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The Christmas Story: The Birth of Jesus
Today we will look at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-20)
This is what we are so familiar with when we hear of the Christmas Story. Caesar Augustus issued a decree that everyone was to be registered. The decree called for you to be registered in the town of your fathers, which led to Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem at this time when she was due for the birth of her son.
When we read there was no room at the inn and that Jesus was placed in a manger. We get an image of a very pregnant Mary being turned away from a nice hotel and sent to spend the night in a barn on a cold snowy night. The Sheppard tending their flocks make it more likely it is fall and while the nights would be cool, they probably weren’t cold and snowy.
Second our image of the manger and stable are probably a little skewed by what we picture for a place to keep animals. Albert Barnes in
Sarihan Carivanserai, Cappadocia, Turkey built in the 13th century
his notes on the New Testament gives us a better picture of where Mary and Joseph more than likely settled down for the night. He quotes a description of an inn given by Dr. Kitto. I’m going to paraphrase that description; an inn at that time would have had a grand archway that led to a large open area with a well in the middle. In the walls around this open space would be doorways leading to oblong shaped rooms. The rooms would be unfurnished and the only light would come from the doorway which opened to the center opening. In most inns the animals would be kept in the open area. If the inn was one of the fancier establishments it would have an empty hallway that led to the back wall. The hallway would serve as the stables. There would be a bench built into the wall. So a traveler would have a place to set or place food for their animals.[1]It was more than likely on one of these benches that Jesus was laid. So while this would not be the best accommodations for a king, it wasn’t exactly what we picture when we thing of a stable.
The thing that is significant isn’t how bad it was. We don’t have to try and make the birth of Jesus sound horrible, as if he was in a feeding trough freezing to death while animals ate food from under him. The point is that Jesus is the eternal king. He is God with us. The birth of Jesus was God’s plan of restoring fallen sinners to Himself and it was part of his plan for Jesus to coma as a humble servant that was willing to die for us. If Jesus the King can humble himself to be born in this way then shouldn’t we definitely humble ourselves in His service.
- [1] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Luke & John, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884-1885), 18. ↩
The Christmas Story: Joseph
Today I’m looking at Joseph. (Matthew 1:17-25)
To me Joseph is one of the most amazing characters in the Christmas story. He also seems to be one of the most overlooked. We have heard sermons about what a good guy Joseph was. How he was going to divorce her quietly until an angel showed up and told him not to. There is so much more going on here.
Joseph had some hard decisions to make. First keep in mind he truly loved Mary or he wouldn’t have been willing to divorce her quietly. The Jewish law said he could accuse her of misconduct which would suffer the sentence of her being stoned to death. (Deuteronomy 22:21) Jewish law was so strict on this that a betrothed virgin that was raped in the city could be stoned for not crying out.(Deuteronomy 22:24)
So Joseph is waiting to marry the woman he loves when he finds out she is pregnant and he knows beyond a doubt he is not the daddy. This isn’t as simple as trying to decide if you want to raise a child that is not yours. If Joseph decides he is going to go on and marry Mary and raise this child that isn’t his then he has to pay the bride price and cannot ever divorce her. (Deuteronomy 22:28) He is basically admitting to everyone that he sinned and seduced her, which brings shame upon both of their families. Plus in this shame he has the shame of knowing he did not actually commit this sin. Joseph is in a no win situation. The bible said he considered these things I imagine Joseph agonized over these things.
So an angel show s up and tells him not to worry, Mary did not cheat on him. The Angel reminds him of Isaiah’s prophecy that the virgin shall conceive and bear a son called Immanuel or God with us.
Clears everything up for Joseph right! While with all the miraculous things going on, Mary and Joseph swearing that Mary was pregnant, and the baby belonged to the Holy Spirit, and this is really God’s fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy seemed logical; most people did not go for it. Joseph was quite the man. He did what God told him even though it meant tremendous shame on him for the rest of his life.
The Christmas Story: Mary
Today we will look at Mary’s story. (Luke 1:26-56)
We all are probably familiar with Mary’s story. She was a teenage girl pledged to be married to Joseph. One day the Angel Gabriel shows up and greets her by calling her the favored one and telling her that the Lord is with her. Mary was afraid cause she couldn’t understand this strange greeting. Gabriel explains to her that she is going to have a baby that will be the son of God. That He will take the throne of David.
Mary is now really confused since she is a virgin and therefore it would be impossible for her to have a child. The Angel explains that the child will be from the Holy Spirit and to give her a sign tells her that her aunt Elizabeth is pregnant in her old age.
We then see Mary quickly heading into Judah to see her aunt. So let’s try ro picture what Mary is going through. Mary is an unmarried young lady. For her to become pregnant is a big thing. It will bring shame on the family. I think it is interesting how Mary handled everything. She leaves Nazareth to go and see her aunt to confirm the sign the angel gave her. Imagine her surprise upon seeing her pregnant aunt and hearing her declare to Mary who would not be showing yet, “Blessed are you and the fruit of your womb.” Elizabeth even calls the baby in Mary’s womb the sin of her Lord, and blesses her for believing the Lord. Mary at hearing this breaks out in praise of God.
So many prophecies are filled in Mary right here. Isaiah 7:14 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. That there would be a savior king come from the line of David to rule and judge an eternal kingdom.(2 Samuel 7:12, Psalm 132:11, Isaiah 9:6-7, 1Chronicles 22:10, Daniel 7:14, Daniel 7:27, Jeremiah 23:5-6)
The Jews missed all of this happening right in front of them when God prepared three signs for them to wake up and see. Zechariah’s muteness, Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy and Mary’s miraculous pregnancy
The Christmas Story: Elizabeth
Today we will look at Elizabeth. (Luke 1:24, 39-45, 57-66)
Elizabeth was the wife of the priest Zechariah and the Mary’s aunt. At this time children were considered a blessing of God. The more children you had the more God had blessed you(Psalm 127:3). To not have children was shameful and it was assumed that God was holding back his blessing from you.
Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah had both faithfully served God all their life, yet she had no children. She was at an age when it was impossible to have children. Then all of a sudden her husband comes home mute, and tells her he will be that way until she gives birth to their son John. Can you imagine the disbelief that Elizabeth had? That would be the answers to the prayers she had prayed but it was impossibility.
Elizabeth hid herself from everyone while she waited for God to accomplish what he had promised through the angel Gabriel. Everyone had heard what had happened to Zechariah. The test of a prophet is did the prophecy come true. Everyone would be watching to see if Zechariah was really going to have a child. I imagine that Elizabeth was also worried even when she started showing, because of her age she probably worried about complications. Until she knew that this child was going to be born she did not want to be out where everyone could see her.
Six months into her pregnancy her niece shows up with a miraculous story of her own. Can you imagine the conversations these two ladies had? Both are in the process of a miraculous pregnancy that was foretold by an angel.
Elizabeth does give birth to John, thereby giving Zechariah his voice back.
So why did God bring John into the world in this way? I remind you it has been 400 years since God has spoken to Israel. Almost 2000 years before this there was a woman named Sarah who gave birth at 90 years of age. A birth that was physical impossible and was prophesied by God. I believe Elizabeth was a reminder that God could do the impossible. Everyone should have been expectant of Christ arrival. The Old Testament is all in expectation of Christ. God had the miraculous circumstances of Elizabeth’s pregnancy as a reminder and preparation of what was to come.
In Isaiah 7:14 Isaiah had prophesied that a virgin would give birth to a son that would be God with us. A son called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. A son that would have the very government upon his shoulders. I think Elizabeth was God’s way of waking everyone up to what He was about to do.
The Christmas Story: Zechariah
The first person I want to look at is Zechariah. (Luke 1:8-23)
Zechariah was an older man. He was a priest and at the time of his meeting with the angel Gabriel his wife was past the child bearing age, and they were childless. Every morning and evening a priest would enter the temple and burn incense on the altar of incense.(Exodus 30:1-8) He would offer incense to the lord and ask forgiveness of Israel’s sins. This was a serious task as not doing it in the correct way would bring about God’s wrath leading to the death of the priest. (Exodus 30:9, Leviticus 10:1-2)
At this time in Israel’s history the priest that would offer incense was chosen by lot. All of the priest would meet in a room and a number would be agreed upon by them. They would form a circle and each would put their fingers out upon command. The priest in charge would then go around the circle counting the fingers that a person put out; be it 1, 2, or 3 fingers. The person whose fingers made the number that was agreed upon was the one that was chosen. Tradition only allowed a person to burn incense once in their life, so before they cast lots for incense the priest would call all of those who had never burnt incense to step forward. It was believed that burning the incense brought about riches.[1] Zechariah was chosen this morning.
Keep in mind it has been 400 years since God has spoken to Israel. As Zechariah enters the temple an angel appears to him and tells him the impossible is about to happen. His wife Elizabeth is going to have a child, and this child is going to be the forerunner preparing Israel for the Christ to come.
Zechariah doubted the angel which led to the angel making him mute until the child john was born. When Zechariah comes out of the temple everyone is wondering why it took so long. Why can Zechariah not speak? He makes signs to tell what the angel said.
Just as the angel said Elizabeth becomes with child. Zechariah is mute until the day John is born when he tells them that his newborn son will be named John he gets his voice back.(Luke 1:57-66)
So why did Zechariah have to be mute for 9 months? What part was he playing in the Christmas story? God was about to bring all of the Old Testament prophecy’s about the Messiah to fulfillment. He wanted to prepare everyone. By Making Zechariah mute everyone wanted to know what happened. Zechariah was then able to give them a prophecy that seemed impossible plus they were going to be able to see it come true.(Luke 1:67-80)
When we stop expecting the supernatural we start missing it when it is right in front of our eyes. Zechariah comes out in front of thousands of worshipers and shows them that God has struck him mute. He explains what the angel has said. So the birth of John and the message that John brings when he begins his ministry was preparing Israel for what God was about to do through Jesus.
- [1] This information came from John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible ↩
The Christmas Story
The Christmas story is told every year at this time. We read through the verses in Matthew and Luke and talk about the birth of Jesus. Immanuel God with us.
We seem to forget the other characters and the part they played in the Christmas story. We do need to focus on the birth of Christ since he is the reason we celebrate, but we also need to see how God used ordinary people to accomplish His will and to see the lessons that are in their lives.
So what im hoping to do over the next week is look at the individuals that played a part in the christmas story. I intend to start with Zechariah and Elizabeth, then move on to Mary, Joseph, the shepards and wise men.
Hope you have a Merry Christmas and spend this time in reflection of the saviour sent, Immanuel, God with us.
The Gospel of John: Part 11 The Bride
John 3:22–36 (ESV) — 22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison). 25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” 31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
This is one of those sections that when I first look at it I have to ask myself, how am I going to teach that? It first seems like there isn’t much to say, but as I prayerfully read it themes start jumping out at me. As I study it I start to see that there is a lot more here than originally meets the eye. The bible tells us that Jesus talked in parables so that some would not understand. The bible does that also, when we look at a piece like this or a genealogy and forget that it is the inspired word of God, then we do not realize that God is talking to us through the scripture.
So the first thing happening here is Jesus’ disciples are baptizing followers and so is John. I know that it says Jesus was baptizing, but John makes sure we understand that it was not Jesus but His disciples in Chapter 4.
(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples),John 4:2 (ESV)
The Scene
So let’s picture what is going on. John is baptizing at Aenon near Salim. More than likely we are talking about some springs (Aenon
means springs) near the city of Salim. While it is disputed exactly where this is if you look at a map you can see the the two areas Aenon and Salim listed next too each other a little east of the Jordan river a little past the halfway point between the Dead Sea and the Seas of Gaillee.
We see a disciple of John talking to some Jews who have recently been listening to Jesus preach. They brag about his preaching and talk about His baptism. They argue over the differences in John’s baptism and the Jewish purification rites. The Jews had regulations on what made a person unclean and therefore needing purification by washing.
The Gospel of John Part 10: The Believers
John 3:10-20 (ESV) —Last time we studied a nighttime meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus, Today we will finish the dialogue that was started then. We discussed what it means to be born again and Nicky was having a hard time understanding it. Let’s move on and see what Jesus has to say.
“Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
The first thing that jumps out is that Jesus is speaking in the plural. We speak, we know, we have seen, our testimony. This is because Jesus is showing the Trinity; The father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Godhead are part of the New Birth. The last example Jesus gave was how the Holy Spirit works like the wind. You can’t see it, but you see its effects. Nick does not understand this earthly example so how can he understand the things of Heaven.
The Son of Man
Now Jesus is going to try and make it even simpler for Nicodemus. No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. That clears it right up. Right?
In Chapter 7 of the book of Daniel, he is having vision at night and he sees the end of times. He sees Satan cast into the lake of fire and the books opened up.
Then behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)
He sees God on his throne and suddenly on the clouds appears one that appears to be an ordinary man, yet God gives him all authority and glory. No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. With this verse Jesus just said I have been sent from heaven, because I am the one that God the Father is giving all glory to. I am the Son of Man Daniel prophesied about. Nicky would have caught and understood this reference.
Moved
I seem to be having a problem with quotes and apostrophes hopefully I will get that worked out soon.
Calling Elisha
I’m getting the opportunity to preach at Unity Baptist Church tonight. This is the sermon I’ll be preaching, I kind of left it open on the end
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1 Kings 19:11–21 (ESV) —11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” 19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
Two Men
Tonight I’m going to talk about two men, Elijah and Elisha. Throughout this sermon I will refer to men, but ladies when I say the word men, that doesn’t get you off the hook. This message applies to the women as much as the men. So if you are a man or still a boy you better listen up. If you are a woman or a girl, just replace the word man with woman and stay with me.
We are going to look at this section of scripture that talks about the calling of Elisha, but I think it’s important that we look at it in light of the message God sent Elijah first.
Context
To help set up the context I’m going to refresh our minds on the story that has preceded this calling. Elijah has set up a contest with the prophets of Baal. He succeeded in proving that our God is the only true God by calling down fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice. Then Elijah proceeded to slaughter the prophets of Baal, all 450 of them. This has made Jezebel very unhappy and she has made a vow that he will die.
Elijah realizing that Ahab isn’t scared of his wife for no reason runs. He heads to Mt. Horeb and there he hears the voice of God.
The Ringing of the Bells
Exodus 28:33–35 (ESV) — 33 On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.
I was reading this section of Exodus a few mornings ago. It is a description of what the priestly robes should look like. The thing that jumped out at me was the description of the bells on the hem. Not so much their description as their purpose; and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.
It’s as if the bells are there to tell God, “Hey I’m coming in, Please Don’t kill me!” And to some extent they are, but God already knows when the priest is coming in so their real purpose is to make sure the priest hears the bells striking and realizes that he is about to walk as a sinner in the presence of the holy God.
Picture this you are the priest, walking into the holy of holies. You have heard the stories of the other priest that did not approach God reverently(Leviticus 10:1). The bells ringing signifies to God I’m coming, I ask you to spare me as I come to worship you. With every ringing bell you realize how powerful and holy God is.
So why am I making such a big deal out of the bells. Maybe we should remember this verse as we walk into church, as we enter into prayer on our own, or just we we go out and tell the world we are a Christian. We are in the presence of the holy God and we should approach Him with the same caution as the priest did.
Through Jesus we have been allowed to enter the presence of God just as the priest did, we do not need to forget it is the same God as the priest met with.
I Am Peter
Here is the evening sermon from Sunday June 19. It’s titled I Am Peter. I talk about the life of Peter and God’s message to us thorough Peter.
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Let’s start reading in Luke 5:1-11
What I’m going to do tonight is try and paint a picture. I want you to use your imagination and try to go back in time with me and picture what is going on. I want us to leave here tonight with a picture of Peter that is truer than what we may have imagined. I want us to leave here with a glimpse into Peter’s heart and mind so that we can better peer into our hearts and minds, but more importantly I want us to see who Jesus is.
Deadliest Catch Galilee Style
Everybody remember the felt board Peter you played with in Children’s Church and Sunday School? Alright, let’s wad it up and throw it out. Peter was a fisherman. How many have watched the show The Deadliest Catch? Okay, you know the little scrawny guys they have on the boats pulling in the nets. You know the ones that are clean shaven and
The Love of God
Here is the morning sermon I preached on Sunday June 19 at Unity Baptist Church.The morning service is from John 3:10-21 and titled The Love of God in it I talk about God showing His love for us through sending His son to be lifted up on the cross.
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The New Birth
I had the opportunity to preach at Unity Baptist Church Sunday evening June 5. I preached about Jesus knowing our hearts, false professions, and being born again. I welcome you to listen to it our go to the resources page and see the manuscript I used to prepare the manuscript is also posted here.
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The Gospel of John: Part 9 The New Birth
John 2:23–3:15 (ESV) — 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “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.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Tonight we are studying John 2:23-3:12. Last time we discussed Jesus clearing the animals and merchants out of the temple complex. Tonight we are going to move on to a middle of the night meeting by a man named Nicodemus and Jesus. As you noticed when I read the verses I’m including the last 3 verses of chapter 2 with this section in chapter 3. Let me start by saying that the original Greek did not have chapter and verse separations. The Chapters were added by Stephen Langton in the 13 century. The verse separations did not come into being until the Geneva Bible in 1560. Unfortunately there are a few places where I feel the chapters break up a subject and this is one of them.
I feel that these three verses are important to understand the dialogue being said between Jesus and Nicodemus. So back to verses 23-25. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Our Hearts
The thing I’m wanting us to see here is that Jesus knows our true motives. We saw this a few weeks ago when Jesus told Nathanael He saw him under the fig tree. In John 6:61 and John16:19 we see where Jesus knows the very thoughts and questions in a persons mind. We can deceive man but we can never deceive God.
It’s funny in a sad way how a person will go to great lengths to impress people but forget about God. If I told you that we were going to follow you around with hidden video cameras for the next week, you would not see them but you would know that you were being filmed at every moment of the day. Oh and we also need you to wear these special sensors so we can read your thoughts.
We are then going to put all this together and let your friends, spouse, boss, pastor and every one we can find watch it and hear your thoughts. You would be a nervous wreck. Think about it. How often would you try to curb your mind if you knew the person you were having an evil or lustful thought about could hear it. When you look down on the homeless man and think , “the slob should get a job”, or the black man and think to yourself; “criminal”. The addict that you call a “stupid fool”. Jesus calls these the least of these and when you think this way about them you are thinking that way about Him (Matthew 25:45).
But see, Jesus hears all of these things. Jesus sees our every deed and hears our every thought, yet we are not afraid to continue on as we were. We are more afraid of man than God.
Jesus knows our hearts!
The Gospel of John: Part 8 The Clearing
John 2:13–22 (ESV) — 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
2 Temple Clearings
Today we are in the second chapter of John verses 13-22 and we are going to cover the clearing of the temple by Jesus. Now here is where we come to the first controversy between the synoptics and John’s gospel. The problem is simple; John is recording this happening at the start of Jesus’ ministry. Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, and Luke 19:45-48 record it happening at the end. The simple solution and the one I believe, along with many others[1] is that there are 2 temple clearings one at the beginning and one at the end of Jesus’ ministry. I will mention some of the reasons some scholars speak out so strongly[2] against two temple clearings, but I am going to mainly focus on the fact that there are 2.
If you want some reading on this E. Randolph Richards has an article from the Trinity Journal of Theology [3] that goes into 25 pages of more depth than I’m going to cover. I will use some of his argument without going into too much depth.
- [1] Luther, Macarthur, Ironside, Morris, Carson, Lightfoot and others ↩
- [2] Gerald Borchert calls the idea of two temple clearings “a historiographic monstrosity”( Gerald L. Borchert, vol. 25A, John 1-11, electronic ed., Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), 160) ↩
- [3] http://www.tiu.edu/files/divinity/connect/trinityjournal/TJ_pgs_19-43_Spring_2008.pdf ↩
The Gospel of John: Part 7 The Wedding
This lesson is similar to a sermon I did at Mifflin Baptist Church. I changed some of the references for a younger crowd and added the section on alcohol since I figured I would receive questions afterwards about alcohol and the bible.
John 2:1–12 (ESV) — 1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
Context
We have finally made to the second chapter of John. We will be looking at the first 12 verses. This is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
John starts off Jesus’ ministry with a wedding. Theologically this is symbolizing the new covenant and how the church is the bride of Christ. We could spend hours just looking at the symbolization of the wine and blood of Christ and the wedding and the church. I will touch a little on the symbolization but I’m going to concentrate on the text and what is happening here.
In chapter 1 of John we learned that Jesus has been baptized and John the Baptist has prophesied that Jesus is the Messiah and will take away the sins of the world. Jesus has started gathering his disciples and according to John at the time of this wedding, he has John, Andrew, Peter, Phillip, and Nathanael. Chapter 1 ends with Jesus in Bethsaida on the banks of the Jordan River and he is heading to Galilee and specifically Cana which is about 22 miles away. So let us now go to John 2
Worth Repeating: Living By The Rules
I just finished John Ortberg’s When the Game Is Over It All Goes Back Into the Box. John always has the most amazing illustrations in his books. Here is one I enjoyed and think is so true.
Integrity Is Not the Same as Knowing the Rules
Our problem is not that we don’t know the rules, but that we don’t live by what we already know. A man is being tailgated by a woman who is in a hurry. He comes to an intersection, and when the light turns yellow. he hits the brakes. The woman behind Him goes ballistic. She honks her horn at him ; and yells her frustration in no uncertain terms; she rants and gestures.
While she is in mid-rant, someone taps on her window. She looks to see a policeman. He invites her to step out of her car and takes her to the station where she is searched, and fingerprinted, and put in a cell. After a couple of hours, she is released, and the arresting officer gives her her personal effects, saying, “I’m sorry for the mistake, ma’am. I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, and using bad gestures, and bad language. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me To Sunday School’ window sign, the Christian Fish emblem on your trunk, and I naturally assumed you had stolen the car.”
The world gets pretty tired of of people who have Christian bumper stickers on their cars, Christian fish signs on their trunks, Christian books on their shelves, Christian stations on their radios, Christian jewelry around their necks, Christian videos for their kids, and Christian magazines for their coffee tables but don’t actually have the life of Jesus in their bones or the love of Jesus in their hearts.
Ortberg, John, When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box
Friday’s Links 04/22/2011
I haven’t posted a Fridays Links in a While so I thought I would today. In case you are new here I let you know this is just where I post some links that caught my attention during the week.
Last Saturday when I taught my lesson I found this post about the Rule of Four by Gary Mcintosh of Biola University. It went with my lesson really well. …you have more than six million friends of friends of friends of friends.
Some of the post at the persecution blog make me stop and really think. I feel that I love Jesus, but when you see how faith is tested in other countries it makes you wonder would I stand that strong? This post More Love to Christ really makes you remeber to pray for those that do face that testing…. I’m not sure if it’s the way church in America is run, or if it’s just that here in America we have “everything” and so we don’t really know what it is to sacrifice.
Steven Furtick talked about how we think of a fall from grace being when someone like Tiger Woods or Charlie Sheen makes a large public mistake, but the bible actually defines it more as trying to be justified by the law. He got me though with the line…Even if you live a life that makes the Pharisees look like cat-strangling, coke-snorting, Wiccan worshippers…When Jesus comes back and every knee bows and every tongue confesses that He is Lord, your head won’t be one centimeter higher than Charlie’s. Or Tiger’s. Or Ted’s. Or anyone else’s
SBC Voices had two easter devotinals I enjoyed this week. The Crimson River: A Reflection on the Power of the Cross by Dave miller talks about what the blood of Jesus did and is still doing. Doug Hibbard posted one titled If I had been there, which looks at what it might have been like to arrive at the empty tomb on eater morning.
Lastly a video for your enjoyment.
Worth Repeating: I’ve wasted It!
An illustration I liked from John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your LifeFor me as a boy, one of the most gripping illustrations my fiery father used was the story of a man converted in old age. The church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone’s amazement he came and took my father’s hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face—and what an impact it made on me to hear my father say this through his own tears—“I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted it!” This was the story that gripped me more than all the stories of young people who died in car wrecks before they were converted—the story of an old man weeping that he had wasted his life. In those early years God awakened in me a fear and a passion not to waste my life. The thought of coming to my old age and saying through tears, “I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted it!” was a fearful and horrible thought to me.
“ONLY ONE LIFE, ’TWILL SOON BE PAST”
John Piper, Don’t Waste your Life,(Wheaton,IL:Crossway Publishing 2007)11-12
This book is available for free download off the Desiring God website.
The Gospel of John: Part 6 The Calling
John 1:40–51 (ESV) — 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
We will be covering two encounters with Jesus and 4 people today. Last time we studied John and Andrew spending the day with Jesus. They had told Him they wanted to be his disciples, but He has not yet gathered them together to follow Him. So Andrew spends the day with Jesus and He tells Him you have to come meet my brother Peter. He is a great guy. He runs the family fishing business. He is the coolest big brother of all. So Andrew tells Jesus, “Stay here I’m going to go get him and bring him back.”
Christ
Andrew finds his brother Peter and he is like, “dude come on you got to meet this guy he is the Messiah, you know the Christ.”
So let’s talk about those two words now; Messiah and Christ. How many think that Jesus’ last name is Christ? It isn’t. People did not have last names at this time like we do. You would be referred to by your father’s name or where you lived[ref]Surnames as we know them did not come into being until much later in most countries.[/ref]. For example Dustin would be called Dustin son of Scott or Dustin of Jacks Creek. The bible often refers to son of as Bar which is Aramaic for son of, So it would say Dustin Barscott. Jesus would be referred to as the son of Joseph. An example of this would be in Matthew 16:17[1]. Jesus calls Peter, Simon Bar-Jonah or Simon son of John.
Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. It is a title. When we say Jesus Christ we are saying Jesus the Messiah. And Messiah means one who is anointed. The one God sent.
- [1] Unless your translation translates it “Son of” for you ↩
Worth Repeating: Judgement
Many people don’t think of themselves as sinners worthy of judgement. But if you commit just three sins per day-if you are irreverent, dishonest, malicious, lustful, or covetous just three times in a day-and the great majority of us break God’s law in thought or deed at least that many times in a hour! -you will commit more than a thousand sins per year. If you live for seventy-five years, as many of us will, when you die you will arrive in God’s court with seventy -five thousand sins to be dealt with. How would a human judge respond to a criminal with seventy-five thousand violations of the civil law? Surely he would impose the maximum penalty! God hates sin more than any human judge, and He has decreed that the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). How important it is, then, that we find a way to deal with our sin before appearing before God’s judgement.
Richard D. Phillips, Jesus the Evangelist, (Lake Mary,Fl.:Reformation Trust, 2007) 138
Worth Repeating: The Insignificance of the External
The Insignificance of the External
Let it never be forgotten that the material part of a Christian Church is by far the least important part of it. The fairest combinations of marble, stone, wood and painted glass, are worthless in God’s sight, unless there is truth in the pulpit and grace in the congregation. The dens and caves in which the early Christians used to meet, were probably far more beautiful in the eyes of Christ than the noblest cathedral that was ever reared by man. The temple in which the Lord Jesus delights most, is a broken and contrite heart, renewed by the Holy Spirit.
J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 357. {Luke 21: 5-9}
