DAY FIFTY-SIX: 

Sermon on the Mount- Part 1 

Matthew 5:1-6:4 

The traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount

At the end of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar Judas asks Jesus, 

Why'd you choose such a backward time and such a strange land? If you'd come today you would have reached a whole nation Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication

Why indeed? Our communications have improved even more since 1971, when the musical came out. Today Jesus could use the internet, Ge could do His own TED Talks and reach people all over the world. Instead, He came to a time with no printing presses or newspapers, no TV or radio stations, no internet, no 24 hour news cycle. Yet Jesus managed to get His message across and His disciples managed to propagate it around the world.

The crowds thronged to see and hear Jesus. The hillsides along the Sea of Galilee are a perfect place to address large crowds. They form a natural amphitheater, where a speaker near the bottom of the hill could be heard plainly at the top. Jesus could speak to thousand of people at once. It was on a hillside like the one pictured above that Jesus gave what John Ortberg, the pastor of the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, called "The World's Greatest Talk." 

Surrounded by His disciples, Jesus started to teach the people. The first word out of His mouth is "blessed." The Greek word is makarios, and usually means happy or blessed. Jesus uses the word, though, to urge His listeners to look past their present circumstances to the realities of the Kingdom of God. Let's look at this list of what we call The Beatitudes.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The word for poor here means more than just temporarily short of funds. It is absolute poverty, where one is reduced to begging in order to live. Jesus added "in spirit." That means those who recognize their spiritual poverty and approach God as beggars, asking for mercy. This stands in sharp contrast to the Pharisees, who considered themselves rich in spirit. Jesus said that the poor in spirit would find what they were looking for- the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Mourning and sorrow were facts of everyday life for Jesus' listeners. This particular Greek word refers to mourning for those who have died. Jesus said that mourners are blessed, for they shall be comforted. The Greek word is parakaleo which means to come alongside and help. This is the same word that Jesus used when He told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to be their Comforter. Revelation 21:4 tells of the day when the full implications of Jesus' death and resurrection will be realized: "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Meek here does not mean letting people use you as a doormat. It means having a gentle disposition, not prone to hurt others, peaceable. These people are blessed because they will inherit the earth. The poor in spirit get heaven, but the meek get the earth. Aren't the meek being shortchanged. No, because the day will come when heaven and earth are one. The meek will not inherit a devastated world but one that is a new Eden. (Revelation 21:2-3)

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." These are people who know that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." They know that there is more to life than just this life, and they earnestly seek after God. They will find what they seek. God will feed their souls with the richest of food, and they will grow spiritually.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. God Himself is merciful, and He loves to see mercy in His people. The Greek word could also be translated empathetic, for it involves feeling for others and sympathizing with them. It also has a sense of action rather than word. The priest and the Levite who passed by the robbery and assault victim on the road to Jericho might have felt sorry for the man. The Good Samaritan, however, showed mercy. He comforted the man and bandaged his wounds. Then he provided for the man to stay at an inn until he had recovered. Jesus said that those who show this kind of mercy will receive it themselves. 

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The word pure is the source of our word catharsis. It refers to a cleansing or purging of sinful thoughts and deeds to please God. This is really significant, because when Moses desired to see God, The Lord replied "You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." (Exodus 33:20) Only a work of God in our hearts can make us pure. Jesus died for our sins, and His blood washes us clean. Because of this we will one day see God face to face!

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Just about anybody can create drama and stir up strife. It takes a special person, though, to be a peacemaker. In several places in the Book of Proverbs we read warnings about being a talebearer (a gossip), for their words are like wounds. They separate friends and family from one another and cause deep hurt. Peacemakers try to help people reconcile with one another. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:2-3, "I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life." Paul is talking about two Christian women who have broken fellowship with one another for some reason we're not told. The reason for their strained relationship aren't important. What matters is that these two faithful servants of God reconcile. Paul urged the pastor at Philippi to be a peacemaker for these women,

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others 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 they persecuted the prophets who were before you." The word persecuted has a sense of being chased or hunted down. Jesus warned that there would come a time that His enemies would declare open season on Christians. They would face torture of the most hideous sort and often long and painful deaths. Such are blessed, because heaven awaits them. I think of the last scene in The Robe, where Marcellus (Richard Burton) and Diana (Jean Simmons) are heading to execution while a deranged Emperor Caligula is cackling "They're going to their kingdom!" They were indeed! We must always remember to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. And we must never presume that we won't face persecution.

Before we leave the Beatitudes, I'd like to note that while some of us may exhibit a particular beatitude well, every one of them is a grown point for us. We must seek God's grace as we face situations that call for each.

"You are the salt of the earth." Salt is no big deal for us today. We buy it in round blue boxes with a little girl carrying an umbrella on it. And we throw it on our roads to melt snow and ice. In Christ's time, however, salt was a matter of life and death. We worry about too much sodium in our diets but they faced the dire effects of too little. Salt was a valuable commodity, so valuable that Roman soldiers often received their pay in salt (our word salary comes from the Latin word for salt). Salt also was an important preservative in those days before refrigeration. Salt allowed them to store fish, meat and vegetables for the winter. We have no sense of what Jesus meant when He talked of the salt losing its taste. That's because we protect our salt from moisture. In Jesus' day, though, a town's supply of salt was often piled in a heap out in the open. The rain wold leach away the salt, leaving just the other minerals that were present. This salt is worthless. We are the salt of the earth, Jesus said. We bring seasoning and flavor to our world. If the world gets into us, however, if we love the pleasures of this life more than we love God, we're like salt that's lost it's saltiness. We're useless both to God and to our neighbors.

"You are the light of the world." In yesterday's sermon we looked at John chapter 1 which describes Jesus as light coming into a dark world. Now Jesus is telling His listeners that THEY are the light of the world. Our light shines when we live openly as believers, serving others in His name. Jesus told them not to hide their lights but to let them shine!

At this point Jesus answers at length the accusation that He is setting aside the Law of Moses. The Pharisees pointed to the people He associated with (tax collectors, prostitutes and other assorted "sinners") and His habit of breaking their rules on observing the Sabbath. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Heaven and earth will pass away, but not God's Law. Indeed, anyone who is lax will be held accountable. Jesus not only upheld the Law, He strengthened it by showing how it went far deeper than the surface. Let's look at the subjects Jesus addressed:

• Murder. He affirmed the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," but also said that anger and hateful words are just as bad. Don't let resentments fester- resolve conflicts in a godly way;
• Adultery. The commandment refers not just to our actions but also to our thoughts. Lustful thoughts are just as bad in God's eyes. Jesus went so far as to say that if it would save you from hell it's better to gouge out your eye or cut off your hand (don't get the hatchet out just yet- it won't really work to deal with the problem of sin- Jesus was telling us how important it is to deal with sin in our lives);
• Divorce. There was a debate among the Rabbis in the generation before Jesus about the grounds for divorce. One prominent Rabbi, Shammai, argued that only adultery or other improper sexual conduct were proper grounds. Rabbi Hillel argues that a man could divorce his wife for any reason. Hillel won the day, and many men dumped the wives of their youth in favor of younger trophy wives. Jesus said that this was wrong, that only adultery justified divorce;
• Oaths. The Pharisees had all kinds of ruled about oaths and vows (and how to get out of them if they prove inconvenient). Jesus said don't swear at all. Let your yes be yes and your no be know. If you have to invoke God's name to prove you're telling the truth, there's something wrong. Your character should be evidence enough that you're truthful;
• Revenge. Moses instituted a form of the Lex Talionis, or eye for eye. It seems barbaric to us today. We just sue people. But an eye for an eye was a way to keep retaliation in proportion to the crime. You can't kill someone for gouging out your eye- you can only gouge out one of his. Jesus says don't take revenge at all. Turn the other cheek. Carry that soldier's heavy backpack a second mile. Give freely to those in need;
• Enemies. It's easy to hate those who hate us and do us harm. Jesus, however, commands us to love them, pray for them and do good to them. If you love only your friends and neighbors but hate your enemies, you're no better than the tax collectors and the gentiles, who do the same. 

Jesus concluded this section with these words: "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." The word perfect means complete or full of integrity. This doesn't mean that we must be sinless, because that's impossible for us while we're in the flesh. But we receive the very righteousness of Christ when we trust in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake he[the Father] made him [Jesus the Son] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Through faith in Christ, then, Jesus' listeners could have a righteousness that "exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees." (5:20)

In chapter 6 Jesus moved from ethics to piety. He warned His hearers to be careful not to show off their religion. Those who want to be seen of men and receive their acclaim will not receive any reward or blessing from God. Jesus then goes through some examples of personal religious practices and how to observe them properly.

Jesus spoke first about giving. He started out "When (not if) you give to the needy." Giving to help those in need is something God asks of all of us as we are able. Jesus warns against giving those gifts in a way that attracts attention to us. Jesus said that the hypocrites sound a trumpet. I found this very strange until I learned that the trumpet here is not a musical instrument but rather a cone shaped like the horn on an old record player that funneled the peoples' offerings into the collection box. If someone were to empty a bag of coins into it the clatter would fill the synagogue or the Temple and cause everyone to look and see the person who made this generous contribution. That recognition from others is all the reward they will receive. Jesus said for us to give secretly, confidentially, so that even your left hand doesn't know what your right hand is doing. God sees your gift, and God also knows your heart. He will reward you in His way and in His time for His glory and our good. Sometimes you hear TV preachers claim that God always gives back to us far more than we give, that giving is more like investing. God doesn't promise to make us rich because of our giving. He does promise us that He will make sure that we have all that we need, along with spiritual blessings.

Tomorrow we'll take up the second half of the Sermon on the Mount, "The World's Greatest Talk." 

Here's a short skit on The Beatitudes that you'll enjoy:

DAY FIFTY-FIVE: 

The Temptation of Jesus 

Matthew 4:1-17 

"Temptation of Christ", by Erik Armusik

Yesterday we saw Jesus baptized and the Holy Spirit descend upon Him in the form of a dove. He's all set, ready to go out and preach, right? No. There's something He has to do first. "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Mark's account says that the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. (Mark 1:12) This is urgent business and must be taken care of immediately. Now the wilderness around the Jordan River is not a very nice place at all. I think I'd better show you a picture rather than attempt to describe it:

Looks pretty barren, doesn't it? There's very little water and vegetation but lots and lots of rocks, venomous snakes and a few wolves and other predators. If Jesus were there in the summer, the temperatures could reach 120 degrees and those rocks absorb and radiate that heat. It can drop well below freezing in the winter. Not a place you'd want to go on vacation!

He went there to be tempted by the devil. The word devil comes from the Greek word diabolos. It means literally to throw something at someone. It was used of someone who accused another of a crime, and also of the prosecutor in a criminal trial. The devil, of course, is Satan. We took a look at Him when we studied Job. The Bible doesn't lay out the story of how Satan and his demons came to be as clearly as we might like. But from what we know Satan rebelled against God and he and his followers were ejected from heaven. (Revelation 12:7-12) Satan means accuser in Hebrew, and that's exactly what he did with Job. "This man is not as righteous as You think he is. Take away all of the blessings You gave him and he'll curse You!" This is what Satan does to us. He delights in tormenting us over our sins to the point that we forget what God tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21- "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Why did Jesus have to submit to Satan's temptations? To put it simply, the devil is a crybaby! He yells "no fair!" when God's people triumph over him. He pointed out that God surrounded Job with a hedge and he couldn't get at him. And if Satan didn't have this chance to tempt Jesus, he would forever argue that the deck was stacked against him. Instead God is going to let him take his best shot. While Jesus is God, He also is a man. His human nature was not fallen as ours is due to Adam's sin. So Jesus had the same choice that Adam and Eve did, and the devil had a shot at tempting Him to sin. 

It's as if Jesus is tying one hand behind His back. He fasted, went without food, for forty days and nights. That is at the edge of human endurance. Jesus was not only weak, He would have been near death. Matthew says that He was hungry, an understatement if there ever was one. Satan said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." That word "if." It indicated doubt or condition. Are You REALLY the Son of God, Jesus? Then prove it! And Jesus could have done just that. He could have turned the whole hillside into bread. Instead He replied, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" This is from Deuteronomy 8:3. The whole verse helps us to understand what Jesus is saying: "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." God fed His people in the wilderness, a barren place like where Jesus found Himself. Jesus doesn't have to prove that He's the Son of God. He knows that His Father will take care of Him just like He fed Israel. Strike one!

Then the devil transported Jesus to the Temple and stood Him on its highest rampart, some 65 feet above the ground. "If You're God's Son, throw Yourself off, because that Bible You're so fond of quoting says that He'll send His angels to catch You." (Psalm 91:11-12) Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test" God promises to protect His people, but He doesn't promise that He'll honor our prideful presumption. It would have impressed everyone in Jerusalem if Jesus had made a soft landing, assisted by angels. It would have been a shortcut to speed along His mission. But He does not need to prove that He is the Son of God. Strike two!

The devil has one last swing at Jesus. He took Him to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Luke's account adds these words: "...for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will." What an offer! All the kingdoms of the world, with all their wealth, splendor and power! Jesus could begin His reign immediately and enact God's Law around the planet. No need for suffering, no need for the cross. But again, Jesus said no. "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" (Deuteronomy 6:13-14) Jesus knew that the devil was lying when he said that he owned the kingdoms of the world. Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." The devil is a squatter, a claim jumper. Jesus will indeed receive all the kingdoms of this world in due time. He will first gain our forgiveness and freedom and then will rule. Revelation 11:15 says, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." (This verse and the surrounding verses are the basis for Handel's Hallelujah Chorus). Strike three! The devil is done (for now). He will spend the next three years running from Jesus. Jesus will cast the demons out and give His disciples the authority to do the same. But the devil is not done yet. He'll get one more shot at Jesus.

We read that after Satan left angels came and ministered to Jesus. He was so weak that He could not have made it out of the wilderness without help. The angels fed and strengthened Him, and then He set about the work for which He came. He returned to His home region of Galilee and began to preach. His message was the same as John's: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Next week we'll take a closer look at the teachings of Jesus.

Mae West famously said, "I can resist anything but temptation." Oscar Wilde said, "The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. That's what this world says, but that's not what God says. Satan will tempt us, and he has some leverage with us that he didn't have with Jesus. Our fallen human nature is inclined to sin. In our natural state we have no choice but to be sinners. No one has to teach us how to sin- we come by it naturally. If that's the case, how can we expect to resist temptation? We can resist temptation only with God's help. When we trust in Him as Savior and Lord, He makes us new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). That old sinful nature is still there, but in addition to it we have a changed and renews spirit that loves God and wants to obey Him. This means that Christians have a choice of whether or not to sin. That's not to say it's easy for Christians to resist temptation- far from it! But it is possible, and God always there to help. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

We fight temptation the same way that Jesus did. First, we must know the Bible, because the devil certainly does! Jesus countered each of Satan's temptations with a verse from God's Word, and He was able to deflect Satan's faulty interpretation of the Bible in the same way. Immerse yourself in Scripture! Start by resolving to read the Bible systematically (the Bible Gateway website has all kinds of reading plans that will help you to do this). And it's always profitable to commit the Bible to memory. Satan won't stand around waiting while you go and look for a Bible and then fumble to find the right verse. 

Next we must resist the devil. He will make us think that we can peacefully coexist with him, but that's just like sleeping with a rattlesnake every night. Sooner or later you're going to get bit! 1 Peter 5:8-9 says, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world." A little background on this verse: lions hunt in groups, and the old, toothless lions will sit by the road and wait for the prey to come by. Then they will roar at the top of their lungs (if you've ever heard a lion roar in a zoo, you know they're loud!). The poor little deer then panics and runs right into the young, strong lions who are lying in wait. The safest thing to do is stand your ground, or even run TOWARD the roar. The devil is a roaring lion, which mean's he's toothless and clawless. Jesus de-fanged him at the cross!

And third, if (I should say when) you do fall for the temptation, don't beat yourself up, and don't let Satan beat you up. Come to the Lord and confess your sin. Ask for His forgiveness and help in resisting that temptation. 1 John 1:8-9 says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I like what the Christian singer Carman says: "When the devil tries to remind you of your past, remind him of his future!"

Most of all, remember that Jesus cares about you! Here's the late Doug Oldham, with the Gaither Homecoming artists, singing a great old hymn that reminds us of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-owfQklsgMs

DAY FIFTY-FOUR: 

John the Baptist 

Luke 3:1-20 

When Malachi finished his ministry, God did not send another prophet for over 400 years. Amos 8:11-12 says, "Behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord God, 'when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it." That famine ended when a strange man showed up and started shouting God's message in the wilderness. John the Baptist emerged with a message from God for His people. Let's look at this key figure in the story of how God will set things right.

"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness." Luke gives us some very specific information that helps us to put a date on these events. Tiberius became emperor upon the death of Augustus, his adoptive father, on September 18, 14 AD. His 15th year, then, would be somewhere in the vicinity of 29 or 30 AD. Pontius Pilate, whom we remember every time we say the Apostles' Creed, was governor of Judea from 26 to 36 AD. After Herod the Great's death his kingdom was divided among four of his sons, who became "tetrarchs," ruler of a fourth. There are only three tetrarchs because Archelaus, who ruled Judea, was deposed in 6 AD and replaced by a Roman governor. How can two men, Annas and Caiaphas, both be the high priest? Annas was the real high priest, but Pilate deposed him in favor of Annas' son Caiaphas. Caiaphas, then, had the office but Annas remained the power behind the throne. It was in the midst of all of this that John appeared.

"And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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 made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." With the exception of Jericho, "The City of Palms," the region around the Jordan River was a wasteland. Why not go into the cities to proclaim such a great message? You'll remember that God didn't tell the high and mighty, but told humble shepherds about the birth of His Son. In the same way God's message of salvation would come from the wilderness. One day someone traveling by heard John's message and came to be baptized. He told his friends and acquaintances and they went out into the wilderness to hear and to be baptized. Soon people were flocking from the cities to the wilderness to be baptized. Hence the name John the Baptist. As a child I thought that meant John was a member of a Baptist church as we know them. But a better translation is John the Baptizer.

He had the nation eating out of his hand, and he could have sweet-talked them into just about anything he wanted. Instead he said to the crowds, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" He called them sons of snakes! He called upon them to bear the fruits of repentance- a changed life showing good works in response to God's grace. They must not rely on their status as children of Abraham, John said, because God could make the stones around them into children of Abraham. "Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." The day of God's judgment is at hand! That's why repentance is so important. The people asked John how they should live. He told them to share food and clothing with those who had none. He told the tax collectors to take only what was legally owed, and he told the Roman soldiers who came not to accuse people falsely or extort money from them.

John appeared as if out of nowhere with this powerful message. Could he be the Messiah? John put all speculation to rest. He was not the Messiah, but the one who comes before Him to prepare the way. All John could do was baptize them with water. When the Christ comes, He will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire! John said that he was not fit to untie His shoelaces.

"So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people." John's message wasn't all fire and brimstone. He preached good news- the Greek word is euaggelion, from which we get our word Gospel. God's Kingdom is at hand! He is coming, bringing salvation. It was an exciting time for Israel! People came in great masses to be baptized by John and his disciples. Some scholars estimate that he baptized more than 1.5 million people, all without ever going near a city!

Jesus Himself came to the Jordan to be baptized. In Matthew's account we read that John argued with Him. "'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?' But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.'" In submitting to John's baptism Jesus gave His approval for John's work and in that way identified with sinners, even though He was sinless. After Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven saying, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Jesus' baptism marked the beginning of His ministry. But first He had to submit to Satan's temptations, which we'll consider tomorrow.

John was a true prophet. He did not shrink from speaking truth to power. He challenged Herod, the ruler of Galilee, for his immorality. He had an affair with his brother Phillip's wife, Herodias. Each divorced their spouse and they were married. John challenged Herod to repent of his sin and come clean before God. Rather than repent, Herod arrested John and put him in jail. It didn't end well for John, from a worldly standpoint. Herod was conflicted when it came to his famous prisoner. Mark 6:19-20 says, "And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly." Deep down Herod knew that John was right, yet he couldn't bring himself to repent. Herodias finally got her way when her daughter pleased her stepfather at a banquet. In a show of drunken bravado, Herod promised her anything, up to half of his kingdom. Herodias told her daughter to ask for John's head on a platter. Herod was sorry he had opened his mouth, but couldn't back down in front of his guests and ordered John beheaded. A senseless ending to the life of a great man!

John WAS a great man. Jesus said of him, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist." John was great because he knew his place in God's plan and fulfilled it faithfully. He never once claimed to be the Messiah, although the crowd would have believed him if he had. He proclaimed the good news of the Messiah's coming and challenged the people to repent of their sins in preparation for His arrival. When Jesus began to minister and the crowds followed Him, John said, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.'  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. He must increase, but I must decrease." The Bridegroom had come, and John, the best man, has done his job of bringing the bride to the wedding.

John commanded his hearers to repent of their sins. We don't hear a lot of preaching like that today, and when we do we tend to dismiss it as "fire and brimstone." But the truth is that we all will stand before God and give an account of our lives. There is a heaven, and there is also a hell. The Bible is quite clear. Jesus said it would be better to tear out your eye or cut off your hand if that would atone for your sin and keep you out of hell. (Matthew 5:29-30) We can't work to gain our salvation, and we don't have to. Jesus died for us and paid the price for our sins. But we must repent of our sins, be truly sorry for them, and trust in Christ alone. Some time back Mike Stull mentioned the video of an interview with Tim Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. I commend it to you and if you haven't seen it you can watch it here. Keller affirmed the reality of hell, but warned about us being gleeful at the prospect of sinners ending up there as some preachers appear to be. The recently deceased Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church were famous for declaring that God hates sinners. The Gospel calls us to repent and believe the Good News of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone.

One last word about John. His humility is an example for us today. He was perfectly content to let Jesus have the spotlight he had once occupied, because he knew it was right. Are we humble enough to serve Christ and not care if we get recognition or credit for it? He must increase and I must decrease!

Last year was the 40th anniversary of the movie version of Godspell. It was controversial for its light-hearted portrayals. Over the years, though, I've come to appreciate its take on the story. Here's the scene where John the Baptist calls out "Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeYKgDcKCkc

DAY FIFTY-THREE: 

The Birth of Jesus 

Luke 2:1-40 

Welcome to Christmas in March! With the snow and cold it feels like Christmas. Today we look at an awe-inspiring passage, the Son of God coming into the world in a lowly stable. 

"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria." Augustus, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, greatly expanded the Roman Empire. Wherever Rome came, roads, aqueducts and other public works followed. In addition, the presence of Roman troops brought peace to many troubled regions. All of this cost money, so Augustus ordered censuses to register the people for taxation. There's a lot of debate in the scholarly world as to when this happened. Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (I love Roman names!) didn't become governor of Syria until 6 AD. But the word translated as governor in our passage has a broader meaning than what we understand a governor to be. The word is hegemon, and it refers to anyone who's in charge of something, anyone who wields authority. We read in Roman historical documents that Augustus ordered a census in 8 BC, when a man named Saturninus was governor of Syria. He proved to be incompetent but was too well connected politically to replace. Augustus sent Quirinius to Syria and put him in charge of the census. Quirinius was a shadow governor for a number of years before he became the actual governor. If the decree was issued in 8 BC, it would take up to two years to pull it off. So we're talking about 6 BC or so for the call to register to reach Galilee and Judea. Augustus loved genealogy (the Romans worshipped their ancestors) so he ordered everyone to return to their place of origin.

This posed a problem for Joseph, Mary's intended husband. He was from David's line (a direct descendant- he should have been king). His family left Judea for health reasons- Herod the Great considered the line of David and threat and was not above killing its members. This census meant Joseph would have to go to Bethlehem, nearly 80 miles from Nazareth. Mary was in the last month of pregnancy, making the already difficult journey more so. But they took off. We imagine that Mary rode on a donkey led by Joseph, but there's no direct evidence in our text. They might have had no animal and Mary had to walk. In any event, they arrived in Bethlehem to find the small town full of people registering for the census. There was no room for them in the inn. The inn was not what we would understand as a hotel, but more like a campground. The building had an open courtyard for travelers to stable their animals and sheltered places to sleep. Joseph had relatives, but all of them were already hosting family from out of town. Finally someone offered them a stable. Most likely the stable was in a small cave. It gave them protection from the elements and a measure of privacy. It was here that Mary gave birth to the Son of God. They didn't have a proper bassinet so they laid him in a manger (a feed trough- not majestic at all!). As one of our favorite Christmas carols says, "How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given."

But things didn't stay silent. We read that there were shepherds out on the hillsides around Bethlehem, watching their flocks by night. This would indicated it was the spring, when the ewes were giving birth to their lambs. The shepherds took their sheep down from the hills for the winter and led them back up in the spring. They kept a close watch when the lambs were being born to drive away predators. It was a night like thousands before, with only the light of their campfire and the stars above. But that night was not ordinary. All of a sudden an angel appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord (represented in the Bible as light) shone all around them. They were terrified! The angel gave them a birth announcement: "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." The words "good tidings of great joy" were the exact words used to announce that the Emperor had a son. Their Savior, the Christ (anointed one, Messiah) was born in Bethlehem. Go check it out! You'll find Him wrapped in swaddling cloths (strips of tattered clothing, the last thing you could do with an old garment) and lying in a feed trough. This meant that the Messiah was like them. No doubt their mothers wrapped them in swaddling clothes, and I'm sure many of them were placed in mangers in the absence of anything better. Then the lone angel was joined by "a multitude of the heavenly host." The word multitude in Greek also has a meaning of "the whole number." Did God empty out Heaven and send millions upon millions of angels to announce His Son's birth? Imagine the sky filled with angels from horizon to horizon! They said (perhaps sang) "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, and peace among those with whom he is pleased." God loves you and wishes you peace!

The shepherds ran down the hill and looked in every stable in Bethlehem until they found the Christ Child. They were the first after Mary and Joseph to see the Savior of the world! They went and told everyone what they had seen, and people were amazed! Mary, however, sat quietly and reflected on what had just happened. She had given birth to God's Son! That's a lot to take in and process!

When He was eight days old Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the local synagogue to be circumcised like all Jewish boys. They named Him Jesus (in Aramaic Yeshua, or Joshua), the name the angel told them. Then in forty days after Jesus was born they went to the Temple for Mary's purification after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8). They were unable to afford a lamb for the offering, so they brought two doves, the provision for the poor.

While they were there they met an old man named Simeon. It's very possible that he was the father of Rabbi Hillel, one of the greatest scholars in Jewish history. He had received a promise from the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. When Simeon saw Mary and Joseph with their son, he knew immediately that God had fulfilled His promise! He scooped Jesus out of Mary's arms and praised God! Then he prophesied over Jesus: "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed." Then he turned to Mary and said ominously "And a sword will pierce through your own soul also." Then an elderly woman by the name of Anna, who had been married for seven years but was widowed and afterward spent her time praying in the Temple, heard what Simeon said and spread the news about the Child.

At the end of our passage we read that they returned to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. But according to Matthew they stayed in Bethlehem long enough for the Wise Men to come and then fled to Egypt until Herod's death. The two can be reconciled quite easily. Mary and Joseph went back to Nazareth to show off their son and then moved back to Bethlehem. Perhaps they took a liking to the area. The Wise Men didn't show up the night Jesus was born, as our Nativity Scenes depict. It might have taken them up to two years to make the trip. They found a toddler, not an infant, living in a house, not a stable. If the Wise Men had come before Mary's purification, they would have had the resources to buy a lamb for the sacrifice. The gifts of the Magi gave them what they needed to live on while in Egypt. And when Joseph heard from an angel that Herod the Great was dead, they went back to Judea. But when they found out that Archelaus, who was worse than his father, was ruling Judea, they kept going and went back to Nazareth, where Agrippa, a kinder and gentler son of Herod, was king. 

Yesterday we looked at the miracle of the Virgin Birth. Today we see how God uses Providence to accomplish His will. Providence is God's governance over all that happens so that He is glorified and we are blessed. He put it in Caesar Augustus' mind to order the census. He gave Joseph and Mary safe passage to Bethlehem. He provided a private place for His Son to be born. And the only ones to get a birth announcement were lowly shepherds. The high and mighty of the day had no clue that the King of kings was born. Augustus died in 14 AD not ever knowing. Likewise Quirinius passed off the scene. Herod only found out after the fact, when the Wise Men came. Mary's song from Luke 1 was being fulfilled: "...he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty." 

I can't think of a more appropriate way to end our time together than with this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmBWqRoENl4

DAY FIFTY-TWO: 

Gabriel's Message 

Luke 1:1-80 

The Annunciation, by Mary Henry

Yesterday we looked at the first chapter of John, where we learned about Jesus before He was born. He is, as the Nicene Creed puts it, "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by Whom all things were made." With that background, we're ready to look at the historical record of how "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14)

First, who is Luke? He wasn't one of the disciples. He was a friend and traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. Paul refers to him as "the beloved physician" in Colossians 4:14, and in 2 Timothy 4:11, written from prison, he said "Only Luke is with me." It appears that Luke accompanied Paul on his journey to Jerusalem and then on his voyage to Rome, as the narrator uses the word "we" from Acts 20 onward. As a physician trained in the tradition of Hippocrates, he learned the value of observation. We read in the first four verses that Luke set out to write "an orderly account" of Jesus' life and work. Acts begins with a similar introduction, both addressed to "Theophilus" (perhaps an individual, but more likely a general readership- the name means "lover of God").

This first chapter concerns the events immediately preceding the birth of Christ. The Angel Gabriel appeared to a priest named Zechariah as he conducted the daily ministry in the Holy Place (the part of the Temple between the outer court and the Holy of Holies, where a priest went in daily to refill the lamps with oil, replace the Bread of the Presence and offer incense to the Lord at the hour of prayer). We're told that Zechariah and Elizabeth are getting up in age and have no children. Most paintings show them as elderly people. But according to the Law of Moses, a priest had to retire from active service in the Temple at age 50 (Numbers 4:3), so Zechariah was in his late 40s. The honor of this service was decided by the casting of lots, and most priests never went into the Holy Place in their careers. While Zechariah was ministering he turned toward the altar of incense and realized that he wasn't alone! There stood an angel! The angel told him not to be afraid, that he was there to announce good news. He and Elizabeth would finally have a baby! You'll call him John, and his job will be to prepare the nation for the coming of the Lord. Great news! But then Zechariah went and opened his big mouth. "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." Hearing this from the mouth of an angel just wasn't enough for him. The angel replied, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." Gabriel means "warrior of God." Gabriel explained to Daniel what his visions meant (Daniel 8:16, 9:21). Because of his doubt Zechariah would lose his voice until all that was foretold happened. And in due time they gave birth to a bouncing baby boy whom they named, as Gabriel commanded, John. Then Zechariah could talk, and his first words in a year were well worth remembering! We'll look at them in little while.

Gabriel's next stop was Nazareth. He appeared to a virgin of marriageable age named Mary. Gabriel visited in the sixth month, in the Hebrew calendar the Month of Elul, which was late summer (August or September). Keep this in mind when we consider when Jesus was born. Mary was engaged to a man named Joseph. Engagement was as binding as marriage itself. Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" And as you would imagine she was afraid! Gabriel went on, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Wow! What an honor! But there's just one hitch: she's not married and she's never been with a man. So she asked how can this be? This question wasn't born of unbelief, like Zechariah's. She just has a question about what God wants of her. Gabriel told her "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God." God Himself will be the father, and Mary will bear His child. This Child will be both God and man. This will change Mary's life, and not necessarily in a good way. She's engaged to Joseph, and they haven't had sex. How will he ever believe that God is the father of her baby? Joseph would be hurt. she and her family would be disgraced, and if the people of Nazareth were in a stoning mood that day it could cost her life! But she trusted God. "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."

Gabriel left, but he had told Mary about Elizabeth. Now Elizabeth went into seclusion after the conceived, and Zechariah certainly couldn't tell anyone. So no one knew about this blessing they had received, except for Mary. Mary no sooner said "Hi!" than Elizabeth burst forth into a beautiful prophecy: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." This was exactly what Mary needed to hear! God really was behind all of this, and He would make it all work out. Mary responded with a wonderful prayer, praising God for what He is doing. Mary stayed with Zechariah and Elizabeth through the birth of their baby. That little unnamed town in the hill country of Judea was abuzz with the news of their child's birth. No one even knew that they were expecting! Everyone was there on the 8th day to celebrate at his circumcision. They assumed that he'd be Zechariah jr., after his father and probably his father before him. Elizabeth kept saying "No! His name is John." They asked Zechariah and he asked for a tablet (in those days probably a board covered with wax on which words were scratched with a stylus). He wrote "His-name-is-John." All of a sudden Zechariah's voice returned, and his first words were an amazing song of praise! "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old..." A new day is dawning for God's people, and a new chapter in the story of how God is setting things right is being written!

Yesterday we saw in the abstract that God would break into our human existence. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Now the specifics of the plan: The Holy Spirit would overshadow the Virgin Mary and she would give birth to God's Son. The doctrine of the Virgin Birth has always been controversial. Even in ancient times people knew enough about biology to know that's not how babies are made. And in the modern worldview the Virgin Birth seems even more absurd- absolutely unscientific! Nothing within the laws of nature allow for such an event. Like all the other miracles of the Bible the Virgin Birth is presumed to be impossible. There's either some natural explanation (like the Israelites crossed not the Red Sea but the Sea of Reeds, a series of shallow lakes, and just waded across) or the story is a myth, the product of human imagination. But what is the definition of a miracle? A true miracle is something that goes beyond the laws of nature to accomplish God's purposes. And true miracles are really very rare. People think that there were lots of miracles in the time of the Bible. But when you consider that we're looking at a sweep of nearly 4,000 years, God didn't very many miracles. God can achieve most of what He wants to accomplish through Providence, His control and arrangement of things within the natural order. It wasn't a miracle, for instance, that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. God put it on Augustus Caesar's heart to call for a census. But the Virgin Birth is a true miracle. It is contrary to what we know about reproduction, human or otherwise. There is no natural or scientific explanation.

This is how God chose to come into our world, so that He would be one of us. Is that so strange that we can't accept it? In Christ God walked in our shoes. He knows what our lives are like because He shared our existence. When Jesus went to the cross He knew just exactly why He had to die. He knew how crushing our sins are and how desperately we needed His forgiveness. Hebrews 4:14-16 says, "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Tomorrow we'll look at Luke's account of Jesus' birth, one of the most beautiful stories in all of literature. I'll leave you with a blast from the past, a trip back to the 90s. This top-forty song asks the question "What if God was one of us?" The Bible tells us that He WAS one of us. I'm not sure that the songwriter and singer understood the question as we do, but the pictures from the video, of all types of people from all walks of life, show us why God became man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USR3bX_PtU4

DAY FIFTY-ONE: 

The Word Became Flesh 

John 1:1-18 

Welcome to the New Testament! Four hundred years have passed since Malachi penned the last words of the book that bears his name. He was the last prophet of the Old Testament. What happened during those centuries? Here's a quick summary of what scholars call the Intertestamental Period. In Malachi's time Israel was still under Persian control. The Persian Empire, however, was beginning to weaken. The Greeks beat back three waves of Persian invaders in the fifth century BC. Not long after the end of the Old Testament the Greeks went on the offensive. Alexander the Great unified the city-states of Greece and led them on a ten-year campaign in which he not only conquered Persia but forged on into what is now India. On the way he laid siege to Tyre, just north of Israel, reducing it to rubble. But when Alexander came to Jerusalem he spared the city. The High Priest came out to greet the Greeks to plead for mercy, dressed in his priestly attire. Before the High Priest could speak, Alexander dismounted his horse and bowed to the ground before him! He had seen a man dressed this way in a dream and was told not to destroy this man's city. So Israel came under Greek control. All was well until Alexander died. His vast empire was divided into four parts, each ruled by one of his generals. At first Jerusalem was under the jurisdiction of the Ptolemys, who were based in Egypt. The Seleucids, based in Syria, moved on Palestine and took it. The Seleucids believed that Greek culture was superior and that their mission was to convert the whole world to their way of life. Their king, a man named Antiochus Epiphanes (the revelation of God) decided that the Jews had lived in their backward monotheistic world long enough. He invaded the Temple and sacrificed a pig on its altar. He forbade any worship of God. A priest by the name of Mattathias led a revolt against the Greeks. His son, Judas Maccabeus (from the Hebrew word for hammer) took over after his father died. In time the Maccabees forced the Greeks out of Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple. This began a brief period of self-rule for the Jews for the first time since the Babylonian conquest. This independence ended in 63 BC when the Romans conquered the region. Herod the Great, who was only half-Jewish and not from David's line, was appointed King of the Jews in 37 BC. The stage is now set for our passage today!

John was one of the twelve disciples who followed Jesus during His earthly ministry. The Gospel that he wrote is very different from Matthew, Mark and Luke (which are called the synoptic-"with one eye"- gospels because they relate the same events, often with the same words. John appears to have written after the other three and is concerned to fill in some gaps. Today John tells us what was going on before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

"In the beginning." Those are the very first words of the Bible, from Genesis 1:1. Genesis tells us that God created the world in the beginning. God, of course, had to exist before the beginning so that He could create. John tells us that in the beginning was "the Word." When we hear word we think of what you're reading right now- words on a page. Put a lot of words together and you can say something. That's not what John is talking about here. The Greek word logos refers to reason, and often was used of the Ultimate Reason that created all things. This logos was with God in the beginning, before there was anything else, and is eternal as God is eternal. In fact, John goes on to state what he had just implied: "The Word was God." The Word took part in the creation, and nothing was made without the Word. This gets us into what is perhaps the most difficult doctrine in the Bible- the Trinity. There is one God. That one God, however, exists in three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. How can one be three and three be one? I don't know. The Bible clearly teaches this but offers no further explanation. Some reject the doctrine of the Trinity because it defies logic. Others try too hard to explain it and fall into error. The best thing we can do is accept what God has revealed by faith. 

John goes on, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." The Word that created life has life within Him. He offers that life to us, which becomes our light in this dark world. No matter how hard the powers of evil seek to snuff out that light, it still shines.

Then John goes on to tell about a man named John. He's referring to John the Baptist, whom we'll consider in more detail on Thursday. This man John came to bear witness to the Word and His light. John is careful to point out that John was not the light, but pointed to its source, the Word.

Even though this true light, which created the world, broke into the creation, the world didn't know Him. The Greek word here is kosmos, from which we get our word cosmos. It refers not just to the creation, but to the world system, how we perceive reality. The world rejected this light- He just didn't fit in its scheme of things. He came to His own, the Jews, but they rejected Him. But those who did receive Him received power (the Greek word is dunamis, from which we get dynamite), the ability to become children of God through the Word's supernatural work.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." The Word became just like us, a human being! The eternal God became one of us! The word dwelt is used for the pitching of a tent, the setting up of a temporary structure. The Word would not remain flesh forever, but would be so for only a time. "...and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." The word glory is doxa, from which we derive our term doxology (to speak a glorious word). Glory means both weightiness and brightness. Weightiness, in the sense of great worth and value. Brightness, in the sense of being the source of that brightness. John and his fellow disciples, along with many others who lived in their time, beheld the Son and His glory. It was not easy to see, however, as Jesus looked like any other man from that time. Philippians 2:Again we read that John bore witness to Him.

"For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses;grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." These verses have been subject to misinterpretation. Some argue that God saved the people in the Old Testament through their obedience to the Law of Moses, a righteousness based on good works, and that Jesus introduced salvation by grace, received not by good works but through trusting in Him and His work on the cross. This is utterly false! God saved the saints of the Old Testament by His grace through their faith, just as He saves us by grace through faith. The only thing that changed was that while the sacrifices of the Old Testament were signs pointing to Jesus, now Jesus Himself has come.

"No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." God is invisible, but has revealed Himself to us face to face in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. Jesus told His disciples "If you've seen Me you've seen the Father." (John 14:9) Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15-17, "He is the image of the invisible God,the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Before Jesus God spoke to prophets who in turn spoke to the people. But in Christ Jesus God appeared in person!

This is all part of God's great plan to set things right again. Philippians 2:5-11 says, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." God had to become man in order to die for our sins! We'll consider this further as we continue our tour through the New Testament.

Jesus Christ is the most amazing and revolutionary figure in history. There's a lot more that I could say, but I'll let someone far more eloquent than I am have the floor. S. M. Lockridge was a prominent African American preacher, and this is a small part of his great sermon "That's My King."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE

DAY FIFTY: 

The Day of Judgment 

Malachi 2:10-4:6

Today we look at Malachi, the last of the Prophets of Israel, whose book is also the last in the Old Testament. After Malachi there were no more prophets until John the Baptist, a period of more than 400 years. Last words are very important, so let's look at God's last words to His people for ten generations.

Let's get some background. The book begins, "The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi." Malachi's name means "my messenger." He ministered to the returned exiles of Judah sometime toward the end of the 5th century BC. Some suggest that he spoke during the period when Nehemiah had been recalled to Susa to serve the King of Persia until he returned, from 432 to 424 BC. Others argue that he spoke after Nehemiah retired, around 400 BC. Regardless of the date, the Jews had been back home for over a century. Under Zerubbabel they rebuilt the Temple, and Nehemiah led them to rebuild Jerusalem's wall. They were safe and secure from their enemies and free to serve the Lord. All was well, right? No, not really. We've seen over and over again that God's people have this talent for wandering away from Him. The days of Malachi are no exception.

In the first chapter the Lord rebukes His people for trying to serve Him on the cheap. "When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts." (1:8) Then in the first nine verses of chapter 2 He chides the priests: "For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of theLord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says theLord of hosts." (2:7-8)

As we begin reading our text today, we see that the Lord is not done with His rebuke. He now turns to the men who have divorced their wives so that they could marry younger women (sound familiar?). "...the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless." The Lord established marriage, as the traditional marriage service says, for the blessing of mankind. He told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The family is God's design for raising children to love and serve Him. A society will only be as strong as its families. The men of Malachi's time were in effect chopping at the support beams with their unfaithfulness.

Chapter three begins with a promise that God will send His messenger. The people think they're ready for His coming, but Malachi warns them that they are not. "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord." God's messenger will restore the nation to righteousness by burning off the dross and purifying their precious metal. The Lord does not intend to destroy His people, even though they try His patience and scorn Him. "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?'" (3:6-7) How many times has Israel proved faithless, and how many times did the Lord woo them back? He's not done with Abraham's children!

Then we come to a favorite passage for Stewardship Sunday. The Lord challenged the people to be faithful in the matter of their tithes. You'll remember that the priests and Levites were to get their living from the tithes so that they could devote themselves to full-time service, both in the Tabernacle and out among the other tribes teaching the Law. In the time of the Judges the people stopped paying their tithes and the Levites had to get day jobs. Soon everything began to fall apart. The same was happening in Malachi's time. It's easy to understand and we can sympathize. In addition to providing for their families, they must also pay burdensome taxes to the Persians. And now God wants them to give a tenth to Him on top of all this? They can't imagine starving their children, and it's too frightening to even think of stiffing the Persians. But God doesn't send agents out for audits and liens and seizures. If they just cut back on what they gave God they could make their budgets balance. But God said that they were robbing Him when they didn't pay their tithes, and that as a result they were under a curse! They thought they were getting ahead by not paying their tithes, but instead they were falling further behind. The Lord gave His people a challenge:  "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts." (3:10-12) You just can't outgive God!

A negative attitude had crept over the nation. "You have said, "It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'" What's the point of serving the Lord, many of them thought. It doesn't get us anywhere. But there were some who had resolved to serve the Lord no matter what. "Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name." (3:16) God pays attention and takes notes! The faithful gathered to encourage one another to keep on serving Him, and He delighted in them. Even though at present it seems that the evil prosper while the righteous suffer, God will someday settle the accounts and those who love Him will not come up short!

As we come to the fourth chapter we see a shift from the present to the future. The Day of Judgment is coming, and the evil will be burned up like chaff after the harvest. God will right all injustices and vindicate His people. The very last words of the Old Testament are powerful: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." Elijah, you'll remember, was the prophet who challenged Ahab and the 450 priests of Baal to a showdown before the whole nation at Mt. Carmel. Elijah challenged the people to make up their minds. "How long will you limp between two opinions? If Baal is God, then serve him, but if the Lord is God, serve Him!" After God showed up with power the people fell on their faces and said, "The Lord He is God! The Lord He is God!" The Lord said that one day He would send Elijah back to His people to turn the hearts of the people back to one another and to Him. This prophecy was fulfilled in John the Baptist. The Angel Gabriel told his father Zechariah, "And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." And that's what John did. Scholars estimate that he baptized as many as a million and a half people, preparing the nation for the appearance of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and Messiah of Israel.

Before we leave this passage I feel the need to talk a little more about the tithe. The New Testament never uses the word tithe. The most direct command we have comes from 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, "Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come." Our offerings are to be proportionate to our means and given regularly. Sunday, when the church gathered for worship, was a convenient time to bring the offerings to God. Even though the word tithe isn't mentioned, the figure of 10% is a good benchmark, a guideline. But it's not set in stone. The main point is that our giving is a part of our worship and service. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." God challenged Israel to give and then see what He would do for them. The same applies to us.

We've looked at fifty of the 100 Essential Bible Passages. We're halfway! Next week we'll start the New Testament. Let's take some time to review what God has done. Adam and Eve sinned against God and their descendants made the earth a living hell. God destroyed the world in the days of Noah and started over. He began a long and slowly unfolding plan to redeem the world through one man, Abraham. We saw his faith that believed God's promise of many descendants when there were none. We saw how Abraham's family grew into a great nation. We saw how God delivered them from slavery and gave them their own land. And we saw over and over again how a cycle of faithfulness followed by a time of falling away, followed by another time of drawing near to God. This is a picture of our human nature. As the hymn says, "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love." But God is about to bring forth a dramatic new chapter in the story of how He will fix what we have broken. Stay tuned!

Malachi spoke of the refiner's fire. God refines each of us through the trials and afflictions He allows in our lives. We can complain about them or we can seek God in them. Only in the latter will we see God turn our troubles into pure gold. Enjoy this beautiful song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y8zP34AhuU

DAY FORTY-NINE: 

The Story of Jonah 

Jonah 1:1-4:11 

We look at another popular story today. It's a fascinating story with lots to teach us, so let's dig in!

Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, in the account of King Jeroboam II of the northern kingdom of Israel: " He [Jeroboam II] restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher." Jeroboam II reigned 41 years from 786-746 BC. This would make Jonah the earliest prophet to write a book of the Bible.

We learn something of the times in which Jonah lived and prophesied from the next verse, 2 Kings 14:26-27, "For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash." What was going on that they were in such trouble? The Assyrian Empire was beginning forays into Israel. They took some territory, but Jeroboam got it back, as Jonah prophesied. This was not because Jeroboam was a godly man- he clearly wasn't. It was because God felt His people's pain and rescued them. But the day would come when God would no longer uphold Israel. The Assyrians would conquer the northern kingdom in 722 BC and carry half of the population into exile while bringing in exiles from other lands. The northern ten tribes of Israel were lost (they didn't totally disappear, nor, as the Mormons teach, come to America. We read of a few faithful people from the north coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with Hezekiah).

God's call came to Jonah: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me." This was the last place Jonah wanted to go! Nineveh, near the modern city of Mosul in Iraq, was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Jonah had no doubt seen the signs of their brutality. The Assyrians routinely killed every man in a city they conquered and displayed their severed heads in a pile outside the city gate. What would these people do to him if he came to them with a message from Israel's God? And besides, they deserve whatever judgment God will bring on them.

So Jonah went the opposite direction. He went to Joppa and booked passage on a ship headed for Tarshish, which is modern-day Spain. Jonah wanted to get "...away from the presence of the Lord." (v. 3). But God wasn't going to let Jonah get away so easily. He sent a great storm which threatened to sink the ship. The sailors prayed to their gods and started throwing the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. They found Jonah down in the hold, fast asleep. They woke him up and told him to pray to his god. They cast lots (a practice akin to flipping a coin or drawing straws) to see if one of them was to blame for the storm. The lot fell to Jonah. He admitted that he was a Hebrew, a follower of Israel's God. Jonah told them that the only way the storm would let up was if they threw him overboard. They didn't want to do that, so they tried everything they could think of to keep their ship afloat an upright. But the storm kept worsening, and finally they tossed Jonah into the sea. Immediately the storm lifted! But what of Jonah?

We read in 1:17, "And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." This raises a lot of questions. First, was it a fish or a whale, as we routinely assume? Even the picture above shows a whale's tail as it heads back to deep water. The text says it was a "great fish." It also says that the Lord "appointed" this fish. It could have been a fish He created specially for the occasion. There are also some natural explanations. A sperm whale could have accommodated Jonah. It has multiple stomachs like a cow and if he rested in the first stomach he would have been safe from the whale's stomach acids and would have received air when the whale surfaced. Others theorize that a great white shark swallowed Jonah. I think it's best not to speculate too much. Remember Ohio's state motto: "With God all things are possible."

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the dark, smelly stomach of a fish (or whale). It was worse than being buried alive! It gave Jonah some time to think. Chapter 2 records his beautiful prayer to the Lord. Verse 10 concludes, "And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land." I wonder what he looked like (and smelled like!) as he stood on the beach. I heard a Christian comedian talk about a Ninevite out doing some surf fishing when Jonah, bleached white from the fish's stomach acids, said "Repent!" The fisherman couldn't refuse! In any event Jonah headed for Nineveh to carry out the Lord's instructions.

God's message for Jonah to proclaim was just one sentence: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" The city was so big that it took Jonah three days to go through all of its neighborhoods. Over and over and over again, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" Most prophets saw little results from their preaching. Jonah, however, was the most successful prophet in the Old Testament! "And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast andput on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them." The King of Assyria led the nation, exchanging his rich robes for sackcloth and ashes. The Lord took note of Nineveh's repentance and did not destroy the city. Nineveh went on for another 150 years or so, until the Babylonians conquered Assyria in 609 BC.

You would think that Jonah would be delighted, right? Wrong! Here's how he reacted: "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." The word displeased comes from a root that means to quiver or shake. Jonah was so angry that he was shaking! His prayer is amazing and appalling. "I ran because I knew You'd do something like this. You should nuke the Assyrians but instead You've forgiven them! Just let me die now!" Jonah should have been down in Nineveh, teaching the people the things of God. Instead he was sitting on a hillside and sulking.  God asked him a simple question: "Do you do well to be angry?" Jonah didn't answer.

God showed mercy to Nineveh, and He also showed mercy to His wayward prophet. It is blasted hot in that part of the world! Summer daytime highs in Iraq regularly reach and even exceed 120 degrees. Jonah was sitting out in the sun, having a pity party. God caused a plant to grow up to give him some shade. Jonah was very happy for the shade and for the cooling effects of the plant's respiration. But then the next morning God sent a worm to attack the vine, and it began to wither and die. Along with that He sent a scirocco, a hot wind out of the east that sucks the moisture out of everything and blows sand everywhere. Jonah was absolutely miserable! He prayed again that the Lord would let him die. God asked the same question: "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" Jonah replied yes- so much so that I wish I were dead! Then God replied, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?" Bam! Jonah fell right into God's trap! You care about a plant more than you care about 120,000 souls?!?!?

The story of Jonah hits us right between the eyes as it speaks to our modern situation. Jonah hated the people of Nineveh. He didn't want them to receive God's mercy. He wanted to see them incinerated for what they had done to Israel. It's likely that his home town of Gath-Hepher was occupied by the Assyrians before Jeroboam drove them out. Maybe Jonah lost family members to the cruelty of the enemy. He didn't want to see them repent and receive mercy, so he ran the opposite direction. This stands in sharp contrast to the words of our Savior, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:43-44) Jesus demonstrated this love when He said from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for the know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) Paul taught us in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." ALL people. Not just the people like us, who look like us and who think like us. Do we love the people of Sebring and the surrounding area enough to try to reach them for Christ? Or will we stay in our comfortable enclave? I don't see our problem, though, as hatred so much as complacency. The late Francis Schaeffer wrote, "As the more Christian-dominated consensus weakened, the majority of people adopted two impoverished values: personal peace and affluence. Personal peace means just to be let alone, not to be troubled by the troubles of other people, whether across the world or across the city…Personal peace means wanting to have my personal life pattern undisturbed in my lifetime, regardless of what the result will be in the lifetimes of my children and grandchildren. Affluence means an overwhelming and increasing prosperity - a life made up of things, things, and more things - a success judged by an ever higher level of material abundance." We love our comfort more than we love lost and hurting people, and that's a terrible indictment. If the people of Nineveh could repent, so can we!

This is a pretty heavy way to end our study, so let's lighten things up with this, a clip from the Veggie Tales version of Jonah. If you haven't seen it, the entire movie is available for free on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLhAdA5ZXI