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Epiphany - Sunday |
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Isaiah
42:1-7 The
Lord’s Servant Psalm
45:7-9 The
Lord’s Anointed Acts
10:34-38 Gentiles
Receive the
Gospel Mathew
3:13-17 Jesus’
Baptism The Lord
has put his Spirit upon his servant whom the Lord has chosen and in
whom the
Lord delights. The Lord will uphold his servant, and his servant will
accomplish (divine) justice for all people. The servant is not a
rabble-rouser
or a political revolutionary. His mission is to heal bruised reeds, not
break
them; to rekindle smoldering wicks, not quench them. He will bring
justice in
faithfulness; he won’t be discouraged or quit until that is
accomplished. The
“coastlands” (surrounding Gentile nations; the far corners of the
earth) await
divine Justice. The Lord
is the Creator of heaven and earth, and everything in them, who gives
the
breath of life to his creatures, and (his) Spirit to those who walk in
it (in
obedient trust). The Lord declares that he is the Lord, he has called
his
people, he has guided them and preserved them, and has given them as
light to
the nations (i.e. Gentiles). The servant’s mission is to heal spiritual
blindness, and free those who are in bondage to sin and death. Because
the Lord’s chosen (king) loves righteousness and hates wickedness the
Lord has
“anointed” him with the “oil of gladness” above all others. His robes
are
fragrant with expensive perfumes. Stringed instruments play in the
ivory palace
for his enjoyment. Daughters of kings are the bride’s attendants, and
the Queen
waits in gold from Ophir (a gold-producing land; perhaps The
Apostle Peter and Cornelius, a Roman Centurion (a Gentile), had both
been led
by God’s Spirit meet so that Cornelius and his household could hear the
Gospel.
Peter testified that God had revealed to him that God is not partial to
any
nation or people, but accepts all who do what is right (according to
God’s
Word). God’s Word had been sent to and was revealed in After John
the Baptizer had begun his ministry of preaching water baptism for
repentance
to prepare the people for the coming of the promised Messiah, Jesus
came to
John at the Jordan River in God has
promised throughout the Bible to send the Messiah (Christ; both words
mean
“anointed” in Hebrew and Greek, respectively), who would be God’s
“anointed”
Savior and eternal King. Isaiah’s prophecy refers to the Messiah, and
was
fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Isaiah 42:6-7;
compare
61:1; Luke 4:18:21). Jesus
is the Lord’s servant who came to heal spiritual blindness, free us
from
spiritual bondage to sin and death, and raise us from spiritual death
to
eternal life. God’s
Word is eternal and is fulfilled over and over as the conditions for
its
fulfillment are met. The “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciples of
Jesus Christ
are to be the Lord’s “anointed” servants to carry on the mission of
Jesus to
bring the Gospel of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus to the
spiritually lost
and dying world. The Church is the heir to the promises and call of Jesus
came to show us how to be the Lord’s servants, and to make it possible
for us
to be “anointed” with the Holy Spirit, so that we could be guided and
empowered
to serve the Lord. Only Jesus baptizes (“anoints”) with the Holy Spirit
(John
1:31-34), only his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The
Psalm may originally have been composed for the wedding of a human king
of God
always intended for his salvation to be for all people, not just For
admitting Gentiles, Peter was criticized by the circumcision party
(Jewish
Christians who believed that Gentile converts must obey Jewish
religious Law
including circumcision; Acts 11:1-18), and Peter himself would have not
have
been so accepting of Gentiles (Galatians 2:11-12) if the Lord, the Holy
Spirit,
had not prepared his heart. When Cornelius and his household heard and
believed
Peter’s presentation of the Gospel, the Lord poured out his Holy Spirit
upon
them as a sign of God’s acceptance (Acts 10:44-45). John
the Baptizer was guided by God’s Spirit to begin a public ministry
preaching
water baptism for spiritual cleansing to prepare the people to receive
the
Messiah. The Lord had told John that the Holy Spirit would descend upon
the
Messiah at his baptism, and that the Messiah would baptize with the
Holy Sprit.
This promise was fulfilled and John testified that it was (John
1:31-34). God
has intended from the very beginning of this Creation to establish an
eternal
kingdom of his people who willingly choose to trust and obey God. God
has
designed this temporal Creation to allow the possibility for sin
(disobedience
of God’s Word). Jesus is God’s only provision for forgiveness of our
sin and
salvation from eternal destruction (Acts 4:12; John 14:6), which is the
penalty
for sin (Romans 6:23; 1 John 1:8-10; see God’s Plan of Salvation,
sidebar, top
right). God has placed a time limit on
this Creation and on our lifetimes; God won’t tolerate rebellion and
disobedience forever in his eternal kingdom. This
lifetime is our only opportunity to seek and find God, and learn to
trust and
obey him, and this is only possible through faith (obedient trust) in
Jesus
Christ, by the “anointing” of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Only by the
indwelling Holy Spirit can we serve the Lord and accomplish his
ministry (Zechariah
4:6). God’s
“anointed” servants are to work for divine justice, which is unlike
worldly
justice. Divine justice does not look at outward appearances, but at
inner
thoughts and attitudes. Divine justice treats the poor and week the
same as the
rich and powerful. God’s justice gives salvation to anyone who
accepts
Jesus Christ as God’s anointed Savior and eternal king and serves Jesus
in
obedient trust. But those who have rejected God’s gracious gift of
salvation
will be eternally destroyed (John 3:16-20). Jesus is the righteous
judge, and
the standard against which all will be judged. Jesus has promised to
return to
judge everyone who has ever lived on earth (Matthew 25:31-46; John
5:28-29). 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)? |
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Epiphany - Monday |
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Psalm
40:1-12 Deliverance
from Trouble The
Psalmist describes the experience common to those who commit themselves
and
their situations to the Lord. The Lord hears us when we cry to him for
help and
wait patiently for him to respond. I personally testify with the
psalmist that
I have been in the “pit of trouble,” (perhaps even “one foot in the
grave”), in
the “miry bog,” and the Lord lifted me out and set my feet on the solid
rock of
Jesus Christ. He made my steps secure by the guidance of his Word and
his
Spirit. He has put a new song of praise to our God in my mouth. The
Lord will
do for others what he has done for me, as they hear and see what he has
done
for me and fear (have appropriate respect for his power and authority)
and
trust the Lord. “Blessed
is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the
proud, to
those who go astray after false gods (Psalm 40:4)! The Lord has done
many great
things for each of us that we aren’t even aware of, and are beyond
numbering or
recollection (John 21:25). The Lord
does not desire sacrifice and offering, or religious ritual. What he
desires
are people with spiritual ears that listen to his Word and delight to
do his
will; who have his law written on their hearts. When we
have experienced his deliverance we want to share the glad news with
others.
Yet sometimes we feel hesitant to speak out, perhaps because of
self-consciousness or fear of the reactions of our hearers. We need to
learn to
be led by the Holy Spirit and to trust him to give us what to say at
the
appropriate time. We must make the commitment and effort not hide his
steadfast
love, faithfulness, and saving help within our hearts. When we
face overwhelming troubles we can remember the Lord’s power and
faithfulness to
deliver us in the past and be confident that he can and will deliver us
from
them now, no matter how overwhelming to us. This psalm
is a description of discipleship and spiritual growth. It’s what life
in this
world is about. God doesn’t cause trouble; our own sinful nature does,
but he
allows it, for now, in this world. Sooner or later we all experience
trouble in
life. If we have heard and believed God’s Word in the Bible, we can
trust in
God to deliver us as he delivered his people in the Bible testimony. The Lord
wants us to trust in his Word so that we can experience his unchanging
love,
his power and faithfulness, and his saving help. Sometimes we need to
come to
the end of our own human and material resources before we recognize and
acknowledge
that we need God’s saving help. No matter
how bad our worldly troubles are, they are nothing compared to the
spiritual
tragedy we all face, apart from the salvation God has provided only in
Jesus
Christ. We are all eternally terminally ill; we have all sinned
(disobeyed
God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10) and the punishment for sin is
eternal
condemnation and destruction (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top
right).
The problem is that while everything is going well for us in this life,
we may
be unaware of our spiritual “lostness” and eternal danger. Twenty-five
years ago or so I came to the end of my own resources, and turned to
the Lord
for help. When I first began learning to hear God’s Word with spiritual
ears,
the Lord used this very text to teach me to trust and obey his Word and
to show
me that he has the power and willingness to deliver us from troubles.
(See the
second entry, “Discipleship” in my personal testimonies, sidebar, top
right.) If we
think “disaster preparedness” is a good idea, the place to start is to
read the
Bible. |
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Epiphany - Tuesday |
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Isaiah 49:1-6 Listen,
neighboring countries and people far away! The Lord called forth his
servant (the
Messiah) from the womb and named him before his birth (see Matthew
1:20-21). God made
his servant’s words like a sharp sword and hid him in the shadow of his
hand;
like a polished arrow, hidden in his quiver. God appointed him as his
servant.
In Israel God will be glorified. The servant’s ministry seems futile,
but he
trusts in God for his reward. The Lord
formed his servant in the womb and created him to be God’s servant who
would
bring Jacob (the inheritor of the birthright; renamed The Lord
declares that he is not satisfied for his servant just to raise up the
tribes
of Jacob and restore the remnant of “Thus says
the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one despised and
abhorred
by the nations, the servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise,
princes and
they will prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy
One of The
servant of the Lord is the promised Messiah, fulfilled in Jesus Christ,
but the
Church and the people of God are also called to be his servants. The
Word of
God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). God’s
people need to know the Bible so that the Holy Spirit can call it to
their
minds as needed. God’s people need to be “polished” by “discipleship”
so that
they are ready instruments for God’s service. They must be “born-again”
(John
3:3, 5-8), filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit so that they can be
guided
and empowered to serve God (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8), and can be
assured that
their service is not in vain (Isaiah 49:4). The Holy Spirit is the seal
and guarantee
that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22;
Ephesians
1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16), by whom God honors his servant, and
becomes
his strength (Isaiah 49:5c; Zechariah 4:6). The Church
is the heir to the call of Jesus was
despised and abhorred by the nations, including Israel, but kings have
seen and
have come to him and prostrated themselves before him, beginning with
the visit
of the “wise men” to the Christ Child (Matthew 2:1-11). Jesus is going
to
return, at the end of the world, on the Day of Judgment (Matthew
25:31-46), and
every knee will bow before him and every tongue will acknowledge him as
the
King of kings and Lord of lords (Philippians 2:10-11). 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)? |
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Epiphany - Wednesday |
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01/11/05 |
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1
Corinthians 1:1-9 Thanksgiving Paul (Saul
of Tarsus) was the first “modern,” “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8)
disciple and
apostle (messenger; of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ; he did not come to
faith in
Jesus during Jesus physical lifetime (Acts 9:1-20), and so is an
example for us.
Paul was writing to the Church at Paul had
been called by God’s will to be an apostle; by Christ’s initiative on
the road
to Paul gave
thanks to God for the Corinthian Christians because of the grace of God
which
they had received in Christ Jesus (forgiveness of sin and salvation
from
eternal condemnation, and the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit)
through whom
they were enriched with every spiritual blessing, in knowledge of and
testimony
to Christ which was confirmed in them. They lack no spiritual gifts,
and will
be sustained by Jesus and kept blameless (through his indwelling Holy
Spirit)
as they await the return of Christ on the Day of Judgment. God, who is
completely faithful, has called them into the fellowship of his Son
Jesus
Christ, our Lord. Paul was
sought and confronted on the road to Paul’s
conversion was exceptionally rapid. The original disciples of Jesus’
earthly ministry
had been with Jesus twenty-four hours a day for over two years, and
still were
not ready for ministry until they had been “born-again” by the Holy
Spirit on
the day of Pentecost. Paul, on the other hand, was formally
well-educated in
the Bible and in Judaism, and he had the passion for God; he just
needed to be
redirected to trust and obey Jesus. Discipleship is a process of
spiritual
growth that takes time. One should not expect it to take less than two
or three
years. By the
indwelling Holy Spirit Paul be came the missionary to the Gentiles and
preached
the Gospel for the first time in Europe, including Paul spent
a year and a half in It is
through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit that we have personal
knowledge
of and fellowship with Jesus Christ and God the Father (John 14:23).
The Holy
Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (John 14:16-17) and the Counselor who
teaches
Jesus’ disciples all things and brings to their remembrance all that
Jesus said
(John 14:26). The indwelling Holy Spirit is the confirmation of the
Gospel
within believers. The Holy Spirit cleanses, consecrates, and sustains
us
guiltless at the Day of Judgment (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar,
top
right). This is
the eternal purpose and central promise of God recorded throughout the
Bible.
God is faithful and will keep his promise. Those who hear and believe
(trust
and obey) the Gospel will receive the promise. |
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Epiphany - Thursday |
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John
1:29-41 Finding Jesus John the
Baptist was led by the Lord to begin preaching water baptism for
repentance and
forgiveness of sin, to prepare John saw
Jesus coming to him and declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God (the
sacrificial “Passover Lamb”) who takes away the sin of the world! John
said
that Jesus was the one who was to come after John chronologically, but
who
ranked before him in importance and existence. John’s mission of water
baptism
was to reveal the Messiah, but John had not known who the Messiah was. God had promised he would give John a sign:
The Holy Spirit would descend in the form of a dove and remain on the
Messiah,
and that the Messiah was the one who would baptize with the Holy
Spirit. John
testified that he had seen the sign, and that Jesus was the Son of God.
The next
day John was talking to two of his disciples when Jesus passed by. John
told
the disciples to look and see the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard
what
John was saying, and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them
following him
and asked what they sought. The disciples addressed him as Rabbi
(teacher) and
asked where he was staying, and Jesus invited them to come and see. They went
with Jesus to where he was staying and since it was about 4:00 PM they
stayed
with him. One of the disciples who had acted on John’s testimony was
Andrew,
the brother of Simon Peter. He went and found Simon and told him that
he had
found the Messiah (Christ; both mean “anointed” in Hebrew and Greek,
respectively). John the
Baptizer was trusting and obeying God’s Word and God’s call. He was
calling
people to repent and prepare for the coming Messiah, which God had
promised in
his Word (the Bible). As John carried out God’s call, God promised to
reveal
the Messiah to him, and when he had done so, John testified to what God
had
revealed to him; that Jesus was the “Passover Lamb” of God whose
sacrifice
would remove the sin of all who accept and believe in him as God’s
anointed
Savior and (only begotten) Son. John testified that only Jesus would
baptize
with the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34). The
disciples believed John’s testimony and acted on it, following behind
Jesus.
Jesus asked them what they wanted and they asked to become his
disciples
(students) and to stay with him, and for him to be their teacher. Jesus
invited
them to come and see (to give it a try). Andrew immediately found his
brother
Simon, and told him that he had found the Messiah. This is
the Gospel experience. God’s Word promises the coming of his anointed
Savior
and the baptism with the indwelling Holy Spirit. Those who trust and
obey God’s
Word are seeking his coming. The Church
is the heir to John’s mission to call people to repent and be baptized
with
water for spiritual cleansing in preparation to receive the Messiah,
God’s
anointed eternal Savior, who will baptize his disciples who trust and
obey
Jesus with the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17).
Christians
are “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) “disciples” of Jesus Christ (Acts
11:26c) who
trust and obey Jesus teachings and have been baptized with the
indwelling Holy
Spirit. God has revealed Jesus to them personally by his Holy Spirit
(Romans
8:9) within them, and they point to Jesus and declare that he is the
Messiah;
the Savior; the “Lamb of God.” To those who hear, believe their
testimony and
begin to follow Jesus, Jesus says, “Come and see.” To come
and see, we must turn from what we were doing and follow Jesus, stay
with him
and accept and learn to apply his teachings. As we begin to trust and
obey
Jesus he will baptize us with his indwelling Holy Spirit, the seal and
guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians
1:22;
Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Only after
the Lord has revealed himself to us through his Holy Spirit (John
14:21-23;
Luke 24:45; Acts 1:4-5, 8), can we testify to others that we have found
the
Messiah, and seek our brothers and sisters and invite them to come and
see. |
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Epiphany - Friday |
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Deuteronomy
18:15-19 The
Prophet of God
This was
Moses’ farewell address, preparing the people to enter the Promised
Land under
the leadership of Joshua. Moses
declared that the Lord their God would raise up a prophet like Moses
from among
the people who would proclaim God’s Word, and that they were to obey
the
prophet’s proclamation. When God had revealed himself at After the
Israelites entered the Promised Land, God kept his Word and raised up
prophets
who proclaimed God’s Word throughout Whenever The Jews
were expecting Elijah, the great prophet who was carried up alive to
heaven in
a whirlwind, to return to herald the coming of the Messiah (God’s
“anointed”
Savior and eternal King). John the Baptizer was the fulfillment of
God’s Word
of the return of Elijah (Matthew 17:10-13). John the
Baptizer proclaimed God’s Word in God’s timing (Luke 3:1-3), calling
the people
to repent and be baptized with water in preparation for the coming of
the
Messiah. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets and the first
of the
New Testament prophets. Those who heeded John’s prophetic Word were
ready to
accept and follow Jesus, like Andrew and his brother, Simon Peter (John
1:40-41; see entry for yesterday, 1 Epiphany, Thursday, “A” year). Jesus is
the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to raise up a prophet from
among In the Old
Testament times, only a few individuals had a direct relationship with
God,
like Moses and the prophets. Jesus came to make it possible for every
believer
to have a personal knowledge of and relationship with God the Father
and Jesus
Christ (John 14:23; Romans 8:9), through the gift of the indwelling
Holy
Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples
who trust
and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). Through
the indwelling Holy Spirit Jesus’ disciples directly experience the
love of
God. The Holy Spirit of the risen Jesus (Romans 8:9) opens our minds to
understand the Scriptures (the Bible; Luke 24:45), reveals all (divine)
Truth
(John 14:15-17), teaches us all things, and brings to our remembrance
all that
Jesus teaches (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit guides and empowers us to
know and
do God’s will (Zechariah 4:6) and to accomplish all the Lord has
prepared for
us to do (Ephesians 2:10). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee
that one
is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians
1:13-14;
Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). The
“born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8) disciples of
Jesus
Christ are to carry on Jesus’ mission of forgiveness and reconciliation
to a
lost and spiritually, eternally dying world (Matthew 28:19-20; see
God’s Plan
of Salvation, sidebar, top right). We are to proclaim the Word of God,
to call
people to repent and be baptized with water in preparation to receive
Jesus and
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is only through faith (obedient
trust) in
Jesus. How to do that is by seeking and following the guidance of the
Holy
Spirit. Jesus has
promised to return on the Day of Judgment at the end of this temporal
age to
judge the living and the dead (in both the physical and spiritual
senses; 1
Peter 4:5). God will hold accountable all who have not trusted and
obeyed God’s
Word proclaimed and revealed in Jesus Christ. Those who have rejected
and
refused to obey Jesus will receive eternal destruction in Hell with all
evil,
but those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord, who have trusted and
obeyed
Jesus, and have been “born-again” by his indwelling Holy Spirit will
spend
eternity in God’s kingdom in Heaven with the Lord (Matthew 25:31-46;
John
5:28-29; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). 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)? *Eerdmans
Dictionary of the Bible, David Noel Freedman, “Samaria,” p. 1158
William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids Michigan, 2000, ISBN 0-8020-2400-5
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Epiphany - Saturday |
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Ephesians
5:21-33 Christian
Household Luke
19:1-10 Zacchaeus Let us be
mutually submissive to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives
should
submit to their husbands as to the Lord. The husband is the head of the
family
as Christ is the head and Savior of the Church, his body. As the Church
submits
to Christ, the wife should also submit in everything to her husband.
Husbands
are to love their wives and surrender themselves for her as Christ
loved and
gave his life for the Church, to sanctify (purify and dedicate to God’s
service) her, cleansing her by water baptism according to God’s Word,
so that
the Church can be holy and without blemish (as the bride of Christ). Husbands
should love their wives as much as they love their own bodies. We love,
nourish
and protect ourselves as Christ does us, as members of his body, the
Church.
Paul quoted Genesis 2:24: “For this reason a man shall leave his father
and
mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one.” This
also
applies to the spiritual union of Christ with his Church. Men are to
love their
wives as themselves, and women are to respect their husbands. Jesus was
on his way to When Jesus
came to the tree he called Zacchaeus to come down, because Jesus needed
to stay
at his house that day. So Zacchaeus came down and received Jesus gladly
as his
guest. The crowd criticized Jesus among themselves, for having
fellowship with
a sinner, since tax collectors were despised for collaborating with the
Roman
government. Zacchaeus
vowed to give half of all his possessions to the poor, and to restore
fourfold
to anyone he had defrauded. Jesus replied, “Today salvation has come to
this
house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to
seek and
to save the lost” (Luke 19:9-10). Paul (Saul
of Tarsus), the apostle, taught that Christians should model their
family
relationships according to the relationship of Christ to the Church.
This
should also be the model of our relationships within the Church
“family,” and
in our personal union with Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We
are to
allow Jesus to be the Lord of ourselves, our families, and our Church. Jesus was
on his way to the Cross to submit his body to die as the one and only
sacrifice
acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God’s
Word).
Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus as he passed by, and he made the effort
to get
himself into position so that he could. Jesus knew the intentions of
the heart
of Zacchaeus and called him by name. Jesus needed to stay with
Zacchaeus that
day because Zacchaeus needed Jesus; he needed the forgiveness and
restoration
that only Jesus can give. Because
Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, and welcomed Jesus into his home,
Zacchaeus’
heart was changed. He repented of his former way of life and vowed to
change
and become obedient to God’s Word and example in Jesus. Salvation came
to
Zacchaeus in Jesus, because Zacchaeus recognized his sin and his need
for
repentance and forgiveness, while the crowd around Jesus did not. Jesus is
passing by us as we go about our lives in this world. Are we so
involved with
ourselves that we don’t notice? Are we willing to take the effort to
come to
where he can be seen? Are we willing to recognize our sin and our need
for the
Savior? Are we willing to allow him to come into our lives and change
what
needs changing? Are we willing to apply his Word and example in our
work, our
family, our spirituality, and our “Church?” Christian
baptism is the continuation of the ministry of John the Baptizer: water
combined with God’s Word as an act of repentance, to cleanse and
prepare us to
receive Jesus. As we seek to “see” Jesus he will come to us, reveal
himself to
us and change our hearts, so that we will be able to apply his Word and
teaching in our lives. As we
trust and obey Jesus, he will fill us with his indwelling Holy Spirit
in a
spiritual union like God intended physical marriage to be. Our union
with
Christ’s Spirit causes our spiritual “re-birth” (John 3:3, 5-8). Jesus is
the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word lived out in this
world
in human flesh (John 1:1-3, 14). Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s
promise of a
mediator like Moses who will proclaim God’s Word, by word and example,
and
intercede for and save us from God’s eternal condemnation. Paul is
the prototype and example of a “modern,” “post-resurrection,”
“born-again”
disciple and apostle (messenger; of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ. Paul
is the
example of an apostle and prophet who receives and proclaims God’s Word
through
Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Paul was
carrying out the Great Commission which Jesus gave his disciples
(Matthew
28:19-20) to be carried out after they had been “born-again” by the
“baptism”
of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5,8; 2:1-13). Paul
had been
“discipled” by a “born-again” disciple (Acts 9:10-17), until he had
been
“born-again” (Acts 9:18-20), and then he made “born-again” disciples
and taught
them to do the same (2 Timothy 2:2). |