4 Epiphany Odd

4 Epiphany - Sunday

first posted 01/29/05

Isaiah 51:9-16, God’s right arm
Hebrews 11:8-16, Examples of faith
John 7:14-31 Jesus’ authority

Awake and gather your strength, O arm of the Lord (the power of God; deliverer and ruler; Messiah)! It was he who destroyed the ancient monsters. It was he who dried up the Sea so that the Israelites could pass over (the Exodus from Egypt). “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion (Jerusalem; the Eternal City) with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 51:11).

The Lord comforts his people. Why should we fear mortal man, who passes away like grass? Have we forgotten the Lord our Creator, who created heaven and earth? Why do we constantly fear our oppressor (our mortal enemies; Satan and Death); what can our oppressors’ fury accomplish? The prisoner shall be quickly released; he shall not die and go down to the realm of the dead, nor shall he starve. The Lord, who stirs up the forces of nature, is our God; he hides his people in the shadow of his hand. He who created heaven and earth declares of Zion (Jerusalem; the Eternal City; the Church) that we are his people.

When God called Abraham to go from his homeland to a place God would show him, Abraham went in faith, although he didn’t know where he was going. God told him that he and his descendants would inherit the land, but Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob, were landless nomads, living in the Promised Land in tents, as foreigners, during their lifetimes. By faith they looked forward to the permanent city built by God. By faith, Sarah conceived when she was well past child-bearing, trusting in the faithfulness of God. As the result, God’s promise to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous beyond counting as the stars of heaven, or the sands of the sea was fulfilled.

“These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth” (Hebrews 11:13). Those who think that way are seeking a better homeland. If they had longed for their former land they could have returned, but they had their hope set on a better, heavenly country. (Because they trusted and acted on God’s promise in faith), “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:16).

In the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles (an eight day celebration) Jesus went into the temple and began to teach. The people wondered where Jesus got his knowledge, since he had no formal rabbinic education. Jesus told them that his teaching was not his own, but was from God. Jesus declared that if any person desires to do God’s will, he will recognize that Jesus’ teachings are from God. Those who speak on their own authority seek their own glory, but those who aim to glorify the one who sent them are trustworthy and not lying.

Israel had received the Law through Moses, but they were not obeying it. Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath (John 5:1-18), and the Jews sought to kill him for breaking the Sabbath Law, but when Jesus asked them to justify their desire to kill him they denied it and suggested that Jesus was crazy. Jesus pointed out that a person can be circumcised on the Sabbath (to fulfill the requirements of the Law), but when Jesus healed a man’s body on the Sabbath they wanted to kill him for breaking Sabbath law. Jesus told them to judge fairly, not based on outward appearances.

Some of the people of Jerusalem were amazed that Jesus was speaking so openly when the authorities were seeking to kill him. They wondered if the authorities believed that Jesus was really the Christ. But they discounted the possibility, because they thought that no one would know where the Christ came from, while they thought they knew Jesus’ origins.

Knowing what they thought, Jesus told the people, as he taught, that they only thought they knew where he had come from. Jesus had come from God, and that, although they thought they knew God, they really only knew "about" God. Jesus claimed to know God intimately, because he had come from God and had been sent by God. The authorities sought to arrest him, but did not, because it was not yet God’s timing. But many people did believe Jesus was the Christ, because they realized that they couldn’t expect the Christ to do any more miracles than Jesus had already done.

Jesus is the power of God in human flesh; he’s the Arm of the Lord, God’s anointed deliverer and ruler of the universe. The prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in one sense when Judah was allowed to return to the Promised Land from their exile in Babylon. But God’s word is eternal and will have its eternal fulfillment in the return of Christ’s Church from exile on earth to the Heavenly Zion. Jesus is the deliverer who delivers us from captivity of Satan and Death.

As Abraham was a sojourner walking in faith during his earthly exile, so believers are also all sojourners on this earth. We won’t receive the fullness of God’s promises this side of eternity, but we can see them from here. If we will walk in faith, God will show us his faithfulness. Abraham and Sarah didn’t see the fulfillment of the Promised Land in their earthly lives, but God revealed his faithfulness in giving them the son (Isaac) as he had promised, and in many other ways.

Jesus declared that anyone who desires to do God’s will shall know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that Jesus speaks according to God’s will and word. Anyone who thinks he knows God will recognize that Jesus is God’s only (begotten) Son (John 1:14), in whom the whole of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). No one can truly know God except through Jesus (John 1:18; Mathew 11:27 John 14:6-7). Each one of us must decide for ourselves who we believe Jesus is. Our decision has eternal consequences.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you 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)?

4 Epiphany - Monday

first posted 01/30/05

Isaiah 51:17-23, The Lord’s wrath
Galatians 4:1-11, Bondage under law
Mark 7:24-37 The Syrophoenician woman

Rise up, Jerusalem, who is drunk from the cup of God’s wrath. None of her sons is able to guide her. Devastation and destruction have befallen her. Who will comfort or commiserate with her? Her sons are passed out in a drunken stupor on every street corner, from the wrath of God. Listen, you who are drunk from the Lord’s wrath. The Lord has removed the cup of his wrath from you; you shall no longer be afflicted. From now on, God will give it to your tormentors, who have trampled all over you, and used you for a sidewalk.

The heir of the estate, as long as he is a minor, has no more control over the estate than a slave; although he is ultimately its owner, he is under guardians and trustees until the date determined by the father. So also, when we were spiritually ignorant, we were slaves to the elemental superstitions of the world. But in the fullness of God’s perfect timing, God sent his Son, born of woman, born under God’s Law given to Moses, to redeem those under the Law, so we could be adopted sons and daughters of God.

Because we are God’s adopted children, he has given us the Spirit of his Son in our hearts, who bears witness that we are God’s children. So through God (in Jesus Christ) we are no longer slaves but children and heirs of God’s promises. In the past, when we did not know and acknowledge God, we were slaves of false gods (and behind those idols are demons; 1 Corinthians 10:20-21). Now we can come into a personal relationship with God through the indwelling Spirit of Christ. Why would we want to turn back to slavery again to the forces of evil? Why would we want to continue to be like Jews in the observance of Jewish traditions? Has Paul’s work in proclaiming Jesus been in vain?

Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and he entered a house there, hoping not to have his visit publicized, but the news could not be suppressed. Immediately a Syrophoenician (Tyre and Sidon were cities of Phoenicia in the Roman Province of Syria) woman, a Gentile, came to Jesus begging him to heal her small demon-possessed daughter. Jesus told her to let the children (Jews) be fed first, for it isn’t right to give the children’s food to the dogs (Gentiles). The woman replied “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs" (Mark 7:28). Jesus replied that since she had given that reply, she could go her way; the demon had been cast out of her daughter. The woman went home and found the child healed of the demon.

Jesus returned from Tyre and Sidon to the Sea of Galilee through the region of the Decapolis (“the Ten Cities, on the east and south of the Sea of Galilee). A deaf man who couldn’t speak clearly was brought to Jesus for healing. Jesus took him aside and put his fingers in the deaf man’s ears and touched his tongue, and Jesus looked up to heaven and said “Be opened” in Aramaic (the language which Jesus spoke). The deaf man’s hearing was restored and he spoke plainly.

Jesus “charged (exhorted; ordered) them (the healed man and those who had brought him) to tell no one, but the more (emphatically) he charged them the more zealously they proclaimed it” (Mark 7:36). Those who witnessed the healing were amazed and declared that Jesus did everything well; he could even make the deaf hear and the mute speak.

Judea had been in exile in Babylon, suffering under God’s punishment for her unfaithfulness and disobedience of God’s word. God is going to deliver her sons from their oppressors and restore them to leadership. Their punishment was completed and now the Lord was going to punish the oppressors of God’s children (by the fall of Babylon to Cyrus of Persia in 539 B.C.).

God’s promise was fulfilled; his children were restored to their land. But his promise also applies to his Church today. Judgment will begin with the children of God (1 Peter 4:17). God disciplines his children for their good and salvation (Hebrews 12:7-11), but then he will destroy their tormentors.

Through Jesus Christ we are adopted sons and daughters of God and heir to the promises of God: his heavenly estate. We are no longer the slaves of Satan, the "god" of this world. God doesn’t give us his Spirit to enslave us but to free us from sin and death. The Spirit of his Son, Jesus, within us bears witness that we are God’s adopted children, and that we will inherit eternal life in his heavenly kingdom (Galatians 4:6; compare Romans 8:9b, 12-17a; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14;).

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the risen Jesus, through whom we are spiritually “born again” (John 3:3, 5-8) and have personal fellowship with the Lord. If we have been truly born again and freed from slavery to sin and death, why would we want to turn back to slavery? Why would we want to become like Jews in the observance of Jewish Laws and traditions?

God intended his salvation for all people, but he made it available first to the Jews. God had told Abraham that all the nations of the world would be blessed through Abraham (Genesis 12:3b). Jesus didn’t mean to imply to the Syrophoenician woman that Gentiles were subhuman, but to indicate where they were in seniority regarding the Gospel of salvation.

The Syrophoenician could have chosen to be offended by Jesus’ categorization of her, but she responded in faith and obedience. She agreed with Jesus’ assessment, and she acknowledged him as her Lord. But she persisted in faith that his grace (unmerited favor) would extend to include herself and her daughter. When Jesus told her to go her way, that her daughter was healed, she trusted and obeyed Jesus, and came to know that his promises are faithful and true.

In contrast, those who disregarded Jesus’ command to not publicize the healing of the deaf mute thought they were doing the right thing and glorifying Jesus, but they were actually impeding Jesus’ ministry. Jesus didn’t come primarily to bring physical healing, and his physical healings were attracting large crowds who were only interested in physical healing, making it difficult to fulfill his greater mission. We must be careful not to assume that we know God’s will without confirmation from him. See also John 6:26-27). Jesus can do all things well. He can even make the spiritually deaf hear and give the spiritually mute voice (as I personally attest.

4 Epiphany - Tuesday

first posted 01/31/05

Isaiah 52:1-12, The Lord’s kingship
Galatians 4:12-20, Paul’s concern
Mark 8:1-10 Feeding the four thousand

Awake, gather your strength, O Zion (God’s people; the Church); put on your beautiful clothes, for the heathen and unclean shall no longer come into you! Rise up from the dust, captive Jerusalem (the city of God; the Church)! Zion was oppressed without cost to her oppressors and will be redeemed without money. Egypt and Assyria (and Babylon) had enslaved God’s people without paying anything for them, and they continually despise God’s name (and character). But God’s people will know God’s name and his redeeming work on their behalf.

God’s people await the messengers confirming God’s victory; her watchmen rejoice as they see the victorious Lord returning to Zion. The Lord has comforted and redeemed his people and has revealed his holy arm, his salvation, to all the people of the earth. God’s people will leave Babylon and return to their homeland, ritually purified, and in victory, not in flight or fear, because the Lord will be their vanguard and defender.

Paul begged the Galatians to follow his spiritual example, as he has become one of them during his visit. Paul had been well-treated by them. Although he had a physical ailment, and required their care (perhaps eye trouble; see Galatians 4:15), they received and cared for him as for an angel of God or as Jesus Christ himself, rather than as a burden. They would gladly have given Paul even their own eyes if that would have helped him. Will they now regard him as their enemy for telling them the truth?

The Judaizers (those who insist that Gentile Christians must keep Jewish laws) were using flattery to induce the Galatians to accept their false doctrine, which would actually keep the Galatians from their inheritance of salvation (Galatians 6:4), and the Judaizers’ motivation was their own self-glorification. It is good to build up one another for a good purpose.

Paul is the spiritual father of the Galatians, his spiritually young disciples, who have not yet reached spiritual maturity. Paul is worried about them and longs to be with them so that he might guide them in person, more gently and lovingly than he can in this letter.

A great crowd of about four thousand people had gathered around Jesus and had been with him for three days without the opportunity to obtain anything to eat. Jesus had compassion on them and was afraid that they were too weak to return to their homes without fainting on the way, knowing that some had come from a great distance.

The disciples asked Jesus how they could possibly feed so many people in the middle of the wilderness. Jesus asked his disciples what food they had on hand, and they had seven loaves of bread and a few fish. Jesus took the bread and fish and gave thanks to God and blessed and broke them into pieces and gave them to the disciples to distribute. They all ate and were satisfied, and seven baskets of leftovers were collected. Then Jesus sent the people home, and he and his disciples got into a boat and went to Dalmanutha (or Magadan; or Magdala; compare Matthew 15:39; apparently on the west side of the Sea of Galilee).

God fulfilled his promise to Israel to redeem them from exile in Babylon and lead them back to their homeland when Babylon fell to King Cyrus of Persia in 538 B.C.* God has also revealed his holy arm, his salvation, in Jesus Christ. The history of God’s redemption of Israel is also an illustration and prophecy of his ultimate plan of redemption of the world which will be fulfilled when Jesus returns on the Day of Judgment.

The Lord cares for his people. God allowed Judah to go into Exile to discipline them for not trusting and obeying God’s Word and God’s prophets, but his ultimate purpose was for their salvation. God comforts and redeems his people and frees them from slavery and exile in the Babylon of this world.

Jesus is the holy arm of God, God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6), which has been revealed to all the people on Earth. Jesus is the victorious Lord who will return to lead his people to the eternal Jerusalem in Heaven, ritually cleansed and purified by Jesus’ blood shed on the cross.

Paul loved the Galatians as a father loves his children, and he also appreciated the way they had cared for his physical ailment. But he cared enough for their spiritual wellbeing and their eternal destiny that he was willing to speak the truth sternly to them even though the Galatians wouldn’t enjoy hearing it. In contrast, the Judaizers were flattering the Galatians and telling the Galatians what the Galatians enjoyed hearing, but which would lead them away from salvation and eternal life; and the Judaizers’ motive was to make themselves look good and feel important.

Jesus is our example of how Church leaders and all Christians should care for the needs of all people. Often it is too easy to dismiss our responsibility for the welfare of others because the situation seems vastly beyond our human ability and resources. The disciples asked how one could feed that vast crowd in the middle of nowhere. But Jesus told them to start doing what they could with the resources they had, and as they did so God provided the means to meet the need.

Jesus recognized the physical needs of the crowd, but his real ministry was to their spiritual need. Jesus didn’t give the crowd false encouragement that they could make it home without food, but that is exactly what spiritual leaders do, if they tell people what is popular and pleasant to hear, instead of the hard truths that people need to hear.

Paul told Timothy, his protégé in Christian ministry, that “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate teachers to suit their own likings and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander into myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Are we seeking the truth, or do we just want our “ears tickled”?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you 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)?

* “Cyrus,” Easton’s Bible Dictionary, digital module, BibleDatabase freeware, see Free Digital Bible Study Tools, sidebar top right.

4 Epiphany - Wednesday

first posted 02/01/05

Isaiah 52:13-53:12, The suffering Servant
Galatians 4:21-31, Allegory of Hagar and Sarah
Mark 8:11-26 Leaven of the Pharisees

The Lord’s servant will prosper; he will be exalted and lifted up. His appearance has been so marred that many people, nations and kings will be astonished and speechless. They will see and understand what has not been told.

Who has believed what the Lord has declared; to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew like a young plant, and a root in dry ground. He was not physically attractive, and he was despised and rejected; he experienced sorrow and grief, and was treated like a leper. But he has borne our grief and sorrow. We considered him deserving of God’s punishment, but it was our sins he was being punished for, and we have been healed and restored by his punishment.

We have all gone astray like sheep, each following his own will, and God has placed on his Servant, the burden of all our guilt. He bore his suffering in silence, like a lamb being sheared is mute. His life was cut short and taken from him by oppression and judgment, but who considered that his suffering and death was for our sins?

He was buried with the wicked and with a rich man although he had committed no violence or deceit. Yet it was God’s will that he should suffer as a sacrifice and offering for sin, and because of his obedience he shall see his offspring (followers) and his days will be prolonged. He will be satisfied with the results of his suffering. “By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many righteous; and he will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). God will give him an inheritance of great honor which he will share with those who persevere in faith, because he was obedient unto death, and suffered for the sins of many, making intercession for sinners.

Those who want to rely on their performance of the Law haven’t understood the Law. Abraham had two sons, one, named Ishmael, born of the flesh by Hagar, his slave, and one, named Isaac, born according to God’s promise by his wife, Sarah, who was free. The women are an allegory representing two covenants, the Covenant of Law of life in the flesh in the worldly Jerusalem, and the Covenant of Grace of life in the Spirit in Christ’s Church which is the forerunner of the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Believers are children of the promise, like Isaac, and the Church is our mother. As Ishmael persecuted Isaac (Genesis 21:9-12), so the world persecutes Christians, but as the scripture says, the slave and her son will be cast out and will not inherit with the son of the free woman. Christians are the children of the free woman, who will inherit God’s promises.

Jesus and his disciples had just returned from feeding the four thousand. Some Pharisees (the predominant legalistic faction of Judaism) came and argued with Jesus, asking him for a sign from heaven to prove his authority. Jesus sighed deeply and asked why this generation insisted on seeking signs, because no signs will be given.

Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and went across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The disciples had only one loaf of bread among them, because they had forgotten to bring more. Jesus was telling his disciples to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod (or the Herodians).

The disciples thought Jesus was speaking of bread and they discussed it among themselves, saying that they had no bread. Jesus was aware of their discussion, and asked why they were discussing their lack of bread. Did they not see and hear and remember; why couldn’t they understand? Jesus reminded them of the abundance of the bread left over from the feedings of the five thousand and the four thousand. Jesus asked if they still did not understand.

They came to Bethsaida and people brought a blind man to Jesus for healing. Jesus took the blind man outside the city and laid his hands upon the man. The man’s sight was partly restored but he still couldn’t see clearly, so Jesus laid his hands on him again, and the man’s sight was restored and he saw clearly. Jesus sent him away to his home, telling him not to go back to the village.

To whom has the arm of the Lord (God’s power; his Servant, the Messiah) been revealed? Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this prophecy. To those who believe in Jesus, the parallel seems obvious, but to those who don’t, it isn’t. Jesus has borne and paid the debt for the sins of those who trust in him.

Jesus is our example of trust and obedience to God’s will. Those who come to know Jesus personally (through his indwelling Holy Spirit; compare Isaiah 53:11) will be made righteous (by his blood, shed on the cross). Those who follow Jesus in trust and obedience are his offspring, and their days will be prolonged for eternity (Isaiah 53:10c). Jesus will share his inheritance with those who persevere and endure in faith (Isaiah 53:12b).

Those who trust in their good deeds for their salvation, instead of trusting in Jesus haven’t understood God’s Word. God’s Law was given to restrain those in the flesh until the coming of Jesus Christ (physically, during his earthly ministry, and spiritually, when a believer is reborn through the indwelling Holy Spirit). 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 Christ is the only sacrifice which is acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). We either accept Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins, or we will have to die eternally for them ourselves.

God’s promise of forgiveness, salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ must be received by faith (trust and obedience). Christians are the legitimate spiritual children of Abraham and Sarah, who will inherit God’s promises. The illegitimate children of the slave will be cast out and will not inherit.

The Pharisees wanted proof from Jesus of his authority, but there was proof all around them and they couldn’t see it. God’s promise depends on faith. If he were to provide incontrovertible proof, there would be no need for faith. Jesus performed many miracles, doing things which are humanly impossible, and yet the Pharisees wanted further proof.

The Pharisees didn’t want to acknowledge Jesus’ authority, because they were religious and secular leaders of their society based on their reputation of righteousness by their keeping of the Jewish law. They didn’t want to give that up and admit they were sinners in need of a Savior. They chose the approval of mankind instead of God’s approval.

Jesus was talking about the sin (spiritual “leaven”) of the Pharisees, but the disciples’ attention was focused on material things: bread and their stomachs. They had seen Jesus feed thousands with a few loaves of bread, and they were in the boat with Jesus, worried about having enough bread. They couldn’t understand Jesus’ spiritual teaching because their minds were on worldly, material concerns and they hadn’t learned to trust Jesus to provide for their needs.

Jesus healed the blind man’s physical sight, but it took more than one try. Jesus disciples spiritual sight wasn’t immediately and completely developed either, but they were following the one who could help them see. The Pharisees were spiritually blind but refused to acknowledge it and seek healing.

4 Epiphany - Thursday

first posted 02/02/05

Isaiah 54:1-10 (11-17), Song of assurance
Galatians 5:1-15, Christian freedom
Mark 8:27-9:1 On discipleship

The Lord assures exilic Israel that she will be restored and prospered beyond what she had before her exile. God has forgiven her unfaithfulness. The Lord her creator is her husband; God of all the earth, the Holy One of Israel, is her Redeemer. The Lord briefly forsook her in his anger, but now in compassion he calls her to return. The Lord has everlasting love and compassion for her.

As in the days of Noah, when the Lord swore that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood, so the Lord promises not to be angry with his people nor to rebuke them. Zion will be restored; her city will be beautiful. “All her sons shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be their prosperity” (Isaiah 54:13). She shall be established in righteousness, and will be oppressed no more.

God is the creator of those who make weapons and those who wield them. No weapon against her will succeed, and no accuser will prevail against her.” This is the heritage and vindication of the servants of the Lord.

We have been set free from bondage to the law of sin and death (the law convicts of sin and demands eternal death; Romans 3:23; 6:23), so we should not submit to slavery again (by Judaizers who want to require Gentile Christians to observe the Jewish Laws).
Paul tells believers that if they attempt to be righteous by keeping the Jewish Law they will be obligated to keep every part of the law (which is impossible). In trying to be justified (reckoned righteous) by works (keeping) the law, they are severed from Christ and have fallen away from God’s grace (unmerited favor; free gift). The Christian’s hope of righteousness is by faith in Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

In Christ Jesus, righteousness is not by keeping the law but by faith through love (which results in good works; John 14:15, 21). False teachers had come into the Galatian congregation and were causing the believers to go off course. Paul declares that this emphasis on justification by works (keeping) of the law is not from the Lord, but is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As a little yeast leavens the whole loaf, so false doctrine, or sin, can spread through and corrupt entire congregations. Through the Lord, Paul trusts that the Galatians will follow Paul’s teaching, and that God will judge those who are at work in the congregation in opposition to Paul and the Gospel. Paul points out that it is because Paul has defended the true Gospel that he is being persecuted.

The stumbling block of the Gospel of the cross of Christ to the Jews is that righteousness is no longer based on keeping the Jewish Law but in faith (obedient trust) in Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). Circumcision symbolizes the Old Covenant of Law which is no longer brings salvation, so circumcision becomes a mutilation of the flesh, and those who advocate the mutilation of the Gentiles’ flesh should go mutilate themselves.

The freedom we have in Christ is not to be used to indulge our carnal natures; we have been freed so that we can serve the Lord and one another through love. If we truly love one another we will have fulfilled all the requirements of the Law. But where people “bite and devour” (use others to gratify their own desires) one another they will destroy each other.

Jesus and his disciples went to the region of Caesarea Philippi at the northern border of Israel. On the way he asked his disciples who people were saying that Jesus was. The disciples said that some thought Jesus was John the Baptist (risen from the dead). Others thought Jesus was Elijah (who was expected to return before the coming of the Messiah), and others thought he was one of the prophets (i.e., a prophet). Then Jesus asked who his disciples thought Jesus was, and Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone about him. Jesus told his disciples that the “Son of man” (Jesus) would suffer, would be rejected by the religious leaders, and would be killed, and after three days he would rise. Peter rebuked Jesus, but Jesus rebuked Peter in front of the other disciples, saying that Peter was an agent of temptation and was opposing God’s will.

Jesus began to teach the crowd following him that anyone who wants to be a follower of Jesus must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Jesus (his example and teaching). Whoever wants to keep his physical, earthly life will loose it. But whoever gives up his life for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel will save his own (eternal) life.

What does it matter if a person owns the entire world if he dies. What could a person give which would be worth his life. When Jesus returns in glory with his holy angels, he will be ashamed of those who have been ashamed of Jesus and his words, now, in this wicked world. Jesus declared that there were some with him right then who would not die before they saw the kingdom of God come with power.

The prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled; Israel was restored to the Promised Land. But the prophecy also applies to the Church, which is the New Israel, in exile in the “Babylon” of this world. Jesus is the Holy One of Israel, our Redeemer, through whom we have God’s forgiveness.

Israel’s (the Church’s) sons and daughters will be taught by the Lord (Isaiah 54:13) through the indwelling Holy Spirit whom only Jesus gives to his disciples who trust and obey him (John 1:33; 14:15-17). No weapon or accuser will prevail against God’s people. Great will be their prosperity in the restored paradise of the New Jerusalem in Heaven. This is the heritage and vindication of the servants of the Lord.

Through Christ we have been set free from sin, death and the power of Satan, so that we can serve the Lord. We are free, but we should use that freedom not to serve ourselves but to serve our Lord and one another in love. Forgiveness is the free gift of God by grace to be received through faith in Jesus Christ, not by works (keeping) of the law (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we have been forgiven and freed so that we can serve the Lord by doing good works which he has prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

There have been false doctrines and false teachers in the Church from its beginning. Two examples are “Justification by Works” and the doctrine of “Cheap Grace*” (salvation without requiring obedience; without discipleship). Paul is addressing both in this text.

The Judaizers wanted the Gentile Christians to “earn” righteousness by keeping the Law. In refuting that false doctrine, he also warned about going too far in the opposite direction to a doctrine of “Cheap Grace,” using the freedom in Christ to indulge our self-interests rather than serving the Lord in obedience and discipleship. We are to be taught by, led by, and obedient to the indwelling Holy Spirit.

If we realize and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ then we should follow his example and his teaching. Following Jesus is going to cost us something. We have to be willing to deny our self-centered desires. We have to be willing to give up what we want for ourselves so that we can do what the Lord wants us to do. We must be willing to endure some personal discomfort in order to follow Jesus. We have to be willing to give up our earthly ambitions and goals and even physical lives, if necessary, in the assurance that Jesus’ promise and his example of resurrection from the dead will be fulfilled for us as it was for himself. In order to be a follower of Jesus we must follow Jesus’ example and apply his teaching in our lives; we need to trust and obey Jesus.

What is your eternal life in Paradise worth to you? Who do you say that Jesus is? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received his 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)?

*See: The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co., NY 1963 ISBN 0-02-083850-6

4 Epiphany - Friday

first posted 02/03/05

Isaiah 55:1-13, Seek the Lord
Galatians 5:16-24, Walk by the Spirit
Mark 9:2-13 Transfiguration

Those who are spiritually hungry and thirsty are invited to come and be satisfied without cost. Why do we spend money and labor for things which do not satisfy or nurture us spiritually? Listen to the Lord and he will show us what is good and satisfying; come to him and hear, so that our souls may live. The Lord will extend to us his covenant of steadfast love which he had with David, whom the Lord made a witness, a leader, and a commander of people. God’s people shall call nations we have not known and they will come to us because of the Lord our God, and his Holy One, who has glorified us.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6). Let the wicked and unrighteous forsake their thoughts and their ways and turn to the Lord so that the Lord will have mercy on them, and he will pardon them abundantly. God’s ways and his thoughts are vastly higher than our ways and thoughts. Like the rain which causes seed to sprout and bear a harvest, so God’s Word goes forth and will not fail to bring forth a harvest according to God’s purpose. God will lead us forth in a New Exodus into the New Promised Land of paradise restored which will be eternal.

Christians are to reject the gratification of the desires of their flesh and walk by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The desires of the flesh oppose and contradict the desires of the Spirit. We are given the Holy Spirit for that purpose so that we no longer follow our carnal desires. Those who are led by the indwelling Holy Spirit are no longer under the Law.

The works of the flesh include “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factionalism, envy, drunkenness, and carousing” (Galatians 5:19). We are warned that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). No law is needed to restrain such behavior. “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).

Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to the top of a high mountain. Then Jesus was transfigured in their presence; his clothes appeared to glow intensely white beyond any earthly appearance. Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus.

The three disciples were amazed and afraid, and Peter suggested to Jesus that they build three booths, one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. The shadow of a cloud came over them and a voice from the cloud said “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mark 9:7). Moses and Elijah disappeared and the three disciples saw only Jesus.

As they came down the mountain Jesus told them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of man (Jesus) had risen from the dead. They kept the experience to themselves, but they wondered what Jesus had meant about rising from the dead.

They asked Jesus why the Bible teachers said that Elijah must return to earth before the coming of the Messiah. Jesus replied that Elijah had come first “to restore all things” (to call the people to repent and return to obedient trust in the Lord).

Jesus told them that scriptures prophesied that the Son of man would suffer and would be treated with contempt, and that Elijah had come (John the Baptizer had fulfilled the prophecy) and he had suffered the same treatment (as Jesus would receive and as the other prophets had received), fulfilling what the scriptures foretold.

We are spiritual beings in physical bodies. God created us, and he knows what we need. He invites us to listen to him, and he will show us what is good and satisfying. If we realize that we have spiritual needs, he is the only one who can satisfy them. This earthly lifetime is the only opportunity we have to come to the Lord and be nurtured spiritually so that we will live eternally in the new creation of paradise restored.

No one knows how much time we have in this life. Now is the time to seek the Lord and call upon him. God’s Word will be fulfilled; his purpose will be accomplished, and his purpose is to bring his people out of the “Egypt,” the “Babylon” of this world into the Promised Land of his kingdom in Heaven.

Christians are to walk according to the Holy Spirit. The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit to guide and empower us to walk in trust and obedience to the Lord. The Lord only gives his Holy Spirit to his disciples who trust and obey him (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17). The indwelling Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16; see entry for Saturday, 3 Epiphany, odd year). We are given the promise of the Holy Spirit at our Baptism, but it is only as we follow the Lord in trust and obedience that we receive the fulfillment of that promise. Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say” (Luke 6:46; Mathew 7:12-24)?

Peter, James, and John were the disciples in the closest fellowship with Jesus. To them Jesus revealed his heavenly glory. They were witnesses to John the Baptist’s fulfillment of the prophecy of the appearance of Elijah before the Messiah, but they were also witnesses that Elijah appeared to Jesus with Moses on the mountain of transfiguration. They were also witnesses to Jesus’ heavenly glory, and to the voice of God declaring that Jesus was God’s beloved Son, and telling Jesus’ disciples to listen to Jesus.

Peter, James and John obeyed Jesus. They are the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the extension of the covenant of David to them. They became witnesses and leaders of the New People of God (the Church). They proclaimed the Gospel to the Nations, and Nations came to them because of the Lord God and his Holy One, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer.

Peter, James and John were allowed to see Jesus’ heavenly glory because they were walking in close fellowship with Jesus. After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, it is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that his disciples have close personal fellowship with Jesus and it is through the Holy Spirit that we experience Jesus’ heavenly glory and hear God speak. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit who will lead us out of “Egypt” and “Babylon” into the Heavenly Kingdom.

Have you come to a personal fellowship with Jesus Christ? Are you walking by his Holy Spirit? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you 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)?

4 Epiphany - Saturday

first posted 02/04/05

Isaiah 56:1-8, A house of prayer
Galatians 5:25-6:10, Walk by the Spirit
Mark 9:14-29 Epileptic child healed

Do what is righteous and just, because the Lord’s salvation is coming soon, and his deliverance will be revealed. Those who do so, and keep the Sabbath, refraining from doing evil or profaning the Sabbath, will be blessed. Eunuchs who keep the Sabbath and do what is pleasing to the Lord will have an eternal heritage in Gods’ house, and faithful proselytes (non-Jews who worship God) who love and serve the Lord and keep his covenant will be included among God’s people. God’s house will be a house of prayer for all people. God declares that he will gather other people to him beside the Jews.

If we have been "reborn" (John 3:3, 5-8) by the Spirit let us walk by (in obedience to) the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, nor envy one another; let us not provoke one another). If someone succumbs to temptation, Christians should gently restore him, being careful not to fall into temptation ourselves. We are to care for and help one another, fulfilling Christ’s commandment to love one another. We are not to exalt ourselves over others or compare ourselves to one another, but to honestly examine ourselves (according to God’s Word).

Each of us will be responsible for our own conduct. Those who are taught are to support their teachers. Let us not imagine that God can be fooled. We will all individually reap according to what we have sown.

If we live according to our flesh we will reap corruption (we’ll die and rot in our flesh). But if we live according to the Spirit, we will reap eternal life. Let us not be discouraged with doing what is right, because we will eventually reap the reward of righteousness if we do not become discouraged. So let us do what is right to all people, and especially to our fellow believers.

Jesus, Peter, James and John returned from the mountain where Jesus had been transfigured (see entry for yesterday, Friday, 4 Epiphany, odd year), and they found the rest of the disciples surrounded by a large crowd, arguing with some scribes. When the crowd saw Jesus they were amazed and ran to him.

Jesus asked what they were discussing, and a person in the crowd told Jesus he had brought his epileptic son to be healed by Jesus, but Jesus’ disciples had been unable to heal him. Jesus expressed exasperation with the faithlessness of the generation, and told the father to bring the boy to him.

When he was brought, the boy immediately began to convulse, and Jesus asked the boy’s father how long he had had this condition. The father replied that the boy had convulsions from childhood, and that they were life-threatening. He asked Jesus to heal the boy saying, “If you can” (Mark 9:22). Jesus replied, “If you can (Mark 9:23)!” Jesus told him that all things are possible to those who believe. The man cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Jesus saw that a crowd was gathering, and he rebuked the evil spirit and cast him out of the boy. The boy became so still that the crowd thought he was dead, but Jesus took him by the hand and he got up. Later, when the disciples were alone with Jesus they asked him why they had been unable to heal the boy themselves, and Jesus told them that this kind (of evil spirit) can only be driven out by prayer.

God’s people are all those who love him and do what is pleasing to him. Just being born into a Christian congregation or into a Christian family doesn’t make us Christians. God’s house is a house of prayer for all people who trust and obey his Son, Jesus Christ (see Conditions for Answered Prayer, sidebar, top right). We cannot expect God to do what we ask unless we are willing to do what he asks.

Christians are disciples of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26b) who have trusted and obeyed Jesus and have been spiritually reborn through his indwelling Holy Spirit. If we have new life by his Spirit, we are to live in that new life; we are to be guided and empowered by his Holy Spirit. We are to love and care for one another, and to help the fallen and the lost; not argue or feel spiritually superior to others. We should examine ourselves according to God’s Word, not against one another.

God is able to do what we ask, but are we willing to do what he asks? Perhaps one reason that the disciples had been unable to heal the boy was because they had gotten involved in an argument with the scribes (Bible teachers) instead of praying in faith. The Lord is not going to answer our prayer so that we can win an argument or so that we can look or feel more spiritual than others. The man had brought his son to see “if” Jesus could heal the boy. The Lord will not “prove” himself to us; we must choose whether to believe in (trust and obey) him.

Jesus’ answer shows that it is not a matter of whether Jesus could do it, but whether the father believed in Jesus. When the father replied that he believed and asked Jesus to increase his faith, Jesus was willing to do that. It isn’t a matter of the amount of faith, as long as we are willing to make the commitment. When we commit to trust and obey Jesus, he will reveal his power and faithfulness to us, causing our faith in him to grow.