heart, for it is the pure in heart that shall see
God.
The heart of man is a mixture of good and evil. Without the
nature and Spirit of the Lord coming into the heart to wash it,
to cleanse it, to fill it with the love of God, to purify it from
its natural carnal fleshly ways and thoughts, it is spiritually
impure. Such a natural heart without the Spirit of
God does not belong to Him. God is Holy. The natural heart
without God in it is unholy. Only when the heart is purified by
the indwelling of the Spirit of God is it classified by God as
pure, and as belonging to Him. Only then is that person
considered by God as His child. All this is what the apostle Paul
was telling us in Romans chapter 8.
When the heart is made pure by the presence of God through
His Spirit dwelling in it, then we are His. And we receive the
Spirit of God through repentance and baptism (Acts 2: 38). Our
sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ on an on going daily
basis (John explained it more for us in I John chapter 1 and the
first part of chapter 2). Hence we are in the sight of God one
with a pure and clean heart.
With a pure heart Jesus said people would indeed see God.
They would one day inherit eternal life and see God's face as is
promised in the book of Revelation (chapter 22).
If you want to be a son (or daughter) of God, Jesus said you
would have to be blessed by being a peacemaker. What does it mean
to be a peacemaker? Does it mean you are a doormat for people to
walk all over? No, surely not, for the people of God in the Bible
stood strong and firm for their faith. Many of those who were
called to proclaim the truths of God to others and to nations,
were bold and courageous, not backing down even in the face of
the threat of death. Does it mean you must be timid and
consoling to other religious leaders that oppose the word of God?
Hardly! For Jesus and the apostles as we can see from the New
Testament did not back down against those who would debate or
corner them on theological issues. There are times when the
people of God must also act as Jesus acted towards false
religious leaders (we will come to Matthew 23 and the strong
words Jesus used against false religionists later in the Gospel
story).
I think it best to try to understand what being a peacemaker
is, by looking at it from the opposite side of the coin. A
peacemaker is one who is generally as a way of life, trying to be
at peace with everyone, even when and while living a dedicated
Christian life, and also when trying to proclaim the good news of
the salvation and truths of God's word.
He or she is not out looking for trouble, not out to deliberately
cause a fight or disturbance (though such may arise when teaching
and/or living the way of the Lord. The first century apostles
certainly encountered less than peaceful persons, out to harm
them, as they lived and taught the Gospel). A peaceful person is
trying to act and live and speak as Jesus told them to do, "Be
you as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves."
A peaceful individual has a basic good natured attitude and
disposition about them. They are not nasty in words, not bad
tempered, not grouchy, always seeing the negative side of things,
not forever complaining about everyone and everything. They are
not out to pick a fight over the least bad thing that others do
to them. They often let the evil of others coming their way, pass
them by with no thoughts of revenge or how they can get back at
them. They want if at all possible to be at peace with people as
they live and practice and proclaim the love of God through Jesus
Christ.
Peaceable people are basically upbeat, happy, friendly,
smiling people. Their conversations are mainly positive and not
bitter, sarcastic, negative, filled with put-downs of others.
They exhibit a lot of patience in all they do and with all people
they meet.
Peaceable people are persons that others like to be around and
enjoy having as neighbors and working co-workers. Peaceable
people find that small children are drawn to them, for small
children can sense persons who are peaceable and easy to feel
comfortable and happy with. Children had no problem in coming
close to Jesus and letting Him pick them up to bless them.
Such is the nature of persons who are peacemakers. For such
is the foundation of the nature and character of God, hence those
with His nature in them will be peacemakers and so will also be
called "sons of God."
To emphasize that the righteousness of God is for all
peoples of all ages to seek after, Jesus went on to say that
those who were persecuted for the sake of righteousness, because
they were practicing righteousness as a way of life, were
blessed. The commandments of God which are righteousness are
forever (Psalm 111) and though some would encounter words and
actions of persecution from those who did not like the
laws of God or who thought the New Testament abolished them,
Jesus said the ones receiving the persecution for serving
righteousness would have the Kingdom of God, they would inherit
it and be a part of it.
Then Jesus finished this part of His sermon and teaching by
letting His disciples know that in choosing to follow Him, it
would not always be an easy road to walk. It would not
necessarily be a bed of sweet smelling roses, or sitting in some
beautiful park on a warm and sunny day enjoying a large chocolate
dipped ice-cream.
Sometimes, to not only accept Jesus as your personal savior,
but to believe what He said and to obey Him, to follow His
example in all your conduct of life, will anger various people,
even ones who call themselves "religious" and claim they are
"Christian." These people will often say false things against
you, lie about you, and try to bring all manner of harm to you,
mentally, emotionally, and even physically.
Jesus has told us beforehand that such may come our way
because we follow Him in everything. He said we would eventually
be blessed and have a great reward for remaining loyal to Him. He
reminds us that it has been no different for other who lived
before us. All down through the centuries, yes, even as we read
through the Old Testament, we can see that many of the prophets
of God were reviled and persecuted for standing firm to the word
and truth of the Father in heaven.
In Luke's account we have Jesus as saying, "But woe to you
that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you
that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh
now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all men speak
well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets"
(Luke 6:24-26).
Is it wrong or somehow "not quite Christian" to be rich in a
physical way, or to be fully satisfied with food, or to laugh? We
should not take Jesus' words here out of context from the whole
Bible. As we read the whole of God's word we can see that some of
His people were physically blessed with material riches. And many
were fully satisfied and provided with food, as well as enjoying
themselves with laughter and song. It is clear that God does not
think such things per se are wrong or not proper to have if you
are His child.
What Jesus here in the sermon on the mount is saying is that
those who disregard God's way, His truths, and His commandments,
those who just simply "live it up" as we say, who want to fill
their minds and life with only the material things that can be
obtained in this life time, who put all their energies into being
rich, full of everything physical, and want to "party all the
time," while ignoring the way of God, will one day have to answer
for this mind-set. They will finally come to the point of
realizing that putting the physical things first (and God second,
or God never at all) is not the way to eternal life. They will
indeed mourn and weep.
Jesus also said, "Woe to you, when all men speak well of
you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."
Another fact contained in the Bible, when you read it all
from start to finish, is the fact that those who taught and
preached the Word and Commandments of God, were never popular
with the masses of the people or with most of the leaders of the
various nations. And they were not popular with the masses of
other religious leaders.
Jesus gives here a pretty constant and overall rule of
thumb, if you are liked and spoken well about from the large mass
of people and world leaders, then you propbably are NOT speaking
the Word and Truths of the Almighty God, certainly not in the way
you should be teaching and preaching them.
Those who are popular as "religious teachers and preachers,"
who are spoken well about from the large majority of people, are
more than likely, according to Jesus, false prophets and false
religious teachers.
That verse in Luke is well worth remembering when you start
to look at all those out there who claim they are the religious
ministers of God.
Jesus continued:
"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its
taste, how can its saltness be restored? It is then no
longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden
under by the foot of men. You are the light of the world. A
city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men
light a lamp and put it under a cover, but put it on a
stand, that it may give light to all that be in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
We should be able to say with the apostle Paul, "I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation..." We should not be trying to hide what we believe or
stand for. But this does not mean we are to be preaching
constantly to all whom we come into contact with. You will notice
the two examples Jesus gave. He did not say we are to be like the
blast of a trumpet sounding out a war alarm. He did not say we
are to be like a loud radio filling the air waves with its sound,
nor like a fog horn sounding the danger to those nearby.
There maybe times when we can do personal evangelism, and
teach people the way and salvation of the Lord, but by and large
we are to live as a Christian like the shining light set on a
stand, in all we say, and do, showing forth the good
works that are part and parcel of being a child of God. By so
living many will glorify and thank the Father who is in heaven.
Jesus went on to say:
"Think not that I am come to abolish the law and the
prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil
them. For truly, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass
away, not one iota, nor a dot, will pass from the law until
all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least
of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called
least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and
teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of
the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom
of heaven."
The first part of the above has been often twisted all out
of proportion and people have tried to make it say that when
Jesus ended His life and had fulfilled all that was written about
him, then all things were fulfilled and so the law and the
commandments were then abolished. But Jesus clearly talked about
all being in effect until heaven and earth passed away, not then
the time of His death. Heaven and earth are still here. Hence so
is the law and the prophets and the small and great commandments
of the Lord.
The last part of what Jesus said makes it crystal clear
exactly what He was meaning. Anyone coming along who would relax
or diminish even the least commandment would be looked upon as
least by the kingdom of heaven, but he who obeyed and taught them
would have great favor in the eyes of that kingdom.
Jesus further went on to nail down exactly what He was
meaning, so none would or should ever misunderstand. The scribes
and Pharisees were ardent law observers. They tried to be super
righteous in following all the laws of God contained in the Old
Testament. But they often interpreted them incorrectly,
misapplied them, blew some of them way out of proportion,
sometimes added their own ideas to them (such as the 600
or more laws they invented for Sabbath observance), or worst yet
set up their traditions in place of the commandments of God. All
of this we shall see expounded by the Gospel writers as we
proceed further into the life and ministry of Christ.
Of course the scribes and Pharisees thought they were very
righteous. It was a false self-righteousness that they had and
not the righteousness that came from God. Jesus said His
followers needed to have the true righteousness that is founded
upon the truth of God. But that truth most assuredly held that
the laws of God were in force and effect until heaven and earth
passed away. And those who obeyed them and taught them would be
called great in the kingdom of God.
Now Jesus goes on to amplify and enlarge and make more
binding some of the laws of God:
"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You
shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to
judgment.' But I say to you that every one who is angry with
his brother without cause, shall be liable to judgment;
Whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council,
and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of
fire."
Jesus here starts to answer some of the Jewish
interpretations of the laws of God.
Notice, He does not say, "It is written" but "you have heard it
said to the men of old." Now, sometimes the interpretation of
the literal letter of the law was basically correct, at other
times it was not so correct. Jesus was not only going to give the
true understanding of what the letter of the law was meaning but
He would take it a step further. He would enlarge it to bring in
the heart and intent of the spirit of the law. He had the
authority from the Father to do this very thing, and so make the
laws of God much fuller and broader under the New Testament. It
had been prophesied centuries earlier that one of the acts
the Messiah would do when He came was to not only make the law
honorable but also to magnify it, enlarge it, to include the
spirit of the law as well as the letter of the law (see Isaiah
42: 21).
With the help of the Albert Barnes Bible Commentary we can
better understand what Jesus was teaching in the passage just
quoted.
Intentional killing, with planned forethought, of another
person, would indeed bring the one who so killed into judgment.
The law of God did teach and state that judgment was to be passed
on those who intentionally killed another person. Actually such
murderers would be put to death under the letter of the law of
the Old Testament (Lev.24: 21; Num. 35: 16). The law did not state
by whom this judgment should be done, and it was left to the
Israelites to organize courts to have authority over such crimes
(Deut. 16: 18). But Jesus here goes a step further. He says that
anyone who is "angry" (a state of heart and mind) with his
brother without cause shall be liable to judgment.
The judgment court of the Jews was a court that sat in each
city or town and commonly had seven members. It was the lowest
court among the Jews and from such a court an appeal might be
taken to the Sanhedrin, or the highest court in the land, the
supreme court of the Jews which sat in the city of Jerusalem.
We notice Jesus said "without cause" for there is a time to
be angry. The Bible teaches there is a righteous and justifiable
anger, a holy anger if you will. At times Jesus looked upon the
hypocritical Pharisees with anger (Mark 3: 5). And Paul was
inspired to say, "Be you angry and sin not" (Eph. 4: 26).
What Jesus addresses here is being angry without cause; that
is, unjustly, rashly, hastily, where no offense has been given or
intended. In that case Jesus was saying it would be evil anger.
It would be an evil hated that would break the spirit of the 6th
commandment. The apostle John was later inspired to write that
"he who hates his brother is a murderer" (1 John 3: 15). As
interpreted later in the Gospels by Jesus, a brother is anyone of
the human race.
Jesus went on to say that whoever says to his brother "Raca"
(Jesus used this Syriac word originally and it means speaking
with great contempt, coming from a verb that means to be "empty"
- "vain" - denoting "senseless, stupid, shallow-brains"), shall
be in danger of the council. The original word for "council" here
is "Sanhedrin" the highest of the Jewish courts, the supreme
court of the land, just as most nations today have a supreme
court, to which appeals from lower courts can be taken for a
final and unalterable decision.
This Sanhedrin court was instituted in the time of the
Maccabees (a Jewish family group) about 200 years before the time
of Christ. It was composed of 72 judges. The high priest was the
president of the court. The 72 members were made up of the chief
priests, elders of the people, and the scribes. The chief priests
were the ones who had discharged at one time, the office of high
priest, and those who were the heads of the 24 classes of priests
(as arranged under the reign of king David) and were called in an
honorary way "high" or "chief" priests. The "elders" were the
princes of the tribes, or heads of the family associations. Not
all (for there would far too many) elders sat in the Sanhedrin
but only those chosen or elected.The "scribes" were the learned
men (like our lawyers of today) of the laws of Israel, elected to
this Sanhedrin court. This court usually sat in Jerusalem in a
room near the Temple.
Jesus was saying that those with a "raca" mindset towards
their brothers were indeed in danger of coming under the judgment
of the highest court, which in spiritual terms would mean the
court of heaven itself.
Still, there was another step further into real danger for
those who had a wrong attitude towards their brothers and
sisters. If you were in the mindset of saying "You fool"
to your brother, it stood for the attitude of and expression of
the highest guilt, and had been used as an expression for
"idolaters" (Deut. 22: 21) and also one who was guilty
of great crimes (Josh. 7: 15; Psalm 14: 1).
Such an attitude of mind placed one in the danger of "hell
fire." The original language in which Jesus spoke it says, "the
Gehenna of fire." The word Gehenna is made up of two Hebrew
words that signifies the "Valley of Hinnom." We need to take a
little time and understand this Valley of Hinnom for it came to
be the example Jesus would often use to picture the fire of the
second death for the destruction of the unrepented wicked at the
end of the 1,000 year reign as foretold in the 20th chapter of
Revelation.
Quoting from the Albert Barnes Bible Commentary:
"...This was formerly a pleasant valley, near to Jerusalem,
on the south side (or south east). A small brook or torrent
usually ran through this valley, and partly encompassed the city.
This valley the idolatrous Israelites devoted formerly to the
horrid worship of Moloch (2 Kings 16: 3; 2 Chron. 28: 3). In that
worship the ancient Jewish writers inform us that the idol of
Moloch was of brass, adorned with a royal crown, having the head
of a calf, and his arms extended, as if to embrace anyone. When
they offered children to him, they heated the statue within by a
great fire; and when it was burning hot, they put the miserable
children into his arms, where it was soon consumed by the heat.
And in order that the cries of the child might not be heard, they
made a great noise with drums and other instruments about the
idol. These drums were called "Toph" and hence a common name of
the place was "Tophet" (Jer. 7: 31, 32). After the return of the
Jews from captivity, this place was held in such abhorrence,
that, by the example of Josiah (2 Kings 13: 10), it was made the
place where to throw all the dead carcases and filth of the
city; and was not infrequently the place of executions. It
became, therefore, extremely offensive; the sight was terrific;
the air was polluted and pestilential; and to preserve it in
any manner pure, it was necessary to keep fires continually
burning there. The extreme loathsomeness of the place; the filth
and the putrefaction; the corruption of the atmosphere, and the
lurid fires blazing by day and night, made it one of the most
appalling and terrific objects with which a Jew was
acquainted...."
We can conclude from all this that what Jesus was saying was
that he who has the ultimate in hateful murderous attitude
towards a fellow human being, an evil and unrepentant mindset of
contempt and disdain for another person, has already in the
spirit and intent of the law against murder, broken that
commandment (though they may not have literally in the letter of
the law physically killed that person), and so with that
murderous spirit of mind they stand in judgment of the heavenly
court, which may pass judgment on them unless they repent, to be
burnt up in the final fire of the second death, represented by
the fires of the valley of Hinnom.
Because of all this, Jesus further went on to say:
"So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there
remember that your brother has something against you, leave
your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled
to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Make
friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with
him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge,
and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly
I say unto you, you will never get out until you have paid
the last penny."
The whole sense here is that Jesus was teaching His
followers that they needed to have an attitude of reconciliation,
of wanting to be at peace and reconciled with all people. Not to
be harbouring malice, resentment, hostility, revenge towards our
fellow man. We must make the effort to be reconciled. It is not
good enough to wait for the other to come to us, but we need to
go and meet with those whom we have difficulties with, and as
much as we can do, as much as it is within our power, to try and
be at peace with our fellow man.
The altar was the place where under the Old Testament they
offered their sacrifice to God. It was then the outward
expression of a religious service towards God, showing
you were devoted to the way and service of the Lord, that you
wanted to worship Him. Jesus was saying then, that to worship
God, and for God to accept you in worship towards Him, it would
be useless to partake in worship with God unless you had first
made the effort to be at peace with those who were not at peace
with you for whatever reason, be it your fault or their fault.
It should be the Christian's attitude of mind that they also
do not want to go to court with anyone, and if they do find
themselves in a "court" situation (because the accuser has
brought about court action) they should try to what we today call
"settle out of court" and so reconcile some peace with their
accuser. It may mean you bite the bullet, take some heat or not
get all the justice that you think you should get, but the
follower of Christ does not want to battle with people, they are
not vindictive, hard nosed people, who must always have their
pound of flesh and win the fights they sometimes get into (be it
their fault or the other persons fault). God's people are
basically none trouble makers, who want peace not war and will go
the extra mile to make peace.
Then, Jesus also gave some practical wisdom to the
Christian. You maybe in the "court situation" because you have
been unwise or careless or just in plain error in what
you have done. You may be fully to blame! So, better acknowledge
it, seek reconciliation and peace with the accuser who may have
the right to accuse you, and settle the matter before getting to
court. If you do not, then you may find yourself in deeper
trouble from the punishment the court imposes on you.
The main point is. God wants and expects you to be a peace
loving and peace seeking person that holds no animosity towards
another person. God wants you to do your part in being at peace
with all mankind. This, Jesus was saying is the heart and core
of the 6th commandment, not just the letter of the law of not
murdering another person. And if you do not seek after the whole
meaning of that law to live it in mind as well as action, then
the judgment of the court of heaven will come upon you and there
will be no way out once it has been enacted in the fires of the
second death.
Jesus went on to expound on another commandment:
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit
adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a
woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in
his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw
it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than
that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna fire. And if
your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it
away; it is better that you lose one of your members than
that your whole body go into Gehenna fire."
Oh, yes it was taught by the religious leaders of Israel
that people were not to commit adultery, for that was one of the
ten commandments of God, but they probably never taught the
"spirit of the law" which would mean people could "lust" after
the opposite sex all they liked, and indeed there was no
punishment in the courts of Israel for so lusting. But Jesus here
magnifies this law to include the thoughts and desires of the
mind, if they are dwelt upon. The dwelling upon the thoughts
bring sin, to see and acknowledge the good form of the outward
appearance of a man or woman is not wrong, but if you continue
with a lustful dwelling upon their outward form, then sin is
born. This is what God inspired James to tell us in the book that
bears his name, chapter one and verses 14 and 15.
King David of ancient Israel saw the woman Bathsheba bathing
herself. He looked and dwelt upon her beauty, desire and lust
flared up in his heart, and he went on to commit adultery with
her. The whole story of the sins of David with Bathsheba and the
punishment God delivered to him is recorded in 2 Samuel chapters
11 and 12.
Concerning the words about Jesus saying to cast away your
right eye and right hand if they cause you to sin, must not be
taken literally. First, God designed the human body. The apostle
Paul said the human body was holy if God dwelt in it, that it was
His holy temple, and we should not defile it. He even said that
God would not be pleased if we defile it (see 1 Cor. 3: 16, 17).
Then secondly, is it really the eye or the hand that sins? Is it
not the mind where sin is conceived and formed? If sin was
conceived in the eye or hand and Jesus literally meant us to cut
them off, then all of us would soon have no eyes, no hands,
probably no arms and no other bodily parts as well, including our
head, for sin can be in the mind.
"The Hebrews, like others, were accustomed to represent the
affections of the mind by the members or parts of the body
(Rom.7: 23; 6: 13). Thus, the 'bowels' denoted compassion; the
'heart,' affection or feeling; the 'reins,' understanding, secret
purpose. An 'evil eye' denoted sometimes envy (Mat.20: 15 ),
sometimes an evil passion, or sin in general We read in Mark 7:
21, 22, 'Out of the heart proceedeth an evil eye.' In this
place, as in 2 Peter 2: 14, it is used to denote strong
adulterous passion, unlawful desire and inclination. The right
eye and hand are mentioned, because they are of most use to
us, and denote that, however strong the passion may be or
difficult to part with, yet that we should do it. 'Shall offend
thee.' The noun from which the verb 'offend,' in the
original, is derived, commonly means a 'stumbling-block, or a
'stone' placed in the way, over which one might fall. It also
means a 'net,' or a certain part of a net, against which,
if a bird strikes, it springs the net, and is taken. It comes to
signify, therefore, anything by which we fall, or are ensnared;
and applied to 'morals,' means anything by which we fall into
sin, or by which we are ensnared" (Albert Barnes Bible
Commentary).
Sometimes in life we find we cannot partake in a certain job
employment (that may pay us very good wages, or that we are
especially skilled in) because the job would violate a
commandment of God or violates the observance of the 4th
commandment, the keeping of the Sabbath. To follow Christ we may
at times have to give up keeping company with some people we were
very close to, because we have changed the way we live and their
way of life and attitude would only pull us down from the high
calling we now have in Christ Jesus. Later in the ministry of
Jesus we shall see where he told people that to follow Him would
sometimes mean giving up a close friend, a brother or sister, a
child, or even a wife or husband. Some hobbies we once had we may
have to part with because they are too reckless and dangerous,
putting our physical body in the path of major destruction or
even death. For the Christian, God teaches that our bodies
are the temple of His Holy Spirit and we are not to defile them
in unnecessary dangerous games or thrills that may give us a
momentary rush or pleasurable adrenalin surge up the spine.
It could mean that certain types of "movies" or "music" that
we were wildly into before becoming a Christian, we may have to
"cut off" and cast away, because we now realize they are far from
what a Christian should expose themselves to.
Many things that we once held dear and close to us, that
were a part of our daily life, our very being, that we thought we
could not live without, will have to be "put away" when we become
a child of the heavenly Father. Yes, sometimes we must cast to
one side things once held precious to us, we must do it, if they
are things not pleasing to God. If we do not cast them aside we cannot have
enteral life in His Kingdom, but we shall be cast one day into
the Gehenna of fire and be forever no more.
Jesus went on with commenting on another of the laws of old:
"It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give
her a certificate of divorce.' But I say unto you that every
one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of
unchastity, makes her an adulterous; and whoever marries a
divorced woman commits adultery."
Deuteronomy 23: 1, 2 allowed for a man to divorce his wife.
There were two main theological schools of the Pharisees (the
most popular religious group among the Jews of that time). The
most famous and the most popular of these schools taught that the
law in Deuteronomy allowed for divorce for any trivial reason.
Hence, most believed and practiced this understanding of divorce,
and the reasons some men divorced their wives were over such
matters as not liking her looks any more, or burning the toast
for breakfast one time too many (the first example was the case,
the second I give as a kind of the trivial reasons Jewish men
divorced their wives, it could have been over something as
trivial as burning the toast).
It was probably true that divorce under the Old Testament
was given and allowed on a broad and wide range, from serious
issues to much less than serious ones. Later, Jesus told the
Pharisees that divorce under Moses was allowed, but only because
of the "hardness of the heart." Most people were so out of tune
with God, so fleshly minded, so wanting to do their pleasures as
the whim of time and mind took them, God allowed divorce on a
pretty loose scale (Mat.19).
But now it was the New Testament time, and Jesus had come to
make the law of God honorable and to magnify it, as we have seen.
The original intent of God from the beginning was to not have
divorce on anywhere near the loose and large scale He allowed it
under the age of Moses. Jesus would now restore the original
intent, divorce would be tightened up, not allowed for anywhere
near the trivial reasons as before. Jesus did say divorce would
be allowed for "unchastity." A study of the Greek word used here
for "unchastity" as it is used throughout the New Testament,
shows it is a word that covers any sexual immorality. For married
couples it would cover the act of adultery, a husband or wife
going to bed and sleeping with another man or woman.
Another law, the law of "swearing" Jesus would now change
and bring under the enlarged "spirit of the law" for New
Testament times:
"Again, you have heard that it was said by them of old time,
'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform unto the
Lord thine oaths." But I say unto you, swear not at all;
neither by heaven; for it is God's throne; nor by earth; for
it is His footstool; neither by Jerusalem; for it is the
city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your
head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But
let your words be, Yes, yes, No, no, for what is more than
this comes from evil."
The law respecting "oaths" is found in Lev. 19: 12 and Deut.
23: 23. An oath is a solum affirmation, or declaration, made with
an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed, and implies
you ask for His vengeance, renouncing His favor, if what is
affirmed is false. A false oath is called "perjury" in our courts
of law today.
The Jews it would seem had gone beyond declaring oaths
before God, swearing using the name of Jehovah. They now had
introduced oath swearing by all manner of other names. And
probably did not think thus swearing by these other names that
important (compared to swearing by the name of God) if they
observed the oaths or if they broke them. Their swearing also
took on a flippant, mundane, conversation language, much like
many today in our society do. "I swear by all the tea in China,
it happened that way" some may exclaim today when wanting people
to really believe what they are saying is the truth. It may not
be the truth, or it may be part of the truth, or way over
exaggerated, but they want you to really believe it was exactly
as they told it, and swearing by the tea in China, is supposed to
somehow make it so.
Remembering again that most of the people under the Old
Testament age were carnal, then "oath" swearing probably had its
place. Indeed, it was probably needed for God gave it as laws to
govern certain parts of the life of the Israelites. But for the
New Testament Christian Jesus magnified this law in abolishing it
outright. No swearing, no oath swearing of any kind, by the name
of God or by the name of anything else, was needed for those who
were the children of God from now on out.
The Christian should be telling the truth at all times, and
needed not to call upon God to establish what they had to say (so
God could punish them if they spoke falsely) as being true, for
they would have a mindset of always telling the truth.
Some will say Jesus was only speaking about mundane
conversational swearing, and not about "legal court" oath
swearing ( i.e. "Place your hand on the Bible and swear
after me" as done for witnesses in courts of law). But through
the apostle James, God made it abundantly clear that oath
swearing period was out for the true Christian. James
wrote, "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by
heaven, neither by the earth, neither by ANY OTHER OATH: but let
your yes be yes and your no, be no; lest you fall into
condemnation (Greek is 'hypocrisy')."
The courts of law in our land allow for Christians to NOT
put their hand on the Bible and to "affirm" that what they say
will be the truth, instead of oath swearing on the Bible.
Also, a Christian can only tell as to what their memory will
allow them to remember for any specific recall of an event.
Sometimes the mind forgets things, or misplaces the order of
things. Hence they try to say what they think or remember to the
best of their present ability. They do not want to convey the
idea that God is speaking, and hence be found to be a hypocrite
or play actor, if they should be proved to be inaccurate over
some point.
Jesus continued:
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye or an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth.' But I say unto you, that you resist not
evil; but whoever smites you on the right cheek, turn to him
the other also. And if any man will sue you by taking you to
the law courts, and takes away your coat, let him have your
cloak also. And whoever compels you to go a mile, go with
him for two miles. Give to him that asks of you, and from
him that would borrow from you, do not turn away."
The command for "an eye for an eye" is found in Exodus 21:
24; Leviticus 24: 20; and Deuteronomy 19: 21. In these places it
was given as a rule to regulate the decisions of judges. It is
one of those parts of the Old Testament that has been greatly
misunderstood. Many have thought that because of such laws all
kinds of people in ancient Israel were walking about with only
one hand, one eye, one leg, a huge black eye (till it healed),
broken legs, bloody noses or broken noses, with this or that
broken bone etc. The literal application of this law would indeed
over time produce a nation with countless deformed and crippled
people.
What should have been done when trying to understand this
section of the laws of Moses, would have been to have gone to the
Jews themselves, their scholars and their ancient writings. If
this is done you will soon find that throughout the whole history
of Israel, this law of "an eye for an eye" was never taken as
something that should be done in a literal manner. It was never a
practice in Israel to cripple people. Can you imagine a court
that had a room wherein people were taken and had their eye
plucked out, or hand chopped of, or a leg smashed and broken with
some kind of baseball bat type instrument. The thought is quite
horribly gruesome to think about such ever taking place in any
country let alone Israel.
The truth of the matter is that the Jews have always known
this section of the laws of Moses were for the court "magistrates
or judges" only, and that it was a figure or manner of speech
that told them they had to metre out "just" and "fair"
compensation (usually in monetary or physical goods) to those who
had been disfigured in some way by the intent or the accident of
others. Ancient Israel was never a wholesale chopping block for
human dismemberment of the body.
By the time of Christ the Jews had extending it from the
magistrate or judge to the "private person" and private conduct,
and made it the rule by which to take "revenge." They considered
themselves justified, by this rule, to inflict the same injury on
others that they had received.
Jesus was against any such idea. He declared that the law
had no reference to private revenge; that it was given to only
regulate the magistrate; and that their private conduct was to be
regulated by different principles than a personal vendetta of
physical punishment upon those who had done them or their loved
ones physical harm and pain.
But we need to keep all this in balance with all the rest of
the Bible, and with everything that God taught and allowed and
gave in other laws He prescribed. Jesus was not intending to
teach that we should sit by passively and see our families
murdered, or to be casually murdered ourselves, by thugs or
robbers, or the crazy "drugie" from the streets, or by people
hired to murder us. Jesus was not teaching that we should coldly
and without feeling sit by and watch our wife or daughters raped,
or our children beaten up, and not try to stop such brutality.
Natural instinct, the law of nature, the law of right and
wrong and all human decency, under such situations of violent
surprise, as well as the very law of God, allows for self-defence
in such circumstances. God actually gave laws to ancient Israel
that allowed for self-defence in some situations of life.
Jesus is not dealing with large life and death, huge
traumatic cases like that of rape, but with much smaller
situations like that of someone slapping us across the face
with their hand. with such He wanted His disciples to be willing
to take the wrong instead of entering into strife and law suits.
This does not mean we cannot remonstrate firmly, yet mildly, on
the injustice being done to us, and insist proper justice we
should have. Jesus Himself gave us an example of this in His own
life, John 18: 23.
The second example of Jesus' is that of being sued in courts
of law. Again, one can plead for justice to be done, but if the
man is so full of hate, animosity, and determined to take all
advantage that the law can give him, even going to the expense of
costly law suits etc. Then Jesus taught we should not imitate him
- rather than to contend with a revengeful spirit in courts of
justice, and to perpetuate the broil, we should take a trifling
injury, and yield, even if our cloak is also taken.
Jesus I think used this example to show He was talking about
smaller issues of life. Our coat and even our cloak, may be
somewhat important to us (especially on cold, hot, or rainy day)
but they are relatively easy to replace. He did not give the
example of someone trying to take our house or our business away
from us (which could be very important to us and our families who
are under our care). Paul, at one time in his life, when being
taken to the Jewish law courts (and smaller Roman courts) by some
who were against him, appealed to the high court of Rome, for
justice. As a Roman citizen Paul had every right to so appeal to
the high court of Rome. In this case it was sufficiently a large
matter (his life in certain ways being at stake) to warrant his
stand for justice. This was not a small matter of some Jews
wanting to have his coat because they liked the silk it was made
from (see Acts 23: 12 through to the end of chapter 28).
It may be of interest to the reader here, that we talk about
the "coat" and the "cloak" that a Jewish man wore in those days.
The Jews wore two principle garments. An interior garment,
and an exterior garment. The "interior" here called the "coat,"
was made commonly of linen, and encircled the whole body,
extending down to the knees. Sometimes beneath this garment,
as in the case of the priests, there was another garment,
corresponding to our undergarments. The "coat" was extended to
the neck, and had long or short sleeves. OVER this garment, was
commonly worn an upper or outer garment called the "cloak"
or mantle. It was commonly nearly square, five or six cubits (a
cubit being about 16 to 18 inches in length) in length and just
as wide.It was wrapped around the body and thrown off when doing
heavy labor work.
The next New Testament instruction of Jesus' - about going a
mile with those compelling you, has also not been understood very
well by many. We shall quote from the Albert Barnes Bible
Commentary once more, and so see what Jesus was explaining
as should be an attitude for Christians.
"The word translated "shall compel" is of PERSIAN origin.
Post-offices were then unknown. In order that the royal commands
might be delivered with safety and despatch in different parts of
the empire, Cyrus (the great king of Persia) stationed horsemen
at proper intervals on all the great public highways. One of
those delivering the message to another, and intelligence was
thus rapidly and safely communicated. These heralds were
permitted to COMPEL any person, or to press any horse, boat,
ship, or other vehicle that they might need, for the quick
transmission of the king's commands. It was to THIS CUSTOM that
our savior refers. Rather, says He, than RESIST a public
authority, requiring your attention and aid for a certain
distance, go peaceably twice the distance...."
Ah, we see here then that Jesus was referring to certain
authorities in public office who had authority from governments
to ask you to co-operate with them, and that New Testament
Christians should be more than willing to co-operate, even going
beyond the letter of the law. Jesus was teaching that His
followers should have respect for other government authorities
and their duties, even if they were not a part of the Church of
God and did not believe in God's word the Bible. It really has
nothing to do with any "blow Joe" demanding you help them. Giving
help to such, and going beyond the call of duty, would for them
come under a whole set of other considerations, such as time,
money expended (if it was going to involve money), family
responsibilities, regular work responsibilities, danger
involvement etc. etc.
No common man has the right or authority to demand you be
their slave for whatever task their whim takes them into, and
makes them think they must compel you to work with them in their
undertaking.
The last part of this section of Jesus' teaching can also be
misunderstood if you do not take into account the whole teachings
of the New Testament.
Albert Barnes says it very correctly I think in his
commentary:
"....It is good to give something to an undeserving person,
than to turn away one who really needs it. It is good to be in
the HABIT of giving. At the same time, the rule must be
interpreted as to be consistent with our duty to our families (1
Tim. 5: 8) and with other objects of justice and charity. It is
seldom, perhaps never, good to give to a man that is able to work
(2 Thes. 3: 10). To give to such is to encourage laziness, and to
support the idle at the expense of the industrious. If such a man
is indeed hungry, feed him; if he wants anything further, give
him employment. If a widow, an orphan, a man of misfortune, or a
man infirm, lame, or sick, is at your door, never send them away
empty. See Heb. 13: 2; Mat. 25: 35-45. So a poor and needy
friend who wishes to borrow, we are not to turn away or deny him.
This deserves, however, some limitation. It must be
done in consistency with other duties. To lend to every worthless
man, would be to throw away our property, encourage laziness and
crime, and ruin our families. It should be done consistently, and
of this every man is to be the judge. Perhaps our savior meant to
teach that where there was a DESERVING friend or brother in want,
we should LEND to him, without usury, and standing much about the
security."
Here Albert Barnes says correctly that we must follow this
instruction of Christ's by taking into account the rest of the
Bible and our families well being, as well as decerning the
worthiness of the individual asking for the lending hand, and not
just giving to perpetuate their laziness or predetermined mindset
to "live off other people."
Some of Albert Barnes' last words are old English. He was
saying that to lend to a worthy friend or brother should be done
without charging money, or demanding some security such as
telling them to leave with you something like their "CD player"
till they returned to you what you are lending them.
Jesus further comments on a popular teaching of His day:
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say unto you, Love your
enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may
be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes the
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on
the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love
you, what reward have you? Do not even the corrupt tax
collectors do the same? And if you are kind to only your
friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans
do that. But you are to become perfect, fully mature, even
as your Father in heaven is perfect and fully mature."
Here we find a classic example of Jewish teachers
misunderstanding, misapplying, and reading into verses of the Old
Testament things that God never intended at all. It is an example
as well of picking out certain verses, misapplying them, while at
the same time overlooking verses that would teach the exact
opposite from the theology you have invented from the misapplied
verses.
The command to love your neighbor was indeed a law of God
(Lev.19: 18). God never said that you were to hate your enemy.
The Jewish teachers had "assumed" that with God saying to love
your "neighbor" He was meaning love your Israelite neighbor
only, and hence you could dislike your enemy (anyone outside of
Israel). Then to further complicate and mess up their minds on
this point, the Jewish religious leaders had seen where God in
His word as given through Moses, stated that the Israelites
should not marry their sons and daughters to those outside of the
nation of Israel (Deut.7: 1-3). They stopped reading it would
seem with verse three. And as God was going to deliver them into
their hand and utterly cast them out and give Israel the holy
promised land, then surely God hated everyone outside of His
chosen people Israel and so they too should hate, despise, and
esteem as nothing, all people but their Israelite neighbor.
What they failed to see and do was to read Deuteronomy
chapter 7 and verse 4. God did not want the Israelites to marry
those from outside of israel because of one very basic and
important reason - they were unconverted, their minds were not in
tune with the Eternal God and His way of life. By marrying such
people it would mainly be the Israelites who would be drawn away
from the pathway of the true God, and not the other way around
(the heathen coming to serve the God of Israel). Such is the way
of the human heart, much easier to leave off serving God than to
accept him and follow His ways.
The instruction of the Lord had nothing to do with "hating"
all who were not your Israelite neighbor, and had nothing to do
with not being kind and helpful to those outside your "church" or
"nation." Many verses were overlooked that taught kindness to all
peoples (see Exodus 22: 21; 12: 49; Numbers 15: 15-16).
Then adding to all this false idea of hating your enemies
was the well known passage of Deuteronomy 23: 3-6. Here God
forbade the Ammonite or Moabite to enter the congregation of the
Lord for ten generations (that part was probably overlooked - ten
generations) because they did evil towards Israel (verses 4 and
5). Israel was to not seek their peace nor their prosperity
(verse 6). This was all for some specific reasons as stated, and
it was a punishment from God towards these people, for a certain
time period.
The Jewish leaders had misapplied this and the one in
Numbers (concerning marrying outside Israel) to believe God
"hated" the enemies of Israel, and to them anyone outside of the
nation of Israel was an enemy. They thought God wanted them to
never seek the peace with anyone who was not of Israel, hence
this false teaching of "love your neighbor but hate your enemy"
was a common sentence to pronounce and to live by for the Jewish
community of Jesus' day.
Here are some fine comments on this passage by Albert
Barnes:
".....LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. There are two kinds of love,
involving the same general meaning, or springing from the same
fountain of goodwill to all mankind.....The one is that feeling
by which we APPROVE OF THE CONDUCT of another, commonly called
THE LOVE OF COMPLACENCY; the other, by which we wish well to the
PERSON of another, though we cannot approve HIS CONDUCT. This is
THE LOVE OF BENEVOLENCE; and this love we are to bear towards our
enemies. It is impossible to love the CONDUCT of a man that
curses and reviles us, and injures our person or property, or
that violates all the laws of God; but though we may hate his
conduct, and feel deeply that we are affected by it, yet we may
still wish well to the PERSON; we may pity his madness and folly;
we may speak kindly OF him, and TO him; we may not return
evil for evil; we may aid him in the time of trial; and seek to
do him good here, and to promote his eternal welfare hereafter,
Rom.12: 17-20.....
" BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU. The word BLESS here means to
SPEAK WELL OF or TO. Not to curse again, or to slander, but to
speak of those things which we can COMMEND in an enemy; or if
there is nothing that we can commend, to say nothing about
him.....
" DESPITEFULLY USE YOU. The word thus translated means,
first, to injure by prosecution in law; then, to unjustly accuse and
to injure in any way......
" THAT YOU MAY BE THE CHILDREN OF YOUR FATHER.....In this
passage, the word is used because, in doing good to enemies, they
RESEMBLE God. HE makes his sun to rise on the evil and good, and
sends rain, without distinction, on the just and unjust. So his
people should show that they IMITATE or resemble him, or posses
his spirit of doing good in a similar way.
" WHAT REWARD HAVE YOU?.....If you only love those that love
you, you are selfish.....it is not genuine love for the
CHARACTER, but love for the BENEFIT; and you deserve no
commendation. The very PUBLICANS would do the same.
" THE PUBLICANS. The publicans were taxgatherers. Judea was
a province of the Roman empire. The Jews bore this foreign yoke
with great impatience, and paid their taxes with great
reluctance. It happened therefore, that those who were appointed
to collect taxes were objects of great detestation. They were,
besides, men who would be supposed to execute their office at all
hazards; men who were willing to engage in an odious and hated
employment; men often of abandoned character, oppressive in their
exactions, and dissolute in their lives. By the Jews they were
associated in character with thieves, and adulterers, and those
who were profane and dissolute. Christ says that even these
wretched men would love their benefactors.
" AND IF YOU SALUTE YOUR BRETHREN, etc. The word SALUTE here
means to show the customary tokens of civility, or to treat with
the common marks of friendship.....He says that the WORST men,
the very publicans, would do this. Christians should do more;
they should show that they had a different spirit; they should
treat their ENEMIES as well as wicked men did THEIR FRIENDS. This
should be done, (1) because it is RIGHT; it is the only really
amiable spirit; and, (2) we should show that religion is not
SELFISH, and is superior to all other principles of action.
" BE YOU THEREFORE PERFECT. He concludes this part of the
discourse by commanding his disciples to be PERFECT. This word
commonly means finished, complete, pure, holy. Originally it is
applied to a piece of mechanism, as a machine that is complete in
its parts. Applied to men, it refers to completeness of parts,
or PERFECTION, where no part is defective or wanting. Thus Job
(1: 1) is said to be perfect; that is, not holy as God, or
SINLESS - for fault is afterwards found with him (Job 9: 20; 42:
6), but his piety was PROPORTIONATE - had a completeness of parts
- was consistent and regular. He exhibited his religion as a
prince, a father, an individual, a benefactor of the poor. He was
not merely a pious man in one place, but uniformly. He was
consistent everywhere. This is the meaning in Matthew. Be not
religious merely in loving your friends and neighbors, but let
your piety be shown in loving your enemies; be perfect; imiate
God; let the piety be COMPLETE, and PROPORTIONAL, and REGULAR.
This every Christian MAY BE; this every Christian MUST BE. "
End of quotes from Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary.
Capitalization for emphasis was ours whereas Albert Barnes used
italics for emphasis.
Luke, in his Gospel, chapter 6:27-36, gives us further words
and teaching on this overall matter of loving your enemy and
doing good to those who may not be your friends, or who may be
taking advantage of your Christian charity.
Jesus was setting here a new standard in verses 30 to 36.
Under the New Covenant age it was no longer good enough to help
and serve your friends, those who would serve and help you when
you needed help.
We must take the whole context of these verses if we are to
understand the foundational truth Jesus was teaching. He was not
looking at or talking about people who would use your kindness
and wipe their feet on it, walk all over you, take advantage of
your charity. He was not trying to say that His disciples should
be a "soft touch" - an easy target for what people could get from
them, or that His followers should be a "push over" for selfish
people, tricksters, and con-artists.
Other teachings of Jesus show that is it correct and proper
for Christians to be "worldly wise" and to be good stewards of
all that God gives them. A number of parables Jesus taught show
this truth of what I've just stated.
But there is another side to being a true Christian in all
of this material world and how you handle what God has given you
to handle. And this is the side Jesus wanted to give emphasis to
at this point among His teachings to His disciples.
A Christian should have a basic attitude of doing good to
those who are not your friends, who may even dislike you, and who
want to be your enemies. There is not much credit, no gold stars
on your report card, if you only do good to those who you know
will do good back to you. As Jesus said, even the gravest sinners
can do that to each other. And if you lend anything or give
anything to only those who you know will give and lend back to
you, what credit or honor is that to you, even the wildest
sinners can do that to each other.
The attitude Jesus wanted from His disciples was the
attitude that the Most High God has....being kind to the
ungrateful and the selfish.
There are times when you should serve, give, lend, do good,
to those who cannot or will not return the kindness you have
shown to them.
Jesus said that in doing and living that kind of life, the
Father would reward His child, in fact their reward "will be
great." The reward may not always come in this life time, but it
will come.
There are many times in our Christian walk that we are to be
merciful, even as our Father in heaven is merciful.
So, we come to the end of Matthew chapter five. We shall
continue reading and expounding Jesus' famous sermon on
the mount, in the next chapter of the New Testament Bible Story.
.........................
Written August 2002
  Chapter Fourteen:The Great Sermon on the Mount (part two) Continuation with Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
And Jesus went on to say:
"Take care! Don't do your good deeds publicly; to be
admired, because then you will lose the reward from your
Father in heaven. When you give gifts to someone in need,
don't shout about it as the hypocrites do - blowing trumpets
in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their
acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the
reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone,
don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing.
give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all
secrets, will reward you."
We also need to be careful in understanding what Jesus was
MAINLY getting at here. In a great many cases it is just not
possible to give to someone, especially if it is a large gift,
without someone knowing, and then the possibility they tell
others about your kindness. If you are famous in the public eye,
it will be even harder to give to others in a secret way. And if
you are famous and give huge amounts to charity then it is harder
still to "do it in secret." The founder of Microsoft and the
famous "Windows" nearly everyone in the world uses on their
computers, Bill Gates, is one of the very wealthiest men in the
entire world. He must be among the top half dozen wealthiest
people on the planet. It has been said that he "gives away" more
money in any single year than the total revenue of some
"countries" of the world. You do not hear about his charity
giving very much at all, so Bill Gates, for being a famous man,
has done a pretty good job of keeping his "good deeds" to
himself, without any loud publicity about it. He lives in a large
and relatively expensive home, but when you see him on TV he is
dressed very modestly, even casually, and you would never think
to look at him that he is one of the top six most wealthy persons
in the world.
The main thing Jesus was getting at here is that we be
humble, quiet, laid-back so to speak, in our good deeds of giving.
That we have an attitude of doing it yes, helping others when and
where we can, and how we can, but doing it all in relative
quietness, with no big blaring sounds of announcements to the
neighborhood, town, or world, that you are "giving to others."
Many in Jesus' day were doing just that. They were literally
hiring people to blow trumpets in the churches and on the street
corners to get the attention of people, and then having it
shouted out they were doing such and such good deeds. Most of
these people Jesus knew (because He knew the hearts of people, could
see into their heart and know their motives) were hypocrites,
play-actors, pretending to be someone they really were not. Their
religion was all about "acting" a part, pretending, putting on an
outward show to make people think they were so righteously in
tune with and walking in the ways of the Lord. The truth was they
were anything but true God fearing and humble children of the
Father.
Jesus taught that we should do good deeds to others, but in
doing them, to be humble and try to do them all as much as
possible without anyone knowing about it.
Jesus then turned His attention to the subject of prayer,
another religious deed that had been greatly abused by certain
ones, to again make people think they were "very religious."
" And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the
hypocrites who love to pray publicly on the street corners
and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure
you, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you
pray, go off by yourself, shut the door behind you in your
room, and pray to the Father secretly. Then your Father, who
knows all secrets, will reward you openly.
When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other
religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by
repeating their words over and over again. Don't you be like
them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even
before you ask Him!
Pray after this manner:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored and praised.
May your Kingdom soon come. May your will be done on earth
as it is being done in heaven. Give us our daily
requirements. Forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those
who have sinned and done evil against us. Lead us not into
trials and temptations, but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen "
Jesus' instructions on some points of prayer are pretty
simple and straightforward. You are to pray basically in private.
Now that does not mean a husband and wife cannot pray together.
In marriage two become one as ordained by God way back in Genesis
chapter two. It does not mean congregations cannot get together
and pray. We have examples in the book of Acts (that we shall see
in detail much later) where the Church of God did meet and have
times of prayer together (usually under some severe trial that
was upon them or some of their members). What Jesus is addressing
here is our regular basic everyday prayer life. It was to be a
private matter, not something that was done on the street corners
and with the attitude of "look everyone, I'm so godly I'm
praying, you can all see then I'm so religious." Some were
performing their prayer life exactly like that, making a it a big
public production. Again, Jesus knew their hearts and they were
in the main religious hypocrites so He said.
Our prayer life is mainly to be a personal thing, done in
privacy, and the Father who then sees in private, will reward us
"openly" as it is in the KJV translation. We are also not to use
vain repetitions. Our prayers are to be from the heart, not
something like reciting a poem and maybe doing it over and over.
As Jesus said there are some religions that teach only through a
set repeating of certain words can their prayers be answered.
That was not the case with the Father, Jesus explained, for He
knows our thoughts and needs and requests even before we begin to
pray. Of course that does not mean we should not pray. It is a
lot like an earthly father (or mother also) knowing the needs and
desires of his or her children (what they would like for their
birthday, and that sort of thing), but still wanting their
children to talk about it to them.
Jesus then went on to give a basic outline of prayer. There
maybe many other things we can pray for and talk to our heavenly
Father about, but here we find some of the very basics that
should be a pretty regular part of our prayers.
The supreme God in heaven is "our Father." It is clear from
reading all the Gospels that Jesus taught a "family" relationship
between Himself and the Father and us. That we were all part
of one large heavenly family, with the Father God being the
supreme head in authority, but still our Father, with all that a
"father" is within a family unit. Wonderful and glorious it is
that God is our "father" and we are His sons and daughters.
We need to honor and praise our Father in heaven and honor
His name, just as we should try to honor the name of our own
earthly family. We need to be always full of praise, thanking God
for all the wonderful blessing we have, both spiritually and
physically. Stop for a moment now, put this book to one side for
a little while and think of some of the many good things you
have. Then praise the Father for them. Make this meditation and
praise a part of your regular prayer life.
Praying for the soon coming Kingdom of God should be a
constant priority. If you have read about that Kingdom and how it
will govern the entire earth one day, as related by all the Old
Testament prophets. If you understand what that age will be like,
and you reflect on the evil, sorrows, pain, hardships, wars,
sicknesses, of today's age, then you will want to cry out for
God' s Kingdom to soon come, to deliver this world from Satan and
all his wrong ways, and to see the knowledge of the Lord filling
this earth as the waters cover the sea beds.
You will want to see God's will done on earth as it is being
done in heaven. You will want to pray that the Lord's children
will stay faithful, and be a light of doing God's will to all
around them. You will want to ask for help from God via His Holy
Spirit to love and obey His word, His will, His commandments.
Yes, it is okay and fine to ask our heavenly Father for our
daily needs. He knows we are physical human being that need
physical things each and every day in order to live our life. It
is "daily" needs we need to ask for, not to amass stock-piles of
"goodies" for a time far into the future. It is not wrong to have
a nest-egg or two (the book of Proverbs teaches us that) but
praying that the Lord will grant us what we need (and that
could be spiritual, emotional, as well as physical) for each day,
as the day comes, is the focus in this basic outline of prayer
from Christ.
We are to remember we are sinners, and to ask for
forgiveness, as we forgive others for sinning against us. Notice,
it is being forgiven, asking to be forgiven, AS, in like
manner as, we forgive others who do wrong to us. Just a few
verses down below this prayer outline, Jesus said, "If you
forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will
forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father
will not forgive your sins."
Kind of plain would you not say? We must be willing to
forgive others, if we expect our Father in heaven to forgive us.
Sometimes others come to us asking for us to forgive them, when
they acknowledge they have done us wrong. Sometimes, they have
done us wrong and cannot see that they have or will not admit
they have. We still must have forgiveness towards them, at least
within ourselves, a kind of "Forgive them Father for they know
not what they do" attitude, as Jesus did when surrounded by those
who nailed Him to the cross and wanted to see Him dead. Letting
go and forgiving someone does not mean you are a sitting duck for
them to trample all over you again and again. But it does mean
you "let go" and are not having sleepless nights over the matter,
or figuring out how you can "get back at them."
Having this kind of forgiving attitude towards human beings
means that you will sure obtain forgiveness from the Father in
heaven when He needs to forgive you for your wrong doing towards
Him.
We need also to pray that God will not lead us into
temptation. Hummm, a little hard to understand for James was
inspired to write that God does not tempt any man (James 1: 13).
God does not try to break us down by He Himself putting a snare
or trap into sin, in front of us. But He does allow sin to be
around us. He does allow Satan and the demons to do their evil
work. He does allow various trials, test, and troubles to come
our way. The best way to understand what Jesus was saying, is I
think, to ask God that He will lead us "out of" trials and tests
that could lead us to sin. To ask God for wisdom (James chapter
one again) in dealing with life situations, for the ability to be
corrected and to learn from life the lessons we need to learn,
and then after learning them to not fall into the same errors
again. We ask God for all this, and so in granting it to us, He
is leading us out of the sore trials that can come our way, and
throw us into a real mess. We ask Him for help from the ways and
influence of the evil one. For the evil one is always there like
a roaring lion sneaking about searching for whom he can devour (1
Peter 5: 8). One of the great ways to stand up against the devil
and not be slain by him is to do as the
apostle Paul said, put on the whole armor of God. We can pray for
help to do just that (see Eph. 6: 10-18).
We finally once more give our heavenly Father praise and
honor and glory, for He indeed has the power and the glory for
all things, and certainly to answer our petitions.
His is the Kingdom that is in heaven and that will one day come
to this earth, which we can be a very part of for all eternity.
Another tool that has always been used by the people of God
to obtain victory, spiritual strength, and closeness to the Lord,
is that of physical "fasting" - going without food and water for
a period of time. Jesus now instructs on this matter.
"And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad
face: for they change their faces in different ways that
they may appear to people to be fasting. Truly, they have
all the reward they shall get. But you, when you fast, put
on hair cream, and wash your face, be in your physical
appearance so people will not know you are fasting. But your
Father which is invisible to you, but sees all secret
things, He will reward you openly."
Moses fasted for 40 days (Deut. 9: 18); Elijah also did the
same (1 Kings 19: 8); Esther fasted (Esther 4: 16); David fasted
(Psalm 35: 13); and Jesus fasted for 40 days (Mat. 4: 2).
Fasting had always been apart of the life of God's people.
Jesus here did not say "if" you fast, but "when" you fast, taking
it for granted that His followers would fast.
It was to be done again without public notice, in fact in
such a none noticeable way that people would not know they were
fasting. This was quite opposite from the way many in His day
practiced fasting. They wanted people to know, and went far out
of their way to make sure they knew they were doing it. All to
put on the false face that they were super religious. They had
their reward of acclaim from the public, but their practice of
religion got no higher than the ceiling with God.
But the Father knows the heart, and He can see when His
children serve Him, even if the world does not, and He will
reward them, sometimes even in an open way in this life time. If
not in this life then surely in the age to come, in His Kingdom.
For most people today to fast more than three days without
food or drink will be beyond them. Then you can fast for half a
day, missing one or two meals. Our time should be spent in
prayer, Bible reading, and meditation, when we fast. The whole
purpose behind it is to get close to God.
Naturally, as we live in a physical world and must have
certain physical things to sustain us, Jesus had to speak on this
subject also.
"Store not for yourself physical treasures on this earth,
where moths and bugs and rust can eat them up and destroy
them, or where thieves can break in and steal them from you.
Store your treasures in heaven, where it really counts, and
where they will never become moth eaten or crumble away with
rust, and where they will also be safe from thieves. Where
your true treasure is there will be your heart also.
Your eye of the heart and mind is the lamp of your body. A
pure eye lets in the sunshine into your life. But an evil
eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If
the light you think you have is really darkness, oh, how
deep indeed is that darkness you have!
No person can serve two masters. For you will hate and
despise the on e while you love the other, or you will be
devoted to the one and disregard the other. So in like
manner you cannot serve and be slave to God and at the same
time to physical money and goods.
So I am telling you, don't be overly anxious and worried
about everyday life - whether you have enough food, drink,
and clothes. Does not life consist of more than food and
drink and clothing? Take a look at the birds. They do not
need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your
heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to
Him than the birds. Can all your over anxious and fretful
worries add a single moment to your life, or food to your
stomach?
And why be fretful about your clothes and what you shall put
on from day to day? Take a look at the lilies and how they
grow. They don't sit and fret about their clothing.
Yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully
as the lilies are. And if God cares so wonderfully about
flowers that are here for only a short season and then they
are gone, do you not think He will care for you even the
more? Oh, you that have so little faith!
So do not fret and be overly concerned about having enough
food or drink or clothes. Why be like those without God who
indeed are concerned about such things? Your heavenly Father
already knows all the physical things you will need in order
to live, and He will provide these needs for you from day to
day if you will first of all seek His righteousness and make
being a part of His kingdom your primary concern in this
life.
So do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring
enough of its own problems and troubles. Today's troubles
are enough to be concerned about without added what may or
may not come tomorrow" (Remember I am paraphrasing Jesus'
words).
The Bible is a complete book and we must read it all and
take into discernment all parts of what God teaches us on any
particular subject. The book of Proverbs, as well as elsewhere in
the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament, show us that it is
not wrong to be wise in this physical life, to have some put
away for a rainy day as they say.
Jesus, we shall see, also taught us to be good stewards of
all the physical things we have. God does not want us to be
spendthrifts, lazy, living with a "oh, I couldn't care less"
attitude, and sponging off other people as if everyone owes us a
living. There are so many passages in the Bible that show that a
Christian is to work (if he/she at all can), not to be a "lazy
bum" to put it bluntly. To take care of his own (as the apostle
Paul once said), to be a responsible person, one who uses and
actually increases with what God has given him to use.
What Jesus was saying then, in the light of all the totality
of the word of God, is that our life, mind, heart, thoughts,
should not be wrapped up in the physical things of this life; how
we can get more and more, how we can stockpile more and more
material goods. We are not to be consumed, anxiously concerned
and fretting over making sure we have huge amounts of more than
enough to live on.
This is true what I'm about to tell you. I once met a man
who had been away for a four day week-end, and he had not slept
at all, for he was on some course that went through the nights
even, teaching, teaching, and still more teaching. I was amazed
when he told me this and he could see it in my facial expression.
"Oh, that is nothing!" he exclaimed, "I was once in California on
a 7 day course and we never slept for 7 days, the teaching
continued day and night." Then in a matter of fact manner and
with absolute sincerity and meaning every word, he said looking
me straight in the eye with a cold serious face, "Hum, I want to
be a millionaire."
Jesus on the other hand said your heart, your mind, your
life, should first of all be seeking God's righteousness and His
Kingdom. That, He said, should be the most important mission in
life for you. As we have seen, Jesus taught that to serve Him,
sometimes we would have to part with certain physical things,
maybe a job, or a person once close and dear to us, and there may
come times we would wonder how we were going to have the
physical things we need just to continue living.
When we read through the letters of the great apostle Paul we
find that sometimes he was in great need of the physical things
in life, but God always saw him through and provided for him, not
always as much as he may have personally wanted, but enough.
Jesus was saying and telling us that we need faith, we need
to trust our heavenly Father. He knows what we need for each day,
so trust Him to provide it for you, seek first His righteousness
and His Kingdom, and be assured God will give you your needs for
the day.
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU JUDGE
Jesus said, "Do not judge unfairly, that you be not judged
unfairly. For others will judge you as you judge them.
Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used
to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck
in the eye of your brother or sister or friend, when you
have a log in your eye? How can you even think of saying,
'Friend, let me help you get the speck out of your eye,'
when you cannot see past the large log in your own eye?
Hypocrites! First get rid of the log in your eye; then
perhaps you can see clearly to get rid of the speck in your
friend's eye."
We know from the rest of the New Testament, that to discern
right from wrong, to judge the righteousness or sin of an act or
way of life that someone may have done or may be living, is not
wrong. We can see from 1 Corinthians chapter 5, that Paul said
he had judged the matter of an unrepentant sinner in the
congregation at Corinth, and told the people of the church there
that they also needed to judge the matter.
Jesus on another occasion, said of Peter, "You have rightly
judged" (Luke 7: 43). And at another time said, "Judge not
according to appearance, but judge righteous judgement" (John 7:
24).
So, it is evident, Jesus was here in Matthew chapter 7
telling us that we need to be very judicious, circumspect,
mindful, attentive, on how we judge others and their actions. We
need to be careful not to jump to wrong conclusions. We need to
have all the facts on the situation. And we also need to be able
to look into ourselves and see our faults, weakness, errors,
before we start to bring down the hammer on the faults of
others.
It is very important that we always remember and apply the
words of Paul as found in Galatians 6: 1-3.
The Gospel writer Luke gives us a few more words that Jesus
said in this context of judging righteously and correctly (Luke
6:39,40).
To be able to judge righteously means you must become like
the one who is the holy righteous judge of all people's hearts
and minds. The disciple is never above their teacher, and
everyone who aquires the full teaching of their teacher, will be
like their teacher. In this instant Jesus was talking about the
children of God becoming like God in righteous judgment. If they
did not then they were still as blind men, and would be leading
and teaching others to follow that blindness, and hence blind men
would be leading blind men. Such blinded ones would both fall
into the ditch as they tried to lead each other in the wrong ways
of judging and condemning sin and sinners.
Then another key that is required to unlock the door of
righteous judging is what Jesus went on to add in verses 41,42 in
Luke chapter 6 (also in Matthew). It is the key of first being
able to examine yourself, look at yourself honestly, admit to
yourself your errors, sins, and where you miss the mark at times.
You must first be able to see the log of sins in your life, if
you are going to be a true effective and helpful judge of errors
and sins in other people. By doing this in your life, you will be
humble in how you try to help another with their problems of sin,
and weaknesses of the human flesh. It is not wrong to convert a
man from the error of his way (see James 5:19,20), but it must
always be done in the context of what the apostle Paul was
inspired to tell us must be the context of such righteous judging
(see Gal.6:1-3).
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU HAND OUT YOUR TREASURES
This may shock some people, but Jesus taught that sometimes
it is not prudent to give out the holy and fine pearls that God
gives us, to other people.
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast
your pearls before the pigs, for they may simpley trample
what you give them under their feet, and even turn and beat
you up" (Matthew 7: 6).
Sad to say, but some out there are so against and so hate
the holy and fine pearls of God, that they will only laugh at
them, disregard and immediately trample them under their feet,
and some may get so violently upset at what you are trying to
give them, they will literally try punching you out.
We need wisdom in ascertaining the heart and mindset of
people towards what we know as the holy things of God. Wisdom to
know when and where and with whom, to share such holy things.
EFFECTIVE PRAYER AND REQUESTS
Jesus also knew that praying or requesting something from
the Father in heaven, was not always answered the first time, but
it would be answered and you would receive that which is best and
good for you.
"Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for.
Keep on looking, and you will find it. Keep on knocking and
the door will be opened to you." The original language of
the New Testament shows that Jesus said it this way, KEEP ON
asking...looking....knocking...
Jesus continued, "For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone
who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to all who knock.
You parents, if you have children and they ask you for a
loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they
should ask you for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?
Of course not! If you being sinful people know how to give
good things to your children, how much more then will your
heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him."
God the Father loves His children. He wants the very best
for them. He will give us that which He knows is good for us.
Sometimes, as James told us, we may ask amiss (James 4:3), so of
course we will not receive. The apostle John was inspired to give
us two other conditions in order to receive from the Father. "And
whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight"
(1 John 3: 22). And, "And this is the confidence we have in Him,
that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us" (1
John 5: 14).
So we see that the "whatsoever we ask" must be according to
His will. We may not receive the good gift from above (James 1:
17) immediately. So as Jesus said, we must keep on asking. Later
we shall see where Jesus gave a parable especially to teach
that God's people must not faint, but continue in prayer,
supplication, and request, and the Father will, in His time,
answer and give.
DOING GOOD TO ALL PEOPLE
How should we live our basic day to day lives as we mingle
and converse with other people? Jesus told us how.
"Therefore all things whatsoever you would that people
should do to you, do you even so to them, for this is the
summary of all that is written in the law and the prophets."
Most of us like to be treated by others in a nice
respectful, even kind and helpful manner. So, said Jesus, we must
likewise treat others in the very same kind and respectful manner,
for this is what God has taught from the beginning, this is what
in the overall way, the Old Testament was teaching through its
many laws, commandments, statutes, and precepts.
THE NARROW GATE - ANOTHER SHOCKING STATEMENT
Oh, some of the teaching and statements that Christ made are
truly shocking and in many respects quite the opposite of what a
lot of theologians of the Christians religion today tell you. A
lot of them preach that it is as easy as falling off a log to get
as they may say "to heaven." Jesus taught exactly the opposite!
Listen to this!
"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the NARROW gate.
The highway to destruction is BROAD, and its gate is WIDE
for the many who choose the EASY WAY. But the gateway to
eternal life is SMALL, and the road is very NARROW, and ONLY
A FEW EVER FIND IT."
Coming to Christ in repentance (knowing and acknowledging
you have sinned, that you are a sinner) may be relatively easy
(but many today who accept Christ as their Savior don't even know
what sin and repentance is), but that is just the beginning of
the road to salvation, we must continue to walk its path, to
"grow in grace and knowledge" as Peter wrote (2 Peter 3:18) and
we must make our calling and election sure by doing the things
Peter listed in 2 Peter 1: 3-11. We must "endure to the end" as
Jesus said in Matthew 24: 13, and then we shall be saved into the
Kingdom of God.
Yes, Jesus knew there was much more to "being saved" than
just "giving your heart to the Lord" as many preach today. The
fact is, you can think and argue with all the arguments in the
world, but the words Jesus spoke here are CLEAR and SIMPLE - the
road to eternal life is NARROW, the doorway to enter is SMALL,
most in this life will not walk that narrow way, and only the FEW
in this age will enter the Kingdom.
FALSE PROPHETS AND FRUITS
Jesus warned us that many would come along telling you they
were Christians, telling you they knew Christ, accepted Him as
Savior, telling you they were speaking in His name (Mat. 24:
4-5), but they would be deceivers. Here He says:
"Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless
sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart and
eat you up. You can detect them by the way they act, just as
you can identify a tree by its fruit. You do not pick grapes
from a thornbush, or figs from a thistle bush. A healthy
tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad
fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree
cannot produce good fruit. So, every tree that does not
produce good fruit is eventually chopped down and thrown
into the fire. Yes, the way to know and identify a tree or a
person is indeed by the kind of fruit that is produced."
Jesus is speaking in a very personal way here, of personal
fruits, the way of life, that people live. He is not speaking
about people who have large numbers of other people following
them, as fruit. There have been some very evil men down through
the centuries, such as Hitler, in the 30s and 40s who had
hundreds of thousands devoted to him and his cause and a desire to
rule the world. Having people follow you is not what Jesus was
talking about at all. It was the personal fruit of the person in
their day to day lives, how they lived according to the way of
the Lord, and how they lived in relation to others, as taught by
the Word of God.
Jesus continued:
"Not all people who sound religious are godly. They may
refer to me as 'Lord, Lord,' but they still will not enter
the Kingdom of heaven. The decisive and pivotal issue is
whether they OBEY my Father in heaven. On judgment day many
will tell me 'Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, and
even cast out demons and evil spirits in your name, and
performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply to
them, 'I never knew you. Go away; you that continued to work
lawlessness. ' "
There it is again, from the very lips of Jesus Christ
Himself, from the one that many claim to know and follow and
believe in as Savior of the world. Many want to have Jesus as
Savior but will NOT BELIEVE what He said and taught. He clearly
said you can have His name, call yourself a Christian, do all
kinds of seemingly "good" things in His very name, yet on
judgment day He, Jesus, will not know many of these people. He
will tell them He never walked with them, never lived in them. He
will tell them to depart from the Kingdom, and the main reason He
gives is that they were LAWLESS! They did not do what He had
just said above, OBEY the Father in heaven. They were not within
the laws, commandments, statutes, and precepts, of the Father.
They did not live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God (Mat.4: 4). They did not do what Jesus had already expounded
previously in this sermon on the mount as we covered in Matthew
chapter 5: 17-20.
To ensure a place in the Kingdom Jesus went on to say,
"Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is like a
wise person who builds a house on a good solid rock. Though
the rains and storms come in mighty torrents and the
floodwater rise and the winds beat against that house, it
will stand and not fall because it is built on rock as a
foundation. But anyone who hears my teachings and ignores
them is like a foolish person who builds his house upon the
weak and shifting sand. When the rains and floods come and
the wind blows hard against that house, it falls with a
mighty crash."
Believing and obeying what Jesus taught is just as important
as believing in Him as personal Savior. The two go hand in hand,
like a horse and buggy, like a car must have a steering wheel and
tires as well as a motor, to correctly move along the correct
road, so too, the whole life of a Christian must consist of
believing ON Jesus and believing IN Jesus, believing and obeying
what He taught. As one famous hymn says, "Trust and obey, for
there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and
obey."
Matthew then records:
"After Jesus finished speaking the people were amazed at His
teaching, for He taught as one who had real powerful authority -
quite unlike the lawyers of the law called scribes."
Jesus had finished His sermon on the mount.
..........................
Written September 2002
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