For the month of October we will be memorizing:
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
John 7:53-8:11
In John 8, we find a story that demonstrates the compassion and kindness of Jesus. In stark contrast to the self-righteous, ruthless ways of the religious elites, Jesus gently and tenderly showed love for the outcasts and rejects in society. Never did He condone sinfulness as acceptable, but regularly He made a point to be a friend to sinners so that He could call them out of their hopeless slavery.
The Feast of Tabernacles was ended, but before Jesus left the temple a group of scribes and Pharisees dragged a helpless woman who had been caught in adultery into the temple and threw her on the ground in front of Him.
“Moses, said that we should kill her, Jesus. What do you think we should do?”
In the minds of the Sanhedrin Jesus opposed and subverted what Moses taught. They had not been able to prove it yet, but they knew with attempt after attempt eventually they and all of His followers would see it.
Now, they manufactured a circumstance whereby they could hopefully discredit Jesus in one of two ways. First, if the woman was punished, Jesus would no longer seem to be the friend of sinners, but instead the executioner of sinners. His sinful followers would quickly dissipate and He would lose the influence He had gained with the masses. Second, if the woman wasn’t punished, it would appear that Jesus did not want to obey the Law of Moses, and ultimately He disregarded the Law of God.
Jesus was not fazed by this dilemma. There was no quandary too great for His perfect wisdom. As quickly as they had come and challenged Him to kill her, Jesus turned the tide on them.
“You guys should stone her. Whoever hasn’t sinned let him start the process.”
With one statement, Jesus turned the quandary back on the Pharisees. If they said they were sinless, they would be claiming they were perfect like God. But if they admitted they were sinners, then they had no right to come and execute another sinner. The point was very clear; they were being self-righteous and as sinful men they had no right to carry out the justice of a Holy God.
In the story, Jesus looked to the woman and acknowledged that all of her accusers had walked away. In love, he spoke to her, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” He would not punish her for the sin that she had committed. She deserved death, but He wouldn’t execute that sentence on her.
As we think back through the story, we must realize one thing, if Jesus let the woman’s sin go unpunished, He would be violating the Law of Moses as the Pharisees had presumed. But Jesus did not let the woman’s sin go unpunished. 1 Peter 2:24 tells us that eventually Jesus “bore our sins (and hers) in His own body,” when He died on the cross. The punishment the woman deserved – death, Jesus, the forgiving friend of sinners, bore in His own body for her. He did not dismiss the sin, He paid for it himself. He would not allow the holiness of God to be defiled; He would fight for it with His own life. Later, Jesus would tell His disciples, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man would lay down His life for His friends.” This is glorious news, because as a friend of sinners, Jesus laid down His life for us.
Food For Thought: Did Jesus let the woman’s sin go unpunished? Explain your answer.
The Feast of Tabernacles was ended, but before Jesus left the temple a group of scribes and Pharisees dragged a helpless woman who had been caught in adultery into the temple and threw her on the ground in front of Him.
“Moses, said that we should kill her, Jesus. What do you think we should do?”
In the minds of the Sanhedrin Jesus opposed and subverted what Moses taught. They had not been able to prove it yet, but they knew with attempt after attempt eventually they and all of His followers would see it.
Now, they manufactured a circumstance whereby they could hopefully discredit Jesus in one of two ways. First, if the woman was punished, Jesus would no longer seem to be the friend of sinners, but instead the executioner of sinners. His sinful followers would quickly dissipate and He would lose the influence He had gained with the masses. Second, if the woman wasn’t punished, it would appear that Jesus did not want to obey the Law of Moses, and ultimately He disregarded the Law of God.
Jesus was not fazed by this dilemma. There was no quandary too great for His perfect wisdom. As quickly as they had come and challenged Him to kill her, Jesus turned the tide on them.
“You guys should stone her. Whoever hasn’t sinned let him start the process.”
With one statement, Jesus turned the quandary back on the Pharisees. If they said they were sinless, they would be claiming they were perfect like God. But if they admitted they were sinners, then they had no right to come and execute another sinner. The point was very clear; they were being self-righteous and as sinful men they had no right to carry out the justice of a Holy God.
In the story, Jesus looked to the woman and acknowledged that all of her accusers had walked away. In love, he spoke to her, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” He would not punish her for the sin that she had committed. She deserved death, but He wouldn’t execute that sentence on her.
As we think back through the story, we must realize one thing, if Jesus let the woman’s sin go unpunished, He would be violating the Law of Moses as the Pharisees had presumed. But Jesus did not let the woman’s sin go unpunished. 1 Peter 2:24 tells us that eventually Jesus “bore our sins (and hers) in His own body,” when He died on the cross. The punishment the woman deserved – death, Jesus, the forgiving friend of sinners, bore in His own body for her. He did not dismiss the sin, He paid for it himself. He would not allow the holiness of God to be defiled; He would fight for it with His own life. Later, Jesus would tell His disciples, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man would lay down His life for His friends.” This is glorious news, because as a friend of sinners, Jesus laid down His life for us.
Food For Thought: Did Jesus let the woman’s sin go unpunished? Explain your answer.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
John 7:40-52
After hearing the teaching of Jesus, according to John, many of the people professed, “This is the Christ.” However, after hearing this, there were those who immediately rejected the claims of the people. Instead of agreeing with those who admitted the deity of Jesus, they responded with a weak allegation. If they hadn’t been so blatantly wrong, those who heard them say it could have simply cried “Inconsequential!” since their claim really didn’t unravel any of the other evidence of Jesus so far.
What was this erroneous claim? “Shall Christ come out of Galilee?” Later, the Pharisees said, “Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” Their claim was that no prophets came out of Galilee, therefore, Jesus is not only not the Messiah, but if He was claiming to be a prophet He wasn’t even a legitimate prophet, because He was from Galilee and no prophets were ever from Galilee…
2 Kings 14:25 tells about a prophet, Jonah, “the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.” This is the same Jonah that we read of in the Book of Jonah. His little hometown of Gath-hepher was located just north of Nazareth in Galilee. What does this mean, and why does this matter? This means that Jonah the prophet was from Galilee. The very claims of those who challenged others to “search and look” in the Scriptures apparently hadn’t fully done searched and looked in the Scriptures themselves.
Furthermore, they leveled the claim that Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah because the Messiah was going to be from the lineage of David, not from the other tribes that lived in the region of Galilee. They even made the argument that Jesus would have had to have been born in Bethlehem to truly have any chance of being the Messiah. Yet again, their ignorance made them sound like utter fools. Both Jesus’ mother, and His adopted father, Joseph, were direct descendants from David. Because of Ceasar Augustus’s tax, His parents had travelled to Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born. Everything lined up perfectly.
The evidence was there to prove everything that Jesus claimed. The lack of belief on the part of the religious leaders was not due to a lack of evidence, it was due to a lack of willingness. They refused to admit what was very clearly the truth. They did not want to follow Him. They did not want to admit that their Messiah could have a Galilean accent. He was not regal enough for their liking. His followers were fishermen and tax collectors. He was always around the lame and the sick. This was not the type of Messiah they wanted. They wanted a Messiah who would come and congratulate them for the good work they were doing in His absence. They wanted to be princes in the new Kingdom that He would establish. Their religion was a political charade, and Jesus didn’t seem to fit in, so they dismissed Him.
John has made it clear up to this point, Jesus is truly Christ. Many were even starting to see it. But there were still those in darkness. John had told us in John 1:5, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” He was standing right in front of the religious leaders, undeniably the Messiah, but they refused to admit it. May we not be guilty of the same thing. Having seen clearly that Jesus is truly Christ, may we turn in obedience and faith to Him, accepting everything He taught as life-giving truth.
Food For Thought: What two false claims did the religious leaders erroneously make regarding Jesus?
What was this erroneous claim? “Shall Christ come out of Galilee?” Later, the Pharisees said, “Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” Their claim was that no prophets came out of Galilee, therefore, Jesus is not only not the Messiah, but if He was claiming to be a prophet He wasn’t even a legitimate prophet, because He was from Galilee and no prophets were ever from Galilee…
2 Kings 14:25 tells about a prophet, Jonah, “the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.” This is the same Jonah that we read of in the Book of Jonah. His little hometown of Gath-hepher was located just north of Nazareth in Galilee. What does this mean, and why does this matter? This means that Jonah the prophet was from Galilee. The very claims of those who challenged others to “search and look” in the Scriptures apparently hadn’t fully done searched and looked in the Scriptures themselves.
Furthermore, they leveled the claim that Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah because the Messiah was going to be from the lineage of David, not from the other tribes that lived in the region of Galilee. They even made the argument that Jesus would have had to have been born in Bethlehem to truly have any chance of being the Messiah. Yet again, their ignorance made them sound like utter fools. Both Jesus’ mother, and His adopted father, Joseph, were direct descendants from David. Because of Ceasar Augustus’s tax, His parents had travelled to Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born. Everything lined up perfectly.
The evidence was there to prove everything that Jesus claimed. The lack of belief on the part of the religious leaders was not due to a lack of evidence, it was due to a lack of willingness. They refused to admit what was very clearly the truth. They did not want to follow Him. They did not want to admit that their Messiah could have a Galilean accent. He was not regal enough for their liking. His followers were fishermen and tax collectors. He was always around the lame and the sick. This was not the type of Messiah they wanted. They wanted a Messiah who would come and congratulate them for the good work they were doing in His absence. They wanted to be princes in the new Kingdom that He would establish. Their religion was a political charade, and Jesus didn’t seem to fit in, so they dismissed Him.
John has made it clear up to this point, Jesus is truly Christ. Many were even starting to see it. But there were still those in darkness. John had told us in John 1:5, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” He was standing right in front of the religious leaders, undeniably the Messiah, but they refused to admit it. May we not be guilty of the same thing. Having seen clearly that Jesus is truly Christ, may we turn in obedience and faith to Him, accepting everything He taught as life-giving truth.
Food For Thought: What two false claims did the religious leaders erroneously make regarding Jesus?
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
John 7:37-39
Jesus had spent nearly a week in Jerusalem throughout the Feast of Tabernacles teaching the masses there, and engaging the religious leaders with the truth that He was God. The evidence of His miracles combined with the unfaltering words of His message made it clear that Jesus was the Messiah. All that was left for the crowd was to believe. Would they trust Him as the promised Savior?
To some, the call of faith seems daunting. “Trust in Jesus? But I don’t know if He truly was who He claimed to be.” This type of unbelief is not founded in a lack of facts, but in confusion and an unwillingness to be objective in the face of truth. Jesus had made it incredibly clear who He was. He had demonstrated power over nature, over food and wine, over disease, over injury, and the stack of witnesses was piling up.
When Jesus called people to come in faith to Him, He was not asking them to blindly turn to Him and hope that He might follow through on His claims. Jesus was not expecting people to turn off their minds and come in robotic foolishness to accept Him. Rather, He had taught and demonstrated clearly who He truly was, and all of the proof demonstrated that He was truly the Messiah. Now, even the crowd was beginning to affirm the completely logical conclusion that Jesus was Christ.
On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus again made a call to those around Him to put their faith in Him. Using the same analogy that He had spoken to the Samaritan woman, Jesus told the audience in Jerusalem that He was the source of living water or eternal life. Those who put their faith in Him would not only receive eternal life, but they would also become a source of living water for others.
At this point in the story, John pauses to take a theological sidestep. He made the point to us, the readers, that when we put our faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit now comes to indwell us, but those who were there with Jesus would not have that happen yet. The reason that He gave was that Jesus was there with them, so the Holy Spirit had not come yet and did not dwell inside of believers yet. But for us, the truth remains, when we put our trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us. We receive eternal life, but then the Holy Spirit works in us and through us to cause us to become a river of living water to those around us.
Food For Thought: Does Jesus ask His followers to accept His claims in a blind, mindless faith? According to today’s text, what are the two results of coming in faith to Christ?
To some, the call of faith seems daunting. “Trust in Jesus? But I don’t know if He truly was who He claimed to be.” This type of unbelief is not founded in a lack of facts, but in confusion and an unwillingness to be objective in the face of truth. Jesus had made it incredibly clear who He was. He had demonstrated power over nature, over food and wine, over disease, over injury, and the stack of witnesses was piling up.
When Jesus called people to come in faith to Him, He was not asking them to blindly turn to Him and hope that He might follow through on His claims. Jesus was not expecting people to turn off their minds and come in robotic foolishness to accept Him. Rather, He had taught and demonstrated clearly who He truly was, and all of the proof demonstrated that He was truly the Messiah. Now, even the crowd was beginning to affirm the completely logical conclusion that Jesus was Christ.
On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus again made a call to those around Him to put their faith in Him. Using the same analogy that He had spoken to the Samaritan woman, Jesus told the audience in Jerusalem that He was the source of living water or eternal life. Those who put their faith in Him would not only receive eternal life, but they would also become a source of living water for others.
At this point in the story, John pauses to take a theological sidestep. He made the point to us, the readers, that when we put our faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit now comes to indwell us, but those who were there with Jesus would not have that happen yet. The reason that He gave was that Jesus was there with them, so the Holy Spirit had not come yet and did not dwell inside of believers yet. But for us, the truth remains, when we put our trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us. We receive eternal life, but then the Holy Spirit works in us and through us to cause us to become a river of living water to those around us.
Food For Thought: Does Jesus ask His followers to accept His claims in a blind, mindless faith? According to today’s text, what are the two results of coming in faith to Christ?
Monday, October 6, 2014
John 7:30-36
#JesustheMessiah? #JesusChrist? #somanymiracles #nobodylikehim
In Jerusalem, people were starting to think that Jesus could possibly be the Messiah. He had done so many miracles that now the people were wondering if He truly was divine like He claimed. In modern day terms, this would be expressed in hashtags, and would be described as “the #1 trending topic” on social media.
With the Feast of Tabernacles underway, Jerusalem was bursting at the seams with people. Because of the overpopulation, the news of Jesus’ presence and power was spreading like wildfire. Now, the mumble in the crowd and on every street was that perhaps Jesus was the Messiah. No one was willing to admit it, but everybody had started to hear it. John even records that the crowd around Jesus was saying, “When Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man?” The indication in their statement was that they had never seen anyone do any miracles, much less had they even heard of a man who had done as many miracles as Jesus. Perhaps Jesus was Christ (the Messiah); the evidence was beginning to seem undeniable.
John tells us that when the Pharisees saw what was trending in Jerusalem they were very concerned. Immediately, they dispatched soldiers to apprehend Jesus. His popularity was becoming dangerous to their enterprise. From the time He had overturned the tables in the temples, to the Sabbath day on which He had healed the lame man, everyone they encountered seemed to be speaking of Jesus in terms that began to confirm the claims that He was making.
Sadly, although all the evidence pointed towards the fact that Jesus was truly the Messiah, the religious leaders were too distracted to realize it. They were not ready to receive the truth. This was no surprise - Jesus had already explained why the religious leaders did not receive the truth when He had spoken to Nicodemus. “The wind blows where it wants to, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit opens the eyes and heart of those that He wants to, and He had not opened the eyes of the religious leaders to understand the truth yet.
Furthermore, their self-righteousness had blinded them from seeing the plain facts in front of them. Instead of accepting Jesus as Lord, they sought to imprison Him. They refused to admit that He was sent from God. No matter how plainly He said it to them, they still did not understand that He had come from God. John had begun the gospel story foreshadowing this with John 1:11, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” This was what that looked like. Even though the masses were starting to think that Jesus could be the Messiah, the religious leaders did everything in their power to undermine Him.
At times, we can act like the religious leaders. We may not use the same words that they did, or even come out and say, “Jesus isn’t the Christ;” but practically speaking, our lives might indicate that we don’t have much regard for what Jesus taught. Instead of obeying His teaching of obedience to the commands of God and of love one for another, we do those things that are displeasing to God and harmful to others. Perhaps today we can see the error of the Pharisees and check our own lives for a similar error. Jesus truly was God in the flesh. He is the Messiah, and He came to save all those who would humble themselves and trust in Him. His position demands our obedience, may the Holy Spirit help us to realize today what the Pharisees seemingly refused to see. Jesus is Christ!
Food For Thought: What was trending in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles while Jesus was there? What did the religious leaders try to do to stop this?
In Jerusalem, people were starting to think that Jesus could possibly be the Messiah. He had done so many miracles that now the people were wondering if He truly was divine like He claimed. In modern day terms, this would be expressed in hashtags, and would be described as “the #1 trending topic” on social media.
With the Feast of Tabernacles underway, Jerusalem was bursting at the seams with people. Because of the overpopulation, the news of Jesus’ presence and power was spreading like wildfire. Now, the mumble in the crowd and on every street was that perhaps Jesus was the Messiah. No one was willing to admit it, but everybody had started to hear it. John even records that the crowd around Jesus was saying, “When Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man?” The indication in their statement was that they had never seen anyone do any miracles, much less had they even heard of a man who had done as many miracles as Jesus. Perhaps Jesus was Christ (the Messiah); the evidence was beginning to seem undeniable.
John tells us that when the Pharisees saw what was trending in Jerusalem they were very concerned. Immediately, they dispatched soldiers to apprehend Jesus. His popularity was becoming dangerous to their enterprise. From the time He had overturned the tables in the temples, to the Sabbath day on which He had healed the lame man, everyone they encountered seemed to be speaking of Jesus in terms that began to confirm the claims that He was making.
Sadly, although all the evidence pointed towards the fact that Jesus was truly the Messiah, the religious leaders were too distracted to realize it. They were not ready to receive the truth. This was no surprise - Jesus had already explained why the religious leaders did not receive the truth when He had spoken to Nicodemus. “The wind blows where it wants to, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit opens the eyes and heart of those that He wants to, and He had not opened the eyes of the religious leaders to understand the truth yet.
Furthermore, their self-righteousness had blinded them from seeing the plain facts in front of them. Instead of accepting Jesus as Lord, they sought to imprison Him. They refused to admit that He was sent from God. No matter how plainly He said it to them, they still did not understand that He had come from God. John had begun the gospel story foreshadowing this with John 1:11, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” This was what that looked like. Even though the masses were starting to think that Jesus could be the Messiah, the religious leaders did everything in their power to undermine Him.
At times, we can act like the religious leaders. We may not use the same words that they did, or even come out and say, “Jesus isn’t the Christ;” but practically speaking, our lives might indicate that we don’t have much regard for what Jesus taught. Instead of obeying His teaching of obedience to the commands of God and of love one for another, we do those things that are displeasing to God and harmful to others. Perhaps today we can see the error of the Pharisees and check our own lives for a similar error. Jesus truly was God in the flesh. He is the Messiah, and He came to save all those who would humble themselves and trust in Him. His position demands our obedience, may the Holy Spirit help us to realize today what the Pharisees seemingly refused to see. Jesus is Christ!
Food For Thought: What was trending in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles while Jesus was there? What did the religious leaders try to do to stop this?
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