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  • August 26, 2025 –  The Priests’ Response — Acts #10

    September 2, 2025 –  The Priests’ Response — Acts #10
    Acts 4:13-22

    Recap:  John and Peter were on their way to the 3 pm Temple service, and healed a man who had been paralyzed from birth and begged at the gate.  He followed them into the Temple, and there was an uproar over his healing.  Peter and John explained (in a several-hour sermon) that Jesus healed him and was the Messiah.  The High Priest had them arrested and jailed overnight.  The next morning, they questioned Peter and John, who again told them that Jesus, whom they killed, was resurrected and is the Messiah, and he is responsible for the healing.  

    Acts 4:13-22  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

    Here are Peter and John standing before the elite, most respected people in the city of Jerusalem: the High Priest, the former High Priest, and the who’s who of priests in the land.  And they are just poor country fishermen. They were Galileans, so they spoke with that accent that these elite priests in Jerusalem thought was so unrefined. They didn’t go to the rabbinical schools.  They dressed simply.   And here they are defending their actions in the most prestigious court in the Temple.  Just for a moment, imagine yourself in your best dress overalls, defending yourself before the highest court in the land in your thick Southern accent.  Now you know the situation.

    Peter and John should be intimidated.  But everyone there was struck by their boldness.  Surprisingly, they are holding their own and perhaps outdoing these experts of the law, the best-trained biblical scholars there are.  How is this possible? How can these simple fishermen have such a good command of scripture and speak so well?  The answer is back in verse 8 :

    Acts 4:8  “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…”

    They speak through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The same power is available to us today.  

    These experts are having the same problem with Peter and John as they had with Jesus, who embarrassed them on multiple occasions when they tried to trap him.  His knowledge of Scripture was way beyond what they would have expected, and they said about him:

     John 7:15  How is it that this man [Jesus] has learning, when he has never studied?

    And like Jesus, the disciples supported their teaching with miracles. 

    So these chief priests were stuck.  Peter and John had broken no law that they could be punished for, and even if they had, the public support was high for them after this healing.  They couldn’t deny the miracle, as the man was standing before them.  So they brought them back in and threatened them not to talk about Jesus anymore.  (Note that healing is okay, as long as they don’t mention Jesus.)

    But there is something else going on here that you don’t need to miss.  And it is not so simple to see because the most important thing to note in this proceeding is something the chief priests don’t do.  What is missing from this discussion?  Peter has just made this statement to them:

    Acts 4:10  …let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

    They don’t once refute the apostles’ claim that Jesus was resurrected.  They never argue that point. If they could have, they would have shut down the apostles in a hurry. But they could not.  No one is denying the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.  Too many people had seen Jesus alive after the crucifixion.   It was like the healed man standing before them.  Jesus’ resurrection was a very inconvenient fact for them, but for us it is the hope of glory.  

    So these officials are between a rock and a hard place.  They can’t deny that this man has had a miraculous healing.  They can’t deny that Jesus came back to life.  But they can’t allow this Jewish sect that claims Jesus is the Messiah to continue, because it is growing fast.  Now there are 5000 followers in the city.  And this is a city of only 30-40,000.  That is already 12-14% of the population.  Five thousand is a large group, especially if those 5000 are committed and vocal.

    In 1950, over 90% of the US identified as Christian. But we all know that number has fallen dramatically.  In the US today, about 65% say they are Christian.  But in that same study, only 45% say that religion is very important to them.1 So there are 20% of people in the US who claim to be Christian but say that it’s not really important.  Can you be a follower of Jesus and think that religion doesn’t matter?

    I almost wish we didn’t use the word ‘Christian’.  I prefer “disciple (or follower) of Jesus.”  The word “Christian” is only in the Bible 3 times, whereas the word “disciple” is in the New Testament over 250 times (269). Here’s the problem: “Christian” doesn’t mean the same thing today as it did.  Now people identify as ‘Christian’, saying that if they have to choose a religion, that is the one they would choose.  “If I have to check a box on a census, I don’t want to check ‘none’ for religion, and it is not Buddhist or Hindu, so I’ll check Christian.” They don’t mean they are true followers of Jesus the Messiah. They don’t mean they are trying to live their lives like Jesus. But here is the hard statistic.  Based on responses to questions about daily prayer time, Bible reading, and worship attendance, studies from the Barna group estimate that only 4% of the population of the US are actually living their life in an attempt to follow Jesus.  So while 65 out of 100 Americans claim to be Christian, only 4 of those are attempting to live as Jesus commanded.  The church has an identity problem.

    As John Mark Comer has said, in his book Practicing the Way, we have created a culture where you can be called a Christian but not be a disciple of Jesus.2   As if being a disciple of Jesus is some kind of optional bonus track you might choose to take as a Christian.  Comer says that he has Catholic friends who divide people into “Catholics” and “Practicing Catholics”, where the first is more of a cultural identification, like being a New Yorker or a Southerner.  And “Practicing Catholic” is more of a measure of genuine spiritual devotion.  I personally have heard the term “cafeteria Catholic,” meaning they pick and choose which aspects of the Catholic faith they want to keep and ignore the rest.

    The Bible doesn’t speak this way.  If you are a disciple of Jesus, you are an apprentice.  A disciple is seeking every day to imitate Jesus, to live as Jesus would live if he were here today.  A disciple seeks every day not to do whatever they want or what they feel is best, but to do the will of the Father.  There are no part-time, occasional disciples of Jesus in the scriptures.  You cannot pick and choose which parts of following Jesus you want.  For example you can’t just say, “Well, I like the idea of heaven instead of hell, and I like the healing Jesus does, and the love others stuff is good, but that “putting others ahead of me” idea – that is a little much.  And trials and tribulation, the “suffering like Jesus”; I’m out on those.  But there are no cafeteria disciples.  You can’t pick and choose.  In fact, the whole idea of making Jesus your Lord is that you don’t choose anymore; you follow whatever He chooses for you.   With Jesus, it is all or none. 

    And in the Bible, there is no category for people who want to identify as Christian without making a radical change in the way they live their lives.  In the scriptures, you are either a disciple or you are the crowd.  There is no middle ground.  That is a recurring theme throughout the Bible: that you must choose.  Just as we saw last week, Jesus is a stone in your path.  He will either be a cornerstone upon which you build your life, or he will be a stumbling block.  It is one or the other, and it has always been that way.  Joshua said it over 3000 years ago:

    Joshua 24:14-15  Now fear Yehovah and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve Yehovah. But if serving Yehovah seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve Yehovah.

    If you choose to serve Yehovah and be a disciple of Jesus, you have made a commitment to obey His commands.  And in Jesus’ last words before ascending to heaven, he commands us to be his witnesses to all the world.  He asks us to be a priesthood of believers, taking his gospel everywhere we go.

    Let’s look at a little more information from that Barna poll:

    They asked millennials who identified as Christians (millennials are those born between 1980 and 2000) a set of questions:  Ninety-six percent of millennial Christians said, “Part of my faith means being a witness about Jesus.” Ninety-four percent said, “The best thing that could ever happen to someone is for them to come to know Jesus.”  (So far, so good.). But a full 47 percent—nearly half—also said, “It is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith.”3 So we want everyone to know about Jesus, and we know that is our job, but half of these Christians (age 25-45) say we shouldn’t share our faith.  How does that make any sense?

    We live in a society now where, especially with younger people, faith is seen as a private matter. If you ever mention it in public, be careful not to promote a specific faith, as you might offend someone.  It is acceptable for the president of the US to say “and may God bless America” at the end of a speech.  But it would not be acceptable for the president to specify which God he is asking to bless America, for then he might offend someone. It is becoming less acceptable for anyone to talk about their faith in public.  Is faith a private matter?  As Joshua noted, each individual must choose which god they will follow, so it is a private decision.  But the Bible is very clear that our faith is to be anything except private.

    We all know that Jesus said the greatest commandment was: 

    Matthew 22:37  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

    And most people know that Jesus was quoting from the book of Deuteronomy:

    Deuteronomy 6:4-5  Hear, O Israel: Yehovah our God, Yehovah is one. You shall love Yehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

    And we know that in Jesus’ day, this was the first verse of Scripture that a parent would teach his child.  When Jesus was a little boy, this was the first verse he memorized.  It is the first part of the Shema, the prayer Jesus and all the disciples would have prayed together 2-3 times a day, as did all other devout Jews.  It is no wonder Jesus chose it as the greatest commandment.  

    But do you know what follows that first verse that Jesus quoted?  What is the next part of the prayer Jesus prayed every day?

    Deuteronomy 6:4-7 Hear, O Israel: Yehovah our God, Yehovah is one. You shall love Yehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

    “These words shall be on your heart.”  We are to know these words by heart, but we are not to keep them locked in there.  “Teach them diligently to your children”. Parents are commanded to teach their children God’s word.  Not just to send them off to school or Sunday School or youth group, but to personally teach their children.  The word of God should be discussed not just for an hour on Sunday, but at all times, whether you’re sitting at home, walking, traveling, lying down, or waking up. That is all day long.   Our speech during all our waking hours should be filled with God’s words.  How much of your daily conversations are about scripture?

    But if you live your faith publicly and openly today, then you are likely to have someone say, “It’s not right to tell me what is right or wrong.  I can decide that for myself.  No one has the right to tell me what to believe.”  But as John Mark Comer said, “Everyone is preaching a ‘gospel.”4  The gospel is “good news”, something we want to share with others.  Everyone is spreading some good news that they think you should believe.   Whether it is the gospel of intermittent fasting, the benefit of Pilates, or their views on immigration, wars in the Middle East or Ukraine, your favorite football team, or whatever.   Everyone wants to spread their news, and it seems it is ok socially to talk about many of these in public, except the Gospel of Jesus.

    Peter said this to those priests:

    Acts 4:19-20  But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

    We have to speak what we have seen and heard because it is better to be obedient to God than to be obedient to you.  I would agree that everyone must decide what to believe and who to follow for themselves.  But if I truly believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; if I believe that there is no one comes to God except through Jesus, then as Peter said, “…we have to tell others, just as God commanded us to.”

    But in our culture, if you do this, you may be seen as intrusive.  I would like for you to see a different person’s perspective on this. It is the well-known magician Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller.  (They are now celebrating 50 years of shows in Las Vegas.)  Mr. Jillette has always been very vocal that he is an atheist. About 15 years ago, he shared this story on his podcast about someone who spoke to him after one of their shows.

    If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and if you think Jesus is the only way, then he said, “How much do you have to hate someone,” not to bother to tell them.  Are you going to stand by and just let them get hit by a truck and not try to help them?  Jesus tasked us to take the gospel into all the world. Are we willing to even take it down the street we live on? Jillette said one good man living a good life would not convince him.  I wonder if there were many more living a bolder Christian life in front of him, then what impact would that have? 

    If you asked Penn Jillette, he might tell you that it seems most Christians are ashamed of their gospel, which is why they don’t talk about it.   Jesus anticipated this, and here is what Jesus said about it:

    Mark 8:34-38 “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

    Jesus is making a radical statement.  “Taking up the cross” may seem to be a metaphor in our day, but it certainly was not in Jesus’ day.  Jesus is not speaking figuratively here.  He is talking about each one of them dying a horrible death as the cost of following Him.  And by losing their lives, he says, they will save their souls on the last day.  And note who Jesus is talking to.  He was talking to the disciples, but before he said this, he called the crowd to him.  This call to die is a call to every follower, not just the 12.

    If we choose to follow Jesus, we have chosen to be disciples, striving every day to live life as Jesus did, to be obedient to his direction, to dwell in his Word, and to share his gospel.  There is no other way to be a follower of Jesus.  It is all or none.  In the coming weeks, we will talk more about how we can be faithful witnesses in our skeptical world.  But it is not preaching on a street corner.  It is not bashing other people for their sins. It is about living life in a way that allows people to see a difference.  

    People should be asking you, Why do you care so much about others? Why do you donate your time to help the poor or homeless? Why do you give up your hard-earned money to the church and to charities? Why are you always looking for ways to help other people? Why do you invite people into your home?  Why are you always so cheerful? Why do you read that Bible every day? Why are you handing out those little Jesus figures?   If people don’t see a difference in our lives, then we can not be a witness to them.  When they ask those questions, we have an opportunity to explain where that kind of living comes from.  We can answer that we are this way because of the grace Jesus has shown us, because Jesus loves us even when we don’t deserve it, because Jesus is our Lord, because He died for us, and because he asked me to do these things.  

    As we noted, today, there are a lot of people who call themselves Christians, but they aren’t following Jesus.  There will come a day when we will no longer have this false category of Christians who do not choose to live their life for Jesus.  What will it take for that to happen?  It will take the same thing that is about to happen in the book of Acts.   Persecution is coming.

    This story today in Acts 4 is the beginning of persecution.  These priests don’t like what Peter and John are doing, but they feel limited in what they can do about it.  But over the following four chapters of Acts, they will become more and more bold until at the end of chapter seven, they stone one of these followers to death for his witness.  We are just seeing the beginning of this rise of persecution that will end in scattering these 5000 followers.  When persecution comes, those who are members in name only will disappear, but those who are truly disciples will respond differently.  Next week, we will see how these early disciples responded to this initial hint of persecution.

    1.  “How Religious are Americans?”  Gallup. March 28, 2024
    2.  Comer, John Mark.  Practicing the Way.  Be With Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did.  2024. page 32.
    3.  “Almost Half of Practicing Christian Millennials Say Evangelism Is Wrong,” Barna, February 5, 2019,
    4.  Comer, page 150.

  • August 19 –  Arm Wrestling and Cornerstones — Acts #9

    August 19 –  Arm Wrestling and Cornerstones — Acts #9
    Acts 4:1-12

    So, ‘cornerstone’ you can see in the Bible, but ‘arm wrestling’?  We are going to look at two common visual concepts that run as themes throughout the Bible.  If you understand where these themes come from, it will make it more meaningful for you when you encounter cornerstones in the Bible, or a contest to see whose arm is the mightiest. 

    One of my goals in this blog is not just to share what God is teaching me from the scriptures, but also to help you read and understand the Bible better yourself. When you are reading the Bible, you need to pay attention to references from the Old Testament.  If you don’t know the context for the Old Testament verse being quoted in the New Testament, then you should stop reading and go back and read the Old Testament passage that the verse comes from.  Because the writers of the New Testament assume you already know this.  And with over 300 direct quotes of the Old Testament in the New Testament and over 1000 allusions to Old Testament characters and events, you can’t read a chapter in the New Testament without running into 3-4 OT verses or allusions.  Today, we are going to look at two examples of this as we see Peter’s response to the court.

    To recap where we were in Acts, Peter and John encounter a paralyzed man, and Jesus heals him.  It causes a commotion in the temple courtyard, prompting Peter to preach and explain that Jesus is the Messiah.  And we pick up the story there:

    Acts 4:1-4   And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

    Peter and John are preaching and are interrupted by the temple officials, who are all “greatly annoyed”.  Who is ”greatly annoyed” and why?  The captain of the temple is the number two man in charge of the temple (behind the High Priest). He is the commander of the temple police and is responsible for maintaining order in the temple.  He sees this crowd gathering and considers a potential riot. That is why he is annoyed.

    The Sadducees, a group of wealthy priests, are upset because Peter and John are preaching about resurrection.  They don’t believe in a resurrection from the dead, and you would think they were living in the US in our day, because they have no tolerance for anyone who has an opinion that is different from theirs. These Sadducees see Peter and John as heretics.   So they will do everything they can to silence them, berate them, vilify them, and probably unfriend them and block them on Facebook.  (Don’t be a Sadducee.  It’s okay for people to have different opinions and still be friends, even if they’re on the same team.  We talked about this last week.  Remember, Peter is dead wrong on his theology about the Gentiles, but that doesn’t mean God can’t use him in a mighty way.)

    The other priests are annoyed because these disciples keep talking about Jesus.  They thought they had put an end to Jesus a month ago, but these guys just won’t shut up.  

    None of these people has a problem with the paralyzed man being healed.  Another beggar off the Temple gates is a good thing, but don’t give credit to that Jesus.  They have to do something.  So they arrested Peter and John and put them in custody.  Our culture sees incarceration as a form of punishment for a crime.  But historians tell us that neither the Jews nor the Romans at this time officially used imprisonment as punishment for a crime.  It was merely a place to hold someone until the time of the trial.  (Though the holding period could become extended and be an ‘unofficial punishment’ — ask Paul or John the Baptist).

    Luke tells us it was already evening, so it was too late for a trial that day; it would have to wait until tomorrow.  Do you remember when this story began?  It was approaching 3 in the afternoon, for Peter and John were heading into the temple for the afternoon service.  It is now 6 pm.  These officials interrupted Peter and John after 2-3 hours of preaching.  (And you thought a 30-minute sermon was a long one.)  

    Acts 4:5-7   On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 

    So they all gathered the next morning to question Peter and John.  Again, what they are really concerned about is the message they were preaching and giving Jesus credit for the healing. 

    Acts 4:8-10   Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 

    Did you notice?  The paralyzed man is “standing” before them.  The authorities had brought him in as a witness to what Peter and John were preaching, but Peter used him as a witness to their “good deed.”  So if you want to know who is responsible for doing this great deed, know that it is Jesus who you crucified.  Peter knows they can’t refute the fact that this man was healed, so he uses the opportunity to give Jesus credit again.  But Peter doesn’t stop there:

    Acts 4:11-12   This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

    Peter brings in an Old Testament illustration everyone there would recognize – the cornerstone.  Now, if you are reading this scripture at home, you can keep reading and have a pretty good idea of what Peter is talking about.  But Peter is speaking under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and there is a lot more there, so we need to stop and figure it out.

    This was a point these religious leaders would not have missed.  They knew the scripture Peter was referring to.  It was a psalm that every devout Jew would know.  This psalm is one of the Hallel Psalms (113-118), sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for the annual festivals.  This particular psalm was quoted as part of a liturgy on entering the temple gates, and it was sung at the end of the Passover meal every year.  Every Jewish child in Peter’s day knew this psalm just as every child today knows the words to “Jingle Bells” that they sing one season every year.  But do you know the psalm he is quoting?  This Psalm is quoted 24 times in the New Testament.  So let’s take a good look at Psalm 118.

    Again, one of my goals today is to help you know how to read and understand the Bible. So I want to show you two things in Psalm 118 that are themes all through the Bible. Understanding the source of the theme will also help you grasp the verses that use it.  So we will look at ‘God’s mighty right hand’ and then the idea of the cornerstone.

    Psalm 118 begins and ends with the same statement:

    Psalm 118:1  Oh give thanks to Yehovah, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 
    Psalm 118:29  Oh give thanks to Yehovah, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

    The psalm begins by recounting times of trouble and then celebrates God’s deliverance from them.

    Psalm 118:13-16  I was pushed back and about to fall, but Yehovah helped me.  Yehovah is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.  Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “Yehovah’s right hand has done mighty things!
    Yehovah’s right hand is lifted high; 
    Yehovah’s right hand has done mighty things!”

    Things were looking bad for the nation, but God stepped in and delivered them.  So there is celebration in the dwellings of the righteous, and the celebration is about what God’s right hand has done.  What is this emphasis on God’s right hand?  All through the Old Testament, you will read about God’s strong arm or mighty right hand.  Do you know where that comes from?  If you have been to Egypt, you would know.

    In September, I will be back in Egypt for my fourth trip there.  When people ask me why I want to go to Egypt, I could talk about the incredible pyramids and temples there, the thousands of years of history you can see there, or the great food.  But the main reason I want to go to Egypt is to help me understand the Bible.  

    When God’s chosen people, Israel, were not yet a nation, when they were just a family, just 70 of them went down to Egypt during a famine, and they ended up staying there for 400 years.  And it was in those 400 years that they grew into a nation of hundreds of thousands.  In Egypt, they were constantly exposed to cultural and religious motifs that ended up being used in their own Bible.  They used visual imagery and concepts about the world and God that everyone had learned from 400 years in Egypt.  Since most of us don’t come from families that spent 400 years in Egypt, we didn’t grow up knowing these things.

    Egyptians carved their history and religious beliefs into the walls of their temples. Their temples are covered with engravings top to bottom. They didn’t have books, so their temples were their Bibles.  The Israelites knew of the many gods of Egypt inscribed on those walls.  They saw how the leader of their country, Pharaoh, was depicted as a god.  And when they were enslaved, they would have been commanded to attend the festivals and stand outside the Temple as the Egyptian Gods were paraded into the Temple.  All they knew about organized religion came from Egypt.

    Looking at these texts and carved temples, we see that Egyptian pharaohs were frequently depicted in the same pose.  Back in the 1980s, a group called the Bangles told us how to “Walk like an Egyptian,” but if you want to look like a pharaoh, here is how you do it.  Left foot out, left arm outstretched, right arm ready to strike down your enemies. This iconic pose symbolized the pharaoh’s role as the supreme, divine ruler of Egypt.  This is the god pose.  We still have this picture in our mind of a mighty hero in this exact pose today.

    Football season has begun.  You will see this pose a lot.

    This is the Narmer Tablet that dates to 3100 BC.  For 400 years, Egypt held the children of Israel in slavery and told them that Pharaoh was the most powerful god.  Everywhere they look, they see images of Pharaoh as the greatest.  So when God sends Moses to speak to this person who proclaims himself the most powerful person in the world, this is what God says:

    Exodus 6:1  Then Yehovah said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”
    Exodus 6:6  Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am Yehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.

    God says, “Hey Pharaoh, you think you are something with your outstretched arm and your mighty right hand?  Just wait until you see what I do with my outstretched arm and my mighty right hand.”

    Thus began a contest between the God of the Israelites and the gods of Egypt.  Whose god will be victorious?  All the Egyptians knew that Pharaoh was the greatest.  They thought this God of the Israelites couldn’t be much of a god, for he was God only of a bunch of slaves. But you know how that story ends.  God rains down 10 plagues, each one targeting a specific god of Egypt, the last one targeting the family of Pharaoh himself.  And then the final victory comes when Pharaoh and his army drown in the sea.

    Following Pharaoh and Egypt’s defeat, numerous references in the Old Testament emerge, describing God as having a strong hand and outstretched arm.  Almost all of these refer to God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt or his future deliverance from another enemy.   For thousands of years, Egypt was the most powerful nation in the world.  And every time you see this description of God’s arm and hand, God is reminding them that He is greater.

    Here are a few examples:

    Deuteronomy 4:33-34  Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

    Deuteronomy 5:15   You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yehovah your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, Yehovah your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

    Deuteronomy 11:1-2   You shall therefore love Yehovah your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of Yehovah your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm.

    Jeremiah 32:21  You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror.

    And then, when the people in Isaiah’s day were under attack by a foreign nation and they were questioning why God hadn’t delivered them, they were told:

    Isaiah 59:1-2  Surely the arm of Yehovah is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

    God’s arm is not too short to save.  That is not the problem.  He is still God with the outstretched arm and the mighty right hand.  The problem is you.  God can not hear your requests for help because your sins have “hidden His face”.  Your sins have come between you and God.

    And then, in the New Testament, when Mary is pregnant with Jesus, she sings a song of praise to God. She praises him for his deliverance of her people in the past, as she looks to the coming deliverance through Jesus. She says:

    Luke 1:49-55   For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;  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.  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.

    The God of the Bible has not changed.  The God of the Old Testament is still the God of the New Testament.  His arm has not shortened.  His strength has not faded.  He has saved his people in the past; he continues to save his people.   But those who stand against God will find the same fate as Pharaoh, the man who thought he was God.

    Back to Psalm 118.  It continues with the portion sung as the pilgrims headed to Jerusalem for Passover approach the city and God’s Temple. You can see their progression in the psalm.  As they near the gates of the city:

    Psalm 118:19-20  Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to Yehovah. This is the gate of Yehovah; the righteous shall enter through it.

    As they see the great stones of the temple:

    Psalm 118:21-22  I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.  The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

    As they enter the temple, there is a very familiar verse.

    Psalm 118:25-26   Save us, [Hosannah] we pray, Yehovah, Yehovah, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yehovah! We bless you from the house of Yehovah.

    And finally, they arrive at the altar for the festival sacrifice:

    Psalm 118:27  Bind the festival sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!

    And then the psalm ends as it started:

    Psalm 118:29  Oh give thanks to Yehovah, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

    But let’s back up to verses 21-22 about the cornerstone.

    Psalm 118:21-22  I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.  The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

    We all know what a cornerstone is. However, most of the ones we see today are decorative.  But when a foundation is being laid, you have to get that first corner block laid straight.  It determines how the rest of the building will be.  How did people before the days of Jesus interpret this?  Who did they see as this cornerstone?

    Because the people sing this psalm during the festivals to celebrate God delivering them from Egypt or later from other enemies, some see the nation of Israel as the one rejected by the other nations, but chosen by God. And some say it is David himself. He was chosen to be the king, even though others, including his father, would not have chosen him.  He was rejected by the current king, Saul, and Saul tried to kill him.  But God delivered David from Saul and his other enemies.  Then David becomes the first king of an everlasting dynasty.  He becomes the cornerstone of the kingdom.  For 1000 years, this Psalm was interpreted as talking about Israel or David as the cornerstone.

    Then Jesus comes and applies this psalm to his day.  In the week of Jesus’ crucifixion, Psalm 118 is on everyone’s mind.  They have sung it as they traveled on the way to Jerusalem for Passover.  They sang it to Jesus as he entered the city on the donkey, “Hosannah!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 118:25-26).   And then Jesus in the temple that week tells the story of a vineyard owner who leased his farm to others.  He sent servants to collect his payment, and they refused to pay what they owed, and they abused them or killed them.  So the vineyard owner sent his son, thinking they would respect his son.  But they kill him.  And then Jesus asks the priests and scribes:

    Mark 12:10-11  Have you not read this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?’

    Jesus asks the religious leaders in the Temple if they have ever read Psalm 118.  (Of course, they had.  Every child had this memorized and had been singing it all week.)  But they understood what Jesus was saying.  Jesus claimed to be the son of the vineyard owner in his parable and the cornerstone of the Temple from Psalm 118.  The scribes and the priests are the builders who rejected him.  Jesus is adding a new layer of interpretation to Psalm 118.  He would be the cornerstone of a new Temple of followers.  

    Then in Acts 4, Peter picks up this same Psalm to let the religious leaders know that this Jesus, who brought healing to this paralyzed man, is the cornerstone that they rejected, but chosen by God to be the beginning of a new deliverance, a new salvation.  

    So who is the cornerstone of Psalm 118?  Is it Israel, is it David, or is it Jesus?  The answer is yes, and this is an important concept.  God is consistent in how he deals with his people.  His character does not change.  That is just who God is.  So you will see him do that over and over again.  So you see multiple layers of meaning.  Israel was seen to be a type of cornerstone, upon which God would build his kingdom.  But Israel didn’t fulfill his plan to take his message to the nations.  David was seen to be a type of cornerstone, as the beginning of a line of kings.  But David could not be the messiah.  He, like us, was a man of many sins.  But Jesus comes as a descendant in the line of David to be the true cornerstone.  

    Israel was a type of cornerstone.  David was a type of cornerstone.  Jesus is the cornerstone.

    So Paul tells the Gentiles in Ephesus:

    Ephesians 2:19-22  So then you are … built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

    God is making a new temple with Jesus as the cornerstone, and you are a stone in that temple, a dwelling place for God’s Holy Spirit.  And we know this is the meaning Peter intended when he spoke to these religious leaders in Acts 4, because Peter comes back to this same scripture when he is writing his first letter from Rome to the churches in Asia Minor.  

    1 Peter 2:4-6  As you come to Jesus, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
    For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

    Jesus is the cornerstone.   But Peter is not through with the imagery.  There is one more aspect of the cornerstone imagery that we must discuss, and Peter has picked up this other aspect of the Biblical cornerstone motif that he got from the prophet Isaiah.  So Peter continues:

    1 Peter 2:7-8  So the honor is for you who believe. But for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

    Peter is quoting Isaiah 8:14, where God says he can also be a “stone of stumbling.”  

    Isaiah 8:14-15  And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.

    The Bible says the stone God has placed for us can be either a cornerstone that we may build upon or a rock that we will stumble over and fall. Isaiah comes back to this in chapter 28, speaking against the leaders of Israel who, in times of threat of war, turned to Egypt for help instead of turning to God:

    Isaiah 28:16-18  “So this is what the Sovereign Yehovah says: 
    “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” …“Your covenant with death [Egypt] will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.”

    They abandoned God as their refuge in a time of need.  Instead of having faith that God would deliver them as he said, and depending on him as their cornerstone, they panicked and sought help from Egypt.  God tells them a deal with Egypt is a deal with death and the grave.  God is the only one who can deliver them.  There is no other god, there is no other with a mighty right hand and outstretched arm.  There are no other gods. That is why Peter, after mentioning the cornerstone, says this:

    Acts 4:12  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

    There is no other.  Jesus is a stone in your path.  Either He can be the cornerstone on which you build a good faith, upon which you are built as part of the Temple of God, or He can be the stone upon which you stumble.  The point is that everyone has to decide what they are going to do with Jesus.  He will not be ignored.  You either accept the gospel, accept Jesus, or you reject him.  This is the message for us also.  Will we humble ourselves and worship the only God who delivers us with an outstretched arm and a mighty right hand?   

    Bottom Line:  There are some important themes and motifs that are used in our Scriptures.  You can’t read a several-thousand-year-old document and be lazy.  It won’t work.  And this document, our Bible, is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.  Its treasures are deep and profound.  You need to go slowly and research the context and culture.  You need to know it well enough, through years of study, that you begin to recognize these recurrent themes.  I beg you to study it to understand better how God would have us live.

  • August 12 –  Peter’s Sermon to the Jews in the Temple — Acts #8

    August 12 –  Peter’s Sermon to the Jews in the Temple — Acts #8
    Acts 3:11-28

    Last week, we discussed the beggar at the gate and the miraculous healing he received.  We reviewed the two things God wants from us:  obedience and compassion.  People saw this man leaping about and recognized him as the paralyzed beggar they had seen for years at the gate of the temple.  There was quite a commotion in the Temple courtyard with people wondering how he was healed and some wondering what kind of people Peter and John were to do this miracle.  Now, let’s look at Peter’s message to the people in the Temple that day. 

    Acts 3:11-16,19   While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.

    But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
    Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

     The message is essentially the same as the one Peter preached after the events of Pentecost.  Jesus, the Holy One of God, came to us, and you killed him. God has raised him from the dead.  But you acted in ignorance, so repent and turn back.  

    But I want to focus for now on his audience.  Who is Peter talking to? “Men of Israel.” Peter is in the Temple Courtyard at Solomon’s Portico.  This is in the outside area of the Temple Courtyard, where Gentiles could gather.  This is the time for the afternoon prayer service and sacrifice.  There are likely some Gentiles there who worship God, but Peter says explicitly, “men of Israel.” He is not addressing Gentiles – anyone who was not born Jewish or had not converted to Judaism. 

    So if you had been in the temple courtyard that afternoon, and you were not Jewish, then Peter was not talking to you.  Peter, and every other follower of Jesus, at this point, were convinced that you had to become Jewish to become a full disciple of Jesus.  At this early stage, the followers of Jesus had not even considered the possibility that Gentiles could be a part of their group. Jesus doesn’t address this directly in his ministry.  He does, at two different times in Matthew, identify the target of his and his disciples’ mission as being only “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  The first time is when Jesus is sending out the disciples two by two:

    Matthew 10:5-6   These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

    What did Jesus mean when he said they were to only go to the ‘lost sheep of Israel’?

    “Lost” is an important church word.  We all know what we mean when we talk about ministering to the lost.   And it is much the same way that Jesus uses the word.  The shepherd’s job was to guard and protect all of the sheep.  A good shepherd was constantly counting his sheep to ensure that none of them had wandered off the path.   Sheep would just keep moving ahead, eating, and be far from the herd in no time.  A lone sheep would not survive for long.  There were always predators. 

    Jesus told a parable about a good shepherd who left his 99 sheep in a safe place to go searching for the one who was lost.  Why are the sheep of Israel lost?  They have wandered away from the correct path.  As we discussed last week, the Pharisees and the leaders of the Temple had focused on religious display and performance and ritual purity and forgotten what God really wanted.  (What does God really want from us: obedience and compassion for others.)  

    The religious leaders had been bad shepherds, leading people to destruction instead of safety.  This theme of bad shepherds is a recurring theme in the Bible.  In their day, Jeremiah and Ezekiel both preached against the shepherds that have ignored the sheep only to enrich themselves.  And in Ezekiel, God says, because the leaders of your people have been such bad shepherds, He himself will one day come and be the good shepherd who will care for the sheep.

    Ezekiel 34:11-16   For thus says the Lord Yehovah: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out…“I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord Yehovah. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”

    And so in the fullness of time, God came in the person of Jesus to be that shepherd for his people.  And one night, Jesus met with Nicodemus and told him:

    Luke 19:9   For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.  

    He is using words that Nicodemus would instantly recognize as coming from Ezekiel.  He is God incarnate, come to rescue his lost sheep as prophesied.  And Jesus says this more clearly later:

    John 10:11  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

    This analogy runs throughout the Bible.  The 23rd Psalm begins: “The Lord is my Shepherd, so I want for nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures.”  You have to connect David’s psalm to Ezekiel’s prophecy.  But the shepherds in Israel have led the people in the wrong direction.  Jesus has to come and be the shepherd and set them on the right path, so he deemphasizes ritual purity and showy religious practices, and he emphasizes obedience and compassion.   

    But then we have this statement by Jesus:

    Matthew 15:24  “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

    This verse, ripped out of its context, makes it sound like Jesus did not come for lost Gentiles.  But we looked at the context last October.   Jesus had a tough week, and so he traveled 20 miles north out of Galilee into Syria to get away from the crowds.  Mark tells us he didn’t want anyone to know he was there.  But this Gentile woman with a sick child hears of him and begs Jesus to heal her daughter.  Jesus at first appears dismissive to her, and that is when he says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  And when she persists, he says:

    Matthew 15:26   It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.

    That seems out of character for Jesus until you realize what he is doing.  He is showing the disciples their own prejudice.  Sometimes we can see better in others what we cannot see in ourselves.  The woman does not give up and says even the dogs get the crumbs from the table.  Then, in a dramatic turnaround, Jesus praises the woman for her faith and heals her daughter.  This becomes a huge turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He then heads back south but passes right through Galilee without stopping and heads straight for Gentile territory, where he preaches and heals many over several days, and then miraculously feeds 4000 people.  He is literally and figuratively taking the bread to the Gentiles.

    God had a plan from the beginning.  After the rebellion in the garden and the descent of people into sin, God chose a man, Abraham, to build a people who would turn back to Him.  The Jewish race was formed from Abraham and his descendants.  And while this work of redemption of God started with the Jews, it was never supposed to end there.  When God first called Abraham, he made that clear: 

    Genesis 12:1-3   Now Yehovah said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

    All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.  God will use this family to bless the world.  God repeats this call when he redeems the descendants of Abraham from slavery in Egypt.  On the safety of the other side of the Red Sea, God tells them:

    Exodus 19:4-6   You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

    They were to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  That is, a nation with a special relationship to God so that they can act as intermediaries, as priests, to spread the word of God to the rest of the world.  Unfortunately, they never fully grasped this task.  There were a few Gentiles who followed the God of Israel, and we see ‘God-fearers’ in the New Testament (Gentiles who rejected the polytheism of their cultures; they stopped worshiping false gods and embraced the God of Israel and followed some of His precepts.) 

    But the only way they maintained that a Gentile could become a full-fledged follower of God was to convert to Judaism, which involved understanding and agreeing to abide by the commandments, immersion, sacrifice, and (for males) circumcision. Instead of serving as priests to the world, bringing people to God, they claimed that the only way to reach Father God was through them.  That is what all Jews were taught.  That is what Peter learned as a child and what he still believes in Acts 3.   

    God reaches out to Abraham and establishes a covenant with him out of his grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  Then Abraham’s descendants, the Jewish people, are able to join in this Abrahamic covenant with God.  Then they are to reach out to the rest of the world – the Gentiles.  The Gentiles must then join the Jewish people to take part in that covenantal relationship with God.   This had been the understanding of God’s plan that Peter was taught as a child.

    But what did God actually intend? 

    God reaches out to Abraham and establishes a covenant with him out of his grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  Then Abraham’s descendants, the Jewish people, are able to join in this Abrahamic covenant with God.  (All this is just as before.) But then the Jewish people are to reach out to the rest of the world – the Gentiles.  The Gentiles can join in a covenant with God of mercy, grace, and forgiveness just as the Jews can.  They don’t have to become Jewish to be in covenant with God.  But now God’s Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness have a name.  And that name is Jesus.

    What Peter and these in Acts 3 understood was this: “To come to God, you must come through us; you must become one of us.”  But Jesus had said this: “No one comes to the Father except through me.  I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  (John 14:6)

    Jesus had tried to show them this even early in his ministry. Just after the Sermon on the Mount, he encounters a Roman Centurion who asks him to heal his servant.  And Jesus says of this gentile: 

    Matthew 8:10   Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 

    I have not seen any Jew with as much faith as this Gentile.   And Jesus continues:

    Matthew 8:11-12   I tell you, many will come from the east and the west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

    Many will come from the east and west… These other nations will celebrate with the Father in heaven, while some Jews will not be allowed in.  This is radical talk for a people that always assumed you had to become Jewish to come to God.

    And Jesus tries to show them this truth as he ministers to other Gentiles and Samaritans.  You can see a gradual movement of Jesus in his year with the disciples toward ministry to the Gentiles that culminates in his Great Commission to go and disciple all nations. He says this in his final words:

    Acts 1:8   But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

    But God’s people had never fully understood God’s plan that God came to the Jews first so that they could be the conduit to spread his gospel to the nations.  And instead of inviting others in, they have been building walls to keep them out.

    Every Resurrection Day, we talk about the veil of the temple that was torn from top to bottom when Jesus was crucified.  The heavy curtain that separated the holy place in the Temple from the Holiest place where God’s spirit would rest on the mercy seat in the previous temple.  The veil was there to keep people from entering into God’s presence.  Only the high priest could go through there, and he could only do so once a year.   

    Every year, we talk about how the tearing of that veil opened up the way for people to have access to the Father through Jesus.  But that was not the only separation in the Temple that needed to come down.  I showed you the picture last week of the model of Herod’s Temple.  We talked about these massive 30-foot-tall brass doors that it took 20 men to open.  They set aside this area of the temple as the women’s court.  Females could go no further.  

    Was that God’s plan or man’s plan?  God never gave any instructions for a woman’s court.   You do not find a woman’s court in the plans for the Tabernacle that Moses received on the mountain.  Women and men were both allowed to access the common area of the tabernacle.  There is no mention of a woman’s court in Solomon’s temple or in the temple rebuilt after returning from Babylon.  It was added when Herod began rebuilding the temple in 20 BC.  Why was that boundary added?  It was man’s idea, not God’s.  

    Then there was a 15-foot area around the temple enclosed by a 4.5-foot-tall wall called the Soreg.  This is the barrier that the Gentiles could not pass under penalty of death.  Again, there was no mandate from God to build this wall.  It is the invention of the temple leadership to keep certain people away from God.  Originally, Gentiles were able to bring sacrifices to the tabernacle (see Numbers 15:14-16).  And Solomon invited Gentiles to pray in the common areas of the temple.  But in the 2nd century BC, Gentiles began to be excluded.  

    And in Jesus’ day, Gentiles getting too close to the temple faced death.  All of Jesus’ followers had grown up their whole life being taught that this wall was necessary.  It was important.  This is a rule you don’t break.  If you do, then you will die.  God is only for the Jews.  And in Acts 3, Peter is preaching just outside this wall and calling people to repentance, but he is only calling Jews to repentance.  He doesn’t understand yet.

    When Jesus was crucified, the veil was torn; the separation that symbolized the isolation of God’s presence was removed.  Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, God can truly dwell with people.  But Jesus was not satisfied with just tearing down the veil of the temple.  These other walls must come down.  These walls that people built to keep others from God, to keep the women out, to keep the Gentiles out.  God never intended this, and they must fall.  But the only way to tear down these walls would be to tear down the temple block by block, as Jesus said in Mark 13:

    Mark 13:1-2   And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

    And so it was.  Just 40 years later, in 70 AD, the temple was dismantled stone by stone, with Roman soldiers using pry bars to lever the huge stones off the temple mount.  You can see these stones still lying where they fell almost 2000 years ago.

    And Paul addresses some Gentiles in Ephesus:  

    Ephesians 2:11-16. Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh…remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross.

    It took drastic measures for God to defeat sin and death.  It took Jesus dying on a cross and being resurrected.  It took drastic measures for God to set his people back on the right path of worship, obedience, and compassion.  It took the destruction of the Temple that bore His name, built in the place where He said He would place His name forever.  It took the formation of a new Temple, but not one of stone.  His followers would become His temple.  He would dwell with them.

    But in Acts 3, Peter is still blind to God’s truth about the Gentiles.   And so was the rabbi called Saul, until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  Paul says that on that road, Jesus came to him to let him know he was sending him to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:17-18).  

    So Paul understood.  He said in Romans 1:16 that the Gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.”  This is the story of salvation in the Bible.  God chose Abraham to establish a family that would serve as priests, bringing God’s blessing to the world. However, they continually failed in this mission. They distorted his teachings and became a religion that was inward-focused, caring only for themselves and not spreading the good news of God to the nations. So God sent his Son to be the Jew that would reboot this mission, get them back on the right track as a kingdom of priests to the nations.

    But at this point, Peter, John, and the early followers of Jesus are busy trying to persuade just the Jewish people to accept the fact that the Messiah has come.  That Jesus is the one they have long awaited.  So Peter tells the Jews in his sermon:

    Acts 3:19-26   Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’

    Compare Acts 3:19 in the King James Version and the English Standard Version:

    Acts 3:19 (KJV)  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…
    Acts 3:19 (ESV)  Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out…

    (The KJV and the NKJV are pretty much the only versions that use the word ‘converted.’)  The way we understand the word “convert” in the KJV has led to some misunderstandings. We define ‘convert’ as either (1) to change from one form to another, or  (2) to change one’s religion or other beliefs.

    We read this in the King James Version and get the idea that Peter is trying to convince these Jews to convert from Judaism to Christianity, to change religions.  But if you asked Peter if he had changed religions, he would think you were very confused.  He would say, “Of course I haven’t changed religions.  I am still very much Jewish.  The difference for me is that I have found the Messiah that my people have prayed for for hundreds of years.”  As we noted earlier, Peter is still attending Temple services, praying Jewish prayers, and following Jewish cultural laws.  He is now following these laws as interpreted by the one he considers the ultimate Jewish rabbi, Jesus.  

    So, I think ‘converted’ is a poor translation of the Greek word ‘epistrepho’, which means to turn towards, to turn about, to turn back, or return.   It is about changing direction, and its counterpart, the Hebrew word shuv, is frequently used in the Old Testament as turning away from sin and turning towards God. But there is a conversion that must occur when one comes to accept Jesus.  There is a change that must take place when we turn from sin and turn to God.  

    2 Corinthians 5:17   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  

    Paul says the ‘old man’ must die. 

    Galatians 2:20   I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

    Our old self, who was motivated by self-interest, who made our own decisions, and who lived by our rules, must be symbolically crucified and buried with Christ so that the new life that proclaims Jesus as Lord, that submits our will to his, that lives by his rules and in his interest.  Gentiles do not convert to Judaism, and Jews do not need to abandon their heritage.  They both need to recognize Jesus as the Messiah who came as the Old Testament predicted.  

    Peter and the other followers of Jesus in Acts 3 see themselves as Jews.  They view themselves as a sect of Judaism that followed Jesus as the Messiah.  And followers of Jesus continued to be viewed as a sect of Judaism throughout most of the first century at least.   One day, we will discuss when what the New Testament called “followers of the Way” ceased to be viewed as a Jewish sect and began to be viewed as a separate religion.  

    But we must not forget, as Paul notes in Romans 11, we are part of God’s family because we have been grafted into the Jewish root.  We do not become Jewish, but the root of our faith and life is the Jewish heritage that supports us, from Abraham to Jesus.  Abraham is our Father.  The Old Testament is our story, and we need to read the Bible as one unified story about the creation and redemption of God’s people and God’s world. 

    One day, Peter will learn that Gentiles are part of this story, but it will take a dramatic lesson involving a vision from God and a devout Gentile centurion that we will see in Acts 10.  But one more lesson for us now.  Even though Peter, at this point, is dead wrong on his theology about Gentiles, it does not stop God from doing great things through him.  Peter is in on many miracles in these early chapters of Acts.  The church is growing amazingly fast.  Thousands are being added.  

    Perhaps we can learn from this that God can do much through us, even if we don’t understand everything. Even if we have some theology completely wrong, God can use us for his kingdom.  And perhaps we can show more grace to our brothers and sisters in Christ, who we feel don’t have everything right.  I confess I have at times been too judgmental of others’ theology.  I need to learn to show grace like Jesus shows grace, while also realizing that I could be the one who doesn’t have it just right.  But even if we get some things wrong, Jesus can do great things through us.   Having everything theologically correct is important.  We should study the scriptures for ourselves intently.  But that is not the most important thing. After all, what does Jesus really want from us?  Obedience and Compassion to others. 

  • August 5 –  The Beggar at the Gate — Acts #7

    August 5 –  The Beggar at the Gate — Acts #7
    Acts 3:1-10

    Acts 3:1-10   Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

    Peter and John are going to the Temple for the 3 pm service of prayer and sacrifice.  And they encounter a man who has been paralyzed since birth.  

    There is much discussion among theologians about exactly where this man was begging.  Luke tells us that it was at the gate to the temple called the “Beautiful Gate.” A gate is an excellent location if you were a beggar.   It’s a place where many people would have to pass by.  But no other sources except the scriptures use the term “the gate called Beautiful”.   There are eight gates by which to enter the 36-acre Temple Mount, and then several more to enter the inner courts of the Temple.

    Many place the “Beautiful Gate” as one of the inner gates.  The historian Josephus describes a magnificent gate made of fine Corinthian brass and plated with gold and silver, so heavy it took 20 men to move the doors.  But experts differ on whether this inner gate was the entrance to the court of women or the gate from the court of women to the court of Israel.

    But the scripture we read this morning lets us know that neither of these gates within the temple could be correct.   Because this was no ordinary man, he was lame from birth.  His legs had shriveled from disuse and were twisted and disfigured.  He was not allowed to go into the temple like other men could because he had a defect.

    In Leviticus 21, there are requirements for a priest who could make offerings at the altar or enter the holy place:

    Leviticus 21:16-19   And Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand…

    And the list goes on.  But the first mentioned is the blind and lame.  Now these ‘blemished’ priests could do other priestly duties, but they could not approach the altar or the holy place.  Just as the sacrifices had to be unblemished, so too did those offering them.  That rule only applied to priests, but by Jesus’ day, many laws for purity intended for priests were made requirements of all people.  For example, in the Mishnah, a record of the Pharisees’ rulings, Mishnah Kelim 1.8 discusses that people with discharges of impurity could not enter the Temple Mount at all.1  

    And we know those with the disease lepra could not enter the temple area.  And many add that people who were lame or blind were not allowed to enter the Temple Mount.2  (And the Rabbis’ scriptural basis for this comes from this passage in Leviticus and a rather odd interpretation of 2 Samuel 5:8)3.

    So this lame man was likely placed daily at one of the primary entrances to the Temple Mount.  The primary entrance at the southern side of the Temple Mount was a massive double gate with elaborately carved arched ceilings in a tunnel that led up to the Temple Mount.  (Portions of these beautiful carved ceilings can still be seen today.)  It was the gate with the most traffic, so it was the best place to beg.  And this was as close as this lame man would ever get to the temple itself.  As he had no hope for healing, he had no hope of ever going inside.  So he is left begging at the gate, never able to go in and see the riches and grandeur inside.

    Does this remind you of a story Jesus told?  I am thinking of the story of the “Rich Man and Lazarus.”  Lazarus was the beggar at the rich man’s gate, and it makes me wonder if the people in Jesus’s day didn’t see something in that story we miss.  Whenever Jesus’ listeners went to the temple, they would pass by many poor beggars at the gate who were never allowed inside to see the opulence of the Temple.  They may have seen this story as yet another condemnation of the wealthy religious officials who oversaw the Temple. 

    There is another story in Matthew 21 that brings attention to the blind and lame who were not allowed in the Temple. After Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, he turns over the tables of the money changers and drives out the animals.  This is in Matthew 21

    Matthew 21:12-13   And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

    However, there is more to this story that we didn’t have time to talk about in April when we discussed it.  There is something else going on that caused Jesus to be fed up with the poor state of religion that day.  And there is something else that happens before the chief priests and scribes get mad at Jesus.  Let’s read the rest of the story in the following two verses:

    Matthew 21:14-15. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant…

    And the blind and lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them.   Jesus has the nerve to invite these unclean, blind, and lame people into the temple.  And he rewards their law-breaking with healing for which he is praised. At this point, the priests and scribes become furious.  But they are not the only ones angry.  Jesus was angry.  And now we can see why Jesus was so angry that day, and why he was moved to drastic action.  

    Jesus is angry because they are taking advantage of the poor with their businesses in the Temple and because they leave the beggars outside the gate of the Temple, not only offering them no assistance, but also refusing them the opportunity to participate in worship.  It was the responsibility of the Temple to care for these people.  There were offerings designated for them.  They should never have to beg.  But instead of distributing these funds to those in need, the Temple officials devised ways to make themselves even richer while these beggars starve.

    So on the day of his triumphant entry, Jesus enters the temple and passes by the blind and lame beggars who are starving because the temple rulers are hoarding the money donated in the temple and not using it to care for the poor.  Jesus sees this as he enters the temple, and the next thing he sees is the money changers and the animal merchants cheating the people, again enriching the temple rulers at the expense of the poor.  And Jesus is not going to stand for it.  He disrupts the money changers and drives out the animals, and then he invites the deaf and blind into the temple, where he heals them. 

    About a year ago, we discussed what makes God angry.  Do you remember the first time in the Bible that God is described as angry?  It is when he tries to get Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.  At the burning bush, God told Moses that he saw his people, Israel, in their affliction, how the Egyptians were abusing them, how the Egyptians were killing their children, and God had compassion on them.  But five times, Moses refuses to go and lead the people, even though they are his people.  Even though Moses was one who, as a baby, was rescued from the Egyptians’ plan to kill all male children.  It is Moses’s lack of compassion for his own people and his refusal to help the afflicted that angers God.  

    We discussed the New Testament story where Jesus was about to heal the man with the withered hand, enabling him to work and provide for his family instead of being a beggar.  But the Pharisees only see this poor man as a chance to trap Jesus if he heals on the Sabbath.  Jesus became furious with the Pharisees because of their lack of compassion for this man, more interested in their petty rules than in this man’s well-being.

     And on this day, He sees them taking advantage of the poor, refusing compassion to the blind and lame, and using His Temple to do these things.  They have turned his Temple into a den of criminals.  This is why the Temple is going to fall.  This is why God uses the Roman army as a tool in his hand to knock down every stone. God will not stand by and watch his people refuse to help the poor, the needy, the ill, the sick, while they are inside the walls pretending to worship.

    With this background, let’s look at today’s story again. Peter and John approach this lame man who is begging.  He sees them.  Alms!  Alms!  It comes from the Greek word for mercy.  Now they could have passed by him just like everyone else had passed by him so many times.   He has been there every day for 40 years.  Perhaps they had passed by him before.  But not today.  Today, they “directed their gaze at him”.   This man was right in front of their eyes, but was unseen by most, overlooked, and ignored. 

    It is a wonderful thing to be seen, to be noticed. There are plenty of people in this world who feel invisible, overlooked by everyone.  In moments of distress, we’ve all felt like no one understands what we are going through, that no one truly sees our dilemma. But know that God sees you. When Hagar was mistreated and abused and fled to the wilderness, God sent an angel to her to tell her that he saw her in her distress and that he was looking out for her.  She called him El Roi, “the God who sees me.”   God saw the affliction of his people in Egypt and delivered them.  God saw us in the hopelessness of our sin and sent Jesus to deliver us. No matter how invisible you think you are to the rest of the world, know that God is still El-Roi. He sees you and desires to heal you, to deliver you.

    And if we are his children, we need to learn to see as God sees.  We need to seek out those the world has tossed aside, those deemed unfit—those seen as unproductive or damaged.  We need to see the forgotten at the gate.  If Jesus has given us a new heart and God’s Holy Spirit lives in us, we cannot just pass by those in need.

    Peter and John looked at this man.  And they asked him to “Look at us.”   Where had the man’s attention been?   Was he searching the crowd for someone who appeared wealthy enough to give him some money?  Was he just hoping to make eye contact with someone to garner some sympathy?  Or was he just so defeated that his gaze never left the ground?  But he looks at Peter and John.  And you can almost feel his relief that finally someone has noticed him and will contribute so he can eat today.  

    And Peter says, “I don’t have any money.”  Now you can almost feel his disappointment.  Just my luck, he thinks to himself, the one person who pays me any attention, and they are broke.  But look at what Peter actually says.  In the Greek construction, it is:  “Silver and gold do not exist through me.”  Peter is saying, “What you are begging for is of no importance to me.  It doesn’t exist through me.” Peter has his priorities right!  This paralyzed beggar doesn’t see it yet, but what does exist through Peter?  God’s Holy Spirit exists through Peter, so Jesus exists through Peter.  Peter is Jesus’ hands and feet and voice in a world full of beggars, and this beggar is about to see Jesus through Peter.  But I get ahead of myself.  

    At this point, the beggar realized he wasn’t going to get what he was hoping for: money to buy food.  He has been begging his whole life.  40 years.  He had long ago given up hope that he would be healed.  He had long ago given up hope that he would ever be able to work and make his own money.  He had long ago given up hope that he would ever see the inner courts of the temple and be able to worship there.  Everyone who passed him by daily lived in a different world than he did.  His world had been upside down since he was born.

    A few months ago, he had heard about this man called Jesus, a healer.  He had even heard that he had healed some people who were lame like him in the Temple.  He had hoped to have a chance to encounter Jesus, but he had missed him.  And then he heard Jesus was dead.  Now he is a man with no hope.  

    But then it happened. Peter continues, Silver and God do not exist through me, but I am going to show you who does exist through me.  You are about to see the power of who exists through me. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”  At the mention of this name, Jesus Messiah, Peter reached out his hand to the beggar.  And somehow, the man raised himself upright for the first time in his life.  Never had he ever stood.  And now, yes, not only could he stand, but he could walk.  And he could leap.  And his world turns right-side up for the first time in his life.

    These two men, Peter and John, continued into the temple, but he sure wasn’t going to let them get away.  He was healed, and for the first time in his life, he too could enter the temple.  He stayed right with them.   And everyone he passed was shocked.  They had seen him for years with his misshapen, shriveled limbs, and how he was leaping and dancing about.  He was creating a scene.  And a crowd followed them to Solomon’s Porch in the Temple.  They were asking how it happened, and some people were praising the two men who healed him.   And the man Peter begins to preach to them right there. And next week, we will discuss Peter’s sermon and the response, but there is so much we need to see here.   

    We don’t use the word ‘lame’ much to refer to people anymore.  You have probably heard it more often in the context of horses being lame.  But it is a slang use of ‘lame’ that has become more common in the past 50 years.  “That was a lame joke.”  What we have to see, before we move on, is that this story in Acts 3 is the story of “A Lame Man and a Lame Religion”.  A man who could not walk and a religion that does not work.  A man with useless legs and a religion that is useless.  We have to see where these first-century religious leaders went wrong so we can avoid making the same mistake.

    Before Peter and John showed up, it was just another day in the temple.  Business as usual.  They were going about their usual schedule of worship and prayer services.  They were doing all the required sacrifices.   They were probably commenting on the great job the choir did on the psalms that morning.  And didn’t the high priest look especially nice today?  And we’ve got a pretty good crowd for a hot summer day, don’t we?  Business as usual.  Hey, look at us; we are doing God’s work here.  

    But just outside the gates were those who needed mercy, those who needed compassion, those who needed healing. Those who needed to be seen.  This is not new.  God has dealt with this before.  Let’s go back 700 years before our story today—the time of Isaiah.  Let’s look at Isaiah chapter 1.  There is a verse there you will recognize. 

    Isaiah 1:18  Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

    But do you know the context for that verse?  Let’s back up to verse 11, and we will use The Message version:

    Isaiah 1:11-18   “Why this frenzy of sacrifices?”  GOD’S asking.
    “Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves?
    Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats?
    When you come before me, Whoever gave you the idea of acting like this,
    Running here and there, doing this and that— all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?
    “Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games:
    Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings
    meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!  Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
    You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion,
    while you go right on sinning.  When you put on your next prayer-performance,
    I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening
    And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
    Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
    so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong.  Learn to do good.
    Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.

    And then comes the verse we know….

    “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.” This is GOD’S Message:
    “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white.
    If they’re red like crimson, they’ll be like wool.

    There is a great sin they need to be cleansed of.  You see, the same thing is going on in 700 BC as is going on in Jesus’ day.   They are going through the motions of worship.  They are busy with sacrifices, busy with offerings, busy with praises, busy with prayers.  But God is sick of their worship services, because they are not busy with obedience.  They are not busy with compassion.  

    Last week, we discussed what God really wants from us, and I asked the question, “What does God really want?”  The answer: obedience.  Today, from our story of the lame man in Acts 3 and now from Isaiah 1, we see what else God wants from us: compassion.  God wants us to have compassion for those who are poor, homeless, sick, and defenseless.

    Why was God sick of their worship?   It is because they have a lack of obedience and a lack of compassion.  Look at verses 15-17 again and see the call to obedience and the call to compassion:

    Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
    so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong.  Learn to do good.
    Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.

    Do you see that this is the same problem Jesus had with the temple leaders in his day?  God is serious about obedience and compassion.  This is the reason that Northern Israel was destroyed by Assyria in 721 BC. This is the reason that Judea was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC. This is the reason that the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome in 70 AD. And every day up until the Temple was leveled to the ground, they were performing useless sacrifices and praying useless prayers — pretending to worship a God that would not listen to their prayers or pay attention to their worship.

    It does not matter how we worship.  God does not care if it is contemporary or traditional.  God does not care if worship is in a vast, beautiful sanctuary or a tiny shack.  He does not care if there are 10 people there or 10,000.  God’s primary concern is not how good the music is, or how great the preacher is, or how nice everyone dresses.  He doesn’t care if worship lasts 30 minutes or 4 hours. What God really wants from your church is not what happens on the printed ‘order of worship’ and not what happens within the four walls of your sanctuary.

    What does God really want from us?  Obedience and compassion for others. This is what Jesus said.  He tried to make it clear to us.  Remember, they asked him what the most important verse in the Bible was, and what was the greatest commandment?

    Matthew 22:37  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

    And what is God’s love language?  Jesus said:

    John 14:15  If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

    We reveal our love to God by our obedience to him.  And the second most important commandment?

    Matthew 22:39 (quoted from Leviticus 19:18) Love your neighbor as yourself.

    So, what does God want from us? First of all, God wants our obedience, and secondly, he wants us to have compassion.  This is the message that runs all through the Bible.

    This man was laid by the gate for 40 years.  He saw thousands of people pass by.  But Peter and John that day didn’t just pass by.  And they didn’t just take a second to drop a coin in his bowl.  They had an encounter with him and became the hands and feet of Jesus to him.  They let the Holy Spirit within them be known to him.   It was Jesus who existed through them that day, not silver or gold.

    How many people do you pass by?    How many do we not even see?  We worship the God Hagar called “El-Roi,” the God who sees.   If the Holy Spirit is within us, we should see as God sees.  And God became blind to their worship because they were blind to the poor around them.

    I pray God will open our eyes to the beggars at our gate, that we may meet their needs and invite them in to relationship with us and into worship with us.   I pray that our compassion would take the form not just of a few dollars in their pocket but in the gift of the presence of God in their lives.  Because, like the beggar at the gate, they think what they need most is money, and we can fill that need.  But we can give them more.  We can give them Jesus through our love and compassion.

    This week, I challenge you to follow the example of Peter and John.  Do not be a passerby.   See the needs around you and then reach out to fill the needs.  Be obedient.  Be compassionate.  That is what God really wants.

    1.  The Mishnah is a collection of oral teachings of religious scholars that was finally composed in written form in 220 AD, though the teachings themselves dated much earlier. (The Temple was destroyed in 70 AD.)
    2.  Razafiarivony, Davidson.  “Exclusion of the Blind and Lame from the Temple” in The American Journal of Biblical Theology.  Vol 19.  August 26, 2018.
    3.   2 Samuel 5 has the story of King David conquering the city of Jerusalem.  The inhabitants (Jebusites) taunted David by telling him the city was so well fortified that they let the blind and lame guard the walls.  David says in 2 Samuel 5:8, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind,’ who are hated by David’s soul.”  And the narrator adds, “Therefore it is said, ‘The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.’” Indeed, David did not hate men because they were blind and lame, but because they were Jebusites.  And we know David went out of his way to show great care for Mephiboseth, a descendant of Saul who was lame and lived in David’s house.  Nevertheless, that verse was used as proof that the blind and lame should not enter the temple.

  • July 29 –  Pentecost! Then What Did They Do? — Acts #6

    July 29 –  Pentecost! Then What Did They Do? — Acts #6
    Acts 2:42-47

    At Pentecost, after the presence of God descended on the people and Peter preached a sermon, the people reacted and asked a question:  What should we do?  Peter tells them to “Repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit.”   3000 people responded and were baptized in the mikveh pools at the Temple entrance.  What happened with those 3000 new followers of Jesus and the 120 disciples?  Then what did they do?

    Acts 2:42-47   And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

    “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching.” Now we understand the concept of devotion, but this is actually something more than that.  Let’s look at that verse in several different translations.  You can do this easily on the internet. Just type in the verse, “Acts 2:42” and the words “bible hub”. 

    And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.  (KJV)
    And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  (NASB)

    The Greek word here is ‘proskartereō’, which is the word ‘kartereo’, which means ‘to be devoted’, but it adds the prefix ‘pros’, which means ‘going toward.’  This is above-and-beyond dedication that makes other devotions look half-hearted.  Literally, they pushed themselves toward a firm devotion to the apostle’s teaching.

    They were on the edge of their seats.  They were hungry to know more.  Remember that all of these people were devout Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem for the one-day religious festival of Pentecost.   They had come from all over the known world.  Most of them knew very little to nothing about Jesus except what they heard from this one sermon of Peter.  Jesus spent almost all of his ministry outside of Jerusalem.  Very few outside of Galilee had heard his teaching.  They had a life-changing experience that day.  They were told the messiah they and their ancestors had prayed for for hundreds of years had arrived.  They needed to know more before they went home.  So many of those 3000, if possible, would have remained in Jerusalem to learn more about this Messiah.

    So they hung on every word the disciples said.  They didn’t want to miss a moment of teaching.  How does this compare to people today?  Do we see that hunger for the knowledge of Jesus today?  Are we on the edge of our seats in church, eagerly listening for more information about Jesus? Do we get excited about our personal daily study of the Bible?  Or do we feel like we know all we need to know?  Have we had enough Jesus?

    Do you remember when you first came to Jesus?  Were you excited to know more then?  Did that excitement fade, and if so, why?   I remember hearing two deacons in a church talking about a young man who had just come to Christ and was constantly asking questions about he church and scripture.  And one man tells the other, “Oh, don’t worry, he’s a new Christian, he will get over it.”

    Have you gotten over it?  I have been in church all my life.  I have heard thousands of Sunday School lessons and sermons.  But I haven’t always had this hunger to know more as I do today.  I believe that a person’s desire to pray and study the scripture is a measure of how their relationship with Jesus is going.  The closer we are to God, the more we want to spend time with him in prayer and the more we want to know His word.  So let’s all do a little self-inventory this morning.  How is our personal relationship with God right now?  Is it where you want it to be?  Do you have that hunger to know Him more and know more of HIm?  Or have you gotten over it?

    Back to our scripture:   “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship… What is “the fellowship”?  ‘Fellowship’ is a very ‘churchy’ word.  It is not the word you choose to describe the crowd at a baseball game or a party.  Churches talk about having ‘fellowship’ after the service.  They have a “fellowship hall”.  Our minds go instantly to having a meal.   And a meal can be part of the fellowship, but that is not all of what it means to Luke.

    The Greek word there is ‘koinōnia,’ which is only sometimes translated ‘fellowship.’  Koinōnia describes a participation with others, sharing the work with them, and sharing the fruits of their labors together.  Look at how this word is translated in other verses:

    Philippians 1:3-5  I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
    Romans 15:26  For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.
    Philippians 3:10  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death

    We see koinōnia translated as a ‘partnership’, a monetary donation to the poor, and a participation with Jesus in his suffering.  

    Some look at this passage in Acts 2 and get hung up on the idea that they had everything in common and sold land if others needed help, as if they gave no thought to the idea of personal property.1  They did share their food, prayers, and resources.  Remember that some of these were just visitors to Jerusalem for the festival from other countries who had stayed in Jerusalem longer than they had anticipated, in order to learn more about Jesus.  They needed a place to stay and resources while they were there until they returned home.   So the followers from Jerusalem made room in their homes. If someone was in need, the others gave them what they needed and sold some of their possessions or land if necessary to raise the money.   They joined together as partners in worship, in witnessing, in prayer, and in sharing meals together.  They became family.  Koinonia, fellowship.  Jesus said, “By this, people will know that you are my disciples.  If you love one another.” (John 13:35).

    So ‘fellowship’ is not just eating and having a good time.  It is joining with others as partners to share the work of the gospel, with each contributing as they are able, suffering together, and enjoying the fruits of their labor together.  We need to grasp this concept within our local congregations and beyond.  One example above of koinonia was Paul collecting money for the people in Jerusalem.  There was a famine affecting them, and other groups of followers gave Paul money to deliver to them to help buy food.   And these other house churches in Asia Minor were happy to contribute to the needs of these followers in Judea, because they were all part of the same family.  This is how we should view our sister churches that exist all around us.  We are partners in the Gospel.

    The small church I attend is blessed to have several large, strong congregations in our community.  Two of them are doing an incredible job of reaching out to young people and young families in this community.  I had the opportunity last week to thank both of those pastors for what their church is doing that our small congregation could never do.  We don’t have the staff or facilities to do those things, but we need to reach out and seek ways we can partner with those sister churches and use our resources to assist them in some way, because all of these churches are on the same team.  We all wear the same color jerseys.   I have seen places where churches seem to be in competition with one another, trying to outdo each other as if we are on opposing teams.  We need to encourage koinonia – partnership in the gospel.  

    In Acts 2:42, Luke specifies one aspect of their fellowship as the “breaking of bread”. They came and ate together, sharing their food so that no one would go hungry.  There is something special about eating a meal with someone to create a bond.  Now, this is the part of the fellowship we understand — the meal.  However, we need to expand our horizons a bit again. You realize that these over 3000 people are not meeting together in a building.  They didn’t have a building.  They met in each other’s homes, using their house as a tool for the gospel.  You can use your home and your dinner table as a tool to connect to people.  Invite people into your home to build relationships.  Do not underestimate the importance of hospitality as a ministry.  (In a few weeks, we will walk you through the Bible and see how much God values hospitality.)  There are enough unchurched people in your community to fill up every pew in every church in your community many times.  I challenge you to invite someone to your home or out to eat a meal.  Show them what koinonia is all about.  Show them you are a disciple by your love for them, simply by sharing a meal.2

    The other specific aspect of ‘fellowship’ that Luke mentions is “the prayers.”  What prayers?  They were taught to pray as Jesus taught the disciples to pray.  The prayer that we call the “Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father” prayer.   And they continued to pray the prayers they had been praying all their lives.  There were two prayers (the Shema and the Amidah) that every devout Jew (including Jesus and the disciples) would pray several times a day. 

    We are told in Acts 2:46 that they were attending temple services every day.  And Luke in the next chapter tells us about an incident that happened with Peter and John as they were going to the 3:00 pm prayer service in the Temple. 

    Acts 3:1  Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

    Does it surprise you that they are still praying these Jewish prayers and are still attending worship in the Temple?  Wait!  Aren’t they Christians now?  Why are they worshipping in the Jewish Temple?

    They are Jews.  They have not changed religions.  They have not abandoned the God they worshiped all their lives.  The only scripture they have to read is the one they have always had, the Tanakh (what we call the Old Testament).  All their life, they had kept the Torah.  Throughout their lives, they had praised God in the temple and brought sacrifices.  All their life, they had prayed for the time when their Jewish Messiah would come.  The only difference now is that they have found the Messiah they had been waiting for so long. If you asked any one of these 3120 what their religion was, they would say ‘Jewish.’  They are Jewish people who are excited to tell others that they have found the Messiah they have long-awaited.  So how does this change things for them? 

    First, understand that this coming of the Messiah was not exactly as they had been told.  They had been taught that he would come as a military leader and conquer their enemies.  However, the Messiah that Peter preached about, Jesus, was quite different from what they had expected.  He did not come as a king to conquer Rome, but as the King to conquer a much more deadly enemy than Rome: the enemy of sin and death.  And he conquered death by dying and rising again.  Paul would later say it this way:

     1 Corinthians 15:57. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [over death] through our Lord Jesus Christ.

    How much of this did these first followers of Jesus understand at this point?  Remember that Jesus’ original disciples were often slow to understand what he was teaching.  But now they have the Holy Spirit to guide them in understanding.  But did they understand already at this point that Jesus’ death on the cross ended the need for animal sacrifices?  Certainly, by the time Paul is writing letters 10-20 years later, that was well understood.  However, we are unsure how much this early group understood.  

    And perhaps a better question is, do we understand what the sacrifices meant in Old Testament times and what Jesus’ sacrifices mean for us?   There is considerable confusion about this, so let’s try to clarify.

    When God created the world, his perfect plan did not include sacrifices.  There was no death in the good world God created.  He didn’t want sacrifices; he desired obedience.   And that is still God’s preference, as Samuel explained to Saul:

    1 Samuel 15:22   And Samuel said, “Has Yehovah as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

    So we need to understand what King Saul forgot:  What does God really want from us?  Obedience.

    God’s plan was obedience.  But Adam and Eve would not choose obedience.  They had been warned that taking the forbidden fruit would cause death.  So when they brought sin and rebellion into the world, they brought death into the world.   Sin began its reign on the world, and with it the penalty of death.  Animal sacrifices would be instituted as part of a way to temporarily atone for the people’s sins.  Adam and Eve deserved death for their rebellion.  But look what happened in Genesis 3.  They sin and hide from God.  They make coverings out of fig leaves.  Because of their sin, the ground is cursed, their relationship with each other is cursed, and they are told they will die. “Dust to dust.”  But they do not die immediately.  A very important thing that happens is in verse 21:

    Genesis 3:21   And Yehovah God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

    Think about this.  Where did the animal skins for garments come from?  God Himself sacrifices one or two of the animals that He so lovingly made and makes coverings for them.  Now we don’t have time to go into all the interesting symbolism of nakedness and sin and the covering of sin, but see that their sin is covered by the shedding of blood of animals, and then their nakedness is covered by the hides of the innocent animals whose blood was shed. They deserved death.  They were told that was the penalty.  Why would God postpone the penalty on Adam and Eve and instead temporarily place it on these animals?

     Because He is full of grace and mercy.  Grace is not a New Testament concept.  Grace is part of God’s character, and it is seen on every page of the Bible.  They needed forgiveness for this sin.  And God took measures he didn’t really want to take.  He didn’t really want to kill one of his own animals.  He didn’t want a sacrifice.  What did God really want?  Obedience.  Despite their disobedience, God acts in mercy to grant forgiveness so they avoid instant death.

    Hebrews 9:22  Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.  

    “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)  The wages must be paid.

    In the Old Testament, how do you get from Sin to Forgiveness?  So many people look at the laws of sacrifice in Leviticus and see this is the path to forgiveness.

    if a sin is committed, then to be forgiven, one had to make an animal sacrifice to atone for their sin.   But that is not at all what the Old Testament says.  Look at this passage in Leviticus:

    Leviticus 6:1-7   Yehovah said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to Yehovah by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor, or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit— when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it, and give it all to the owner on the day they present their guilt offering. 
    And as an offering they must bring to the priest, that is, to Yehovah, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way, the priest will make atonement for them before Yehovah, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.

    To be forgiven, there must be first recognition of the sin, a confession and repentance, a restitution as possible, and then an offering.  Restitution is made to any people you have cheated, robbed, or hurt by your sin. Then restitution to God is through the animal sacrifice.  Again, the penalty for sin is death.  The wages of Sin has always been death.  But God is full of grace and mercy and love, so he allows us to avoid instant death (as He did Adam and Eve) by accepting a sacrifice.

    Forgiveness is granted out of God’s heart of mercy and out of his grace.  The death of the blameless animal is accepted as a temporary substitute for the penalty of sin, death.  But it was an imperfect sacrifice.  It was as the author of Hebrews stated just a shadow of what was to come.  

    Hebrews 10:1-4   The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. However, those sacrifices serve as a reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

    For thousands of years, every day at 9 am and at 3 pm, a lamb was sacrificed on the altar of the Temple for the sins of the people.  The first sacrifice of the day was the lamb, and all other offerings were placed on top of that lamb, which burned for 6 hours.  Then, at 3 pm, another lamb was sacrificed and was left to be burned on the altar all night, ensuring that there was always a sacrifice being offered at all hours to atone for sins. Every hour of every day of the year. Year after year.  In addition, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, special sacrifices were made for the sins of the people.   But everyone knew that the blood of animals alone could not atone for sins. 

    We see this clearly in Psalm 51, which we discussed a few weeks ago.  Again, this is the psalm David wrote after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin with Bathsheeba.  What is David’s response when confronted with his sins of adultery and murder? 

    Psalm 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
    Psalm 51:16  For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;  You will not be pleased with a burnt offering

    David is well aware that God doesn’t really want a sacrifice for his sin.   What God really wanted was what?  David’s obedience.  But that ship has sailed.  Now what does God want?   Not a sacrifice.  

    Psalm 51:16  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.  A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

    What God wants is a broken spirit and a repentant heart.  Confession and Repentance.   Sacrifices are a mere outward expression of what should be going on in a sinner’s heart.  No sacrifice was ever effective in atonement if the one offering the sacrifice was not repentant. 

    But what about the path from sin to forgiveness in the New Testament?  How did the coming of Jesus change the way God forgives sin?

    There is confession, repentance, restitution, and then the offering.  But not an imperfect animal sacrifice, but Jesus, the perfect, sinless only son of God.  He is our sacrificial offering.  He takes our place.  He pays the wages of our sins.  He takes our punishment of death.  However, note that this is the only change.  The path to forgiveness is unchanged.  God has not changed.  The grace by which God forgives in the Old Testament is the same grace God dispenses in the New Testament. The only difference is the sacrifice.

    But, oh, what a difference Jesus makes.   A perfect sinless sacrifice.  

    Hebrews 10:11-14   And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

    “For all time a single sacrifice for sin,”  One and Done.  It is finished.  And thus, there is no need for any more sacrifices.  What does God really want from us?  Obedience.  But no human ever gave God total obedience except for Jesus.  So Jesus can be that perfect, blameless sacrifice and accomplish what no animal sacrifice ever could—a permanent atonement for sin.

    But we can’t forget the steps of confession, repentance, and restitution.  They are still essential.  David in Psalm 51 knew that.  What God really wants is obedience, but when we sin, what God really wants is our hearts to break for our own sins.  (not the sins of others.). Confession and repentance.  Paul was concerned that, since continual sacrifices for sin were no longer required, people would forget the importance of remaining obedient and the importance of the steps to forgiveness.  But we see those steps throughout both Testaments.

    1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

    If we confess…. Confession is a necessary step in the process.

    Romans 2:4   God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

    Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy that repentance is a gift from God. Restitution is best seen in the New Testament in the actions of Zacchaeus.

    Luke 19:8 And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.

    However, we don’t know if these early followers of Jesus understood the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice or if they continued to offer sacrifices in the Temple.  Certainly, by the time of Paul’s letters, this concept was fully understood, and there was no need for animal sacrifices for those who followed Jesus.  However, it is essential for us to understand the concept of sacrifice for sins and the process of forgiveness.

    While Jesus’ sacrifice is complete and sufficient for the forgiveness of all sins, we are still called to make a sacrifice.

    Romans 12:1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

    We present ourselves as a sacrifice to God. This is not a sacrifice for forgiveness of sins; Jesus has taken care of that.  We sacrifice as an act of worship.  The people in the Old Testament brought a lamb, which was then killed.  It was a costly sacrifice for most people who had little.  When we present ourselves to Jesus as a living sacrifice in worship, it will cost us something.  As with all sacrifices, a death is involved.  We must die to self.

    Listen to what RC Sproul said about this verse:
    “God does not ask us to bring in our livestock and burn it on the altar; he asks us to give ourselves, to put ourselves alive on the altar. To be a Christian means to live a life of sacrifice, a life of presentation, making a gift of ourselves to God. Some people think that all it takes to be a Christian is to scribble a cheque or to give a few hours of service here and there on special projects for the church. But that’s not what believers are called to. My life is to be set apart and consecrated to God. That is what is acceptable to him; that is what delights him; that is what pleases him; that is the appropriate response to him and for him.” 3

    What does God really want from us?  Obedience.  But all have been disobedient and fallen short of God’s plan.  And the wages of sin is death.  So God wants us to recognize our sins, confess, repent, make restitution as possible, and then thank him for the gift of his son, who paid the price for our sins.  And then what does God want from us after that?  Obedience.  The living sacrifice of obedience.

    So spend some time in God’s word this week.  Study to see what God is asking you to be obedient to this week.  How will you sacrifice this week to be obedient?   Pray and discover what God is asking you to do this week.  And be obedient to it.

    1.  It appears that these followers understood that if everything indeed belongs to God, then ‘personal property’ is interpreted differently.  The Bible looks at the things we ‘own’ as just being on loan to us from God, and we are just stewards of certain properties he has assigned us.
    2.  These new followers were likely incorporating in their meals the celebration of the Lord’s Supper together in remembrance of what Jesus did for them.  Typically, what we call communion or the Lord’s Supper was held as part of a full meal at this time, as evidenced in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
    3.  Sproul, R.C.  The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans.  Christian Focus Publications, 1994.  Page 195.

  • July 15 –  Pentecost! So What Shall We Do? — Acts #5

    July 15 –  Pentecost! So What Shall We Do? — Acts #5
    Acts 2:37-41

    Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit comes in wind and fire.  There is a miracle of understanding languages that is a reversal of God’s intervention at the Tower of Babel.  Last week, we examined the response of those who asked the question, “What does this mean?”  Peter answers with a sermon that reveals God’s plan for redemption and the gift of the Holy Spirit through Jesus.  He tells them that prophecy has been fulfilled in the past year and even that very morning.  Today, we examine the response of the people to Peter’s message as they pose another critical question.

    A huge crowd from all over the world has gathered for Shavuot, one of the three festivals in Jerusalem that everyone must attend.  So, most of these people are the same ones who attended the required Passover feast 50 days ago.  It was the same crowd in the city almost two months ago, during Jesus’ final week.  Many of them were there when Jesus rode into the city on a donkey, when he overturned the tables of the money changers, when he challenged the religious leaders, and when he was crucified.  

    Peter summarizes the story of Jesus, then tells those assembled at the Temple for Shavuot that this Jesus, whom you crucified, has been raised to life by God and is your Messiah.  And they were there for this.  These were the very same people who had either shouted “Crucify Him!” to Pilate or had kept silent as the disciples did. So, how did they respond to Peter’s sermon?

    Acts 2:37-41   Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

    These 3000 people were “cut to the heart,” which means they were deeply emotionally moved.  The Greek phrase here, “katanyssomai kardia,” literally means “stabbed in the heart.”  That is a picturesque way of stating an intense emotional response.  Obviously, the Holy Spirit did not stop moving after the miracle of the languages.  He is moving in the hearts of these people, giving them the gift of remorse that leads to repentance.  

    There are two other instances where the phrase “cut to the heart” appears in some English translations.  One example is found in Acts 5. This is a great story that we will explore in a few months.  The apostles are preaching in the outer courts of the Temple, and the High Priest has them put into prison.  An angel of the Lord comes at night and opens the prison door for them, telling them to return to the Temple in the morning and continue preaching.  Unaware of the escape, the next morning, the High Priest gathers a council of judgment and sends someone to bring the apostles from prison.  It is then discovered that they escaped during the night. Then someone comes and tells the High Priest, “Hey! You know those men you put in prison yesterday for preaching in the Temple?  Guess where they are?  They’re back in the temple, preaching again this morning.”

    The High Priest is not amused.  So they bring the apostles to the council, and Peter says, Thanks for the hospitality yesterday, but ‘We should obey God and not men.”  (Acts 5:29).  Peter presents the gospel to these religious leaders and says, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.”  This is the same message that drove 3000 to repentance on Pentecost: ‘You killed Jesus, but God raised him from the dead, and he is on a throne by the Father now.’  And how do you think these religious leaders responded?

    Acts 5:33  (KJV)  “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.”

    There is our phrase again, “cut to the heart.”  They were deeply emotionally moved, but the emotion is different here.  It is not remorse but anger and rage.  We see this same reaction again in Acts 7 after Stephen delivers a sermon to this same council.

    Acts 7:54  (KJV)  “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart.”

    They are enraged to the point that they want to kill Stephen.  And this time they do.  They take Stephen outside the city and stone him to death.  

    In these two verses, “cut to the heart” is translated from a different Greek phrase, “diapriō kardia autos”, which means literally ‘to saw your own heart in two pieces.’  (Greek is indeed a very picturesque language.)  Metaphorically, it means being filled with murderous rage.  Our English biblical phrase, ‘Cut to the heart,’ can be derived from one of two Greek phrases that express two different extreme emotional responses.:
    Stabbed in the heart – which is a response of remorse, I’m sorry, what can I do?
    Saw your own heart in two, which is an intense negative emotion — rage –  I will kill you.1

    Last week, we explored how we perceive events in the world and the importance of asking, “What does this mean?” to ensure we understand how God is at work in the world around us.  So Peter preached a gospel sermon, and 3000 were cut to the heart and believed and were baptized.  And then they ask an even more critical question:  “What shall we do?” It is not enough to understand what God is doing in the world.  Our reaction to God must include action.  We must do something. As James said:

    James 1:22“  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

    Remember that the Hebrew word to hear, “shema,” includes the idea of obedience. (James is Jewish.)  It means hear and obey.  There is no such thing as hearing that is not followed by action.  We must always ask both questions: “What does this mean?” and “What should we do?”  We must not only understand, but also react.  Jesus did not call anyone to be a passive follower.  It is inherent in the word ‘follow’ that there is action.  If I teach you about scripture, if I share what God has taught and is teaching me, and if I somehow, through the grace of God, do a good job of teaching, but you are not encouraged and incited to do something for the Kingdom of God, then I am a complete failure.  To be confronted with the gospel, there are only three ways to react:
    1.  Cut to the heart and spurred to action for Jesus.
    2.  Cut to the heart and be enraged at Jesus.
    3.  Be indifferent about Jesus.

    Now let me ask you….Which of the last two bothers Jesus the most?  To answer that, we need to take a detour into the book of Revelation.  (If you have a red-letter Bible, you will note that this letter to the assembly in Laodicea is the words of Jesus.)

    Revelation 3:14-22   And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

    “Because you are lukewarm…I will spit you out of my mouth.”  The ESV, like most other versions, has toned this down somewhat to avoid offending anyone, but here, Jesus means to offend.  The word for ‘spit’ is ‘emeō,’ from which we get our medical word ‘emesis’, which means vomit.  What is going on in Laodicea makes Jesus sick and want to throw up.  Of the seven churches listed here, this is the only one for which Jesus has nothing good to say.  To understand this reference to hot, cold, or lukewarm, you need to know a little about this area of Asia Minor.  

    Laodicea is situated in the fertile Lycus River valley, in our modern-day Turkey.  Six miles to the north lies the city of Hieropolis, renowned for its medicinal hot springs, which feature a spa dating back to around 200 BC.  Eight miles to the east lies Colossae, famous for its refreshing, pure, and cold natural spring water.  In contrast, Laodicea had no water source in the city.  An aqueduct, cut from stone, transported water from Denizli, 5 miles south. 

    Here is a section of that 5-mile-long aqueduct. Each stone is hollowed out, cut, and fitted together to pipe the water to the city.  

    By the time the water arrived at Laodicea, it had become lukewarm and had also absorbed a high mineral content from the stone, making it unappealing.  It did not have the refreshing quality of the waters of Colossae nor the healing properties of the waters of Hieropolis.   It was neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm.  Robert Mounce, in the NICNT, “Thus the church in Laodicea was providing neither refreshment for the spiritually weary, nor healing for the spiritually sick. It was totally ineffective, and thus distasteful to its Lord.”2  This group heard the gospel, but they did not do the gospel.

    Revelation 3:17  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

    Laodicea was a very wealthy city.  They were known for their medical school, prosperous banking establishments, the production of an eye salve that was exported worldwide, and a thriving textile industry.  Knowing this, now look at what else Jesus says….not realizing that instead of healthy, you are wretched & pitiable, you think you are rich but you are poor, you are known for healing eyes, but you are blind, and you say you produce finest clothes, but you are naked.

    They think they have it all.  They think they don’t need any help from anyone.  A massive earthquake devastated Laodicea in 60 AD. The government of Rome offered to help them rebuild, but they refused the help.  They are proud, self-sufficient people.  They didn’t need Nero’s help then, and this “church” apparently didn’t need Jesus’ help either. They think they have it all, but they have abandoned Jesus to get it.  So they have nothing.

    They are a church that neither provided healing nor spiritual refreshment.  They had heard the gospel, but how did they react?  They were not cut to the heart in a good way or a bad way.  They were able to hear a story that should cut you to the heart, and remain unaffected.

    Revelation 3:18-19   I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”

    Then we have that verse you have heard so many times before:

    Revelation 3:20   Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

    You probably have a picture in your mind of that verse that may look something like this: Jesus is knocking on the door and asking to come into the ‘door of your heart.’  Salvation awaits the one who opens the door to Jesus.  Did you realize this verse was explicitly written to these self-sufficient, wretched, pitiful, naked, poor, blind people in Laodicea?  But wait a minute?  Are the people in this church in Laodicea unsaved?  They can’t all be lost, can they? Didn’t Jesus call them a church?

    Well, not exactly…… We have a translation problem.  The term Jesus uses for the “church at Laodicea” is the Greek word ‘ekklesia.’  It comes from the Greek root verb ‘kaléō’, which means “to call.”   So ‘ekklesia’ means “those called out”.   As followers of Jesus, we believe he has called us out. (See Paul’s explanation in 2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1).  So an ekklesia can be a church.  But it is not always a church.  

    In Acts 19, Paul got into trouble with the local silversmiths in Ephesus.  Paul was preaching that idols made of metal were not gods, and this hurt the silversmiths’ business.  So they want to throw Paul and his bunch out of town.  There is a great disturbance in the city.  Now look for the word we translate as ‘church’ as seen in Acts 19.

    Acts 19:32-35  Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the ekklesia was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
    And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?”

    The Bible refers to this gathering as an ekklesia.  But this is not a church.  This is a town hall meeting. (It is a very rowdy one, as when a Jewish man tried to speak, he was shouted down for two hours, the crowd chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”.  But this assembly is run by the local town clerk, who concludes the meeting this way:

    Acts 19:38-39   If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular ekklesia.

    If the silversmiths have a legal complaint against Paul, then they can use the courts.  If there is anything else, we will address it at the next regular town meeting.   

    So in the Bible, ekklesia doesn’t have to mean church.  It is any gathering of people.  When Jesus dictates a letter to the ekklesia at Laodicea, he is writing to a gathering of people.  He is not necessarily saying they are a church.  I think that Jesus says they are pretending to be a church but are lost and in need of repentance. This is one of 7 letters Jesus dictates to gatherings in this section of Revelation.   This one to Laodicea is the only one where he has nothing good to say.  They are “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”  Jesus wants them to be clothed in the white garments of his righteousness.  So he stands at the door and knocks.

    We took this detour into Revelation because we are looking at the ways people respond to the gospel.

    Peter preaches, and some are “cut to the heart”.  Others respond to preaching and are “cut to the heart”. Then you have this group in Laodicea.  They call themselves a ‘church’ and claim to be following Jesus, but they have heard the gospel message and were not ‘cut to the heart’.  They were unaffected.  They are apathetic.  They are going about their lives, enjoying their health and wealth, unaware that they are bound for destruction.  They are living in a prosperous city.  They have it all. They are so satisfied that they have no real need for Jesus.  But Jesus tells them they are poor.  That is the Greek ‘ptochos.’  They are wretched beggars with no resources.

    We see these same three reactions today.  Some hear the gospel and are convicted.  They realize they are spiritually and morally bankrupt without Jesus.  They need Jesus, and they respond with remorse that leads to repentance and salvation.  Some hear and have other emotions.  They may mock and poke fun like the people at Pentecost who said the disciples were just drunk.  They may relentlessly poke fun at Christians and the gospel in public on TV or social media.  In some countries today,  People get angry and kill those spreading the gospel message.  It is hard to know the exact numbers, but even the most conservative sources say that at least 10,000 Christians are killed every year for their faith – over 25 martyred a day.

    And then some respond with apathy.    They react to the gospel with no intense emotion at all.  They are unaffected.  And this is becoming the largest group of people.  God is meaningless to them.  They don’t care.  They are doing just fine without God, thank you.  Oh, they may want the name of God.  They may even call themselves a Christian and their gathering a church.  But they are so unaffected by the gospel that they meet and never do the gospel.

    Our country just celebrated its 249th birthday this month.  We are blessed to live in this land.  2/3 of the people living in the US claim to be Christians.  However, I am concerned that many who make that claim do so in the same manner as the Laodiceans.  They want the title of Christian, but not the job.  They want to be in God’s kingdom, but they don’t want to live by the King’s rules. They mistreat people whom the King loves. They disregard his precepts.  They say they can make their own decisions about right and wrong.  And they make Jesus want to throw up.  They are resistant to the truth of the gospel and resistant to the influence of the Holy Spirit.  They think they have it all, but they don’t realize that they are spiritually and morally bankrupt.   

    Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 5:3). He uses the same word for poor as he did for the Laodiceans.  He said that the fortunate ones are those who realize their own spiritual poverty.  To humble yourself before God and ask for forgiveness, you first have to admit your problem, that you are a sinner, and you can not atone for your sins yourself.  You have to realize that you are bankrupt, that you have zero resources to alleviate your spiritual need before you can acknowledge your desperate need for Jesus.  Only those who recognize this can enter the kingdom of heaven.

    This is why it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Like the rich Laodiceans, they don’t see the need.  They are comfortable as they are.  If they need anything, they will buy it themselves.  And many today, like the Laodiceans, claim to be part of the church, but have never opened the door to Jesus.  They hear the Word, but they do not do the Word.

    We all live in Laodicea.  Compared to the rest of the world, the people in the US are wealthy.  Over half of the people in the world live on less per day than each of us spends on gas to drive to our church this week.  We live in the land of the self-sufficient.  There is a mission field in our backyard.  And while you are very unlikely to experience a violent response to the gospel, you are likely to get what Jesus said was a worse response – apathy. This is the reaction of the comfortable.  And the Gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

    From Pentecost, we learn that it is essential to examine the world around us and ask, “What does this mean?”  And then we look at ourselves and ask, “What should we do?”  We should ask ourselves these two questions every day.  Now that we have examined the possible responses to Pentecost, next time we will explore the details of what they did and how they lived.

    1.   Interestingly, we still use a similar metaphor today.  Some of you may have heard it in a hit song from 1986 by Jon Bon Jovi, which begins with the lyrics: “Shot through the heart and you’re to blame.  Darling, you give love a bad name.”   Shot through the heart = Deeply hurt in a relationship.
    2.   Mounce, Robert.  New International Commentary of the New Testament. “Revelations”.

  • July 1 –  Asking the Right Question About Pentecost — Acts #4

    July 1 –  Asking the Right Question About Pentecost — Acts #4
    Acts 2:1-13

    Acts 2:1-13   When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, filling the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
    Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.  And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

    We are continuing to discuss what happened at Pentecost. As I said last week, it is a turning point in history. As we journey through the Book of Acts, we will consider the implications of this watershed moment.  On that day, when God chose to send the blessing of His presence, the Holy Spirit, to dwell in His followers, He came in an undeniable fashion.  We have discussed the sound of the wind and the fire, and how they paralleled the manifestation of God’s presence at Sinai and the dedication of the tabernacle and the temple.  No one there thought it was just another day.  Something amazing happened.  So today I want to consider what happened next.  How did the people respond to this incredible event?

    First, Luke says they were “amazed and astonished”.  We tend to use these words interchangeably today.  The Greek word we translate as ‘amazed’ describes people who have witnessed something so extraordinary that they are filled with wonder and awe.  It was a common reaction to Jesus’ miracles.  The word translated as ‘astonished’ carries more the idea of shock that something totally unexpected happened.  So, you could say the reaction was one of “shock and awe.”

    Then, after Luke describes the nations the people came from, the scripture again tells how the people responded.  This time, it divides the people into two groups with different responses.  The first group has a similar reaction:

    Acts 2:12   And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

    Again, the word ‘amazed’ (awed, filled with wonder) and now ‘perplexed’, a different Greek word that means you can’t understand what has happened.  It is too difficult to unravel. Because they are bewildered and puzzled, they ask, “What does this mean?”

    Perhaps you can relate to these people witnessing a religious service unlike any they have ever seen before.  Has this happened to you?   I was 15 years old and had been attending a youth group at a small Methodist Church for about six months.  It was like any other small Methodist Church in the southern US in the 1970s—traditional service with hymns and preaching.  Occasionally, someone in the congregation said “Amen” during the sermon, and everyone turned around to see who said it.  The youth group was singing the “new” worship songs like “Pass it On,” “Jesus is the Answer,” or “For Those Tears I Died.”   Yeah, we were the cool Jesus people.  To be honest, like almost every other 9th-grade boy who attended youth group, I was primarily there because I had a crush on a girl.

    One Sunday night, the youth choir sang, and then the preacher stood up and began preaching. It was then that it happened.  A man in the second row stood up in the middle of the sermon and started speaking in tongues.  I had the “shock and awe” response.  And then after he finished, someone else stood up and translated what the first man said.  And I am still in ‘’shock” mode.  Then one of the youth on my pew stood up and started speaking in tongues. And it was, you guessed it, the girl (my secret crush).  From that point on, I honestly have no memory of what happened next. I was undone.  I had never heard of anything like this.  I am sure I had read about tongues in the Bible before, but I had never heard anyone discuss it, much less suggest that it might still happen.  I didn’t know how to process what I had just witnessed.  “Awed and Puzzled”?  Yes, that was me.  And that lasted for weeks.  I understand that the pastor addressed the issue in that service and the following weeks, and the church moved in a more charismatic direction; however, I never returned.  I was just too overwhelmed.  I had the question in my mind, “What does this mean?” but I didn’t stick around for the answer.

    So all are shocked and awed by the fire and the wind, and hearing the people in their own language.  And then one group doesn’t understand what is going on, so they ask the question, “What does this mean?”  Then the other group: 

    Acts 2:13   But others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”

    They are mocking.  They are poking fun at God’s miracle.  They laugh and say these people are drunk.  They see something that does not fit into their paradigm, and they react with scorn.  Remember, all of these people there in the Temple that day consider themselves devout Jews.  Some have traveled for weeks to attend this religious festival.  They are in the Temple at 9 in the morning for worship.  You have got to be serious about God if you show up for a worship service before 9 am.  Yet some are scoffers.

    So why are these devout Jews mocking?  God shows up in a way they never expected and in a way they could not explain, and their reaction is bitter.  Something different happened in church.  I can hear them now…”Woah!  We’ve never done it that way.  That’s not worship, because that is not the way I do it.”   “Next thing you know, they’ll be raising their hands and using TV screens in the church.” If God should show up in a way different from what you already know or have expected, be careful not to jump to mocking.

    Galatians 6:7  (Amplified version)    Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt, nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap.

    You reap what you sow.  You don’t want to plant seeds of mockery.

    This crowd of Jewish worshipers reacts in two distinctly different ways.  How would we react?   It is hard to say, but we can say how we react when we read about it.  We live in a world of reason.  We like to rationalize and explain things.  So often, most of the questions we ask when we read this story are about what exactly happened and how it happened.  We ask questions like:
    What were they saying?
    Was it unintelligible babbling, or were they speaking different languages they didn’t know?
    Were the people all hearing it in their own language, no matter what they said?
    Were they all saying the same thing?
    If so, what were they saying?
    How long did this go on?
    Was it just the apostles or the 120 disciples?
    Were the men and women both speaking?
    Were you wondering about any of these questions?

    I found many commentaries and articles that went on and on about answers to these questions.  But I’m not going to try to answer any of these questions, because I really think all of these are the wrong questions to ask at this point. Of those two groups, the ones who were receptive to the message, the ones who weren’t mocking, asked the right question: “What does this mean?” That is the question we should be asking. Remember when Jesus healed the man who was born blind?

    John 9:1-3   As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

    The disciples asked, “Whose fault is this? Blindness from birth must be the result of sin.” Jesus said that was the wrong question. The right question is, “How is God going to use this man’s blindness for good?” I don’t believe it is God’s will that anyone be born blind. God designed a world without sickness or blindness. Blindness is the result of living in a broken world. God is going to use this man’s blindness for good to show his work and bring glory to himself.

    This is how we should view the world. War occurs, disasters happen, peace comes and goes, health issues emerge, friends pass away, babies are born, people help you, and others disappoint you. In all these moments, we shouldn’t ask the wrong questions. We shouldn’t ask whose fault it is. The correct questions are, “What does this mean for the kingdom of God?” or “What is God doing here?’

    After the Spirit descends, Peter stands with the eleven and delivers a sermon. In this sermon, he shares what they don’t know. He explains that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy they’ve read for years, what Joel predicted would happen in the last days. The Spirit would be poured out on everyone—men, women, slaves, and free. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Jesus is the promised Messiah. Peter discusses Jesus’ ministry, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. This is what they didn’t know.   But God is doing something else that they would immediately recognize. All of them were Jews, very familiar with their scriptures. There is something else happening here that is so obvious that Peter doesn’t need to mention it.  But it may not be obvious to us, because the Old Testament scriptures don’t hold as much importance in our minds as they did to these people.  So let’s walk through it.

    Remember the big story of the Bible: God created the world, and everything was good. Mankind introduced sin and death, which caused a separation between God and His people. Everything after Genesis 3 focuses on how God is correcting all the wrongs and fixing what was broken to restore His relationship with His people so that they can dwell together again.  

    Peter explains in his Pentecost sermon that through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, God is repairing what went wrong in Genesis 3. Jesus overcomes both sin and death, then sends the Holy Spirit so God can dwell with humans again, even while we still live in a broken world.  Now look at what else is happening that Peter doesn’t mention. While Jesus is fixing what went wrong in Genesis 3 through the actions of the Spirit on that Pentecost, God is also fixing what went wrong in Genesis 11.  

    First, let’s go back to our scripture.  Luke tells us :

    Acts 2:1   When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.

    Then skip down to verse 5, where he adds some detail about who was there:

    Acts 2:5   Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

    Then, in verse 9, he lists all the places they came from.

    Acts 2:9-11   Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians…

    Here is a map of the places that Luke mentions; it is most of the known world at the time.  Devout Jews had traveled from all these places to gather in one place in Jerusalem.  Why does Luke go into such detail about who is there?  Because if you know your Bible, you know there is another place in the Bible where you can find a very similar list of nations.   It is way back in the Bible in Genesis 10 where the scriptures show how Noah’s sons and their descendants scattered to follow God’s command to be fruitful and fill the earth.  

    Here is the area listed in Genesis 10 where all the people after Noah scattered to.  And three times in Genesis 10, it says these were all separated into their lands by their languages.

    Now, don’t be confused, because this list of nations in Genesis 10 describes the results of what happened in Genesis 11.  In our culture, we like our books to be in chronological order.   First things first.  However, in Old Testament times, they weren’t as concerned with chronology, and therefore, you will see them present events out of chronological order for various reasons.  For example, Numbers 9 clearly happens exactly 1 month before Numbers 1.  Genesis 11 (the story of the tower of Babel) is the event that leads to the scattering of people to all the nations listed in Genesis 10.

    Luke takes the time to list all the countries from which people came on Pentecost because he wants you to recall the other list in Genesis.  He wants you to see the connection between what happened in Genesis and what is happening at Pentecost.  Let’s back up and look at the pattern of events in the first 10 Chapters of the Bible.

    Creation.  The spirit hovers over the chaos waters.   God makes dry land appear, then plants to grow, and populates the world with animals, and then places man.  He tells man to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the land.  After the fall, things go downhill very fast.  So in Genesis chapter 6:

    Genesis 6:5-6   Yehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yehovah regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

    “Every intention of the heart was only evil continuously.”  That’s bad.  How does God respond?

    Genesis 6:7-8   So Yehovah said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yehovah.

    But Noah found favor.  It is the Hebrew word ‘chen’, which means ‘grace’.  Noah found grace.

    So God causes a flood.  We are meant to see the flood as a de-creation event.  It is creation backwards.  Man is destroyed, animals and plants are destroyed, and the chaotic waters again cover the land.  It is creation in reverse.  Only a remnant is saved through grace on an ark.  

    Then, like a re-creation event, you start with everything in a watery chaos, and then the waters recede, revealing dry land. The emergence of plants follows this, and then animals and humans are placed back on the land, on Mount Ararat.  And God tells them again to be fruitful and fill the land.  

    But just like after the first creation, things go downhill quickly.  Sin abounds.  And instead of filling the land, they rebel and choose to stay in one place, and build a city and a tower to make themselves great, to reach up to heaven and be great like God. You know this story:

    Genesis 11:1-4    Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

    Let US make bricks, build OURSELVES a city and a tower.   Let US make a name for OURSELVES.   God has no place in the actions of the people building this great city and tower.   He is forgotten or ignored.  What God says doesn’t matter.  We can decide for ourselves what is right and wrong.   It is all about me!  God had commanded them to multiply and fill the earth, but they had forgotten this instruction; instead, they wanted to remain where they were.

    They wanted to reach up to heaven.  That doesn’t sound like it has to be a bad thing.  After all, God’s goal is to dwell with humanity again, as He did in the Garden.  But they didn’t want to do it God’s way; they wanted to do it on their own, in their own way.  They thought they could reach up to heaven all by themselves.   They could do it without God. Just as in Genesis 3, humanity is attempting to exceed its limits. “Let us build a tower with its top in the heavens” sounds a lot like what the serpent said, “And you will be like God.”  “Let us make a name for ourselves.”  Then all people will honor us and give us praise and glory. This is Genesis 3 all over again on a larger scale.  

    This is similar to Adam and Eve’s desire in Genesis 3.  Knowing the difference between good and evil is not a bad thing. It is really important to understand the difference.  That is one of our most important jobs as parents: to teach our children right from wrong.  But the problem in Genesis 3 is that they didn’t want God to tell them or teach them; they wanted to reach out and take it for themselves.  No thanks, God, we don’t need you to instruct us; we’ll decide right and wrong on our own.  They could accomplish this without God. They could be Gods themselves—their own gods.  That’s like a 2-year-old screaming at his parents, “But that’s not fair! I want to make my own rules!”  God wants them to learn to judge right and wrong.

    However, it must be His own definition of right and wrong.  This first sin in Eden still plagues us today.  We think we can legislate morality.  But we are not at liberty to alter God’s definition of right and wrong when we feel like it.  We can’t change right and wrong by voting on it.  It doesn’t matter what Congress, the president, or the Supreme Court says.  There is only one that determines right and wrong, and it is not a court that calls itself ‘supreme’, but it is the Supreme Being, Yehovah God, King of the universe.  He is the sole judge of right and wrong.

    We live in a great country and have enjoyed a long time of success and prosperity.  The danger with greatness is that you may forget how you got there.  Moses warned the people in Deuteronomy that when they became prosperous in the land, they would forget God.  They would forget God’s rules and decide they can make their own rules and be their own God.  We need to pray for repentance and revival in our country.  

    Adam and Eve decide they can’t live by God’s rules.  They reject him as king, so God intervenes.  They are forced to leave the garden.  Now look how God intervened in Genesis 11: 

    Genesis 11:5-7   And Yehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And Yehovah said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

    I like how it says, “Yehovah came down to see the city and the tower…”  This is how fruitless their godless attempts were.  They are trying to reach up to heaven, and yet God has to come down to reach them.  God says their unity is a bad thing.  Being united is only good if we are united under God.  The people of Babel were united for themselves.  So God intervenes.  He divided their languages, which forces them to abandon their construction project as they can no longer communicate with each other.  They naturally separate into their various language groups and begin to fulfil God’s plan to fill the earth. 

    At Pentecost, God is repairing what went wrong in Babel.  At Babel, there were people from every nation all in one place.  They were trying to reach up to God’s space. But that is impossible.  We can’t make our way to heaven on our own.  Then God divides their languages to end their communication and thus bring an end to their sinful project.  This causes people to scatter in order to fulfill God’s command to fill the earth.

    At Pentecost, Luke tells us that they were devout men from every nation, all gathered together in one place.  And God reaches down to them by sending His Holy Spirit to abide with them. He removes the barrier of different languages so they can communicate.  And the communication is not man’s words, to glorify man, but God’s words to bring glory to God. Then the people go back to all the nations, where they will fulfill God’s Great Commission to disciple others by sharing the good news of Jesus.  God is again intervening in the world to redeem what went wrong.  

    The more you study the Bible, the more you see these patterns.  The Bible is a collection of books intricately designed because God wants you to see how he consistently deals with His people.  The more we study His Word, the better we will recognize these patterns as well as God’s actions in our world today. And that is important.  These people in Acts 2 asked, “What does this mean?”  I am afraid that we often look at the events of the world around us, just as the disciples looked at the man born blind.  They were asking the wrong questions, “Whose fault is this?  Why was he born blind?”

    Another war breaks out, more disasters occur, peace comes and goes, health problems develop, friends die, babies are born, people come to your aid, and others fail you. Throughout these times, we should not ask, “Whose fault is this?” or “Why did this happen?” The right question is, “What does this mean for the kingdom of God?” or “What is God doing here?”  Look for God moving every day, all around you.  Don’t live like the people in Babel, ignoring God or pretending He doesn’t exist.

    I can’t tell you exactly what you would have heard if you were there on that Pentecost Sunday in the Temple in Jerusalem.  I can’t describe what the fire looked like or exactly what the noise sounded like.  I can’t tell you what the disciples said that everyone heard in their own language.  But that’s okay, because that is not what is important.  I can answer the question that those receptive to the disciples’ speaking asked.  “What does this mean?”

    It means God’s plan to reunite His Spirit with humans is happening, just as Joel predicted.  It means we, like the disciples, can experience the presence of God living in us through the same Holy Spirit that descended upon them like fire. God is multiplying his presence in this world; the Kingdom of God is now.  The problem at Babel is now solved.  We can, through the Holy Spirit, be united under God..

    After the Flood, God made a promise.  He put a bow in the sky and said

    Genesis 9:11 Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.

    God would never again cover the earth with the waters to destroy. However, God did promise that He would cover the earth again.   With what?

    Isaiah 11:9   For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Yehovah as the waters cover the sea.”

    And the same Holy Spirit that came down on the disciples is in you.  And we have that same Commission they had.  Every time we gather together in one place in our churches, as they did on that Pentecost morning, we worship as they worshiped.  And we should see the Holy Spirit in each other, manifested through the fruits of the Spirit.  And then when we walk out these doors, we will scatter to different parts of our world with the same goal.  To disciple all we come in contact with.  Let us flood the earth with the love, mercy, and grace of our God.  

  • June 17  –  The Decision to Replace Judas — Acts #3

    Acts #3 — The Decision to Replace Judas
    Acts 1:15-26

    Last week, we completed our 70-week study of Jesus’ ministry.  We will continue the Bible’s story with the Book of Acts, Luke’s second volume.  We have already covered the ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts chapters 1 and 2.   There is one other story in Acts 1 that we will cover today, and it happens just before Pentecost.  

    One thing I don’t want you to miss as we study the book of Acts is that the coming of the Holy Spirit is a turning point in the Bible and the history of the world.  Part of what we will concentrate on is the significant difference the Holy Spirit makes in God’s people.  The Holy Spirit is essential to living the abundant life Jesus discussed.  After that Pentecost, God’s Spirit is now not just in one person, Jesus, but in over 3000 people who are scattering throughout the known world.  And the number of people carrying God’s Holy Spirit continues to multiply today.  

    Jesus said: 

    John 14:12   â€œTruly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 

    You are going to hear this verse a lot.  It confuses many people because they first wonder how anyone could do anything greater than Jesus did.  Secondly, they don’t see how Jesus going to the Father has anything to do with his disciples doing greater works.  But remember our discussion of Jesus’ ascension.  Jesus performs the duties of our high priest.  He enters the holy place and offers the sacrifice for our sins to the Father, and then he gives the blessing from the Father – God’s very presence in the form of the Holy Spirit. Greater works than these will be done because God’s presence in our world has been multiplied. This is the difference the Holy Spirit makes.

    Before this, in the time of history after the fall and before Jesus, the manifestation of God’s presence to His people was very limited.  He appeared to Noah.  He appeared to Abraham and his descendants at times.   He appeared to all of Israel at Mount Sinai and on several occasions. The Old Testament contains the stories of how God occasionally clothed people with the Holy Spirit.   But these visitations of God’s presence were very few, with at times hundreds of years between.

    Moses expressed the desire that all people have God’s Holy Spirit. 

    Numbers 11:29    Would that all the Yehovah’s people were prophets, that Yehovah would put his Spirit on them!

    And then Jesus came, God in flesh.  And Jesus appeared to many thousands at one time on several occasions.  But think throughout history, how many people living in the world never had the opportunity to witness firsthand a specific manifestation of God.  Jesus came to change that.   Because the Holy Spirit was sent in Jesus’ name, all who believe and follow Jesus will have an encounter with God personally.  And now God’s power is available to work in every follower.  This is the difference the Holy Spirit in us makes.

    But just before the Holy Spirit comes, we have this story in Acts 1:

    Acts 1:15, 21-26   In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas…    
    So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
    And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

    Why must there be a replacement for Judas?  Are eleven apostles not enough?  Jesus chose twelve disciples and told them: 

    Matthew 19:28  “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

    Twelve thrones must be filled.  In his complete rebellion, Judas has disqualified himself.  So, a replacement must be chosen. Note that later, when James, the son of Zebedee, is martyred by Herod Agrippa in Acts 12, there is no need to replace him.  We will see James on that throne later.  But they must replace Judas.

    So this is a monumental decision.  And how do they choose the person to take this position?  First, they discussed the qualifications.  They must have been there for the entire ministry of Jesus, from his baptism in the Jordan to his resurrection.  They wanted an eyewitness.   So they narrowed it down to two individuals, and they “cast lots.”  Did they draw straws, flip a coin, or roll the dice?  We don’t know, but it was something along those lines.  Does it bother you that the decision of who will sit on a throne of judgment in Heaven was left to something like a coin toss?

    Let’s say that one day you decide to hire a financial investor to help you handle your money.  You interview several people and you ask them about their investment strategies.  How will you choose where to invest my money?   One of them says, “When deciding how to invest other people’s money, I usually just flip a coin to choose which investment to take.  Sometimes I roll the dice and sometimes just close my eyes and point.”  I am going to guess that this guy would not be your first choice.  After all, no reasonable person would ever make a major life decision by flipping a coin or rolling the dice.  That is ridiculous… isn’t it?  

    Yet in Acts 1, the disciples choose someone to sit on a throne and be a judge in the New World by casting lots.  Casting lots to make big decisions was standard practice in many of the cultures seen in the Old Testament.  When Jonah was running from God and the ship was in a storm, the pagan sailors cast lots to see whose God was angry at whom. 

    Jonah 1:7   “And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.”

    This was standard practice for many religions in the day. But it wasn’t just in the pagan cultures.   In Israel, when they decided to divide the promised land and determine which tribe got which property, they did it by casting lots.1  On the Day of Atonement each year, the High Priest would cast lots to see which of the two goats would become the scapegoat and which would be sacrificed.  The Book of Exodus gives instructions for two stones, named the Urim and Thumim, to be worn in a pouch in the High Priest’s breastplate.  They were often used to cast lots as a way to determine God’s will.

    Once, in Samuel, the Israelites were at war with the Philistines, and Saul determined to attack them.  The people followed his decision, but the High Priest said they should ask God.  This was a life-or-death decision.   So they asked God, but He did not answer.  They reasoned that God refused to answer because someone in the camp had sinned.  To determine who had sinned, they again consulted the Urim and the Thumin, the High Priest’s “holy dice.”  

    Here is the story:

    1 Samuel 14:36-42  Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day. And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. For as the LORD lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.
    Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” Therefore Saul said, “O LORD God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O LORD, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was taken.”

    So God answered them through the holy dice, the Urim and the Thumim, and revealed that Jonathan sinned by breaking their fast.  Again, it may seem strange to you that these life or death situations are left to the roll of two stones.  You might want to stop Saul and say, “But rolling the dice is random! That is no way to decide!”  And everyone there would think you were the heretic.  Casting lots is only odd if you think the result of tossing the stones is left to chance.  And no one in Israel thought the answer was left to chance.  God would control the result to give His answer.  This is stated very clearly in Proverbs:

    Proverbs 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

    This proverb says the dice are rolled in your lap, but the result is not random.  God intervenes and controls the result.  We still use this idea when we say “your lot in life.”   And perhaps you’ve heard of the “lottery.” But our view is that the lottery is just random, a one-in-a-million chance to win.  But this is different.  

    The writer of this proverb and all those who cast lots had a very high view of God’s sovereignty — God’s control over the world.   We can all agree that God has control over His creation.  He is not some cosmic watchmaker who created the world, wound it as one would wind a watch, and then left it to run on its own.  We can all agree that we see God intervening in the world in the Bible.  But how much control does God maintain over this world and your life?  

    This is a highly complex question, and many theologians, much smarter than I, reach different conclusions and use scripture to support their positions. 

    My Calvinist friends believe God is completely sovereign over every aspect of life.  Not a leaf falls to the ground nor an airplane falls out of the sky that is not determined by His will.  Moreover, they maintain that God has willed (predestined) that some individuals will be saved and some will not.  And those individuals do not have a choice.  They say Judas was destined by God to betray Jesus.  God determined that Judas would do this.  Nothing else could happen.  There is no other way Judas’ story could end.   

    That is not what I see in the scriptures.  I certainly believe that God is sovereign, but that he created people with free will.  People have the option to make decisions contrary to God’s will.  Even though God wants everyone to be saved, people can freely choose to reject God. 

    1 Timothy 2:4   [God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

    Judas had a choice.  He didn’t have to betray Jesus.  They were going to arrest Jesus anyway.  Judas just made it easier.  Everyone has a choice.  God can make his plan happen without forcing people to sin.  God is so good that He can accomplish his will despite some people’s choices.  God often intervenes in the world to cause everything to work toward good.  When people choose evil and cause harm to come to others, God is in the business of taking that bad situation and causing it to work for good.   But God’s perfect will is not done on earth now due to humanity’s bad choices.  

    One day, God’s will is going to be completely done on earth as it is now being done in heaven.  That is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer:  “Thy Kingdom come.  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

    These two ways of approaching the idea of sovereignty are much more complex than this.  So please search the scriptures for yourself and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  I believe God loves us and does everything He can to encourage us to make the best decisions.  I think that applies to all people, as the Bible says.   I believe God wanted Judas to be saved.  When I read the Bible, I see God constantly intervening in people’s lives to lead them to where he would have them to be.   I don’t think our lives are random any more than the result of casting lots was random. 

    But the Bible clearly says that prayerfully casting lots presumed that God determined the result.  It was His will, not just random chance.  So why are we not doing that today?  Is it because we believe God no longer has the power to control the roll of the dice?  Is it because we don’t think God cares enough about our decisions to give us the correct answer?  Is it because we are enlightened in our modern world and believe we are so intelligent that we don’t need God’s help to make good decisions?  

    Though we see many instances of casting lots throughout the Old Testament and again here after Jesus’ ascension, there is not one example of casting lots in the Bible after this point in Acts chapter 1.2  Why? There are many times in the New Testament stories about the apostles making difficult and sometimes life-or-death decisions, but never after this episode in Acts 1 do we see them consulting God’s answer by casting lots.  

    Why?  Because the next event in the Bible is the coming of the holy spirit.  This is what Jesus’ ministry was leading up to: victory over sin and death and the blessing of the Holy Spirit. These things are part of God’s plan to dwell with his people again.  And now that the Holy Spirit is within us, there is no need to cast lots again.  So, how does the church in Acts make decisions?

    Acts 13:2   While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

    God speaks to them through the Holy Spirit.  “The Holy Spirit spoke while they were worshiping and fasting. Do you want to hear from the Holy Spirit?  Here is your first clue: worship and fast.   We do not hear because we don’t listen.  We have not trained ourselves to listen to God. We are too busy doing other things. Can you hear from the Holy Spirit while watching TV or surfing the internet? Absolutely. God can speak at any time. However, while you are watching TV or surfing the internet, when the Spirit speaks, His message to you might be, “Stop watching TV!” or “Get off the internet!”  But if you really want to hear God’s Spirit, you should follow his direction to worship, fast, and pray. Remember, Paul told Timothy:

    2 Timothy 1:6   Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,”

    Fan the flame.  Encourage the Spirit by being obedient.  Cultivate a relationship with the Spirit within you. You won’t hear from the Spirit if you are constantly dumping buckets of water on the fire.  Here is another example of the Spirit’s direction:

    Acts 16:6   And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

    Paul thought heading west to Ephesus was the right move, but the Spirit said NO! You can’t go there now.    “There is a way that seems right to a man”….. “Lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.“

    And we know the Holy Spirit sometimes speaks through visions:

    Acts 16:9-10   And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

    And in Acts 15, the apostles met in Jerusalem to solve the church’s most significant question in the first century.  What about Gentiles who want to follow the Jewish Messiah?  Must they become Jewish first?   Must they be circumcised?  Must they stop eating shrimp?  

    They came to that meeting with very different opinions on the matter.  And they meet and discuss this, and then they come to an agreement.  How did they decide?  Here is their report:

    Acts 15:28   For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements…

    “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”  The voice of the Holy Spirit came to them, and they agreed with the Spirit.   Now let me ask you, “Is this how you make decisions?”  

    God loves you and wants the best for you, and he has placed His Spirit within you to guide you.  Oh, that we would listen.

    The Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart, to lead you in the path God wants you to take. God is not just sitting back watching.  He is bringing people into our lives for a reason.  He is challenging you so you can grow and comforting you so that you may know peace in the storm.  If we can only open our eyes to the work of God in this world, then we will see all the times that God intervenes and directs our path, all of those bad situations we avoided, and all of the accidents we didn’t have.  We would see that really few things in our lives are coincidences, and very little is left to chance.

    I recently reenrolled in Hebrew classes.  I started 10 years ago and had to stop after a few years because my Pediatric practice was leaving me with too little time.  In the past 2 weeks, I have been reviewing vocabulary words and came across this Hebrew word, miqreh, which means “chance or accident.”  I remember coming across this word years ago, and knowing the Scripture’s high view of God’s sovereignty, I wondered where it was found in the Bible and how it was used.  But I never found the time to look it up then.  But now I had the time. You only see this word 10 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.  Here is one verse:

    Ruth 2:3   So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.

    The Book of Ruth is short, but it is packed full of wisdom. The story occurs during the period of the Judges, a bleak time of Israel’s failure and rebellion.   A famine forces Naomi, her husband, and her two sons to leave Israel and live in Moab.  Her husband dies there, and Naomi’s two sons marry women from Moab.  One of those women is Ruth.  Later, both sons die, and Naomi is left with her two daughters-in-law. Three widows left together.   Naomi returns to her country, Israel, and Ruth agrees to go, even though it means leaving her homeland.  Life is hard for the two widows.  They live in poverty, gathering the remnants of the grain harvest left in the field. 

    Ruth just “happened” to come, of all the fields around Bethlehem, to the one who belonged to a relative of Naomi.  However, how the writer of Ruth has crafted the story makes it evident that this is no accident.  The writer emphasizes God’s involvement in the story all along.  God takes the horrible circumstance of the death of the three men and works the story for the good.   Ruth thought she ended up at Boaz’s field by accident.  Too often, we are like Ruth and chalk up the work of God to good luck.   Boaz becomes the kinsman-redeemer who rescues Naomi and Ruth from poverty.  Boaz and Ruth have a son, Obed, who becomes the grandfather of David and the ancestor of Jesus.  God has taken something bad and made good out of it.  And it was not an accident or coincidence.

    God is just as active in our lives as he was in Ruth’s.  There are many fewer coincidences in life than we might realize.  I love how Oswald Chambers says it in his devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest”:

    “God engineers our circumstances as He did those of His Son; all we have to do is to follow where He places us. The majority of us are busy trying to place ourselves.”3  

    God is intimately involved and moving in our lives on a daily basis.  Just yesterday, Shirley shared with a friend at lunch about one such incident. 

    We were leaving New York City, where we had been for a week.  Meriel had won a drama competition and was invited to participate in a trial run of a new Dreamworks play that they were demonstrating for some Disney executives.  We were at the airport past security when Shirley realized her purse was left at the hotel.  The purse that had our car keys for the car parked in Atlanta.  We decided it was worth the trip back, and Shirley insisted that Meriel and I take the flight that was leaving soon. She changed her flight to the next one and then took a taxi back to pick up her purse.  

    She got on the plane, and a woman sat down beside her.  God ordained this meeting.  This woman was going through a terrible situation, and she needed help.  She needed some godly counseling.  And she “happened” to sit by my wife, a pastoral counselor, for a several-hour flight.   God went to a lot of trouble to set this up.  This was no more an accident than Ruth gleaning wheat in Boaz’s field.  And I could tell you many stories where God moved us and our circumstances for the cause of Christ.  God is active in our world and is working good all around us.

    God is powerfully sovereign, constantly moving in the world he created.  Despite the popular Christian song, I don’t think God has to tell the sun to rise every morning.  He designed a beautiful universe where gravity and other forces keep the sun and the moon in their orbits for billions of years with no need to make adjustments.  God can intervene in the sun’s orbit if he desires it (see Job 9:7 and Joshua 10).  But he initially set things up so well that it doesn’t need regular adjustment.   He doesn’t need to push each leaf off the trees in the fall.  In his design for this world, leaves fall when it is their season.  And the sun and the leaves are obedient to the laws God set up for them in the beginning.  But people are not leaves or planets.  We have free will.  We are not always obedient.  We are capable of making decisions that run counter to God’s will.   So unlike the sun’s rising, God must constantly intervene in our lives to work things for good.  If we sin and choose a wrong path, God, out of his love, mercy, and grace, intervenes to urge us back on track.   He brings people into our lives to encourage us to return.  God’s love for us is so great that he continually adjusts our world to help us do the next right thing.

    God promised that this time would come: 

    Isaiah 42:16   And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them.  I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.  These are the things I do,  And I do not forsake them.

    This is what God does.  His Holy Spirit constantly goes before us, leveling the ground in ways we do not see.  

    We are often blind to God working in our lives.  Think about your past week.   Like Ruth, you might see something that happened as a chance encounter or an accidental meeting, but it was God-directed and meant for your good.  We need to have the attitude of the lot casters who said…

    Proverbs 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

    Here is the attitude we need:

    Proverbs 16:9   The heart of man plans his way, but Yehovah establishes his steps.

    When you walk out your door today or when you wake up tomorrow morning, you may have plans for your journey, but expect the Holy Spirit to intervene.  Remember when we discussed the Great Commission and Jesus said:   “As you go about living life, disciple people.”

    Let me encourage you again to view every person that comes into your life, every “chance encounter”, as if God has purposely brought you together.  What would you say to someone, and how would you act differently if you knew God had specifically arranged for them to meet you that day?  I believe God directs our lives, so we have many daily opportunities to influence people for God’s Kingdom. This is how we fulfill the Great Commission.  Much more good is done for God’s kingdom through the encounters of his people just doing life than all the preachers and missionaries put together.   We need to be more aware that God is placing people in our path and looking for opportunities to display Jesus.

    So you can get rid of your ‘Holy Dice.’  You don’t need them.  We have the Holy Spirit within us.  We must live lives of worship, prayer, and fasting, fanning the flame of God’s spirit in us.  As we go through the book of Acts in the following months, we will see how the Holy Spirit made a difference in the lives of the early church.  Let us decide to imitate their response to the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Ask God to open your eyes to see Him working all around you. Ask God to give you ears to hear.  God is speaking.  Are you listening?

    1. This is where our word comes from for the land we own.  Our “building lot” is 1.3 acres.  
    2. It is interesting that Luke begins his Gospel and the Book of Acts with a casting of lots. In Luke 1:9, we learn that Zechariah was chosen by lot to offer incense in the Temple when the angel came to announce he would have a son.
    3. Chambers, Oswald.  My Utmost for His Highest. 1924.

  • June 10  – The Ascension — Acts #1

    Acts #1 — The Ascension
    Mark 16:15-19, Luke 24:50-53, Acts1:1-11, Hebrews (many passages)
    (Cross-posted in the 70 weeks with Jesus section.)

    Luke 24:50-51   And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.  While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

    We love to celebrate the significant happenings in the life of Jesus.  We primarily make a big deal of Christmas and Easter, as days to honor Jesus’ birth and resurrection.  I can’t imagine any Christian I know forgetting to celebrate either of these.  But do you celebrate Jesus’ Day of Ascension?  You probably didn’t notice that it just passed us by.  This year it was  Thursday, May 29.  It is always 40 days after Easter.  It may never be mentioned if your church does not follow a liturgical calendar.   We all know that Jesus ascended back to the Father.  But we never seem to talk about it.  

    Why do we not talk about or celebrate Jesus’ ascension?  Well, we mention it a lot.  It is part of the creeds recited at each service in many churches.  From the Apostles’ Creed: “…he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.”  But I can’t recall hearing a sermon, Sunday School lesson, or reading a book about the ascension.  

    Three weeks ago, I was looking ahead to this day, when our week-by-week study of Jesus’ ministry came to the ascension.  And I realized that I hadn’t ever thought much about the ascension.  I had no idea what I could share with you.  But let me tell you how good God is.  He led me to a book by Patrick Schreiner, “The Ascension of Christ, Recovering a Neglected Doctrine.”  This book and the book of Hebrews pointed out to me the importance of the ascension and what Jesus is doing now in the presence of God for us.

    Schreiner notes that there are several reasons that we don’t emphasize the ascension. First, there is not much specific information in the Bible about the ascension.  Schreiner states: “The ascension narrative account covers a mere seven verses in the Bible, which, if you are counting, is 0.03 percent of all the verses in the Scriptures.”1

    While there are very few verses describing the ascension event, there is a good deal of discussion in the Scriptures about the implications of Jesus’ ascension.  However, many of those we miss because we don’t understand the importance of the ascension.

    The disciples didn’t understand the ascension either at first.  They were not expecting Jesus’ ascension.   He had told them, but they missed it.  For all they knew, Jesus had returned from the dead so he could resume his ministry with them.  In Luke’s second book, the Book of Acts, he begins the book the way he finished the Gospel of Luke, with Jesus’ ascension.

    Acts 1:1-5  In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.  He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
    And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

    Jesus tells them plainly that the Holy Spirit is coming in just a few days.  The disciples knew the scriptures.  They knew that Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah all spoke of the new age that would come when the Holy Spirit came.2. So now they expect the new age to begin in just a few days, and they ask him:

    Acts 1:6   So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

    Despite everything Jesus has taught them, they are still expecting that when the new age comes, the Messiah will restore Israel to national independence and remove the Roman oppressors. They have been hanging on to this idea of a Messiah with a military takeover throughout the past year, at times even discussing what positions of authority they would have when Jesus took over.  As he did at Jesus’ arrest, I can see Peter picking up his sword again and saying, “So now’s the time you are going to wipe out Rome and restore Israel’s kingdom?.

    And Jesus answers:

    Acts 1:7-11   He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

    Jesus says the Father’s timing for the last days is not their concern.  It is not for them to know the Father’s timing or worry about that.  Instead, their focus should be on their task as witnesses.  The kingdom of God that they are to proclaim to the world is his message of grace and forgiveness.  That is what is important.  Talk about a Mike Drop moment – Boom!  Impressive statement, impressive exit.

    Let me say that a little louder for my friends on the internet.   Stop wasting time arguing, debating, and trying to figure out the Father’s timing on the last days. Jesus says that it is none of your business.  God has given us this incredible gift of the Holy Spirit.  And we have God’s power through the Holy Spirit so that we can be powerful witnesses to God’s message of grace.  Let’s do that.

    So the next time someone wants you to watch this 1-hour video on how the end times are being fulfilled, whip out Acts 1:7-9 and tell them God said I don’t have time to waste trying to figure out things that are not for me to know.  I need to spend that hour with the Holy Spirit, being God’s witness to the world.

    So Jesus blows their mind with his pronouncement, then blows their mind with his sudden departure.  This was not at all what they expected.  (That was a recurring theme for the disciples with Jesus the whole year.). So they are just staring up at the clouds, with that dumb, clueless look on their faces.   Just staring at the cloud….Until God sends a couple of angels:

    Acts 1:10-11  And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

    “Stop staring at the sky.  He’ll come back, but not today.  Go do what he told you to do.”

    We don’t realize the importance of the ascension, so we find ourselves asking questions.  Perhaps you’ve thought about some of these:
    Why did Jesus have to go?
    Wouldn’t it have been better if Jesus had just stayed on earth?
    Why did he have to leave for the Holy Spirit to come?
    What is Jesus doing up there anyway?   
    Are any of these your questions?

    We talk all the time about what Jesus has done on earth (his life, death, and resurrection), and we like to talk about what he will do when he comes back, but we rarely talk about what Jesus is doing right now.  I think we would better understand the ascension if we realized how it fits into the big story of the Bible.

    But the problem is that many people don’t have a firm grip on the Bible’s story. We talk a lot about heaven and earth, and some people get the idea that one day, we will leave Earth and go to heaven. But the Bible does not really view heaven and earth as two distinct, separate geographic locations. We need to think in terms of “God’s space” and “our space” and how they were the same in the beginning in Genesis 1-2.  

    It helps to picture this, and I think the people at the Bible Project have done the best job illustrating this concept.  So please take 6 minutes and learn much as you see their video.

    The Bible discusses the ascension almost as part of the resurrection.  Jesus was dead, then he rose from the grave in bodily form, but a glorified body (It was recognizable but not so easily.  He was able to pass through walls or appear instantly.).  But it is still a human body, bearing the scars of his crucifixion.  He rises from the dead, then stops off here, like a short layover for 40 days for some unfinished business.  He wants to ensure the disciples accept his return to life by seeing him.  He needs to make sure their guilt over denying him does not keep them from doing the work, and then he needs to give them final instructions on their ministry and the need to wait on the gift of the Spirit.

    Then he ascends in his glorified human body to sit at the right hand of the Father.  So we have Jesus, in his human body, in God’s space.  The New Testament writers often speak of Jesus’ exaltation: his resurrection, rising to heaven, and enthronement as one process, the ascension.  Jesus has opened the door for us to be with God again one day.

    Jesus tried to explain this to Nicodemus:

    John 3:13-15   No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

    No one ascends to God’s space except Jesus.  The only way we go is if we go with him.  There is no other way.  The Son of Man must be lifted up — This encompasses the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension.  Jesus was lifted up on the cross, lifted up from the grave, and then lifted up into the skies.  Because of this, we may have “eternal life,” which is life in God’s space.

    And what is Jesus doing there?  Jesus is at the right hand of God, acting as our high priest.  In the Bible, priests served God and God’s people by mediating between God and man before God’s altar, where God’s space and our space meet.  The book of Hebrews is full of statements of how Jesus is fulfilling the priestly role in God’s space now.  I will discuss three of these priestly roles Jesus is doing now:  He intercedes for us; He presents a sacrifice for us, and He provides a blessing to us.

    Hebrews 7:25  Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

    What does Jesus’ intercession look like? You have heard Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” But did you realize that verse was talking about Jesus’ intercessory role?

    Romans 8:31-34   “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

    Who can be against us?  Who can be our accuser?  Remember in the book of Job, when the Satan (the accuser) comes to bring a charge against Job?  Paul tells us no one can bring a charge against those in Christ.  Let the accuser come.  He has no charges to bring against us because Jesus has taken them all away on the cross.  Jesus is at God’s throne, so no one can come to accuse.  If Jesus is for us, then no one can come against us.  He is always making intercession for us, speaking to the Father on our behalf.   

    As Jesus in His final days prayed for Peter:

    Luke 22:31   Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

    Jesus is in heaven, praying for you that your faith will not fail.   And Jesus understands your temptation.  Look at this passage in Hebrews 4:14-16.  First verse 14:

    Hebrews 4:14  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. 

    The fact that Jesus is present as our high priest in the throne room of God should encourage us.

    Hebrews 4:15  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.

    Humanity is represented in heaven right now, because Jesus is there in his human body, his glorified human body.   Jesus did not give up his humanity, so he can better represent us there.  He understands us.  He has been where you are, experiencing all the temptations, all the weaknesses.  Jesus knows us.  He gets us.  And he speaks to the Father on our behalf.

    Hebrews 4:16   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.

    So then, we can come to God’s throne when we are in need with confidence. We don’t approach God’s throne as a lowly subject fearful of the King’s response, but we come sure in the grace of our Lord Jesus, confident that he has paved the way to the throne with intercession.

    Remember a few weeks ago we talked about the difference in the 2 fig trees (April 27, 28 A.D.  – Jesus rides in a parade, rearranges furniture, and kills a tree.— The Year of the Lord’s Favor #80). Jesus tells a parable in Luke 13:6-9 of a fig tree that should have fruit but does not for three years. The owner wants to dig it up and discard it, but it is given another chance.   Then, in his final week, Jesus sees a tree that should have fruit, but does not, and it dies.  Why does this tree wither, but the other gets another chance?   Because the tree in the parable has an intercessor, someone to speak for it and ask for another chance.  Jesus is our intercessor, sitting by the Father, seeking mercy and forgiveness for us.

    We often ask our friends to pray for us, to intercede for us.  And that is a good thing.  But sometimes we may forget to pray for each other.   Jesus is at the Father’s right hand, praying for you.  He is lifting you up by name.  He is speaking to the Father, calling you his brother or sister.  He is praying, O Father, help her see the truth of this scripture.  Father, help her understand how she should respond.  Oh, what a Savior!

    Secondly, Jesus, our High Priest, provides a sacrifice for us.

    Hebrews 5:1 “For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

    Just as the altar stands between the holy place and the people, the priest stands between the people and God.  He offers a sacrifice to God on behalf of the people and then offers a blessing from God to the people.  And once a year, and only once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would make an offering and prepare himself, then ascend the 12 steps leading up to the thick curtain that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies.  This curtain or veil was embroidered with cherubim, signifying the priest was entering God’s space.  He would take the blood of the offering to present to God by sprinkling it on the mercy seat.  

    Every year, this would be repeated to make atonement for the sins of all the people.  But it was not a perfect system.  The priests were also sinners and had to make offerings for their sins constantly.  But they looked forward to a time when there would be a great high priest who could ascend to God’s space without sin.

    David asked in Psalm 24:

    Psalm 24:3-4  “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.”

    And this would be fulfilled in Jesus.  He was without sin, he had clean hands and a pure heart.  He is the only one worthy to ascend to God’s space and stand in God’s presence.  And because we are covered with his righteousness, we will stand in God’s presence.

    Hebrews 9:11-14   “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

    The sacrifice Jesus makes for us is himself, a perfect sacrifice. Though the high priest would enter the holy of holies only once a year,  priests in Israel would make many sacrifices every day.  Besides the offerings that people brought, twice a day, every day, a lamb was sacrificed, called the tamid offering, for the sins of the people.  Tamid means “continual” or “constant.”  Their sacrifices were never complete.

    Hebrews 10:11-14   And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

    Unlike the earthly high priest who had to make sacrifices daily, Jesus’ perfect sacrifice is once for all.  His crucified body, still bearing the scars, is always before the Father as our perfect sacrifice.  No other blood sacrifices are needed.

    The third aspect of the work of the high priest that Jesus is fulfilling for us is blessing. In the Old Testament, when the high priest completed his sacrifices, he left the tent of meeting, lifted up his hands, and blessed the people.  We see this initiated with Moses and Aaron:

    Leviticus 9:23   And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of Yehovah appeared to all the people.

    And the book of Numbers gives us the blessing they would use.

    Numbers 6:22-27   Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
    ‘Yehovah bless you and keep you;
    Yehovah make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
    Yehovah lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’
    So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

    Aaron and the priests were to place God’s name, Yehovah, on them and bless them.  The blessing is the presence of God among them, shining his face on them, regarding them, and giving them peace.  Peace is shalom, wholeness, peace with God and man.

    And what blessing does our High Priest, Jesus, grant us from the heavens?  Jesus enters God’s presence and then, as priests of old did, sends us the blessing of God’s presence.  But this blessing of presence comes not as the priests of old placing God’s name on them.  This blessing of presence comes by placing God himself in us, in the person of the Holy Spirit, sent in the name of Jesus, Yeshua, to dwell with us.  This presence of God within us will enlighten us and give us shalom.

    John 14:25-27  â€œThese things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

    John 16:7   Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

    Like the High Priests of old, Jesus had to present himself as the sacrifice before the Father in God’s space, the heavenly temple. After presenting the sacrifice, He gave the blessing of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus had to ascend before the Spirit could be sent down.

    With his ascension, the door was opened from God’s space to our space. He has not only made our eventual ascension possible but also opened the door for God to come in a more tangible way into our space.  Individuals in the Old Testament were temporarily clothed with the Holy Spirit to do specific deeds: leaders like Saul and David, craftsmen like Bezalel, and prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel. But when Jesus enters God’s space in his glorified human body, He opens the door for God’s spirit to come upon all believers, not just temporarily, but to live with us. He cleanses us from sin so we can be fit vessels of God’s Holy Spirit.  

    What about those who think it would be better if Jesus had stayed on earth?  Wouldn’t it be great for Jesus to be right here now?  We could ask him questions, get his advice, and watch him work.  Yes, but remember when Jesus was here in 28 AD, he was limited in his human form.  He could only be in one place at a time.  And this is a big world.  He was only able to minister to a relative few.  But now that same spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, is with every believer, every day, every hour.  He is available to answer our questions and give us advice.  Oh, we need to learn to listen to his voice and open our eyes to see him at work all around us.

    So we have seen that Jesus had to ascend to God’s space to complete his work of salvation, to continue his work of intercession, and to convey his blessing of the Holy Spirit from God’s space to ours.

    The ascension is Jesus’ enthronement.  He sits on the throne at the Father’s right hand to do all these things and then one day to come again, to establish his complete rule by making God’s space and Man’s space one again.  And so shall we ever be with the Lord.

    1. Schreiner, Patrick.  The Ascension of Christ: Recovering a Neglected Doctrine (Snapshots).   Page 7.
    2. Isaiah 32:15-20, 44:3-5, Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26, Joel 2:28-3:1, Zechariah 12:8-10

    An addendum on the Gospel of Mark ending that contains the ascension:
    There are two Gospel passages that tell about Jesus’ ascension.  However, most scholars agree that the passage in Mark is not part of the original document of Mark’s Gospel, but was appended by some unknown person over two hundred years later.  The early church fathers, before 300 AD, did not have Mark 16:9-20 in their copies of Mark.  Church historian Eusebius, in 320, had access to many manuscripts of Mark, and he remarked that this passage was missing in almost all manuscripts.  Ending the Book of Mark at 16:8 is a rather abrupt conclusion, and apparently someone ‘borrowed’ material from other gospel writers to make a more thorough conclusion.  

    This is one of just a few passages that scholars agree have been appended to the scriptures.  You may find them enclosed in brackets or with a footnote in modern versions of the Bible.  None of them are important variations, theologically speaking.  

    I cannot find any source that discusses where the verses on drinking poison and picking up serpents came from.  There is a verse in Luke 10:19, and Paul was inadvertently bitten by a viper with no ill effects, but nothing else I can find.  (If you know of something, please let me know.). In the Tyndale Commentary, Alan Cole says this: “It would be unwise, however, to build a theological position upon these verses alone; and this no responsible Christian group has ever done.”

    And I sat in the furthest back pew (there were only 5), one evening at a small church near Kingston, Georgia, who did just that.  They had that verse from Mark inscribed around the tops of the walls at the front of the church.  There was a lot of music, several snakes were handled, but no one took the Coke bottle with clear liquid on the altar.  While I can’t agree with their theology or practice, I admired their resolve.  May we be so bold as to do what Jesus asks us to do.

  • June 15  – Shavuot (Pentecost) — Acts #2

    Acts #2 — Shavuot (Pentecost)
    Acts 2:1-13
    (Cross-posted in the 70 weeks with Jesus section.)

    We have reached week 70 in our study. We began in January, looking at John the Baptist as the forerunner to Jesus. The 70-week study of Jesus’ ministry started on February 16th, with Jesus’ baptism. We have followed Jesus week by week as he traveled about, teaching, healing, and discipling his small group. 

    As I was looking back this week, I asked many people this question: “What is the climax of Jesus’ ministry?”  Most said the climax was the crucifixion or the resurrection, which are good answers.  But to decide on the climax of the story, let’s review the plot, the story of the Bible, which is all about Jesus.

    God created a world and people and said it was good.  And God and his people lived together in the same space we call the Garden of Eden.  But sin came in Genesis 3 and broke the fellowship between God and his people.  Sin and death entered the world.  And the rest of the Bible is the story of how God is working to restore his relationship with his people, to reunite heaven and earth.   

    In Exodus, God tells Moses to build a tabernacle, “So I can dwell with them.” God establishes his presence in this small people group, leading them with a pillar of fire and cloud.  Later, Temples were built as places where God’s and man’s space could overlap. But even with constant sacrifice, sin is not completely dealt with. People continue to be rebellious.  

    So Jesus comes, Emmanuel, God with us.  And for a short time, God is present with us in the person of Jesus.  Through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, sin and death are defeated so that we have the possibility of eternal life with God.  And then in his ascension to the Father and his enthronement at the Father’s right hand, He serves as our High Priest and from there sends us the blessing of the Father, which is God’s presence with all of us.  In Jesus, God is fulfilling his goal of communion with us by sending the Holy Spirit to live in us.  And we have become temples, filled with God’s presence, where God’s space and man’s space overlap.   Is this the climax?

    God is not finished, because the day is coming when Jesus will return to complete his work.  He is coming again to bring a complete end to sin and death and to restore God’s kingdom over all, and heaven and earth will be one again.  That is the day that the prayer you constantly pray will be answered.   “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  This is the climax of Jesus’ ministry – when he returns and God has completed his redemption of the world.

    But today we are talking about the arrival of the Holy Spirit.  Just before he ascended, Jesus told the disciples the Holy Spirit was coming in a few days.  They were to wait in Jerusalem until then.  And what did they do while they were waiting?

    Luke 24:50-53   While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.”

    First, they worshipped right there.  Then they returned to Jerusalem.   And how did they spend their time there?  They were continually blessing God.  And where were they meeting to bless God?  The Jewish Temple.   What does it mean to bless God?   Blessing is from the root word to ‘bend the knee.’   We praise and thank God for who he is and what he has done.  And Jesus, as a young boy, was taught the traditional Jewish blessings.  It seemed that there was a blessing for everything. 100 blessings a day.

    When we wake up: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has given me today the breath of life.” When we have food: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” And when we go to bed:  “Blessed is He who brings sleep to my eyes and slumber to my eyelids.”

    Blessing God — this is how we worship God every day, everywhere.

    Worshipping While Waiting.  Do you like to wait?  I have to confess that I am not good at waiting. I can, at times, be annoyingly impatient, especially when driving. The light turns green, and suddenly, the three seconds it takes the car in front of me to go seem an eternity.  Am I the only one like this?  The disciples took advantage of this time of waiting to bless God.

    So, this past week, I experimented with finding reasons to thank or bless God anytime I found myself waiting, worshiping in waiting. At 5:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning, driving from Georgia to Alabama, at the four red lights in a row (with no other cars present), I am blessing God.  “Blessed are you, our Lord, King of the universe, who has made such a beautiful day.  Blessed are you, Yehovah, who has created coffee so I can be fully awake.”

    Later that trip, I got behind a large truck doing 15 mph up the mountain in Crossville. (This happens almost every time.) But this time, instead of complaining to myself about the delay, I am blessing God.  “Blessed are you, our Lord, king of the Universe, who has given me a chance to see this amazing view off the mountain.”  Let me tell you, it was a much better drive.

    The disciples didn’t know exactly when the Spirit would come.  Jesus told them the Father’s timing was not for them to know.  

    Why is God waiting 10 days?  What is He waiting for?  When you study the scriptures, you find God is very intentional with his timing.  The Old Testament often speaks of the “fullness of time.”  Jesus says over and over in his Gospels, “My hour has not yet come,” until he prays in Gethsemane, and then says, “The hour has come.”  God makes sure that Jesus is crucified as the Passover lambs are being slain, and he is resurrected on the day of the Feast of FirstFruits.  So it should not come as a surprise that God is setting up the coming of the blessing of the Holy Spirit at a special time.

    Pentecost is from the Greek pentekostos, meaning “50″, because it is 50 days from Passover.  By the time of Jesus, the Jews had been celebrating that day for over a thousand years.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, it is called Shavuot, which translates into ‘sevens’ or ‘weeks.’   Leviticus 23 commanded them to count seven ‘sevens’ or seven weeks and then one day.  Then there was a special offering with grain and animals, as well as a special reading and convocation.  (Leviticus 23:15-21).   This was one of the three feasts that the scripture required all males to attend and make an offering.  (Deuteronomy 16:16).  So, as in Passover, the city is packed with over a hundred thousand Jews from all over the known world who have made their way to Jerusalem for this special day, bringing offerings of thanksgiving for God’s blessings.  

    Isn’t it interesting that God tells them to count up 50 days?   The scriptures specify the day that the Passover falls as the 14th day of the 1st month.  But the Bible never says that Shavuot is on the 6th day of the third month.  It simply says to count the days.  For 50 days, they have a special grain offering in the Temple and would make a ceremony of counting the days.  It is all about anticipation.  Something great is coming.  

    Shavuot is a harvest celebration.  As Passover and Firstfruits celebrate the barley harvest, Shavuot, 50 days later, celebrates the wheat harvest. But they are both more than harvest celebrations.  Passover celebrates the night they were spared the death of the firstborn, and they escaped bondage in Egypt.   Shavuot also commemorates the giving of the law on Mt Sinai, which Exodus tells us happened 50 days after the first Passover.

    We talked about how seven is the number of completeness throughout the Bible.  If seven is completeness, the eighth in the series is the beginning of something new.  In Genesis, God set up the week of seven days; the eighth day is the start of a new week.  We have seen many examples of sevens in the Gospel of John.  Jesus has seven table meals in John’s Gospel with people; the eighth is after the resurrection.  There are seven confessions people make about Jesus, and then the eighth one, after the resurrection, is the one that is new and different.  For the first time, He is recognized as God.  The eighth of something is new.  So we count 7 weeks, seven sevens — complete completeness, then the next day is something radically new —Pentecost.  God is doing a new thing.   To the Jews in Jesus’ day, the new thing was the giving of the law.

    And that encounter with God at Mount Sinai was dramatic and powerful.  The mountain is filled with fire and smoke and noise, with the whole mountain shaking violently.  The people were filled with fear and refused to go up the mountain as God had invited them, so they sent Moses for them.   We have discussed this powerful manifestation of God seen here, and how it is repeated at the dedication of the tabernacle with the cloud and fire consuming the sacrifice and God’s glory filling the space. 

    This same overwhelming presence of God was seen again at the dedication of Solomon’s temple.  Again, fire came down from heaven, consuming the sacrifice, and again, God’s glory filled the Temple. But the people continued to rebel, and you remember that God punished his people for their sin by allowing the foreign nation of Babylon to conquer them.  

    Ezekiel, the prophet, saw in a vision the presence of God leaving Solomon’s Temple.  Then the temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed, and all the people taken captive.  Seventy years later, when they returned to the land of Israel, they rebuilt the temple and had this grand dedication service.  But unlike the dedication of the tabernacle, unlike the dedication of Solomon’s temple, this time, God did not show up.  There was no fire, no wind, no cloud, and no sound.  God did not return because the sins that led to their exile still remained.  They had not repented.

    But God revealed to Ezekiel that though God had abandoned this Temple, He had not abandoned His people.  One day, he would return to His temple.   And all the prophets in the Old Testament looked forward to this time when God would return.  As the final prophet in the Old Testament, Malachi said:

    Malachi 3:1    Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly return to his temple;

    And they waited, and they waited… 400 years they waited.   Until that messenger that Malachi spoke of came… John the Baptist – the one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord.  And then, about 16 months later, God finally returns to the temple.

    God comes to the temple in the form of Jesus.  He comes riding on a donkey as King David and Solomon did.  And he enters the temple on that Palm Sunday.  But he comes not to be praised, but to judge.  That is when he overturns the tables of the crooked money changers and drives out the corrupt animal salesmen.  He comes with harsh words of judgment for the religious leaders of the day.  And they kill him.  And he is resurrected, but he does not return to the temple again.  He is coming back to the temple just as Ezekiel and the other Old Testament prophets foresaw, but not yet.  Just look at the picture God is painting in history:

    For 400 years, the children of Israel were held in slavery in Egypt.  400 years of waiting for redemption.  And Passover comes, and they are delivered from slavery, passing through the sea and traveling 50 days to Mount Sinai, where God’s presence shows up in mighty form.  Then you skip forward in history, and after the last prophet spoke in the Old Testament, for 400 years, they waited for God to return to His Temple. For 400 years, they waited for redemption. And Passover comes again, and through the death of Jesus on the cross, deliverance comes from slavery to sin. And then 50 days later, God’s presence comes in a mighty way to his temple. It is Pentecost. Could God make this any clearer?  He is about to intervene in history again, like he did at Sinai.

    Let’s see what happened when God’s presence came on that first day of Shavuot, when God came on Sinai. But first, we have to realize that things of God are hard for the writers of the Bible to describe.  They are trying to represent in words something we don’t have the words to explain or the context to understand.   When Ezekiel sees God leaving the temple, he tries to give us a picture of what he is seeing, God’s throne chariot, but it is indescribable.  So he talks about wheels inside wheels that move in any direction, made of jewels, and multi-faced animals, and well, it is nothing I can picture.  

    God is so much greater, so different that we cannot adequately describe his appearance.  So descriptions of God’s appearance or the descriptions of Heaven (God’s space) in Revelation are … well… just bizarre.  The Bible writers do the best they can, but it is like trying to explain a rocket ship to a caveman, or to explain colors to someone who has been blind from birth.  With that in mind, let’s look at how God’s presence at Sinai is described.  

    Exodus 20:18   Now, when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled.

    Our translators are trying to translate what it says in Hebrew, but they are having problems. Did they ” see” the thunder?  In Hebrew, it actually says,  “When all people saw the voice.” That Hebrew word appears over 500 times in the Bible and is almost always translated as voice, except in Exodus. They use “thunder” to try to describe God’s voice.

    Look what Job says about God’s voice:

    Job 37:2-4   Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
    He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth.
    After that comes the sound of his roar; He thunders with his majestic voice.
    When his voice resounds, He holds nothing back.

    So the people “saw the voice of God” and  then “flashes of lightning.”  “Flashes of lightning” is one Hebrew word, “lappidim,” which is always translated as “torches” except in this verse.    This is not lightning.  There is another Hebrew word for lighting (barak) used 21 times in the Bible.  These are pieces of fire that are moving or, as the modern Tyndale commentary says, “fireballs”, like in Abraham’s vision of God.1  Or as Jerry Lee Lewis would say, “Great balls of fire.”2

    Many times in the Bible, the voice of God is visualized as flames of fire.  Here is one example in the Psalms

    Psalm 29:7   The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
      The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness.

    So when God’s mighty presence comes at Mount Sinai, it is hard to describe, but the people see the voice of God like fireballs, and it thunders and roars. Over 1000 years later, on the same day of the year, at the celebration of that Sinai moment, God’s presence comes again on the Temple Mount.  And how does Luke describe it?

    Acts 2:1-3 “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.”

    Notice he doesn’t feel the wind but hears the sound of a “mighty rushing wind”.  In Greek, a “violent” wind.  Have you ever been close to a tornado?  One day, my family huddled in our hall when one passed by.  The sound has been described as a freight train, a thundering, rumbling, howling sound.  It is a frightening sound.

    A flame comes and divides itself into tongues of fire.  Tongue in Greek can mean the actual muscle in your mouth or, more commonly, ‘tongue’ is a language.  (We still use the term, “native tongue.”). A few verses later, when it says the disciples speak in “other tongues,” it is, of course, not saying they had different muscles in their mouth, but they spoke different languages.3  As in Sinai, fire divides into pieces, ‘tongues’ or ‘balls’ of fire.  God’s presence is being manifested in much the same way as it was at Sinai. 4 Again, Luke is trying to describe God’s presence, and like the writer of Exodus, he does the best he can.

    What we can see is that the day the Old Testament prophets had looked forward to has arrived. God’s presence has finally returned to the Temple after over 400 years of waiting. But where do the flames come from to rest? Not on the Temple building, as when God came to the Tabernacle and Solomon’s temple, but on the disciples’ heads.  The temple that God returned to was not the physical building there, not Herod’s Temple.  They waited over 400 years for God to return to His Temple, and he has.  But the temple is us. 

    1 Corinthians 3:16   Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 

    Jeremiah had seen this coming. 

    Jeremiah 31:33   For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

    Who is there in the temple on that Pentecost?   Jews from all over the world gathered for the required feast—the whole house of Israel.  At the first Shavuot, God gave them the law on stone tablets.  But Jeremiah saw the day coming, a new Shavuot with a new covenant: “I will put my law within them.”  The word they translate as “law” is the Hebrew word ‘Torah.’  And Torah can mean law, or the first five books of the Bible, but it literally means “God’s instructions for living.”   If we listen to and follow the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit within us will teach us how to live.

    Ezekiel 36:26-27 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

    Again, the Holy Spirit within us will “cause us to follow God’s instructions”.   The Spirit will show us how to live and follow God’s rules.  And just after this passage is the vision God gave Ezekiel of the spirit coming.  There was a valley full of dried-up bones.  And God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones come back to life?”  It sure didn’t look like it.  They were dead and dried up and lying in the sand.  But God said, “I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live.”   And the breath came into them, and they stood and came to life.   

    And God tells Ezekiel the meaning of the vision.  The bones are the house of Israel, which is dried up without hope.  But God is going to breathe life into them.  Remember that the Hebrew word for breath is Ruach, the same word for wind or spirit.  In Genesis 1, the Spirit is hovering over the face of the waters.   Then God takes the dust and breathes life into the dust.  God places his breath, his spirit, in us.   Breath is life. 

    When a baby is born, it appears lifeless at first, which can be scary. Then, it is stimulated and takes its first breath, and with that first breath come signs of life: movement and crying.  If you have ever witnessed a death, there is that last breath, a final exhale of breath from their lungs.  You can see how long ago people understood breath as life. Breath enters, and there is life; breath leaves, and there is death.  That is why they used the same word for breath, wind, and spirit (in Hebrew ‘ruach’ and in Greek ‘pneuma’). God tells us it is His Spirit, His Ruach, that gives us life.

    People look at the Church in the world and see decreasing attendance in worship and decreasing membership, and they say the Church is dying.  I don’t believe that.  Because life is not measured in numbers, numerical growth does not determine life.  It is the spirit that gives life.  If we can learn to accept the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives, then we live.  But so many don’t even consider the presence of God’s spirit in them.

    Paul tells his apprentice Timothy:

    2 Timothy 1:6   Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,”

    We need to be fanning the flame in ourselves.  When you invite God into your life, He comes as the Holy Spirit, that fireball from God.  We need to feed that fire by listening to the Spirit, agreeing with the Spirit, and following the Spirit.

    Paul repeatedly tells us not to ignore God’s Spirit in our lives.

    1 Thessalonians 5:19  Do not quench the Spirit.”
    Ephesians 4:30   Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

    The Holy Spirit is within us to instruct us, lead us, and make our character more like Jesus so that we will look like him.  The spirit within us causes us to produce this fruit.

    Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;”

    This is what a disciple of Jesus looks like.  This is the effect of God’s Holy Spirit in a person.  

    Maybe, like me, you look at this list of nine attributes and realize you aren’t listening to the Spirit as much as you should.  Today is a good day to begin being a better listener and follower.

    Let me add one more connection between that first Pentecost, that first Shavuot at Mount Sinai, and the Pentecost in Acts 2.  Do you remember when Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments from God? What was going on with the people of Israel?   They have given up on Moses and made a golden calf to worship.   And God sent a plague on the people, and those who were guilty were affected and were then slain by the Levites.  And 3000 died that day (Exodus 32:28).

    After the Holy Spirit comes on Pentecost, Peter preaches a sermon. Many decide to follow Jesus and are baptized. How many?

    Acts 2:41 “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

    God is redeeming here what was lost before.  God is still in the business of redeeming that which was lost.  And those 3000 Jews from all over the known world who just got baptized will head back to their home countries the next day.   Do you see what God just did there?  3000 missionaries spreading the Gospel to the world, all sent in one day.

    And there is a world beyond our doors that is broken and lost.  And God, through His Holy Spirit in us, desires that no one perish, but all come to repentance.  Remember Jesus telling his disciples (John 14.12) that they would do greater works than he did because he was going to the Father? Jesus goes to the Father so he can send us the blessing of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of Christ lives in us.  We need to be doing great things.

    1. Cole, R. Alan.  Tyndale Complete Commentary, Exodus.  
    2. The phrase “Great Balls of Fire!” became popular in the southern United States in the mid-1800s, according to “Phrase Finder” (internet website) based on the references in Exodus, as the presence of God indicated by fire.  The phrase became more popular in the South after being quoted multiple times by Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind” (1939).  But the best-known use of the phrase was in the song popularized by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1957, “Great Balls of Fire.” Lyrics and music by Otis Blackwell and Earl Burroughs.
    3. Notice that what happens at Pentecost, with all of the people able to understand each other as if they all had the same language, is the reversal of what happened at the Tower of Babel in Genesis.  Those people were arrogantly trying to build their own way to heaven.  At Pentecost, God is making a way for heaven to come to people.
    4. Where did this happen?  Tradition from the 5th century says it was at the Upper Room, where they also had the Last Supper.  But a look at the Scripture makes that less likely.   It is happening on the day of the Feastival of Shavuot, a one-day festival.   The scripture tells us they were in the Temple “continually.”  Peter mentions the time in his sermon after the Spirit comes as 9:00 am.  The temple services typically began with the first Tamid offering at 9 am.  And this service is one of the three times that the Scriptures say is required attendance. They would not have missed the service that is the highlight of the one-day celebration.  And the Scriptures mention that 3000 responded to Peter’s sermon and were baptized.  This had to happen in or near the temple grounds to have a place large enough for a crowd this large to hear them speak, and then to have a place to baptize that many.  There were over 50 mikveh near the Temple Mount, for people to immerse themselves in before entry into the Temple.