13 Pentecost - Sunday

first posted 08/28/04

Judges 11:1-11, 29-40    Jephthah’s vow
2 Corinthians 11:21b-31   Paul’s hardships  
Mark 4:35-41    Jesus calms the storm

Jephthah was a mighty warrior of the clan of Gilead of the tribe of Manasseh, but he was the illegitimate son of a harlot. Jephthah’s father had other, legitimate sons by his wife, and when they became adults they drove Jephthah out and would not share their inheritance with him. Jephthah fled to the land of Tob (about 13 miles south-east of the Sea of Galilee) where he gathered a gang of outlaws and raided the surrounding areas.

Later the Ammonites attacked Israel and the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah to ask him to lead the Gileadites in battle against the Ammonites. But Jephthah told them that when times were good the Gileadites had wanted nothing to do with Jephthah, but now that they were in trouble they wanted Jephthah’s help. The Gileadites admitted that they needed Jephthah’s help and would make him the head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. Jephthah accepted their offer and bound them to it with an oath.

As Jephthah led the army of Gilead to fight the Ammonites, the Lord manifested his presence to Jephthah. As Jephthah confronted the enemy he made a vow to the Lord that if the Lord gave him victory over the enemy, Jephthah would offer as a burnt sacrifice whoever came first from the door of his house to greet him. Jephthah’s army slaughtered the Ammonites in a great victory, so that they were no longer any threat to Israel.

When Jephthah returned to his home, his daughter, who was his only child, came out to meet him “with timbrels (tambourine) and with dances” (Judges 11:34). When Jephthah saw her he tore his clothes and told her how sad he was that this had happened, because of his vow. His daughter accepted her fate, but asked that he allow her to spend two months with her companions first. After the two months she returned to her father and he fulfilled his vow by sacrificing her. She was a virgin, and it became a tradition for girls in Israel to mourn the daughter of Jephthah for four days each year.

Paul was being criticized by others (see 2 Corinthians 10:10), and he was responding to the charges. He realized that it is foolishness to boast, but since he had been compared unfavorably with others, he was trying to reestablish the facts. Paul asserted that he was as much a Jew by heredity and tradition as any, and as much a disciple of Jesus as any.

He went on to list many hardships he had endured for the Gospel. Paul was beaten five times by the Jews, three times by the Romans (see Acts 16:22-23), and he was stoned once and left for dead (Acts 14:19). He was shipwrecked three times (Acts 27:13-28:11). He was hounded from place to place, so that he often had to flee at night, as when he was lowered down from a window in the city wall in a basket (Acts 9:23-25). But Paul would rather boast of his weakness, so that it can be clearly seen that the Lord is his source of strength, who had sustained him and empowered him.

Jesus had been teaching a large crowd on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. At evening he got into a boat with his disciples, leaving the crowd and crossing toward the other side of the Sea. A great windstorm arose, and waves were swamping the boat, but Jesus was sleeping in the stern. The disciples woke him and asked, “Do you not care if we perish” (Mark 4:38)? Jesus said to the sea, “Peace! Be still” (Mark 4:39)!  And the wind stopped and the sea became calm. Jesus asked the disciples why they were afraid; had they no faith? The disciples were amazed, and contemplated who Jesus really was, that he was able to command the wind and waves and they obeyed.

Jephthah was not a very moral person in many ways, but he kept his commitment to the Lord, even though it cost him perhaps his dearest possession, his daughter. The vow he made was rash. The Lord was using him to accomplish the Lord’s will, and as Jephthah headed out to do what the Lord wanted him to do he experienced the manifestation of the Lord’ presence.

The Lord was fighting for Gilead and for Israel, and would give them the victory. But Jephthah didn’t trust the Lord to give him the victory without paying for it. Jephthah had agreed to fight the Ammonites because he wanted to be the leader of the Gileadites in return; not because he wanted to serve and glorify the Lord. So he made the vow which cost him his daughter. His daughter accepted her father’s will. Contrast Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter and only child for his own worldly success, with God’s sacrifice of his only Son, Jesus, on the cross to give us eternal life. We need to be careful who we choose to be our leaders.

Paul wasn’t trying to earn salvation by good works, but he was willing to endure whatever hardships came along in his ministry in order to share the Gospel with others. He was committed to obeying the Lord’s will. He was not serving the Lord for worldly gain. He trusted in the Lord to provide the victory and the strength to endure. Paul was happy to testify to the Lord’s faithfulness in all his hardships.

The disciples were in the midst of a storm on the sea at night. But Jesus was with them in the boat. Jesus is able to take control over storms and keep them from overwhelming his disciples. When his disciples personally experience the power and the faithfulness of the Lord over the storms of their lives, they can trust in him and not be afraid. Jesus was able to sleep in the midst of the storm because he knew personally the power and faithfulness of God the Father.

Are we for the Lord or against him? Are we sacrificing our children’s spiritual inheritance in exchange for our worldly success? Are we serving the Lord, or are we serving ourselves? Are we fighting for the Lord’s kingdom because we want the Lord’s will to be done and the Lord to be glorified, or do we expect the Lord to do our will and bless and glorify us? Do we think we can earn salvation and buy God’s blessings? Do we think we can be disciples without going through storms and hardships? Do we think we can make promises to the Lord and then not keep them?

Is Jesus in your "boat?"  Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

13 Pentecost - Monday

first posted 08/29/04

Judges 12:1-7    Jephthah fights with Ephraim
Acts 5:12-26    Second arrest of apostles
John 3:1-21    You must be born again

The tribe of Ephraim had been angry with Gideon for not being allowed to participate in his battle with the Midianites (Judges 8:1). When the Gileadites, led by Jephthah, attacked the Ammonites, the Ephraimites again were contentious with the Gileadites for not inviting them to participate, and threatened to burn the Gileadites in their houses.

Jephthah was not as diplomatic as Gideon, and decided to fight rather than placate the Ephraimites. Jephthah claimed that when he was threatened by the Ammonites, the Ephraimites had ignored his plea for help, so that Gilead was forced to seek vindication at her own risk. So the Gileadites destroyed the Ephraimites because the Ephraimites declared the Gileadites to be renegades.

The Gileadites took strategic control of the fords of the Jordan River, and refused to let the Ephraimites across. They were successful in identifying Ephraimites because the Ephraimites had a distinctive dialect which prevented them from being able to pronounce the “sh” sound of “shibboleth” correctly. When the Gileadites would ask them to pronounce the word they would say “Sibboleth.” Ephraimites thus identified were slain at the ford of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed in that way.

The apostles performed many miracles similar to the healing of the lame man by Peter and John (Acts 3:1-11; see also entry for Tuesday, 12 Pentecost, even year). They apparently frequented Solomon’s Portico in the Temple. The apostles were held in honor by the people. More and more people were becoming believers. The healing powers of the apostles were so well-known that the multitudes brought the sick into the streets so that the apostles’ shadows might at least fall on some of them. This was not confined to Jerusalem, but also throughout the surrounding area, and they were all healed.

But the high priest and the ruling party of the Sadducees were jealous, and they arrested the apostles and threw them into jail. An angel of the Lord came to the apostles in prison that night and released them and told them to go and preach the Gospel in the temple, so they did as the angel had told them.

When the council met, they sent for the apostles, but did not find the apostles in the prison. Those who had been sent to bring the apostles reported that the cells were locked and the guards on duty, but the apostles were not there. When the chief priests heard this they were troubled, and wondered where this would lead. Then someone reported that the apostles were teaching in the temple. The Captain and officers went and brought the apostles to the council, but without violence, because they were afraid that the people would rebel.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and addressed Jesus as Teacher, saying that he believed that Jesus was from God, because otherwise Jesus could not do the things he was doing. In reply Jesus said that one cannot see the kingdom of God unless one is born again (born anew, born from above). Nicodemus asked Jesus how a person can be born again. Jesus said that one cannot enter the kingdom of God unless one is baptized with water and with the Holy Spirit. The flesh is born through physical birth; the spirit is born by a spiritual birth.

Jesus used the analogy of wind to illustrate the nature of the spirit. (The same Greek word means both “wind” and “spirit.”) One can hear the wind, without understanding what causes it, and it is beyond man’s control. Nicodemus could not understand how this could be, and Jesus asked how one could be a teacher of Israel and not understand spiritual birth.

Jesus said that one can only testify to that which one knows and has witnessed; Jesus was doing just that. If Nicodemus did not believe Jesus' parable of the earthly wind, how would Nicodemus believe Jesus' testimony to the heavenly spiritual realities? No one has experienced heaven but one who has come down to earth from heaven, the Son of man (Jesus Christ).

Jesus said that his crucifixion would be like Moses raising up the bronze serpent on a pole in the wilderness. (When the people were bitten by the deadly serpent in the wilderness, they would be saved if they looked to the bronze serpent on the pole.) Likewise whoever believed in Jesus would be saved and have eternal life.

God loved the world, and he sent Jesus so that whoever believes in Jesus might not die, but have eternal life. God sent Jesus, not to condemn the world but to save it. Those who believe in Jesus are not condemned, but those who do not believe in Jesus are condemning themselves because they will not come to the only one who can save them.

Divine judgment is light; Jesus is the source of that light. Mankind hates the light and resists it because his deeds are evil, and he doesn’t want them exposed. But the righteous come to the light, because the light will reveal that their deeds are of God.

The Ephraimites were contentious against the Gileadites. The Ephraimites wanted to run things; to say how things were going to be. But they lacked a crucial ability to correctly pronounce the “sh” sound of shibboleth, and their lack of that ability gave them away. Their lack of that ability cost them their lives.

The disciples could not be prevented, by threats or by imprisonment, from preaching the Gospel. They had been filled with the Holy Spirit and had acquired the crucial ability through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The Jewish religious leaders wanted to run things; they wanted to say how things were going to be, but they lacked the crucial empowerment of the Holy Spirit. They were trying to be the teachers and leaders of Israel without the crucial ability which is only supplied by the Holy Spirit.

Nicodemus was one of the Jewish religious leaders. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. He came to Jesus at night, because he was afraid of what the other Pharisees and religious leaders would say about his visiting with Jesus. Jesus told Nicodemus that although one cannot see the Holy Spirit, one can notice the presence of the Holy Spirit by his effect; what the Holy Spirit does. One can hear the Holy Spirit speaking, even thought he cannot be seen.

The kingdom of God is all around us, but we cannot see it unless we have been born spiritually. Unless we have been born spiritually by the baptism (indwelling) of the Holy Spirit we cannot enter into the eternal kingdom of God. (Romans 8:9-11, 1 John 5:11-12). It is possible for us to know with certainty whether we have received the baptism (indwelling) of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2). The Jewish religious leaders were attempting to be spiritual leaders and teachers without the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34). One must come to Jesus in repentance, trust and obedience in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Nicodemus came to Jesus, but he did it secretly, because he wasn’t willing to give up his worldly status and position.  He wanted to be a leader and a teacher of Israel, without committing openly to be Jesus’ disciple, and without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Those who don’t come to Jesus openly and commit themselves to be Jesus’ disciples are condemning themselves because they are refusing to come to the one who can save them and give them eternal life. Have you come to the light of Jesus Christ, or are you hiding in the shadows? Are you trying to be a leader or teacher in the Church without having sought and received the indwelling Holy Spirit? 

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you sought and received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

13 Pentecost - Tuesday

first posted 08/30/04

Judges 13:1-15    Birth of Samson foretold
Acts 5:27-42    Apostles' second trial
John 3:22-36    John’s further testimony

During the period of the Judges, Israel’s history was of repeated cycles of disobedience, disaster, repentance and restoration. Israel came under the domination of the Philistines for forty years. The Philistines occupied the coastal Plain of Sharon in proximity to Dan.

The wife of Manoah of Zorah (a leading city of the tribe of Dan, about 15 miles west of Jerusalem) was childless. An angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and told her that she would conceive and bear a son. The Angel told her that the boy was to be raised as a Nazirite (one consecrated to the Lord by special vows) from his birth. Therefore the woman was not to drink wine or any alcoholic drink, nor eat any food regarded as ritually unclean by Jewish Law. The hair of the son was never to be cut.

The wife told her husband what the angel had told her. Manoah prayed that the Lord would send the angel again to teach them how to raise the boy, and the Lord did so. The angel came again to Manoah’s wife, and she went and got her husband. Manoah asked the angel if he was the one who had appeared to his wife, and the angel said he was. Then Manoah asked what they must do to raise the boy as a Nazirite and the angel repeated his instructions; the mother was not to eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any alcohol, nor eat anything ritually unclean. Then Manoah invited the angel to stay for a meal.

The apostles had been arrested a second time for preaching the Gospel in the Temple. They were brought before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish council of priests and elders). The Sanhedrin told them that they had been ordered not to preach and teach Jesus, but they had disregarded the Sanhedrin’s order, and were going to bring blame for Jesus’ death upon the Sanhedrin, the leaders of the Jews..

Peter and the apostles answered that the disciples must obey God rather than mankind. Peter told them that God had raised, from the dead, Jesus, whom the Jews had crucified. God had exalted Jesus “as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31). The disciples were witnesses to "these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32).

When the council heard this they were enraged and wanted to kill the apostles, but one of the members, Gamaliel, a Pharisee and teacher of the Law, stood up to speak. He ordered the apostles put outside, and then told the council that there had been several previous incidents of rebel leaders arising and gaining a following, which eventually withered away and amounted to nothing. Gamaliel warned the council to be careful how they handled the apostles. He suggested that if the (Christian) movement were truly of God, then no one could stop it, and the Jews might even be found to be opposing God, but that if it were not of God then it would die out on its own.

The council took his advice; they had the apostles beaten and they charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus. The apostles left the council, taking satisfaction from the fact that they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name, and they did not stop teaching and preaching Jesus Christ daily, publicly and privately.

Jesus and his disciples were in Judea baptizing his followers, and John the Baptizer was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim along the Jordan River north of Judea. A discussion arose between John’s disciples and a Jew, and John’s disciples came to John and told him that the everyone seemed to be preferring to follow Jesus (rather than John’s disciples). John pointed out that the calls of John and Jesus were from the same God, but they were different ministries. John never claimed to be the Christ; instead he realized that his call was to go before, to announce the coming of the Christ.

John compared Jesus to the bridegroom, the rightful intended "husband" of God’s people (the Church). John compared himself to the “groom’s best man,” the friend of the “groom” whose role is to help the “groom” accomplish the marriage. He rejoices that the bridegroom has arrived, and that John’s role has been fulfilled. John is not trying to create an empire for himself, or to compete with Jesus.

John acknowledges that John is just an ordinary human and his understanding is limited; Jesus is more than just a man (the whole fulness of deity dwells in Jesus bodily; Colossians 2:8-9). Jesus has personal knowledge of God the Father, and of heavenly (spiritual) things. Those who believe Jesus testify that Jesus truly speaks the words of God. God gives his Spirit in all its fulness. God loves his Son, Jesus, and has given Jesus authority over all things (Matthew 28:18). “He who believes in the Son (Jesus) has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him” (John 3:36 RSV).

Manoah and his wife took seriously the word of God. The angel of the Lord told Manoah’s wife, who was infertile and had been unable to conceive, that she would conceive and bear a son, and she believed God’s word. She told her husband and he believed. He prayed in faith to the Lord and asked for instructions on raising this child according to God’s will, since the child was to be consecrated to the Lord all his life. The Lord answered his prayer and provided the guidance Manoah needed to raise the child according to God’s word. Manoah invited the angel of the Lord to stay eat with them.

The disciples were committed to doing God’s will, rather than conforming to the society in which they lived. They had received the infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts Chapter 2). They proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ even though it wasn’t popular to do so and got them into trouble with the authorities. God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey him. Christians are called to be disciples; to come into a personal relationship with the risen Lord, to be taught by him, to learn to obey him, to receive his Holy Spirit, and then to be witnesses to these things. Disciples can expect to meet opposition in the world. “Christians” who try to be popular and avoid persecution are not doing it right; they’re not doing what they were called to do.

Christians, like John the Baptist, are called to proclaim the coming of Jesus. We are called to point people to the Christ. We’re not called to establish a cult for ourselves, or to create our own personal empires within the Body of Christ; we’re to make disciples of Jesus Christ, not disciples of ourselves. Only those who obey the Lord receive the Holy Spirit. In water baptism we receive the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, conditional upon our trust and obedience. Only Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33-34). We are to wait in Jerusalem [the Church: to be discipled; to come to a personal knowledge of Jesus and his commands, and to learn to obey him (Matthew 28:18-20)] until we have received the Holy Spirit before we are sent out to proclaim the Gospel (Acts 1:4-5; Luke 24:49).

God has given us his Word because he wants us to obey it. (Jesus is God’s word in human flesh; John 1:1-4; 14). If we believe God's Word and are committed to obeying it (him), we can pray to the Lord for guidance and understanding and he will provide it. The Holy Spirit is the “Angel” of the Lord, the manifestation of the presence of the risen Christ (Romans 8:9b), which the Lord gives to those who trust and obey him. We can choose to obey him and invite him to come into our hearts and dine (i.e. have intimate fellowship) with us (Revelation 3:20). It is possible to know with certainty whether one has received the fulness of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2). The Holy Spirit is the “down-payment” and guarantee of eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Those who do not have the Spirit of Christ do not belong to him (Romans 8:9b).

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

13 Pentecost - Thursday

first posted 09/01/04

Judges 14:1-19    Samson’s marriage
Acts 6:15-7:16    Stephen’s sermon
John 4:27-42     The Samaritan woman’s testimony

Samson went to Timnah (about 5 miles west of Zorah, his birthplace) and saw a Philistine girl he liked, so he asked his parents to arrange for him to marry her. His parents thought Samson should marry within his own people, rather than marrying a woman of the invading foreign culture, but Samson was adamant. His parents didn’t know that this was the Lord’s leading, to create an occasion against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time. Samson and his parents went to Timnah.

While there, Samson came upon a lion in a vineyard, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he wrestled with the lion and tore it to pieces as if it were a small animal. Samson didn’t tell his parents about this incident. He went and talked to the Philistine woman and found her very attractive. Later he returned to marry her and on the way he stopped to look at the carcass of the lion he had killed.

A swarm of bees had made a hive in the carcass. Samson took the honey and went on, eating honey as he went. When he reached his parents he gave some of the honey to them, but he did not tell them where he had gotten it. Samson’s father arranged the wedding and Samson provided a wedding feast. The people brought thirty individuals to be the wedding attendants. Samson told them a riddle based on his experience with the honey in the carcass of the lion, and said that if the wedding party could guess the riddle Samson would provide them each with a linen garment and a festal garment.

The feast lasted seven days. In the first three days no one could guess the riddle. On the fourth day the wedding party told the bride to entice the answer from her husband, or the Philistines would burn her and her father's house. So Samson’s wife tried every day to get Samson to tell her the answer, but Samson declined. Finally on the seventh day Samson gave in and told her. She told her wedding attendants, and they were able to answer the riddle.

Samson replied that they would have not guessed the riddle if they had not “plowed with my heifer” (Judges 14:18). The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson mightily and he went to Ashkelon (one of a confederation of five cities of the Philistines) and killed thirty men of the town and took their festal garments to give to his wedding attendants. Then Samson returned to his father’s house and his bride was given to the attendant who had been his best man.

Stephen had been arrested and charged with blaspheming against Moses and God. When given opportunity to respond, Stephen began by reviewing the history of God’s call to Abraham; how God had led him to the Promised Land. God promised to give the land to Abraham and his descendents, and Abraham had trusted in the promise, even though he had not received possession of the land and had no son.

God had told Abraham that his descendents would sojourn in a land of bondage for four hundred years, and then God promised to judge the nation which they had served, and bring them back to the Promised Land. God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. God fulfilled his promise that Abraham would have a son, and Isaac was born. Abraham circumcised Isaac, in accordance with the covenant. From Isaac, through Jacob, came the twelve patriarchs of Israel.

The patriarchs sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt, but God was with Joseph and caused him to gain influence with Pharaoh. When famine arose in Israel, Jacob sent the patriarchs to Egypt to buy food and on their second visit Joseph made himself known. The household of Jacob, seventy-five people, moved to Egypt. Jacob died in Egypt, but his body was embalmed and carried back to the Promised Land.

Jesus had been going from Judea to Galilee and had stopped at Sychar in Samaria at noon at Jacob’s well. The disciples had gone into the city to buy food. Jesus had been talking to a woman from Samaria who had come to draw water (John 4:1-26). Jesus’ disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman, but no one commented on it.

The woman left her water jar and went into the city and told the people of her encounter with a prophet who knew all about her, and suggested that he might be the Christ. So the people of the city went out to see for themselves. Meanwhile the disciples tried to get Jesus to eat, but Jesus said that his sustenance was to do God’s will and to accomplish God’s work. Jesus noted that people know how to tell when crops are ready to harvest; Jesus was telling his disciples to realize that it was time for spiritual harvest. Those who reap receive wages and also gather a resource for eternal life, where the sower and reaper will rejoice together.

Many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the testimony of the Samaritan woman. They came to Jesus and invited him to stay with them, so Jesus stayed for two days. Many more came to believe because of what Jesus told them, and they told the woman that it was not longer because of her testimony that they believed because they had heard for themselves and had become convinced that Jesus is the Savior of the world.  

Samson had been born to fulfill a specific plan of God, to give relief to his people from the oppression of the Philistines, and was consecrated to the Lord from his birth (Judges Chapter 13; see entry for yesterday). The Spirit of the Lord filled Samson and gave him supernatural physical strength as well as leading him, even though he may not have been conscious of that leading (Judges 14: 4). Samson’s parents had committed to raising Samson in obedience to the Lord’s commands, Samson was continuing in trust and obedience to the Lord, and the Lord was working out his plan through Samson.

Stephen was trusting and obeying the Lord and had been filled, empowered and led by the Holy Spirit. He was proclaiming God’s word to the Jewish leaders. Stephen was using the history of Israel to show that God had a plan to provide a savior of the world which began with the call of Abraham. God called Abraham and asked him to trust and obey God. The Lord promised to give Abraham a son through whom his descendents would become a great nation. The Lord promised to deliver his descendents from bondage in Egypt and give them the Promised Land. The Lord fulfilled those promises.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s plan to provide a Savior of the world. Jesus is the source of “living water;” the source of the Holy Spirit, which satisfies spiritual thirst and gives life eternally. Jesus trusted and obeyed his heavenly Father completely, unto his ultimate sacrifice on the Cross. What sustained Jesus spiritually was doing the work God sent him to accomplish. His work was to sow the seeds of the Gospel. His disciples are the reapers who will gather the harvest of souls to eternal life with the Lord, where the sower and reaper will rejoice together. We are rewarded for participating in the harvest both now and eternally.

The Samaritan woman heard Jesus’ message and responded in faith. Because she responded in faith, Jesus revealed himself more fully to her (John 4:25-26), strengthening her faith. She acted on that faith by going into the city and pointing others to Jesus. The people believed the woman’s testimony and came to Jesus, where they were able to come to a personal experience of Jesus and make their own decision to believe in him themselves.

Jesus is God’s only plan for our salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). We’re invited to hear Jesus’ message and decide for ourselves whether his Gospel is truth. We’re called to trust and obey him. If we trust and obey him, he will reveal himself to us; he will give us his Holy Spirit to lead us and empower us with supernatural spiritual strength, so that we can give relief to the people from the enemy oppressors of their souls. We can point others to the source of “living water.” We are called to join the reapers in gathering souls to eternal life in the Promised Land of Heaven with the Lord. First we need to come to a personal experience of Jesus Christ and to empowerment through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternal life (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

13 Pentecost - Friday

first posted 09/02/04

Judges 14:20-15:20     Samson’s revenge on the Philistines
Acts 7:17-29    Stephen recounts the history of Moses
John 4:43-54    Jesus heals a Gentile’s son

Samson had married a Philistine girl who later angered him by betraying the answer to a riddle asked of the Philistine wedding attendants (Judges 14:10-20). The Philistines dominated Israel at this time. Samson left in anger and his wife was given to his best man. After a while Samson went for a conjugal visit, but her father would not allow him to visit, and told him that he thought that Samson hated the girl, so he had given her to Samson’s best man.

The father offered Samson her younger sister, but Samson refused, and decided to get revenge by burning the grain fields of the Philistines. He burned the standing grain and the bound shocks, and the olive orchards as well. In retaliation the Philistines burned Samson’s ex-wife and father-in-law. In return, Samson killed the Philistines who had done this. Then he camped at a cleft in the rock at Etam (just south of Bethlehem).

The Philistines attacked the men of Judah at Lehi (southeast of Zorah) in an attempt to capture Samson. So three thousand men of Judah went down to Etam to capture Samson and hand him over to the Philistines, because he had brought trouble upon Judah from the Philistines. Samson told the men of Judah that he had only avenged what the Philistines had done to him. Samson agreed to let the men of Judah bind him on the promise that they would not punish Samson themselves.

Samson was bound with two new ropes and handed over to the Philistines. When Samson arrived in Lehi and the Philistines gathered around their prisoner, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and he burst his bonds as if they were nothing. Samson found the jawbone of an ass nearby and grabbed it and killed a thousand Philistines with it.

After the battle, Samson was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, acknowledging that the Lord had granted Israel great deliverance from the Philistines through Samson, and asking the Lord to provide water to quench his thirst. The Lord caused a spring to come forth and Samson was revived. The spring was given a name meaning “the spring of one who calls” (Judges 15:19). Samson judged Israel for twenty years.

Stephen had been accused by the Jews of blasphemy against Moses and God and was on trial before the Sanhedrin (Jewish Court; Acts 6:11-15). Stephen had started his defense by reviewing the history of God’s dealing with Israel (Acts 7:1-16). Stephen continued, recounting the history of Moses; how once in Egypt, the Israelites multiplied, and a new king arose in Egypt who subjugated the Israelites and treated them harshly. Then Moses was born, and after three months, was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, saving him from death.

When Moses was forty years old he was concerned about the situation of his own people and he defended an oppressed Israelite by striking and killing his Egyptian overseer. “He supposed that his brethren would understand that God was giving them deliverance by his hand, but they did not understand” (Acts 7:25). The next day when he appeared and tried to intervene in a dispute between two Israelites, the one wronging his neighbor rejected him, asking who had made Moses a judge and ruler over them, and suggesting that Moses wanted to kill him as he had killed the Egyptian the previous day. At this, Moses fled into the land of Midian where he married and raised two sons.

When Jesus left Sychar in Samaria (John 4:1-42) he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made water into wine. Jesus had said that a prophet has no honor in his own country, but when he returned to Galilee the Galileans welcomed him, because they had seen what he had done in Jerusalem, since they had also been in Jerusalem at the Passover feast.

A Gentile military officer living in Capernaum had a son who was very sick, and when he heard that Jesus was in Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come and heal his son, who was on the verge of death. Jesus said to the man, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe” (John 4: 48), but the man begged Jesus to come before the child died. Jesus told the man to go; that his child would live.

The man believed Jesus’ word and went his way. As he went home, his servants met him and told him that his son was better. The man asked the servants when the boy had begun to heal, and the servants told him that the boy had begun to improve the prior day at the hour the man knew Jesus had said that the boy would live; “and he himself believed, and all his household” (John 4:53b). This was the second miracle Jesus had done in Galilee.

Samson was sent by God from birth to be an instrument of God’s deliverance of his people from the oppression of the Philistines (Judges 13:3-5). Samson kept his covenant with the Lord to live according to the Nazirite vows to eat no grape products, drink no alcohol, and not cut his hair. The Lord gave Samson supernatural strength through the Spirit of the Lord. The Lord provided the jawbone of the ass that Samson found. It was not what we would regard as a choice weapon, especially against well-armed Philistines, but by the Lord’s Spirit, it prevailed. The Lord provided a spring of water to quench Samson’s thirst acquired in performance of the Lord’s will.

Moses was sent by God from birth to be an instrument of God’s deliverance of his people from the oppression of the Egyptians (Acts 7:25). In a time when all the male Israelite infants were forced to be abandoned and left to die, the Lord provided for Moses’ survival by the oppressor’s own daughter. At forty years of age, Moses was being led by the Spirit of the Lord to deliver his people from bondage in Egypt, but his own people rejected him. As a result Moses was forced into exile in Midian, and the Israelites languished for another forty years under oppression in Egypt. (Later, the Israelites wandered for forty years and those who had personally disobeyed God’s word died in the wilderness because they did not trust and obey the Lord to enter and take possession of the Promised Land the first time they had the opportunity; Numbers 14:1-38).

Jesus is the ultimate and only (Acts 4:12) deliverer sent by God from birth to be the instrument of God’s deliverance of his people from the oppression of sin and death (John 3:16). The whole fullness of deity dwells bodily in Jesus; he is God in human flesh (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28). Jesus is the only one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:32-33). We are all “terminally ill” because all have sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10) and the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23).

Jesus can heal us by his sacrificial death on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins, if we will trust and obey him. Jesus can fill us with his Holy Spirit who gives us spiritual strength to do his will. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to break the bonds of sin. Believers are called to fight against the oppressor, and carry on Jesus’ mission of deliverance of people from the oppression of sin and death. Our weapon is the word of God, which doesn’t appear to be very formidable, but which will prevail. His Holy Spirit becomes a spring within us which will quench our spiritual thirst and revive us.

In order to be healed and filled with his Holy Spirit we must come to him, call upon him in faith, hear and believe his words, and act upon them in faith. The Gentile officer did not demand proof that Jesus would heal his son; he believed Jesus’ word and acted on it; he left believing that his son would live. When he received confirmation from his servants that his son had been healed his faith was increased, and his testimony caused others to believe also. When we begin to trust the Lord, he causes our faith to grow and multiply, but he won’t provide “proof” in order for us to believe.

Have we been raised in a culture where Jesus is so familiar that he’s like a local boy to us, who we don’t take seriously? Some of the Galileans welcomed Jesus on his return, because they had been to Jerusalem to the feast of Passover, where they had come to experience for themselves what Jesus could do. The Church is the New Jerusalem, and the Lord’s Supper is the New Feast of Passover.

Have you have personally experienced  Jesus’ power? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you been filled with his Holy Spirit and empowered to be an instrument of God’s deliverance? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands? Are you ready to welcome Jesus when he returns? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

13 Pentecost - Saturday

first posted 09/03/04

Judges 16:1-14    Samson and Delilah
Acts 7:30-43    Stephen recounts Moses’ call
John 5:1-18    Healing a lame man on the Sabbath

Samson went to Gaza, one of the five cities of the Philistine confederation, and visited a harlot. The Gazites learned of Samson’s visit, surrounded the place and lay in wait, but Samson arose at midnight and escaped by pulling up the city gate and its two posts and he carried them to the top of the hill near Hebron (nearly forty miles east).

Later he fell in love with Delilah, of the valley of Sorek (Sorek was at the foothills of the Hill Country of Judah opening onto the northern end of the coastal plain of the Philistines). The Philistine leaders offered Delilah a lot of money to betray Samson by finding out the secret of his strength and revealing it to the Philistines. So Delilah asked Samson, three times, the secret of his strength, so that he could be bound and subdued.

Each time Samson made up some plausible lie, and then Delilah, with Philistines concealed in another room, would bind Samson as he slept, according to what he had told her, and then startle him awake by crying out that the Philistines were upon him. Each time, Samson would jump up and the bonds would snap off him as if they were nothing. Each time Delilah would complain that Samson didn’t love her because he had mocked her and had not told her the true secret of his strength.

Stephen was on trial before the Sanhedrin on false charges of blaspheming Moses and God (Acts 6:11). Stephen had begun his defense by recounting the history of Israel (Acts 7:2-29). Moses had been rejected as a leader and deliverer by his people, and had fled to the wilderness. After forty years the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush in the wilderness at Mount Sinai. The Lord identified himself to Moses as the God of the patriarchs of Israel. The Lord told Moses that he had seen the ill-treatment of his people by the Egyptians and had come to deliver them. The Lord was sending Moses to Egypt.

Stephen pointed out that Moses, who had been asked, by his fellow Israelite, “'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' (Acts 7:35; Exodus 2:14) God sent as both ruler and deliverer by the hand of the Angel that appeared to him in the bush” (Acts 7:35). Moses led the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness for forty years, manifesting great miracles. Moses had prophesied that God would raise up a prophet like Moses (Acts 7:37; 3:22, Deuteronomy 18:15-16). Moses had received the Law from the Angel of the Lord on Mt. Sinai, and he had a personal relationship with the Lord from whom he received “living oracles” (Acts 7:38). The forefathers of Israel repeatedly refused to obey and turned to Egypt and idolatry.

Jesus had gone to Jerusalem for the observance of a Jewish feast. At the Sheep Gate (in the eastern wall of the city) there was a pool called Bethzatha (or Bethesda, or Bethsaida), which had five porticoes, where numerous invalids lay. Periodically the water would be disturbed (perhaps by intermittent underground spring) and the people believed that if they entered the water while it was disturbed that they would be healed. There was a man who had been lying there for thirty-eight years. Jesus knew without asking that the man had been lying there for a long time. Jesus said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The man began to explain why he had not yet been healed, but Jesus told him to get up, pick up his mattress and go. At once the man was healed and he did as Jesus had said.

It was the Sabbath, and the Jews told the man he was breaking the Sabbath law by carrying his mattress. The man replied that the person who had healed him had told him to do so. They asked him who had healed him, but the man didn’t know, and Jesus had withdrawn among the crowd. Later Jesus found the healed man in the Temple, and told him to sin no more, so that nothing worse would happen to him. The Jews persecuted Jesus because he did this on the Sabbath, but Jesus said that God the Father doesn’t stop doing good on the Sabbath, and neither does he. The Jews hated Jesus even more, because Jesus called God his Father, making himself equal to God.

Delilah didn’t love Samson; she cared only for her own pleasure and well-being. She chose money rather than love; getting along with the Philistines rather than being loyal to Samson. Ultimately she betrayed Samson’s love for her.

Moses loved his fellow Israelites. He had been raised in Pharaoh’s house; he could have forgotten about his own people, and lived in comfort and luxury, but instead he put himself at risk in intervening for justice for his own people. Their response was ingratitude; they rejected him as their leader and judge. They were self-centered; they cared only for what they perceived as their own self-interest. As a result they languished for forty more years in Egypt, while Moses was in exile in Midian.

Moses is a forerunner of the Christ (he went before as an illustration of the Christ). Moses prophesied that God would send a prophet like Moses who would be a ruler and judge of the people, and who would manifest great miracles. That prophet is Jesus Christ, who leads his people out of bondage to sin and death in the “Egypt” of this world, through the "wilderness" of this life, and into the "Promised Land" of eternal life in the Kingdom of God. The Jews responded to Jesus the same way they responded to Moses; they rejected him as their ruler and judge. The Jews chose worldly success and idolatry rather than God’s love.

The lame man had been an invalid for a long time. He’d had the faith to lie there year after year waiting to be healed. Did he really want to be healed? The way he’d been living didn’t seem to be working; he was making excuses for not having yet been healed. Would he trust and obey Jesus?

Jesus was sent by God to heal us. We’re all terminally ill! All have sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23). The punishment for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). God loves us and doesn’t want us to perish eternally (John 3:16; see also “God’s Plan of Salvation,” sidebar, top right). Will we accept Jesus as our ruler and deliverer? Will we trust and obey Jesus?

The Jews (and all of us) had established their success in the world based on their traditions. Their status in their society was based on their outward conformance to the standards of their culture. They were more interested in conforming to the norms of their society than in loving God and their neighbor. Jesus loved them and came to deliver them; Jesus gave his life for them. They responded by choosing worldly status, conformity and idolatry instead of love for God and others. They betrayed Jesus' love by crucifying him.

It is not just the Jews who are guilty; we are all guilty. We have all pursued our own selfish interests and disobeyed God. We have all rejected and betrayed Jesus. How long will we continue to languish trying to heal ourselves according to this world’s philosophies? Jesus asks, “Do you want to be healed?” Are you willing to allow Jesus to be your Lord? Are you willing to be Jesus' disciple? Are you willing to trust and obey Jesus? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?