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4 Lent - Sunday

first posted 03/05/05

 
Jeremiah 14:1-9 (10-16) 17-22,     Spiritual drought
Galatians 4:21-5:1,     Allegory of Hagar and Sarah
Mark 8:11-21     Miraculous signs.
 
Judah was suffering catastrophic drought. The southern kingdom of Judah, and Jerusalem, the civil and religious capital, mourned, prostrating themselves on the ground, praying for rain. The cisterns were dry. Nobles and farmers (rich and poor) were both humbled and dismayed by the lack of rain. Wild animals and farm animals were starving because there was no grass.

In a Day of Repentance the people confess their sins and their backsliding, praying that the Lord will be with them and save them, reminding the Lord that they are his people called by his name. But the Lord said that the people had only returned and called on God because of their need; when things are going well they had wandered far from God. So God did not accept their lament and their prayers; he was punishing them for their sin.

The Lord declared that he would not accept prayers for his people. Fasting and sacrifices are not acceptable; God will consume these people by sword, famine and pestilence. False prophets among the people were assuring them that they would not see sword or famine, and they would have peace. But the Lord declared that he had not sent these false prophets, and they were not speaking God’s word.

The Lord declares that the false prophets will be destroyed along with the people who put their trust in them. Mourn night and day for people who were once like God’s virginal daughter now grievously wounded by calamity.  “Both prophet and priest ply their trade, and have no knowledge (Jeremiah14:18c RSV). The people acknowledge their sin and plead for God’s mercy for his name’s sake, recognizing that only God can restore them and provide what they need.
 
Those who desire to be righteous by keeping the law (Jewish law; Jewish scripture) should hear what scripture says. The scriptures say that Abraham had two sons; one by his slave, Hagar, and one by a free woman (Sarah, his wife). Hagar’s son, Ishmael, was born according to the flesh, but Sarah’s son, Isaac, was born in fulfillment of God’s promise.

This is an allegory: Hagar is Mount Sinai (where Moses received the Covenant of Law from God) and she represents earthly Jerusalem. She is in slavery with her children (to law, sin, and death). But the heavenly Jerusalem is free and she is Christ’s Church, the “mother” of Christians.

Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1, showing that the desolate one, Sarah (who had been barren and beyond childbearing age) gave birth to the son through whom God’s promise will be fulfilled. Christians are children of promise like Isaac. As Ishmael persecuted Isaac so those born of the flesh now persecute Christians. But Paul quotes Genesis 21:9-12, to show that it is the children of the promise that inherit God’s promise; the children of the flesh and slavery will be cast out.
 
The Pharisees (leaders of the predominant, strict, legalistic faction of Judaism) argued with Jesus and sought a miraculous sign from Jesus as a test of his authenticity. Jesus was greatly saddened, and asked why this generation sought “signs.” Jesus said that none would be given.

Jesus and his disciples departed by boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. The disciples had only one loaf with them, and had forgotten to bring more. Jesus was telling them to watch out for the “leaven” (a symbol for "sin") of the Pharisees and Herod.

The disciples thought Jesus was talking about bread, and discussed among themselves their lack of bread. Jesus was aware of what they were discussing, and asked them why they were worrying about bread. Hadn’t they yet understood, after seeing Jesus feed the four thousand and the five thousand? Did the disciples also lack ears that heard and eyes that saw; were their hearts too hard to believe what they experienced? Jesus asked them to remember the baskets full of leftover bread and fish from the feedings of the multitudes. Then he asked them again if they still didn’t understand. 
 
Judah had turned away from obedience to the Lord and refused to hear the Word of God and God’s prophets. Instead they listened to false prophets who assured them that they had God’s presence, favor and peace. They had not learned from God’s punishment of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and had not heeded the warnings of Jeremiah that similar punishment was going to come upon them.

But when God lifted his providence from them and they began to feel his judgment, then they began to repent. Their repentance was only an attempt to avoid the judgment that was coming. God told them that he would not accept religious ritual; He wants genuine spiritual reform. Judah wanted to make a confession, burn a sacrifice or two, and say a few prayers so that they could avoid the consequence of their habitual, continued disobedience.
 
Two false teachings began to appear within the Church during the lifetime of the Apostles. One is now called “Cheap Grace;*” which is salvation by grace, without requiring discipleship and obedience to Jesus Christ. The other is called “works-righteousness” or “justification by works.” It was represented in the New Testament Church by the “Judaisers” or the “circumcision party,” (see Acts 11:2 for example) who wanted Gentile Christians to be required to keep the Jewish Laws, including circumcision (see False Teachings, sidebar, top right).

Paul is addressing the “Judaisers” in this text. The scriptural, apostolic Gospel is midway between these two extreme false teachings. Salvation is by grace (free gift; unmerited favor) to be received by faith (obedient trust), not by works (keeping of the law; Ephesians 2:8-9; compare Galatians 2:16). Those who attempt to be saved by doing “good deeds” or by keeping Jewish laws are forfeiting God’s promise of salvation through faith (trust and obedience) in Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:3-4).
 
The Pharisees represent the legalism of Judaism versus the promise and grace through Jesus Christ. The Pharisees trusted in their righteousness by their outward keeping of the law, but refused to believe in Jesus without some sign to prove himself. For those who need proof in order to believe in Jesus there is none, because proof makes faith unnecessary. But for those who truly believe, who trust and obey, there is “proof” all around us, as it was for the Pharisees. Jesus was in the temple daily healing the sick under the noses of the Pharisees.
 
Paul told Timothy,  a young minister of the Gospel whom Paul had trained, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having ‘itching ears,’ will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings (the people’s), and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). That’s what had happened in Judah in the time of Jeremiah, and many similar cases can be seen today, where religion has become a trade (a business; Jeremiah 14:18c RSV), and preachers are telling the people what the people want to hear; that they have God’s presence, favor and peace, while the people are in flagrant disobedience to God’s Word.

I believe that America and the Church, at least in America, are in the midst of a great spiritual drought, and the only way to avoid the catastrophic consequences of that drought is not by one national Day of Repentance, not by a few outward displays of repentance through religious rituals, but by a genuine confession and repentance, truly returning to trust and obedience to Jesus Christ by each one of us. Do we trust and obey Jesus and seek his guidance daily, or do we only turn to the Lord when things aren't going our way?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly 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 Lent - Monday

first posted 03/06/05 

Jeremiah 16:(1-9) 10-21,   Israel’s punishment and restoration  
Romans 7:1-12,     Law and sin
John 6:1-15      Feeding the five thousand.

The Lord told Jeremiah not to marry or have children, because God’s judgment was upon the children born (in Judah), and they would be killed by plague, war and famine. The Lord commanded Jeremiah not to participate in mourning or comfort the mourners of Judah, because the Lord had removed his peace, steadfast love and mercy from them. The Lord had sworn to remove mirth, gladness and celebration from them (Jeremiah 16:9; compare Jeremiah 7:34).

When the people asked why this had befallen them, Jeremiah was instructed to tell them that their fathers had forsaken the Lord and had not obeyed God’s law and had served and worshiped idols, and that their children had done so more and worse than their fathers. Each pursued his own evil desires, refusing to listen to the Lord. Therefore God was going to cast them out of the Promised Land into exile in a foreign land (Babylon) where they would be forced to serve other gods.

The Lord declared that the time was coming when Israel would no longer consider deliverance from Egypt but rather from Babylon as God’s great act of deliverance. Their return to the Promised Land from exile in Babylon would be the “New Exodus.”

Israel could not conceal her sins from God, who will send fishermen and hunters to track them down and catch them. God will punish them fully for their sins, because they have polluted God’s land with idols and abominations.

The Lord is the strength and fortress of those who take refuge in him. All the nations will come to the Lord, realizing that the religions inherited from their fathers are lies and worthless, and acknowledging that it is impossible for man to make his own gods, since such “gods” are powerless. The Lord will reveal his power and might so that all will know that he alone is Lord.

Just as the death of a spouse releases a person from the legal obligations of marriage, so followers of Christ have been discharged from obligation to God’s law through their participation in Christ’s death, as members of his body. We have been freed from the power of sin and death so that we can belong to and serve Jesus and be productive in working to accomplish God’s purpose. While we were living according to our carnal nature the law increased our temptation to sin, and yielding to that temptation leads to spiritual death.

Now Christians are dead as far as obligation to God’s law is concerned and freed from its condemnation so that we are free to live in (accordance with) the Spirit. The law isn’t sin nor does it cause sin but it makes us aware of our sin and increases our temptation to sin.

Before, our awareness of our obligation to God’s law sin was dead is far as we were concerned, but when we learned of God’s law sin revived and we were condemned to die eternally (we died spiritually). The law which promised life (to those who obeyed the law in every detail; Leviticus 18:5) brought spiritual death. God’s law is holy, just and good; it is sin which deceives and tempts us to disobey.

Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat. The crowd coming to Jesus seeking healing saw them leave and followed them. Jesus had gone up into the hillside and sat down with his disciples. Jesus saw the crowd coming to him and asked Philip, as a test, where they could buy bread to feed the crowd, because Jesus already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied that it would take two days’ wages to buy enough for each person to have a small portion. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said there was a boy with them who had 5 loaves of bread and two fish, but that would hardly begin to supply what was needed.

Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down on the grassy hillside, and he took the boy’s bread and fish and having prayed in thanksgiving, he broke them into pieces and had the disciples distribute them to the crowd of about five thousand people. All ate as much as they wanted and were satisfied, and there were twelve baskets full of food left over.

When the people saw and realized what had occurred they declared that Jesus was the prophet who was expected to appear (before the coming of the Messiah). Realizing they were about to force Jesus to be their king, he withdrew into the hills.

God fulfills his promises. Judah was taken into exile in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar for seventy years from 587 B.C. to 517 B.C. Seventy years is virtually a life sentence. Those who went into exile died in Babylon; those who returned were a different generation. God has revealed his power and might in Jesus Christ and people from all nations have turned from idols and come to the Lord God through Jesus Christ.

God is the only true God, the Creator of the Universe. All other so-called gods are the creation of man’s imagination: idols. Idolatry represents mankind’s attempt to manipulate God; to get God to do our will. God is our creator and it is his purpose to select people who will trust and obey him. I am convinced that the meaning and purpose of life is to seek and find God, and to come to a personal fellowship with him through his Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 17:26-27).

Jesus is God’s only provision for our Salvation (Acts 4:12; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right), and has been his plan from the beginning of creation (John 1:1-5, 14). No one can know, come to God, be forgiven, reconciled and have peace, fellowship and eternal life with God except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). God has planned from the beginning of creation to give us freedom to choose, during this life, whether to trust and obey him or not. This life is a selection and training process for eternity. God’s discipline of the disobedient is intended to bring us to repentance, obedience and salvation.

God’s will is our best interest. His law was intended to teach us what is good and right. Real, good, life, as God intended it, is only possible if we obey God’s law. The law shows us what is good and what is sin, but we are incapable of keeping it. The law promises life to those who keep all the law, but it condemns to eternal death those who fail to keep every bit of it.

We have all sinned (disobeyed God’s Word) 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). God loves us and doesn’t want anyone to perish, but for all to have eternal life (Romans 5:8; John 3:16-17). God forgives our sins as a free gift to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are freed from the condemnation of the law, provided that we trust and obey Jesus and are guided by his Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-9).

The multitudes followed Jesus because they saw the miraculous physical healings that he did (John 6:2). Jesus fed five thousand people with five barley loaves and two fish, and there were twelve baskets of left-overs! When the people saw and realized what had occurred, they wanted to force Jesus to be their king, because they wanted free “Medicare” and “free lunches.” They were not thinking about how to serve him, but how he could serve them! They weren’t interested in the spiritual healing and the spiritual feeding that Jesus offered them.

Jesus fed the five thousand, but they soon were physically hungry again. Spiritual healing and spiritual feeding are eternal; they’re more necessary to us than physical food and health. How many of us are more concerned with physical health and physical gratification than spiritual health and nurture? Many people think that spiritual things are “imaginary” but they are more real and lasting than the physical things we think are solid and true. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy our spiritual needs.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly 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 Lent - Tuesday

first posted 03/07/05

 
Jeremiah 17:19-27,       The Sabbath law
Romans 7:13-25,      Inner conflict of sin
John 6:16-27     Walking on water

The Lord told Jeremiah to stand in the Benjamin Gate of Jerusalem, which the kings of Judah use to enter and exit the city, and also in the other gates of Jerusalem and warn the people, for the sake of their lives, not to violate the Sabbath rest by carrying burdens on the Sabbath, or do any kind of work. The Lord had given this commandment to the patriarchs, but Israel had been stubborn and disobedient and had not listened and obeyed the commandment. The Lord promised that if Judah would obey the commandment and keep the Sabbath holy, the kings of the line of David would rule, their sacrifices would be acceptable to the Lord, and Jerusalem would be inhabited forever. But if Judah violated the Sabbath law Jerusalem would be destroyed.

The law of God is good; it is sin that causes death, not the law. So sin is revealed to be sin. The law is spiritual (divine; holy) but we are carnal, slaves to desires of the flesh. We can desire what is right within our souls and yet do what is against it in our bodies. Thus it is sin, dwelling within our flesh, which causes us to do what is contrary to the law and to our souls.

We can will to do what is right and yet be unable to do it. We can desire to do what is good and yet do what is evil. Whenever we want to do right we must be careful, because evil is surely close at hand. Our souls delight in the law of God, but in our flesh sin enforces another set of laws which is in opposition to the law of God, enslaving us to the law of sin. Thank God that in Jesus Christ we can be freed from the law of sin and death so that we can serve God.

Jesus had fed the five thousand and then gone into the hills to pray. When evening came, the disciples got into the boat to return across the sea to Capernaum without him. A storm arose and the wind and waves were against them. After rowing three or four miles they saw Jesus coming toward them, walking on the water. The disciples were frightened, but Jesus identified himself and told them not to be afraid. Jesus got into the boat and immediately the storm ceased and they were at their destination.

The next day the crowd who had been fed came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. They had seen the disciples leave without Jesus, so they asked Jesus how he had gotten here. Jesus replied that the crowd had come looking for Jesus not because the miracle of the feeding had revealed to them that Jesus was the Messiah, but because they were seeking another free meal. Jesus told them not to pursue material things, like food, which perish and cannot satisfy eternally, but to instead pursue the spiritual food which nurtures and sustains the soul to eternal life. That spiritual food can be provided only by Jesus, whom God authenticated by the miraculous sign which Jesus had done.

Failure to keep the Sabbath law was symptomatic of Judah’s failure to obey God’s Word. God gave them the Sabbath rest for their own benefit (Mark 2:27), but they were so anxious to pursue their own agenda that they went ahead and did what they wanted to, knowing that it was contrary to God’s Word. Jeremiah warned Judah to keep the Sabbath rest for the sake of their lives.

The Lord promised that if God’s people obeyed God’s Word, they would be led by the heir to the throne of David, and Jerusalem would be an eternal city (Jeremiah 17:25). But disobedience of God’s Word would lead to destruction.  How could God’s people expect God to accept their sacrifices and offerings, their rituals of worship, if they were unwilling to obey God’s Word?

God’s Word is being fulfilled. Jesus is the heir to the throne of David, and his church is the new eternal city of Jerusalem. God’s people are those who trust and obey Jesus. But because they did not accept Jesus as the Messiah, earthly Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in 70 A. D. by the Romans and the Jews were scattered throughout the world, and only began returning to the Promised Land following World War II.

Keeping the Sabbath won’t entitle us to salvation and eternal life, and breaking it won’t condemn us to eternal damnation, but it is a symptom of our obedience and relationship to God. God says that we are to rest from our labors on the Sabbath, but we think about the stuff we think we need to do and we think we have only Sunday in which to do it.

The fact that we shop on Sunday reveals that we desire material things too much. The fact that we work and sell on Sunday reveals that we desire wealth and success too much. If we didn’t buy things on Sunday, businesses would not be open on Sunday, and most people would not have to work on Sunday. There was a time in America when businesses were closed on Sunday. Do we even commit regularly to an hour or two on Sunday morning to worship in God’s house, or do we attend only if something else doesn’t come up?

Paul recognized that there is a law within our flesh which is opposed to God’s law, and that only through obedient trust in Jesus can we be freed from the tyranny of our own flesh. Only Jesus can set us free from the dominion of sin so that we can truly serve God. In Jesus we’re no longer slaves of sin, provided that we choose to be led by his Word and his Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-9).

The people who had been fed realized that they had seen a miracle, but the miracle was given so that they might know that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. The people weren’t interested in spiritual food, and they weren’t interested in a spiritual king. They wanted a political king who would deliver them from Roman occupation; they wanted an economic king who would provide them with abundant free food. They sought to follow Jesus only for the material benefits he could provide. But Jesus wants followers who are willing to be his disciples; who are willing to trust and obey him; who will set sail through the storms and darkness of this world, trusting that Jesus will be with them, will give them assurance in the darkness, will calm the wind and waves, and deliver them safe on the other shore.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly 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 Lent - Wednesday
first posted 03/08/05

Jeremiah 18:1-11,   Allegory of the potter
Romans 8:1-11,     Life in the Spirit
John 6:27-40      Jesus the bread of life

The Lord told Jeremiah to visit his local potter, and there Jeremiah would hear the Lord’s Word. So Jeremiah went and saw the potter at his wheel shaping a pot of clay, but the pot was spoiled in the working process, so the potter reshaped it into another form, according to the potter’s desire. Then the Lord told Jeremiah that the Lord is like the potter and Israel (God’s kingdom; God’s people) is like the clay. Was not the Lord allowed to reshape the clay to suit his will and purpose?

At any time during the molding process, the Lord can break down and destroy a nation or kingdom (which is not in accordance with the Lord’s will), and if that nation or kingdom turns from evil the Lord can change his mind and not destroy it. Conversely, if a nation or kingdom which the Lord has molded and shaped doesn’t do what the Lord intended when he created it but does evil and doesn’t heed God’s Word, the Lord can change his mind and withhold the good he intended to do for them. The Lord declared to Judah that the Lord is shaping calamity (condemnation; the opposite of good) against them, so they should repent of their evil ways and change their behavior.

Those who are in Christ are no longer under condemnation. The law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ frees us from the law of sin and death. The law, weakened by our flesh, was not able to make us righteous, but God sent his Son in human flesh to put sin to death, so that we might be able to fulfill the just requirement of the law by walking according to the Holy Spirit instead of walking in the flesh. Those who walk according to the flesh are focused on worldly, carnal things, but those who walk according to the Spirit focus on spiritual things.

Pursuing things of the flesh leads to spiritual death, but pursuing things of the Sprit leads to eternal life and peace with God. The carnal mind is hostile to God; it cannot and will not submit to God’s law and thus cannot please God. “But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9).

Although our bodies are dead because of sin our souls are alive because of righteousness, if Christ is really within us through his indwelling Holy Spirit. That Holy Spirit is the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, and he will give eternal life to us also through his Spirit within us.

After Jesus had fed a crowd of five thousand people, they followed Jesus to Capernaum (see John 6:1-15). Jesus told them not to pursue and work for physical food, which perishes and doesn’t satisfy, but instead pursue and work for spiritual food which truly satisfies and endures to eternity. Jesus Christ is the only source of that spiritual food, and God had authenticated Jesus Christ as the source of that spiritual food, in one instance, through the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. 

“Then they said to him, ‘What (works) must we do to be doing the work of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent’” (John 6:28-29). Then they asked Jesus for a miraculous work, or sign, so that they might believe in Jesus. They said that in the wilderness Israel had eaten manna, the “bread from heaven.” Jesus replied that it was not Moses who gave them bread from heaven; God gives the true bread from heaven. The true bread from heaven comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. The people asked Jesus to give them that bread always.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). But Jesus told them that they had seen Jesus and yet did not believe. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out” (John 6:37). Jesus came into the world by God’s will in order to do God’s will, which is to save all those who God has given him, and raise them up to eternal life on the Day of Judgment. God’s will is that all who see that Jesus is God’s Son and believe in him will have eternal life, and Jesus will raise them to eternal life on the Day of Judgment.

The Lord is the creator of the Universe, and he has created us for a purpose. It is God’s purpose to create an eternal kingdom of his people. This life is an “audition” for eternal life. We have the opportunity to seek and come into personal relationship with God (Acts 17:26-27) through Jesus Christ (John 14:6), by his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17). We’re to learn how to live in accordance with God’s Spirit now, so that we can live with him eternally.

The Lord is the potter, and we are the clay. If we resist his attempts to shape us into what he wants and is useful to him, he can destroy us and make something else. He can withhold the good he was intending to do for us. Because Judah was resisting God’s will and pursuing her own desires, the Lord warned her to repent and change her ways, or be destroyed. Judah didn’t heed God’s warning through his prophet Jeremiah, and so God did reshape Judah like clay through her 70 year exile in Babylon.

Those who resist God’s will and pursue their own worldly desires are like stubborn clay which refuses to be molded by the Potter’s hand. They are under condemnation. God’s law is our best interest, but in our human weakness we cannot do what the law requires. Jesus came to die as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we could be forgiven and accounted by God as righteous, freed from the condemnation under the law, provided that we trust and obey Jesus.

Those who trust and obey Jesus receive the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, who guides us and enables us to live according to God’s will (John 14:15-17). The Lord will mold and shape us by his indwelling Holy Spirit, if we will trust and obey him and be his disciples. We have personal fellowship with the Lord and the assurance of eternal life through his indwelling Holy Spirit.

The feeding of the five thousand was a “sign” which reveals that Jesus is from God and that he is the source of spiritual bread and life. The people who had been fed realized that something miraculous had occurred (John 6:14), but they followed Jesus seeking physical food and healing; for what Jesus could do for their earthly lives. They were focused on their flesh.

Jesus told them to labor instead for spiritual food, and they asked what work that involved. Jesus replied that it is not our work that earns our salvation; faith is God’s work in us when we trust and obey Jesus. When we believe Jesus’ words and act on them, God causes our “mustard seed” (Luke 13:19; 17:6) of faith to sprout and grow to spiritual maturity. As we have personal fellowship with the Lord we come to know that he is able and faithful to do what he says (see John 6:68-70).

The crowd then asked Jesus to do some miraculous sign so that they would believe in him. They had already seen the sign of the miraculous feeding, but hadn’t believed (John 6:36). For those who need to see “proof” in order to “believe” there is none, but for those who believe there is abundant proof. They wanted Jesus to give them at least another free meal, and preferably a regular, unlimited supply of daily bread, like the manna in the wilderness.

Jesus is the bread of life, the bread from heaven which gives eternal life to those who come to Jesus and believe in him. Jesus’ gave his own body on the Cross as the bread of life (John 6:51). God gives to Jesus all who trust and obey Jesus; no one who comes to Jesus will be rejected. All who see Jesus’ works and recognize that Jesus is of God receive eternal life now through his indwelling Holy Spirit, and will be raised from death on the Day of Judgment.

Do we need to see proof before we’ll believe? Do we follow Jesus seeking what he can do for us physically? Do we want God to do our will, or are we willing to do his will?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly 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 Lent - Thursday

first posted 03/09/05

 
Jeremiah 22:13-23,     The fate of Jehoiakim
Romans 8:12-27,     The Spirit and sonship
John 6:41-51      Bread from heaven

He who practices unrighteousness and injustice so that he can live in luxury is condemned. Living in luxury, in a mansion, doesn’t make one a king (or a great person). The forefathers lived according to justice and righteousness and all was well with them. They dealt justly with the poor and needy. Isn’t this what it means to know the Lord?

Woe to those who look for and desire dishonest gain, the shedding of innocent blood; those who practice oppression and violence. The Lord declared of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, that no one would mourn Jehoiakim’s death; no one would regard him as a brother, or honor him as a noble person. His death will be treated like that of an animal; he will be dragged out of Jerusalem and cast aside (left to rot without burial). Israel (the remnant; Judah; God’s people) will mourn from Lebanon (a mountain at the northern border), Bashan (east of the Jordan River) and Abarim (a mountain in the south, east of the Dead Sea), because her lovers (idols; the objects of her spiritual adultery) are destroyed.

In prosperity, Israel would not listen to the Lord’s warning; she had been disobedient and had not obeyed the Lord’s voice from her youth. Her leaders will be scattered to the wind; her idols will be carried away. Because of her wickedness, Israel will be ashamed and confounded. The king, who took refuge in his palace made of cedar from Lebanon (Jeremiah 22:14), will groan like a woman in travail at the judgment coming upon him.  

Believers are obligated to live by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, rather than according to our own carnal nature, because if we continue to live according to our flesh, we will die eternally in our flesh. But if we, by the Spirit, put the deeds of the flesh to death, we will live eternally. The children of God are those who are led by his Spirit.

God’s Spirit does not enslave us or cause us fear; we have received the spirit of adoption, by which we become God’s children. When we, moved by the Spirit, call God our Father, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. If we are God’s children then we are God’s heirs, and share in Christ’s inheritance, provided that we share in his suffering so that we can share in his glory.

The suffering we may have to endure in this lifetime for the Gospel is nothing, compared to the glory of eternal life. All creation longs for the revealing of God’s children so that creation can be released from futility and bondage to decay and share in the glorious liberty which God’s children will receive. All creation has been groaning like a woman in childbirth, and we also, who have received the first fruits (down payment; security deposit) groan in our spirits as we long for adoption and the redemption of our bodies, because this is the promise we received when we were saved through faith in Jesus.

We don’t see the complete fulfillment of that promise yet, but we wait for it patiently. We don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit sustains us in our human weakness. God knows our heartfelt needs and desires, and the Spirit intercedes for us according to God’s will.

The Jews (the religious authorities) criticized Jesus’ statement that he was the bread which came down from heaven. They thought Jesus could not have come down from heaven because they knew Jesus’ mother and (earthly) father. Jesus told them not to question his statement. Jesus said that no one could come to faith in him unless drawn to Jesus by God, and that those who come to Jesus will be resurrected on the last day (the Day of Judgment). Jesus quoted Isaiah 54:13, saying that everyone who has heard and learned from God will come to Jesus.

Jesus is the only one who has known God personally, because Jesus came from God. Jesus said that those who believe him have eternal life. Jesus is the bread of life. Israel’s forefathers ate manna in the wilderness, but they died. The spiritual bread Jesus supplies is the true bread from heaven, and those who receive that bread will never die spiritually. Jesus is the living bread which came down from heaven, and those who partake of that bread will live forever, and the bread Jesus gives for the life of the world is his flesh.

Judah’s behavior demonstrated that they did not know the Lord. When their ancestors had lived according to justice and righteousness all had been well for them. But Judah had become greedy for luxury, comfort and wealth, and in pursuing those “idols” had violated God’s Word. In their pursuit of material things they had pursued dishonest gain (deceptive business practices, usurious interest rates, inflated prices), had shed innocent blood, and oppressed the poor and needy. In her prosperity Israel refused to hear and obey God’s Word. Material wealth and worldly power does not make individuals or nations just or righteous. The result was that God lifted his protection from Judah and allowed them to be carried off into exile in Babylon for seventy years.

Calling ourselves God’s people doesn’t make it so. God’s people are those who are led by God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, which he gives only to those who trust and obey Jesus (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17). In Christ we have the freedom to seek and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Christians are obligated to live according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit instead of living according to their worldly desires.

The 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). The Holy Spirit is the “first fruit,” the “down payment,” the “security deposit” on eternal life. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit we have personal fellowship with the Lord now, as a foretaste of the complete fellowship we will have with him in eternity.

When we worship, it is the Holy Spirit prompting ecstatic praise which testifies with our spirits that we are God’s children. The Holy Spirit sustains, encourages, guides, and enables us and intercedes for us during our earthly “exile.” Following Jesus will require accepting suffering for the sake of the Gospel at times, rather than seeking our own personal satisfaction and comfort.

Jesus said that everyone who has heard God’s Word and has learned from it will come to Jesus. They will recognize that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s Word. Jesus is the only way to personal knowledge of and fellowship with God (John 14:6; 10:22), and that way is through his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17, 21, 23).

How are we doing? What does our behavior say about us, individually, as a church, and as a society? In our prosperity have we become deaf to God’s Word? Are we seeking and obeying God’s Spirit and God’s will, or are we pursuing material comfort, pleasure, wealth and power? Do we live in wealth and luxury at the expense of the poor and needy? Do we imagine that our wealth and luxurious standard of living is a sign of God’s approval?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly 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 Lent - Friday

first posted 03/10/05

 
Jeremiah 23:1-8,        The righteous branch
Romans 8:28-39,       Our confidence in God
John 6:52-59       Jesus’ flesh and blood

“'Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture,’ says the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:1).  The Lord condemns the rulers of God’s people, who have not taken proper care of them and have scattered and driven them away. God will punish them for their unfaithfulness. The Lord promises to bring the remnant of his people out of all the countries where they have been driven and bring them back to their fold, where they will thrive.

The Lord will set faithful shepherds over them who will properly care for them. They will no longer fear or be dismayed, and none shall be missing. The Lord will raise up a righteous Branch from David, who will reign as king. He will rule wisely in justice and righteousness. “In his day, Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. And…he will be called, ‘The Lord is our righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6). The day is coming when God’s people will no longer regard the exodus from Egypt, but the return from exile in Babylon, as the great saving act of God.

God is constantly working for good with those who love him and are called to fulfill his purpose. God knew beforehand who would respond to that call, and he planned beforehand to conform them to the example and likeness of his Son, so that Jesus would be the first-born of many children. Those he knew and predestined he called, and those who responded to his call he justified and glorified.

If God is for us and working for good, we need not fear anyone or anything. Who will accuse us? Since it is God who judges us as righteous, who is there who would be able to condemn us? Jesus died, was raised from the dead, and is at God’s right hand interceding for us. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s love or the love of God, which is revealed in Jesus; not even death or the forces of evil.

The Jewish religious authorities kept disputing Jesus’ claims. Jesus had said that he was the true bread from heaven, and the authorities doubted his heavenly origin, because they knew his earthly parents (John 6:41-42). Then Jesus said that the bread which he offered the world was his flesh, so the religious leaders questioned how Jesus could give his flesh to be eaten. But Jesus said that those who eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood have eternal life, and will be resurrected to eternal life on the Day of Judgment. 

Jesus declared that his flesh and blood was the true spiritual sustenance, and that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood abide in Christ and he in them. God, who has eternal life, has given eternal life to his Son. So also Jesus gives eternal life to those who eat his flesh and blood. Thus Jesus is the only true bread from heaven. Israel’s forefathers ate manna in the wilderness, but it did not confer eternal life. Jesus is the bread from heaven which gives eternal life. Jesus taught these things in the synagogue in Capernaum.  

The civil and religious leaders of Judah in Jeremiah’s day were condemned for their unfaithfulness as shepherds of God’s people. They violated God’s Word, and they didn’t heed God’s prophet. They listened to false prophets who proclaimed that they had God’s presence and approval while living contrary to God’s Word (Jeremiah 14:13-16; 23 16-17). The same conditions apply to us today. God promised to raise up a Good Shepherd, a righteous Branch who would be the eternal king of God’s kingdom, the heir to the throne of David. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise.

Jesus truly is our righteousness. We cannot be righteous in God’s judgment by our own efforts. All have sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). But by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus we are forgiven all our sins and are accounted righteous (Romans 3:22), so our Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness (compare Jeremiah 23:6b).

Christians are the New People of God, the New Israel. The Israel of Jeremiah’s day was exiled in Babylon for seventy years, and the Lord did bring them (their children) back to the Promised Land. Exile in Babylon is also a metaphor for eternal condemnation and return illustrates the salvation we have in Jesus; seventy years is virtually a life sentence for those who were adults.

God is good and he is constantly working for good with those who respond to his call to fulfill God’s purpose. His purpose is to create an eternal kingdom of his people who are like Jesus, who follow Jesus’ example and teaching. Jesus reveals God’s love and goodness, and if we trust in Jesus we can be assured that God is working for our best interest. We can trust God to protect us from all evil and to bring into his eternal kingdom; into creation restored to paradise, freed from decay and death and all evil.

It wasn’t coincidence that God fed Israel with manna in the wilderness. God has had a purpose from the very beginning of creation, and the ultimate manifestation of that purpose is in Jesus Christ. Just as manna didn't confer eternal life to Israel in the wilderness, "good works" or keeping the Law of Moses doesn't save us; only a personal relationship with Jesus through his indwelling Holy Spirit gives us eternal life. Those who believe Jesus’ words receive what Jesus promises, but to those who reject Jesus, his words seem to make no (worldly) sense.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, Jesus instituted what is called “the Lord’s Supper" (Eucharist; Communion), using the elements of bread and wine and declaring that these were his flesh and blood. (These words were spoken by Jesus, who existed and participated in Creation (John 1:15-14), whose command is obeyed by the forces of nature (Mark 4:41) and who raises the dead (John 11:43-44).

God had specifically forbidden his people to drink blood or eat flesh with its blood (Genesis 9:4), and it was believed in that time that blood contained the spirit of the animal. The Lord wants us to be filled with his Spirit, not the spirits of animals.

The Lord does not give his Holy Spirit to everyone who partakes of the elements of the Eucharist; only those who trust and obey Jesus Christ receive what he promised. The Holy Spirit is not necessarily conferred in participation in the Eucharist, but we are spiritually sustained by that participation, if done in obedient trust in Jesus. The Lord’s Supper is the New Passover feast, instituted during Jesus’ celebration of the Passover feast before his crucifixion. (The Christian symbolism of Passover would reward your further study.)

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly 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 Lent - Saturday

first posted 03/11/05

 
Jeremiah 23:9-15,     Oracles against the prophets
Romans 9:1-18,      Israel’s unbelief
John 6:60-71     Words of eternal life

Jeremiah mourned for his land, because the priests and prophets were corrupt. The land was under a curse because of the adultery of its people. Its prophets and priests were ungodly and even committing wickedness in the Lord’s temple. Their way will become a slippery path, and they will stumble into disaster in the year of God’s punishment.

Samaria’s prophets prophesied by Baal (the Canaanite idol), but Jerusalem had become worse than Samaria, committing adultery and speaking lies. Jerusalem’s leaders strengthened evildoers instead of calling them to repentance. They had become like Sodom and Gomorrah in their wickedness. The Lord declared that he would punish the prophets, feeding them wormwood (a bitter, toxic herb) and would give them poisoned water to drink. The prophets of Jerusalem had spread ungodliness throughout the land.

Paul mourned for his Jewish people. If it were possible, Paul might even have been willing to sacrifice his own salvation for their sake. They were God’s chosen people, to whom belonged God’s sonship, glory, covenant, law, worship, and promises, the patriarchs, and the Christ (Messiah). But their rejection of the Messiah did not mean that God’s promise had failed.

Not all the physical descendants of Israel and Abraham are their spiritual children. God promised that it was the descendants through Isaac who would be reckoned as the spiritual descendants. Therefore it is the children not of flesh but of promise who are God’s children. 

Isaac was the son God had promised to Sarah (although Sarah was past childbearing age). God also promised that Jacob, the younger son of Isaac’s wife Rebecca, would be exalted above the older son, Essau, although they had not yet been born, and so God’s will was not based on their merit or behavior.

This is not injustice on God’s part, because God has the sovereign right to choose, and God’s call does not depend upon mankind’s will or exertion but upon God’s mercy. Paul suggests that God raised up Pharaoh to power in Egypt for the purpose of showing God’s power (in delivering the Israelites from Pharaoh), so that God would become known to the world.

Jesus had declared that he was going to give his flesh to the world as the bread of (eternal) life. His statement was unpleasant for his disciples to hear and accept. Jesus knew their inner thoughts and asked how they would feel about seeing Jesus ascending into heaven.

Jesus told them, “It is the spirit which gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words I have spoken are spirit and life” (John 6:63). Jesus was aware that some did not believe, and he knew from the beginning who would betray him. Jesus said that no one can come to him unless allowed by God.

Many of the wider group of disciples no longer followed Jesus after this teaching, and Jesus asked the Twelve original disciples whether they would also quit following him. Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Jesus pointed out that he had chosen the Twelve, and yet one of them was an ally of Satan, referring to Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus.

Jeremiah mourned for Judah, the remnant of Israel, because they had been chosen by God and had received God’s Word and God’s promises, and yet chose to pursue their own wickedness. Judah had failed to learn the lessons of Samaria and of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Lord condemned the priests and prophets because they had turned from God to idols and wickedness; they had preached lies instead of God’s truth. They had allowed the people to turn from the Lord, and they had spread their ungodliness throughout the land. As a result the Lord declared that the land would loose its productivity and their water would be polluted.

The Lord declared that the paths of the priests and prophets would become slippery causing them to stumble. The Lord’s prophecy was fulfilled. The Lord withdrew his favor and protection and Judah was carried off into exile in Babylon for seventy years by Nebuchadnezzar, who God used as an instrument of his punishment of Israel. Ultimately the Jewish religious leaders slipped and stumbled over the “stumbling stone and rock of offense” Jesus Christ (see entry for yesterday, Friday, 4 Lent, odd year).

Israel was God’s chosen people. They had the scriptures, the history, the worship, the promises, and the Savior, but they missed the fulfillment and salvation, because they didn’t respond to God’s call in trust and obedience. God’s promises are faithful and true. Salvation is by God’s grace (unmerited favor; free gift) and mercy. It’s not based on our merit or behavior, our will or effort. It was God’s sovereign will to choose to give eternal life to all who trust and obey Jesus. God’s will is going to be accomplished whether we obey it or not. God used Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, and Judas to accomplish his purpose to the glory of his name.

Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation from condemnation and eternal death (Acts 4:12; see God’s plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Jesus is the only way to come to knowledge of, and fellowship with God (John 14:6). God’s children are those who trust and obey Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Savior. They are the spiritual children of Abraham because they believe God’s promise. Jesus is the spiritual bread of life. The physical world and flesh are not eternal. It is the spiritual world which is eternal.

Jesus declared that it is the spirit which gives life. It is the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit within Jesus’ disciples which 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). Jesus is the only one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:32-34), and Jesus only gives the anointing of the Holy Spirit to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17).

Those who trust and obey Jesus will come to know that he truly is the Holy One of God. Faith in Jesus becomes sure knowledge.  Jesus will manifest himself to them (John 14:21), and they will have a personal fellowship with Jesus through his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:23-24).

How are we doing as individuals, as a Church, and as a Nation? Have we become worse than Samaria; worse than Sodom and Gomorrah? Are we guilty of spiritual adultery, pursuing the idols of wealth, possessions, power, status, comfort and pleasure? Are our civic and spiritual leaders denouncing wickedness and calling for repentance and reform, or condoning it and allowing and encouraging it to spread, even within God’s house? Is there moral corruption among our civic and spiritual leaders? Are our prophets proclaiming God’s Word, or are they preaching lies, proclaiming God’s approval and blessing on our churches, our people and nation, while we are in flagrant disobedience of God’s Word?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly 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)?