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Pat yourself on the back! This is the week where we cross over into the New Testament, so if you've been with me all year, you have read the entire Old Testament, which is something too few Christians ever get around to in their lives. As we go through the Gospels and beyond, we will read the word of God and be able to compare Him to our recent reading of the Old Testament.
You know, so many people out there seem to think that there are two gods. One of the Old Testament and one of the New. They present their case quite convincingly, using God's wrath on one side of the equation and His love and mercy on the other. Some actually say that one should believe and follow either the Old or the New Testament at the exclusion of the other, due to this supposed inconsistency. I contend that this idea is completely erroneous.
We will see Jesus and the Apostles using the scriptures from the Old Testament throughout the New Testament. If one is to reject the Old Testament, then the teachings of the New Testament are powerless, and the New Testament cannot be trusted. We have already seen the messianic promises peppered throughout the Old Testament, and the New Testament shows how Jesus fulfilled them all. If the New Testament is untrue, what reason is there to believe that there is any lasting value in the Old Testament? It's all true or none of it is. That's the bottom line here, folks. Anyone who wants to accept a part of it but not the rest is trying to base their moral viewpoint on (what they believe to be) an errant book. How intelligent does that make them seem? By the same token, anyone who believes that one part of the Bible is superior to the other has taken a similar misstep, although one that is not as grave as the first scenario.
There is real continuity from one testament to another. Many of the stories from one are characterized in the other, as well. This characterization can either be in the form of similar or opposite scenarios. Take, for example, the Tower of Babel and the day of Pentecost. At the tower, languages were changed and the people scattered to cause them to obey the Lord, rather than rely on their own means. They had been told to scatter across the earth, and they decided to congregate and build a monument to themselves.
The disciples were told to go among every tribe, tongue and nation to spread the church, but found themselves hiding in an upper room at the day of Pentecost. Therefore, God allowed them to be able to speak in the tongues of others, and the church caught on like wildfire! As I take a step back from this comparison, I notice that in each case, the people were acting against God's will by huddling together and by not following God's command to multiply across all of the earth. Let's take this cue and get out there!
There are many other stories that are compared among the Old and New Testament, and we will find some of them if we read carefully.
Yours in Christ,
Today's Reading is found in Mark 1:1, Luke 1:1-4, John 1:1-18, Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38 and Luke 1:5-38.
And so begins the most dramatic turn in events in the history of the world. Oh, I suppose the Tower of Babel or Noah's Ark had some profound effects on the lives of people, but neither event had any real significance on the manner of humanity's ultimate progression in a spiritual sense. Each one merely gave us another starting point with a similar end result. The coming of Christ gave us the means to control that result and take charge of our lives by allowing the gift of Jesus to work within us. No longer are animal sacrifices required to atone for our transgressions. Jesus became our bridge to God, a direct link if you will. I'm getting ahead of myself, though. Let's step back a bit.
It was foretold to two unlikely women that they would bear children in the near future. Each was unlikely for a different reason. Elizabeth was aged and was considered to be past her childbearing years. Zechariah, her husband, was a priest and was told in a vision that she would bear a son and he was to be named John and would have an important duty. He had the job to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus.
Mary's reason for being an unlikely candidate for motherhood is a bit different. She was of a healthy age for motherhood, but was a virgin. She was told by an angel to name her son Jesus and he would be known as the Son of God.
Today's Reading is found in Luke 1:39-80, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-40.
The birth of Jesus is the most celebrated holiday in the USA and is often considered to be the second-most holy day in Christianity after Easter. For such an event, you would expect a glorious historical event, but it didn't start out that way. It started out with a census. In those days, people had to return to the cities of their ancestry to be counted and a small city with many people returning could create a burden on the travel industry.
Mary was with child at that time and wasn't far from the time for her to deliver. I would think that another traveler would give up a room for a pregnant woman, but that wasn't the case and the inn was closed. To give birth in a stable is not exactly ideal circumstances, you know. Jesus was laid in a manger, which is a box where food for animals was placed so they could eat. Swaddling cloths were strips of material used for mummification. In plain English, swaddling cloths were used to wrap up dead people. Jesus was already being prepared to die for you, me and for the sins of the whole world. From His first day of life, He had a purpose and that purpose was not to be great in the eyes of man, but to prepare a safe passage for all. If worldly greatness was his goal, shepherds would not have been the first ones alerted to the event!
But then all they had to offer our Lord is all that we have to offer Him... our adoration.
Today's Reading is found in Matthew 2:1-23, Luke 2:41-52, Mark 1:2-8, Matthew 3:1-12, Luke 3:1-18, Mark 1:9-11, Matthew 3:13-17 and Luke 3:21-22.
My father was kind enough to take over a day's reading for us, so without further ado, here's his writing:
In Matthew 2, we see the magi (wise men) from the east who came to worship the child, Jesus. When they came to Jerusalem asking for the king of the Jews, Herod was greatly disturbed as he was a jealous and insecure king. Herod had nine or ten wives and in suspicion, he had his favorite wife and her brothers put to death. He ordered his own son to be slain as well. These are not the acts of a secure man.
So when the magi asked for "he that is born King of the Jews," Herod ordered all the male children under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed. Note the contrast between Herod's desire to kill any and all potential threats to his position and the Magi, who had traveled far to worship a child, our savior. Are you more interested in securing your place or in seeking God?
When Jesus was 12, his parents found him in the temple after a frantic search. Everyone had been amazed at his understanding of the scriptures, but of course, He was the creator of the world and the author of said scriptures as the Bible is all "God-Breathed" which means inspired by God to the writers. Imagine sitting in the temple without realizing you are in the presence of the author of the works you base your life on, and seeing a child pointing out subtleties that you hadn't considered yet. These listeners were truly blessed and never realized it.
Some 18 years later we find John the Baptist filling his ordained duty, to prepare the way for Jesus. John was a simple man who obeyed God and therefore was not afraid to speak out for God. For example, when the religious leaders of the day came to him, he reprimanded them very strongly as many were corrupt, but this was not done for the glory of John the Baptist, it was for He whose way was being prepared.
Today's Reading is found in Mark 1:12-13, Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-15, John 1:19-2:25.
The temptation of Jesus is a well-known story. After 40 days without food, it would be hard to resist a meal. The guaranteed safety of Jesus until his task was done would ensure his survival from a fall and you know that power is a strong motivator to most humans. Don't forget, Jesus was every bit as human as you and I. He was extremely hungry, probably weak from the hunger. To get a meal wouldn't have been a sin in itself, but Satan wasn't just trying to get Jesus to sin on this day. Sure a sin would have negated the sacrifice Jesus was destined for, but for Jesus to cave in to the temptations of Satan and use his power as God to ease his situation would have invalidated all of his teachings. It would have sent a message that man cannot resist temptation, and that is a very firm goal of Satan. Self doubt is a very powerful tool of evil and had Jesus succumbed, how could anyone else hope to best it?
Jesus' first public miracle is performed here. He was invited to a wedding feast that had run out of wine. He told his mother that His time hadn't yet come, but she persisted and He was called upon to replenish the wine. Note that He could have looked at those jars and told them to be full of wine, then gone back to eating, but He didn't do that. Instead, he had servants take them and fill them with water. Some may not think this to be a very efficient way of going about this, but this wasn't about efficiency. This was about faith. In fact, I can't think of a miracle that didn't have somebody show their faith first. Also, this wine was better than what had been served to this point. When you let God take care of things, life is just better than anything you can enjoy on your own!
Today's Reading is found in John 3:1-4:45, Luke 3:19-20.
So, why did Nicodemus approach Jesus at night? I'll tell you why. Jesus was already unpopular with the religious figures of the time. If this Pharisee had been seen seeking Jesus by others, his career would have been jeopardized. This is when Jesus really lays down the line; You must be born twice to be saved. This is done by believing in Jesus as the bearer of your sins. Jesus was not sent to be the condemner of us, but our savior. I like the statement that everyone who does evil hates the light because it exposes their misdeeds. It makes me think of recent legal battles to remove God from schools and courtrooms. It clarifies the issue for me. Remove God through the idea of religious freedom, but allow any other religion to be celebrated. That's a recipe for disaster. Mark my words. We're in for some turbulent times in America. We need to remember John's words. "He must become greater; I must become less." I fear that will not happen until Christ returns in all of his glory, though.
And why do I believe this? Jesus himself pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country. That's because humans don't like to be called on their wrongdoings. I'm no prophet, but the statement is valid here nonetheless. There are problems all over the place and nobody wants to admit them. In this spirit, every way of thinking and acting is validated as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else. And unborn children are denied even being thought of as somebody else so they can be legally killed before they have a chance. That not only legalizes the practice, it also salves the conscience of those involved. I work for an insurance company and hear from doctor's offices on a regular basis, wondering about how somebody's policy reacts to an abortion. But they never use that ugly word. It's often referred to "termination of pregnancy" or something like that. If a fetus isn't even human, why should they have to hide behind medical-speak? I'm ashamed to have to quote the "benefits" according to the legal document, in case you're wondering.
Today's Reading is found in Mark 1:14-15, Matthew 4:12-17, Luke 3:23, John 4:46-54, Luke 4:16-30, Mark 1:16-20, Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:21-28, Luke 4:31-37, Mark 1:29-34, Matthew 8:14-17, Luke 4:38-41, Mark 1:35-39, Luke 4:42-44, Matthew 4:23-25.
Yesterday I mentioned that Jesus had declared himself the messiah, but that was done privately. Today we see his open, public declaration. This would have been a prime chance for him to be arrested for his words and the people were angry enough to do this, but Jesus merely walked through the crowd. This must have been a miracle, but is not spoken of often. For Jesus to leave a room full of angry people untouched is hard to comprehend otherwise. He is the God of man.
He is also the God of demons. Before you get upset at that statement, remember that it was the demons who proclaimed Him the Holy One of God. They then obeyed Him and left the poor man they had tormented. Demons are real, and they know that, ultimately, theirs is a lost cause. They know that He has authority over them and they know that His sacrifice and His defeat of death was the killing blow to their attempt to subvert humanity. So why do they continue to cause problems? In sports terminology, they play the roll of a spoiler. If a team is going on toward a championship and they play another team with no chance to try for greatness, the lesser team will fight harder to try and spoil the goals of the greater. Every person is a game to them and they want to spoil you and me. If you are tempted to do something you know is not right and that temptation seems too great for you, let God be your team in that fight, for He cannot lose.
Today's Reading is found in Luke 5:1-11, Mark 1:40-45, Matthew 8:1-4, Luke 5:12-16, Mark 2:1-12, Matthew 9:1-8, Luke 5:17-26, Mark 2:13-17, Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 5:27-32, Mark 2:18-22, Matthew 9:14-17, Luke 5:33-39.
Jesus had Simon Peter cast his net after a dismal day of fishing and so many fish were brought up that the nets began to break and they needed help from another boat. The weight of the fish started both boats to begin sinking. This is as symbolic as it was literal. When God asks you to do a task, He blesses it and the results can become quite remarkable! All you need to do is act when given your instructions. Peter saw the power in Jesus and was ashamed of his sins, but Jesus recognized his worth and called him to be one of the twelve disciples. God realizes that humans are flawed, but He is in the habit of using flawed tools to create miracles in us!
The miracles of Jesus were starting to make Him a bit of a celebrity in the area. People were seeking Him out constantly by now, even though He seemed to prefer a lower profile at the time. This crowd impeded the approach of men carrying a paralytic, but these men were bound and determined to see their friend in need to the One who could help him rise and walk again. Did Jesus tell the man to get up and walk? No. He forgave his sins. The teachers of the law, who were constantly looking for ways to discredit Jesus, had sudden thoughts to declare His words blasphemous. Jesus' response was classic. It's in His power to heal and He can forgive sins just as easily.
These Pharisees also saw Jesus spending time with sinners and were waiting for a chance to reveal His shortcomings so they could return to their role as the sole source of theological knowledge. Jesus' response to this is something we all must keep in mind. Just as sick people need a doctor, sinners need Him. If someone who had a reputation as a bad person entered your church, would you turn him or her away? Would you be uncomfortable by their presence? Embrace them and show mercy! Missionaries are not all overseas. You can be one in your own church by reaching out to such a visitor.
Weekly LinkSound of Grace is a letter that one can get a subscription to, or you can read it online for free. This letter has some fantastic articles within it, and is worth a monthly glance at the very least. You can also search for a topic that interests you and read numerous papers of solid theology. From the site: |
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