Ryan: Tomorrow, May 12, is my father’s birthday. (And, now that Mother’s Day has passed, we’re approaching the season for Father’s Day, too.) It’s hard for a son not to think about his father when he reads the words that David son of Jesse spoke from his deathbed to King Solomon:

“‘I am about to go the way of all the earth,’ he said. ‘So be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go…’” (1 Kings 2:2-3).

I’m sure it was very heartening for David to watch his son on the throne through the eyes of God in Heaven. King Solomon had his share of failures, just as his father before him, but overall was a very successful king and well-liked. Solomon went down in the history books as the wisest man who ever lived, and the man responsible for building the first Temple of God in Jerusalem. It’s very difficult, living in the American mentality of “go it alone” and “do whatever makes you happy,” to think about to what lengths men would go to in order to please their fathers. In that vein, I pray that I have made my father proud of the man I have become. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Samantha: Ryan mentioned Father’s Day, so I’ll mention Mother’s Day and what a treat it must have been for Bathsheba to see her son Solomon crowned king after David! I never really thought much about Bathsheba until I read Francine River’s Lineage of Grace #4: Unspoken. Bathsheba is a woman in the line of Jesus, and her life is an excellent example of God’s redemption and grace. The book of course fills in historical details and narrative around the Biblical account and you really get a deep look into her character and what life could have been like for her. Talk about The Scarlet Letter–she definitely wore that her entire life. Everyone knew what happened, and by law she should have died as a consequence of her sin with David. No doubt the other wives of David scorned her and she probably lived a very lonely and isolated life in the palace. The fact that her son, Solomon, was the only one of David’s sons to be worthy to lead Israel speaks to her character and trust in the Lord. This book is emotional and gives you an entirely different (and real-life!) perspective on sin, grace, and redemption.

Ryan: Today marks an important event in the year-long daily Bible blogging experiment: the first YouTube video from the movie Godspell. If you were living under a rock in the 1970′s (or weren’t born yet) and have not yet heard/watched Godspell, you owe it to yourself and to your children and your children’s children to go watch it. I believe that Godspell played a larger role than did any one person in my eventual decision to follow Christ. How can I make such a bold statement, you ask? I will tell you a story (and try to keep it short). It’s Fall of 1992. I’m a freshman in high school. I’m infatuated with a girl in the junior class who was a musician. The school drama department produces Godspell, and said girl plays in the pit orchestra. Naturally, I go to all four performances. Four times I watch as Jesus gathers his disciples. Four times I listen as Jesus teaches them about the New covenant. Four times, Jesus is betrayed by Judas, and four times he is crucified. I buy the original broadway cast soundtrack, and listen to it no less than once a day for the next month, and then no less than once a month for the next eight years. When I meet my future wife, she is amazed at my knowledge of the book of Matthew even though the rest of my Bible knowledge is lacking. Long story long, God imparted His Word on my heart through the music of a broadway musical. In a manner of speaking, you could say that I was saved through the Godspell of Stephen Schwartz. So what does that have to do with today’s reading? Psalm 103 is one of the songs sung in the musical…read the King James Version and watch the embedded video below.

Samantha: Psalm 104 paints a majestic picture of God riding on his chariot of clouds, looking over his vast creation. The psalm praises God for creating the world and everything in it: the heavens, seas, earth, the animals, and food. It so beautifully describes what the Lord has provided to us here on earth, and how everything has a place and a purpose. I love nature and learning how the world around me operates; this psalm describes specific animals, natural processes like water, oceans, and springs, and how the sun and moon set seasons. I praise God almost everyday for the natural world–for the butterfly that floated past me as I was at a stoplight, for the birds I see gathering worms, for the crops and gardens growing that provide us with food. “How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all” (Psalm 104:24).

Ryan: The story of David bringing Mephibosheth into his house and having him sit at his table every night, and restoring all of Saul’s land to him and his family is a wonderfully touching story. I feel that it greatly mirrors our own relationship with God. During those days, if you were offspring of a former (ousted) king, you would most likely be put to death so that you would never be able to attempt to reclaim the throne. So in one sense, Mephibosheth “deserved” to die, simply for being offspring of David’s enemy. However, because he was Jonathan’s son–and David loved Jonathan as he loved himself–Mephibosheth was not only spared, but treated as family. In the same way, if it were not for Jesus, we would also deserve to die for being slaves to sin. But, because of God’s love for His Son, we are not only spared for his sake, but we are also given the promise of a share in the most prime real estate in the universe.

Samantha: Ever since the Garden, God has been trying to get back in touch with and dwell among men. He accomplished that through the tabernacle, the portable tent that contained the ark of the covenant. When David presents the idea of building a permanent dwelling, the Lord responds, “I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling” (2 Sam 7:6). I love how the Lord pursues us, wants to be with us, and fights in the trenches with us. He is active in our lives and dwells inside us today as the Holy Spirit. He is with us wherever we go and we are never alone.

Ryan: “If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” (1 Samuel 2:25). Who indeed? Through all the many laws and decrees that we spent weeks poring through in Deuteronomy, Leviticus and Numbers, there were all sorts of offerings that could be made if one sinned against other men, or even against the will of God, but I don’t really remember any offerings that could be made on behalf of the priest himself if he defiantly went against God’s rules for serving at the tabernacle. Eli’s sons were “treating the LORD’s offering with contempt” (1 Samuel 2:17), which goes beyond some of the more “simple” sins. It would be good for any Levitical priest to remember the examples made of Nadab and Abihu, or Korah and his followers. God has little to no patience for His priests in regard to disobedience. But, as I mentioned a couple days ago, all of us today are priests, so what do WE do when we sin against God? Who will intercede for us? There is only one who is able; there is only one who is worthy. “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for [the priests]” (Hebrews 7:25).

Samantha: Only a few times in my life have I been so upset that I felt sick to my stomach; I have never been bullied to the point where I stopped eating. I can’t begin to imagine the heartache, bitterness, and depression Hannah must have felt as a result being bullied year after year, especially for something over which she had no control. I thought it was noteworthy that she immediately felt better only after she completely poured her heart out to God. After her prayer, “Eli answered, ‘Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.’ She said, ‘May your servant find favor in your eyes.’ Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast” (1 Samuel 1:17-18). The Lord has a way of filling our hearts with peace when we turn our cares over to him. Ecclesiastes says, “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do” (Ecc. 9:7). Hannah was able to eat because she had released her heartache, bitterness, and depression by trusting in God. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

Ryan: I guess it has been building up inside me for several days, but what just hit me today is the sheer volume of blood involved in the worship of God. I think if we had a time machine and were able to go back and visit the Tabernacle (especially just before the first Temple was built, since it would have been in use for a long time by that point), I believe we would be utterly disgusted by the amount of blood everywhere. They sprinkled blood on the altar, on the horns of the altar, on the altar of incense, before the curtain, behind the curtain, on the mercy seat, poured all the excess down the base of the altar, and as we learned just two days ago, sprinkled it on the Tent of Meeting itself (Lev. 16:15-17). I won’t embed the video below, but if you’ve never seed a video of a livestock slaughterhouse, you might just Google it to get that experience. Think about how many bulls, rams, lambs, doves, etc. that were sacrificed for various reasons by the Israelites, a group of around 1.5 million people. If you extrapolate that number to the world’s population today (over 6 billion), you can see why God knew that this original plan of sacrifices and offerings was not sustainable. Thank you, Lord, for sending Your Son to the earth to be our sacrifice as well as our High Priest. “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

Samantha: It didn’t occur to me until reading Leviticus 5 today that even if we sin and don’t realize it we’re still guilty of that sin. At first that didn’t seem quite fair, since you didn’t know it was a sin and now you’re in trouble for it, but ignorance of the law isn’t an excuse. Ryan pointed out to me that even in the laws of the United States we practice something called ignorantia juris non excusat, or “ignorance of the law does not excuse.” If you think about it, if ignorance were allowed as an excuse then you could have criminals claiming ignorance to avoid punishment. This also assumes that the laws are clearly documented. In the Israelite’s case, the laws were painstakingly recorded in several places, and then new laws were added later on by the people to help them avoid breaking God’s original laws. The same is true for us today; there are sins that we are warned to avoid, and it is right there in the top selling book in history–the Holy Bible. But thanks be to God that we don’t have to go sacrifice every time we mess up now! Jesus’ blood already covers those who are saved. Speaking of Jesus’ blood (and in light of our reading today about the sequence of each sacrifice), here’s an amazing connection to ponder: “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:11-12).

Ryan: It is often very difficult for us to relate to the myriad offerings made by the Israelites day in and day out. They are almost beyond most modern Christians’ comprehension. My NIV Study Bible has a nice little chart in it that breaks down all the different  types of offerings, with the requirements for each along with each one’s purpose. Of the five main types of offerings (burnt, grain, fellowship, sin, and guilt), the one that is most like our “offerings” today is the grain offering. Most churches today take up an offering each week that takes the form of a freewill monetary donation. As far as the offerer is concerned, this offering represents a “voluntary act of worship; recognition of God’s goodness and provisions; devotion to God.” If that description sounds accurate to you, then you may be surprised to learn that that is the exact purpose that the NIV Study Bible prescribes to the grain offering (p. 151). Three of the remaining offerings–burnt, sin, and guilt–are no longer necessary for us, as each of those were for the purpose of atonement for different types of sin (among other purposes). The last one, fellowship, would likely be included also in our freewill monetary offerings today, though theirs included a fellowship meal as well (our church actually does include a fellowship meal most Sundays immediately after the worship service).

Samantha: Like the Passover sacrifice of the family pet, er…lamb, the burnt offering from the herd had a similar connection to the person offering it as a sacrifice. The instruction from God read, “He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him” (Lev 1:4). From today’s perspective it seems creepy to be touching the animal as it is being killed. Growing up I was witness to a cow being killed for a future dinner, but there was no laying on of hands. Through a Bible commentary I learned that the touching was symbolic for the transfer of sin–the person was giving their sin to this animal whose blood would be shed, and that blood would atone for their sin. Not only were they “transferring” their sin, they were watching something die in their place. The animal was their substitute on the bronze altar, being consumed by fire for the Lord. In the New Testament, Hebrews 8-10 shows us how what happened at the tabernacle was foreshadowing: God sent His son Jesus to be our substitute and how He took our sins upon himself on the cross so that he could die once for all. What an amazing sacrifice!

Ryan: I love the opportunity to point out examples of grace and love in the Old Testament. So many people think the Old Testament is all about laws, rules, fire and brimstone, judgment, etc. But near the beginning of chapter 9 of Deuteronomy, we see a perfect example of grace. In verse 4, Moses warns, “After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord has brought be here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.” In other words, “you have done absolutely nothing to deserve this land that God is giving you, but He’s giving it to you anyways.” That is grace. Our inheritance is the same way: our salvation rests with Jesus in that despite the fact that we have done nothing to deserve being saved, if we claim the righteousness of Christ as our own through baptism, we will be given our place in heaven, no thanks to anything we have done. As we learn from Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Samantha: As Moses encourages the people to follow God’s laws he highlights some of the wonderful qualities that our “God above all gods” possesses. The one that caught my attention was, “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” (Deut 10:18). God cares for the orphans and widows–who else will? Until recent decades, a woman and her children would become destitute without a man or son present to provide for the family. In the New Testament, Jesus’ brother James is encouraging the Christians to not just to listen to the word but to take action. James pointed out that, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).

Ryan: There are pluses and minuses to reading supplemental material in addition to the Bible. I’m thinking specifically of historical fiction novels in the vein of Francine Rivers’ Sons of Encouragement series and Lineage of Grace series. When we read today the one sentence devoted to the death of Miriam (20:1), and the one or two paragraphs about Aaron’s death (20:22-29), I thought to myself, “That’s it?!” I had remembered both of those events as much more significant, emotional, and frankly, longer. It dawned on me then, that my memories of those events were very much tied to Francine Rivers’ retelling of them, not the Biblical account. So, while reading supplemental material may help you gain a deeper understanding and see a much richer context for these events, it also can lead to confusing fiction with fact. That said, I do indeed strongly recommend reading The Priest: Aaron as it certainly made these two events (and others) seem more real, more personal, and helped me to connect to the stories in a more meaningful way than simply reading the Biblical accounts.

Samantha: I strongly dislike snakes. Maybe it is because I’ve been conditioned to think of them as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, or maybe it is because I grew up in a 100-year old farm house with a rock basement and had to help catch a few that found their way into the house. Snakes were a constant problem to ancient people who did not have anti-venom like we do today. Lethal snakes are abundant in the wilderness and Canaan (think vipers and cobras), and no doubt the Israelites feared them. I shiver at the thought of God sending venomous snakes as punishment to the ungrateful Israelites! What confused me in this story, though, was why God had Moses setup a bronze serpent on a pole as the means of healing. I have read that the pagan reaction to a snakebite was to recite a magical spell in the hopes that their deities would counter the venom. In fact, archaeological excavations have uncovered copper statues of serpents from Egypt to Midian to Edom. But isn’t a bronze serpent on a pole a lot like an Asherah pole, or the golden calf, or any pagan idol made from metal? Why would God use an inanimate idol to heal his people? The difference is that once bitten the Israelites didn’t recite a magical spell to the statue as their pagan counterparts did. They looked up at the statue and submitted to the one God who could heal them (Jehovah Rapha). In the New Testament Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15).

Ryan: Reading Francine River’s book, The Priest, which is a historical fiction book based on the life of Aaron, it was very interesting to read how God trained the Levites to setup and tear down the tabernacle at moment’s notice. As soon as the cloud lifted or the pillar of fire moved, the trumpets blew, and the three crews would set into action. I was amazed how fast–according to Francine River’s account–the Levites were able to get that thing assembled or disassembled. Now, after reading how God had divided up the tasks by family, and reading just how many men there were doing these tasks, it’s quite easy to understand how it got done so fast! Each of these three clans had very specific tasks to do, all while Aaron and his sons were directing traffic and shouting commands. And, while I’m sure they didn’t all participate every single time, there were over eight thousand men available for this chore. We always marvel at the enormous structures that were built by the ancients that still stand today (think pyramids, etc.), but I would love to go back in time and watch the Levites tear down and set up the tabernacle after having 39 years of practice!

Samantha: Being a firstborn child I found it interesting how God redeemed each firstborn of the Israelites. “The LORD also said to Moses, ‘I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether man or animal. They are to be mine. I am the LORD’” (Numbers 3:11-13). God took one Levite in exchange for every firstborn Israelite. He had Moses count the Levites, who numbered 22,000. He then counted all the firstborns in Israel (excluding the Levites), and they numbered 22,273. There weren’t enough Levites to redeem Israel–they were 273 Levites short! The Israelites had to pay a redemption price to cover each of the remaining 273 firstborn. Under the new covenant everyone is redeemed by God’s firstborn Son, Jesus, who is also the “firstborn from the dead” because he was resurrected (Colossians 1:15-20). We don’t have to pay a redemption price because Jesus has done it for us!

Ryan: It says in Exodus 40:16 that “Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him.” It then walks through the entire set up of the tabernacle for the first time, and after every major step, it says that Moses had done it “as the Lord commanded him.” In only these two chapters (39 & 40), that phrase–or a variation of it–appears seventeen times. Now, most of us do not have the benefit of speaking face-to-face with God as Moses did, but God does give us commands (no, not just the ten read about earlier) through His Word. I would love to be able to say that, when writing an epitaph or biography about me after I depart from this world, someone could say, “Ryan did everything just as the Lord commanded him. He loved the Lord our God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, as the Lord commanded him. He loved his neighbor as himself, as the Lord commanded him. He fed the hungry, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and gave shelter to the homeless, as the Lord commanded him. He did not look lustfully at a woman who was not his wife, as the Lord commanded him. He loved his enemies, and did not call his brother a fool, just as the Lord commanded him.” Alas, I’m afraid that’s one paragraph that will likely not be in my obituary.

Samantha: I was really confused by the word ‘diadem’. In my mind a diadem is a king’s crown, which makes me think of royalty such as the Queen of England with all those priceless jewels in her crown. But the high priest wasn’t a king, so why did he wear a diadem? “They made the plate, the sacred diadem, out of pure gold and engraved on it, like an inscription on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. Then they fastened a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban, as the LORD commanded Moses” (39:30-31). I looked up the Hebrew word for diadem and the definition says it is both a crown and a consecration, a visible sign that separates the wearer from the general population. (This same meaning also applied to those that took the Nazarite vow (like Samson)–they never cut their hair as a sign of their consecration.) The high priest had visible signage on his forehead that he was set apart, holy to God. That made me think about how as Christians we are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). We are all priests, but we don’t wear an outward diadem; instead God has “anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 1:21-22). When we’re baptized we’re given the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)–that’s our spiritual sign that identifies us as children of God, set apart from the world.

Ryan: Again, today’s reading is filled with many details that do not have a ton of relevance to modern Christians, but a good understanding of the laws of the Israelites is invaluable in coming into a deeper relationship with God. For example, in the section regarding the bronze wash basin (30:17-21), God said to Moses, “Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die.” I find this to be an interesting parallel for us today, in that we (Christians) have been called the “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5). That means that we are all priests who serve the King. If that is the case, it is probably important to make sure that we have likewise been washed so that we will not die. But we have no bronze basin, and there is no more physical tabernacle, so what are we to do? We are washed and sanctified when we follow Christ in baptism: “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).

Samantha: Reading about the incense and anointing oil made me want to take a trip to The Spice Merchant, a local shop with amazing spices from around the world. The incense had “gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense” (30:34), and the anointing oil had liquid myrrh, fragrant cinnamon, fragrant cane, cassia, and olive oil (30:22-24). I got to looking at where all these spices came from and was quite amazed: gum resin is the resin from trees, onycha comes from sea snails, galbanum is also a resin and is found in Persia (Iran), and frankincense is a resin found in Somalia (Africa) and Yemen (Arabia). Notice that many of the items come from trees but the Israelites are wandering around the Sinai Peninsula, which is not known for its trees. In fact, most of the items used in the incense had to come from other places. This afternoon I watched a Nova episode called “Building Pharaoh’s Ship“. They described how the ancient Egyptians had to travel south down the tumultuous Red Sea to the Land of Punt (near Sudan or Eritrea) to get the incense that the priests used in their worship. I wonder if when the Israelites “asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing” if they also asked for incense (Exodus 12:35). God has a way of providing for us in advance before we realize we need it!

I am more sorry, of course, for not blogging the Bible more in recent days. I will pick up with John here very shortly, and probably leave Jeremiah Men’s Bible Study for a little later.

If this is your first visit here, I suggest you start by taking a look at the posts marked with the label, “Salvation.” Because, while I may be delayed in posting, God will certainly not be delayed about his judgment–”For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay.’ ” (Hebrews 10:37)

The first part of this passage is a continuation of John’s discourse on how obedience to God saves. The last passage ended with the famous verse, “For God so loved the world that he save his one and only son…” which mentioned that whoever believed in the son “is not condemned” (v. 18). Starting in verse 19, John is explaining why we would even be condemned in the first place. The whole passage is translated in the New Living Translation as the following:

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.” (v. 18-19, NLT)

The NIV and TNIV translations use the word “verdict” in v. 19, which can confuse the issue a little bit. The NLT does a good job of showing that John (or Jesus, depending on where the quote ends) is explaining why mankind is condemned and why condemned men need the Son of God.

The rest of the chapter is devoted to yet another testimony/defense about who Jesus is and why he is here. A “certain Jew” (v. 25) approached John the Baptist and his disciples outside of Aenon (see map) about the issue of “ceremonial washing,” i.e. baptism. Apparently, Jesus and John were both baptizing people for “repentance,” and this gentleman was wondering why John was still baptizing if Jesus was also. John the Baptist reiterated that he was only sent to prepare the way for Jesus and to baptize people for their sins. This was a different baptism than the one that you and I receive today, which is the one that Peter preached about on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38). That baptism is not only for the remission of our personal sins, but also to receive the Holy Spirit. [If it symbolizes the burial & resurrection of Jesus, obviously that "type" of baptism could not occur until Jesus was indeed buried and resurrected.] John the Baptist and Jesus himself only baptized for the remission of sin; to commit their lives to God. This was evidently an issue later on as well, as we read in Acts chapter 19:

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.
So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 19:1-5, TNIV)

John the Baptist finishes by emphasizing how much more important Jesus is than he himself. Verse 31 says, “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all,” illustrating that the words of Jesus are the Word of God (see John 1:1), and that John the Baptist can only testify about what he has seen or has been told. Finally, John returns to his key point in verse 36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” What does it mean that “God’s wrath remains on them”? Return to verses 18-19 for the answer.

Key Verse: John 3:36 – “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: Let’s pretend we’re talking with a four-year-old and playing the “Why?” game. I believe in Jesus. “Why?” Because I need to so I can go to heaven. “Why?” Because I haven’t been perfect in my life. “Why?” Because God can’t have anything bad around him. “Why?” Because God is perfect and just. (Ok, we’ll stop there because no four-year-old will truly understand justice… much like most adults don’t either.)

Thanks to Adam and Eve, sin is in the world, and it is pervasive in our lives. Whether we want to or not, whether we mean to or not, we sin. In order to live in peace with God, we have to be punished for those sins. But in our case, Jesus took our punishment for us. So our “perfection,” or righteousness, is credited to us when we believe that Jesus took that punishment.

Romans 3:22-25 explains it this way:

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished….” (TNIV)

Basically, although the Jewish laws established by the patriarchs created a system of atonement for sins, virtually no one lived up to the law (including those who lived before the law). There were, therefore, lots of sins that had gone unpunished. So God sent his son to take that punishment for them and for us.

A Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus at night with a question. More than likely, he was coming during the night because he had a genuine interest in what Jesus had to say, while others of the Sanhedrin were already rejecting Jesus as being a blasphemer. Nicodemus, however, acknowledged that Jesus at least was a teacher sent by God (v. 2). At that confession, Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again,” (v. 3). This statement totally confuses Nicodemus, who thinks Jesus is talking in a physical sense. In his ignorance, he even questions whether a man can re-enter his mother’s womb (eewww). Jesus begins his explanation with a slight clarification; instead of “born again” he says “born of water and the Spirit,” which refers to one’s receipt of the gift of the Holy Spirit upon being baptized (Acts 2:38).

For further explanation, Jesus compares a fleshly birth and a Spirit “rebirth” to the wind. In verse 8, he says,

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Apparently, Nicodemus had never really pondered such things before, as he appeared utterly dumbfounded upon hearing this. Jesus gets a little perturbed with him, and basically asks him, “if you’re not going to believe me about physical matters, why would you believe me in spiritual ones?” (v. 12, paraphrased).

Jesus then takes a slightly different approach and compares it to something that Nicodemus would have a better chance at understanding: an Old Testament story. Jesus compares salvation to the time when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness and complaining about their condition. God summoned poisonous snakes to bite the people, but offered them a way of saving themselves.

The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. Numbers 21:8-9

Jesus frequently referred to the Pharisees as a “brood of vipers” (see Matthew 12), which I’m sure has more than a small connection to the same story. Of course, in this case, anyone who looks to the Son of Man–instead of a bronze snake–will be saved. But, just as it’s not the act of looking at the snake that cured the Israelites’ snake bites but rather their obedience to God’s command, so it is with us. We must do more than just “look” at Jesus Christ, but be obedient to him in order to be saved.

This leads us right in to the next passage, which is one of the most familiar verses in the entire New Testament. It is also, unfortunately, one of the most abused passages as well, thanks to the fallacy of taking things out of context. Read John 3:16-18 below:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

This is wonderful news! Anyone who believes in Jesus shall have eternal life! So, all we have to do to be saved is believe, right? Wrong. The people who take things out of context love to leave out the word “For” at the beginning of verse 16. That little word means that John is clarifying a point he just made. The point that he just made, of course, is that obedience to God saves. Jesus just got done trying to explain what he meant by being “born again.” He had said we must be born of water and spirit (v. 5). So, we must believe and obey. Naturally, one must believe before he can obey, just as one must hear before they can believe. Because of this, John’s emphasis here is on the “believing” step. He explains how believing plays a role in man’s salvation – “Whoever believes in him is not condemned” (v. 18).

*Note: In some translations, the quote of Jesus is extended through verse 21, which would mean John 3:16-18 is uttered by Jesus, not John. The meaning, of course, doesn’t change because of that.

Key Verse: John 3:5 – “Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.’” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: There are people who try to twist this scripture to mean that being “born of water” refers to the “fluid released when the amniotic sac breaks prior to labor” (Ryrie Study Bible, New American Standard, 1995, see note on John 3:5, p. 1683). If that were true, why would God send John the Baptist ahead of Jesus to baptize people by water? Why would Jesus himself be baptized by water? Why would Peter tell thousands of people that the way to be saved is to “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38)? That would be completely and absolutely unnecessary since everyone alive on the planet was born of water in the medical sense. The Holy Scriptures are very clear on the fact that water baptism is a necessary condition for salvation.

Wikipedia’s article about the Gospel of John makes a nice comment about what makes the Book of John so different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke:

Compared to the synoptics, John focuses on Jesus’ cosmic mission to redeem humanity instead of the earthly mission to teach, cast out demons (which is not mentioned), and comfort the poor.

Even though it is considered part of the “four gospel accounts,” John’s style of writing is so very different that it is truly unique. For this reason, John is often misunderstood (both in the gospel according to John as well as 1, 2, & 3 John and Revelation). I will attempt to explain what I read to the best of my understanding. You may disagree with some of the things I say, and I am open to rational discussion regarding why I may or may not be right. That being said, let’s jump right in to the Gospel according to John.

John 1:1-28
Verses 1-5 are full to the brim of doctrinal messages. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (v. 1). Your first question to yourself should be, why was the word “Word” capitalized? The obvious answer is that because here, Word is used as a name. The name of who, you may ask? Jesus Christ, the son of God–the messiah. Why does John call him the Word instead of Jesus? John was trying to establish the purpose of Jesus’ coming to earth in as few words as possible (parchment was expensive in those days). Here’s how Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible explains it:

The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father’s mind to the world. (source)

This passage also briefly shows how Jesus fits in to the Holy trinity. Jesus was not only with God, but he was God. Even though we don’t see Jesus as a man until the reign of Herod the Great, he was there when God created the universe and helped God create man (“in our own image” according to Genesis 1:26), as John says “Through him all things were made” (v. 3). Jesus was God’s “living letter” to the people. “This ‘letter’ is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3, NLT). The Greek word for “Word” used here is logos. According to Strong’s Concordance,

A Greek philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. (source)

Verses 6-8 briefly mention John the Baptist (not the author, John the Evangelist) basically only insofar as to say that John the Baptist was not the messiah (as some during John’s time were claiming).

Starting in verse 9, John immediately jumps into God’s plan of salvation for human kind. He says that even though the world was made by Jesus/God, the people had become so blinded by sin (my words) that they could not recognize the son of God. So, Jesus came to rescue them. In verse 12, John states, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Verses 16-18 illustrate just how important Jesus is in God’s plan (verse 15 is another jab at the fact that John the Baptist is not the messiah). Jesus brings to fruition that which the Law of Moses could not: grace and truth (v. 17).

John then relays testimony given by John the Baptist about the messiah. He further tries to prove that John is not, nor pretended to be, the fulfillment of prophecies about the messiah. He instead fulfills a different prophecy–that of a herald sent to announce the coming of the savior of mankind:

A voice of one calling:
“In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3)

And verse 28 finally discloses the setting for these events: “at Bethany, on the other side of the Jordan.”

Key Verse: John 1:12 – “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (TNIV).

Seed Thought: Until Jesus’ fulfillment of the law, man could only be called a child of God if he was born of the right family and/or followed every letter of the law. Since the population was growing and the likelihood of following the law perfectly was getting even smaller, it was time that Jesus stepped in to make salvation free and open to all.

Yesterday, we just finished the first of the synoptic gospels, Matthew. Being that Mark and Luke are also considered to be synoptic gospels and contain much of the same information that Matthew did, we’re now going to take a slightly different approach. Depending on the text, I will refer you to an earlier blog if the content is similar. However, I will always try to point out the differences and add any relevant commentary as to why those differences might exist.

The contents of today’s readings are very similar to Matthew 3 & 4. Mark skips completely the genealogy and birth story of Jesus. This is presumably because Mark was writing to a different audience. While Matthew was writing to predominately Jews, Mark was writing to the Greek speaking Romans (gentiles or Hellenists). Because of this difference, Mark apparently did not feel the need to prove that Jesus came from a specific blood line or fulfilled prophecies about the birth of the Jewish king.

The very first events we see are John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness and Jesus being baptized. There is then a cursory mention of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert being tempted by Satan. After this, Jesus goes into Galilee and begins preaching the gospel (“good news,” v. 15), and he calls his first four apostles. That’s it.. Mark tells us in 22 verses what Matthew took about four chapters to tell us.

A couple of important differences to note: after Jesus is baptized, God’s voice booms from the heavens. Matthew records His comments as being in the 3rd person – “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased,” (Matthew 3:17); Mark indicated a 2nd person point-of-view – “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased,” (v. 11). This does not really make any kind of doctrinal difference, but I thought it was interesting to point out. Personally, my guess is that Mark’s account is more accurate, simply because in any other examples of God speaking in the New Testament (that aren’t Old Testament references), He’s speaking directly with Jesus. Not only that, but proclaiming His pleasure to all the other people present would be a display of pride–a sinful emotion that of which God is not capable.

The other important difference (in my opinion) is that Mark doesn’t record anything of Jesus’ childhood or birth. So, while it a good thing (maybe) that the world stops to remember the birth of our Savior once a year, the fact that one of the four gospel writers completely omits that part of Jesus’ life indicates how insignificant his birth and childhood are to His greater purpose.

Key Verse: Mark 1:15 – ” ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ ” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: Indeed the time has come. If you have followed my blog for the past 48 days, you have read one of the greatest historical accounts ever told. You learned about the miraculous birth of Jesus, how He fulfilled prophecy in countless ways, how He preached a new law, how He healed all sorts of diseases, how He raised people from the dead, how He was wrongly arrested and tried, how He was beaten with whips and chains and crucified to suffer a humiliating death, and how, after three days of lying dead in a cold, dark tomb, Jesus Christ rose from the dead and walked again among the living. So tell me, after hearing all of this, what do you think of Jesus now? Do you believe the good news? If so, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

Jesus tells another “quasi-parable” about sheep and goats that explains how the kingdom of heaven will be. He says that at the judgment, all the sheep will be put on His right side, and all of the goats will be put on His left. He will tell the sheep, “come take your inheritance, because you fed me, clothed me, cared for me, gave me shelter, and visited me in prison” (v. 34-36). And the sheep are like, “Baaa? When did we do all that?” (v. 37-38, loosely translated). And Jesus will say, “Silly sheep, however you treated all my brothers and sisters, that’s how you treated me” (v. 40, paraphrased again).

But then to the goats, He will say “Get outta here you ugly goats! You did not feed me, clothe me, care for me, give me shelter, or visit me in prison” (v. 41-43, you get the picture). And of course these goats are like, “Baaa? I don’t remember ever seeing you needing any of that!” (v. 44, roughly). And Jesus replies, “Stupid goats, whatever you did not do for any of my brothers or sisters, you also did not do for me!” (v. 45 reworded). Then the goats are sent off to take their punishment, and the sheep to receive their inheritance.

The meaning of this “parable” is fairly obvious, but some people get it wrong, so let’s examine it for their sake. Some “Christians” like to say that the sheep are Christians and the goats are pagans. Well, that’s not necessarily the case. There are plenty of “Christians” who do not do the will of our Father: they do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or care for the sick. There could be some Christians among the goats and some pagans among the sheep, only God is the judge. When it comes to our actions on earth, everyone (Christians and non-Christians) will be judged according to how they treated their fellow man. The main difference is, however, that if a truly believing and obeying Christian “messed up” in how they treated someone, their punishment has already been taken by Jesus Christ when he suffered a separation from God on the cross. Non-believers don’t have anyone to take their place.

Key Verse: Matthew 25:32 – “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: Some “Christians” think they’re the only ones who will get to go to heaven. Fortunately, that’s not quite true. Truly believing and obeying Christians are the only ones who are guaranteed to get to heaven–everyone else will be judged according to their actions. So, here’s a hypothetical question: if there was a way that you could guarantee that you receive 100 billion dollars versus having a 1:100,000,000,000,000 chance to win the same amount of money, would you do it? (Assuming all legal and moral/ethical questions are satisfactory.) Likewise, if there is a way to guarantee that you’ll go to heaven, why take your chances on your own??

Jesus tells another parable that is similar to the parable of the tenants that we looked at yesterday. The parable of the wedding feast, as it has come to be known, tells a story about a king who has planned a wedding banquet for his son. The feast is about to begin, so the king sends his servants out to tell those who were invited to come to the feast. For whatever reason, the invitees refused to come. So the king sends more servants to bring in the invitees, but this time some of them are killed by those who were invited to come to the prince’s wedding banquet (v. 6). The king was so furious, he told his servants to just go out to the streets and find anyone to come to the feast, as long as they had wedding clothes. However, one man showed up without his wedding clothes, so the king had his hands and feet tied up and he was thrown outside into the darkness (v. 13).

Let’s examine the meaning of this parable before moving on to the next question by the Pharisees. The king again represents God and his son obviously is Jesus. Those who were invited originally were the Jews/Israelites who ignored the prophets’ (the servants’) pleas for repentance. The people who ended up going to the feast represent the pagans/gentiles or basically anyone who decides to follow Jesus. One new addition to this parable that was not in the parable of the tenants is the wedding clothes. In the parable, only those who have the wedding clothes will be allowed to stay at the feast. As we read in Revelation 3, those who suffer for the name of Christ will be given white robes (Revelation 3:5); and in Isaiah 1:18, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” In other words, those who are baptized into Christ’s death have their robes (lives) washed as white as snow (removed all sin), and will be permitted at the wedding of Christ to His bride (the church). [See Revelation 19 (December 28).]

Next, the Pharisees again try to trap Jesus by asking whether or not they should have to pay taxes to the government (by using flattery, by the way). Jesus sees right through their little ploy, and tells them to show him the coin that is used to pay the tax. He asks whose likeness and name are on the coin, and they reply “Caesar’s.” So Jesus answers their question with the simple answer, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (v. 21). Meaning simply, Caesar made the coins so give him his coins (follow the rules of the government); however God made us, so give Him your lives (follow Christ and His rules).

Key Verse: Matthew 22:14 – “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: Even though it was by the grace of the king that all the people from the streets were invited to his son’s banquet, they still had the responsibility of showing up with their wedding clothes. Likewise, it is only by the grace of God that we may be invited to the wedding of Christ to the church, but we still have to do our part. We need those white wedding clothes, and they’re not sold in any stores on earth. Your clothes must be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ through baptism before the King will allow you stay at the feast. “Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?”

Having just upset the temple courts the day before, Jesus was back in the temple preaching. The chief priests and elders came and asked him on whose authority he did the things he did? Before answering, Jesus said he had a question for them and if they answered it correctly, he would tell them his answer. He asked, “John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” (v. 25). Knowing that they were stuck in a catch-22, they simply replied, “We don’t know.” Then Jesus pulls out the ultimate 3rd grade response, “then I’m not telling you either, so there!” (loosely paraphrased).

He tells them a couple of parables to illustrate their failures to recognize Him as the Messiah and to believe in Him. First, the parable of the two sons, in which the father tells his two sons to go work in the vineyards. The first says he won’t do it, but then changes his mind later and does it anyways. The second son says that he will work in the vineyard, but never does. Jesus asks the audience then which of the two sons actually did the will of the father (v. 31). They correctly identify the first son as being the truly obedient one, even though he was defiant at first. In this parable, the first son represents the pagans who are at first disobedient, but then repent and follow Jesus. The second son represents the Jews who say they are doing the Father’s will, but refuse to repent and accept Jesus (v. 32).

The second parable Jesus tells in the temple is “the parable of the tenants.” In the parable, a landowner builds a great farm, but then moves to a different place and rents the farm out to some tenants. When the owner sends servants to collect the fruit, the tenants beat them, stone them, and kill them. So the owner sends more servants to collect the fruit, but they are met with the same fate. So lastly, the owner sends his son to collect the fruit thinking, “surely they will respect my son” (v. 37). But, unfortunately, they took him out and killed him as well, even knowing that he was the owner’s son. Jesus finally asks the audience what the landowner will do to the tenants when he comes to the farm. They respond correctly in saying, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end…and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time” (v. 41).

Even though this parable is fairly obvious, let’s look at each element: the landowner represents God who created the earth and everything on it. The tenants are God’s chosen people, the Israelites (the Jews). The first batch of servants are the patriarchs of the Israelites–Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The second group represent all the prophets who followed–Jonah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many others. Of course, the owner’s son represents Jesus, who the Jews decide they want to kill, even though they recognize whose son he is. Of course the Jews have not literally stoned the patriarchs and prophets (or at least all of them), but by the fact that they had twisted and perverted the law to their own selfish desire, they had turned their back on the teachings of all these men (and women).

The priests and the Pharisees knew Jesus was talking about them in these parables, and they try to figure out a way to have him arrested, but they are afraid of the people who believe in him.

Key Verse: Matthew 21:43 – “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: The Israelites were originally chosen by God to inherit the kingdom of heaven. However, they got comfortable with that inheritance and grew to despise it in the sense that they did nothing to deserve it. So, after they killed His Son, He no longer considers them His chosen people, but instead is giving that inheritance to all of those who bring more people to love God. This is wonderful news to all who hear the word, repent and follow Jesus. This is dreadful news for those who do not obey even the first commandment–Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, and soul.

Jesus and his disciples traveled south to the region of Judea, where Jerusalem is. Some Pharisees stopped him and asked if it was lawful to divorce a woman for any reason. Jesus quoted an excerpt from Genesis to them and reminded them of God’s original plan for marriage: that a man and a woman each leave their respective families and become one flesh. If God joins two bodies into one, man has no authority to then split them again (v. 6). They rebutted that Moses wrote a law that permitted a man to issue a divorce to his wife, but Jesus pointed out that if they had stuck with God’s original plan in the first place, including keeping His commandments, that law would not have been necessary. Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman, Jesus says, is guilty of adultery (v. 9). His disciples then ask that if that be the case, wouldn’t it be better just not to get married in the first place? Jesus replies, in essence, that it may be better for some men to remain celibate (he uses the word “eunuch,” which can be someone who is castrated physically, or simply remains abstinent) if they can (v. 12). However, Jesus does not indicate that this is in any way necessary.

Next, some people brought some kids to Jesus for him to pray for and bless. The disciples started to shoo them away, but Jesus told them to allow the children to come to him. He says, “the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (v. 14).

Finally, a rich man approaches and asks Jesus what “good thing” he has to do to get eternal life (thinking like most Jews thought that one must earn their salvation). Jesus replies that the only “good thing” is God, so one must keep His commandments (though he only lists six of them). The man says that he does those six things so what else does he need to do? Jesus tells him to sell all of his stuff and give the money to the poor, then follow Him (v. 21). Of course, this disappointed the man because of his great wealth, and he sulks away. Jesus takes this opportunity to tell his disciples that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God” (v. 24). The apostles are shocked and are now concerned about their own eternal lives, but Jesus reassures them that they will be seated in twelve thrones in heaven, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (v. 28). John describes this exactly as what he sees in Revelation 4 (December 25).

Key Verse: Matthew 19:26 – “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: While it is very true that with God all things are possible, in context, when Jesus said this, he had been asked, “Who then can be saved?” In other words, it is impossible to earn our own salvation — there is nothing we can do to earn our way into heaven. But God, with whom all things are possible, extends to us the grace that is necessary to receive eternal life.

The Pharisees and Sadducees — who are apparently now following Jesus around as much as his true followers — ask Jesus for a sign from heaven (v. 1). Jesus responds by telling them that even though they can interpret the signs of the skies (“Red at night, sailors delight; red in the morning, sailors take warning”), they can’t see the signs right in front of their noses — the sign of Jonah (Jan. 18).

As he’s leaving the Pharisees with his disciples, Jesus tells them to be on guard against “the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (v. 6). The ever-dense apostles thought he was talking about the fact that they had forgotten to bring bread. In fact, Jesus was referring to the bad teachings of the Pharisees (v. 12). In Jewish custom, yeast usually indicates evil, which is why it is not included in their holy rituals (Jesus used yeast as a metaphor for growth in Matthew 13:33, Jan. 20). Jesus is obviously a bit frustrated with his disciples’ lack of understanding — he comments, “How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread?” (v. 11).

Next, Jesus asks his disciples who the people say he is. They reply with names like John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or other prophets. But then he asks them who they think he is. Peter replies, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). Jesus blesses Peter for his reception of that discovery from God, and says, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (v. 18). This was a play on words — the name Peter (πετρος) means “like a rock,” essentially, stubborn or unyielding (this was Peter’s personality, which is why Jesus calls him Peter in the first place — remember his name is actually Simon). Then, the “rock” (πετρα, meaning huge rock, bedrock, or foundation) that Jesus will build his church on is not Peter himself, but on Simon’s unyielding confession that Jesus is the Messiah.

Finally, Jesus “predicts” — rather, tells — that he will be going to Jerusalem to suffer under the priests and officials. Stubborn Peter (see why he’s so named now?) basically says, “No way! Ain’t gonna let that happen!” (v. 22). But Jesus, knowing that this must happen in order to fulfill prophecy, tells Peter to get out of his way (and calls him “Satan,” or enemy), because Peter is thinking from an earthly point-of-view, not heavenly (v. 23). He teaches them here that in order to follow the Messiah, you must deny yourself and give up worldly pursuits, and stand for judgment on your own actions.

He says one final comment that “some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (v. 28). This is further proof that we are currently living in the kingdom of Christ, not awaiting some millennial kingdom to come: if the kingdom would actually begin before those apostles died and they died about 1900 years ago, then we are now living in that kingdom. Jesus says some of them will see the kingdom because he knows that Judas won’t make it that long.

Key Verse: Matthew 16:15 – “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: Jesus is building his church on the confessions of those who claim that Jesus is Lord, Son of the living God. A church is not made up of bricks and mortar, but rather the “rocks” of our confessions. Every person who makes that confession and obeys Christ becomes another “rock” that makes up the church that Christ will come back and claim as His own in heaven. So I ask you, “what about you? Who do you say Jesus is?”

Jesus wraps up his sermon on the hillside with a few “odds and ends.” Though these passages are fairly short, they include three of the most often quotes passages in the entire New Testament.

The first section of this chapter and the first quoted (often mis-quoted) passage includes the famous “Judge not that ye be not judged” (v. 1, KJV). Jesus says that we must look after removing our own sin before calling out the same sin in others (v. 5). In the original Greek, the word for “to judge” (κρινω) has many meanings, just as it does in English. However, when this word is used in the New Testament, it is most frequently referring to the sentencing or condemning part of judgment (as in the “final judgment”). In my opinion, Jesus is saying that we should not condemn others, or else we also will be condemned. No man is sinless, but Jesus is definitely not saying that we should not point out to others when they have sin in their life. However, as an example, if I had a problem with adultery, I would have no right to tell another adulterer that he’s going to Hell for his adultery unless I first removed that sin from my own life. In other words, as it says in verse 2, we will be judged at least by the same standard to which we hold others. Non-believers often quote verse 1 as a reason that we (Christians) have no right to pass judgment on them. However, as long as we are being living examples of Christ, we have every right to issue similar judgments as did Jesus when he walked among us.

The second passage is also quoted very often–or at least part of it–”Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (v. 7). One important missing implication, however, is that Jesus should have said “if you are faithful.” It is clear from other things that He says and from what the apostles teach is that God will answer prayers of the faithful, but if you do not believe, God will probably stay silent. At the end of this second section is the third oft-quoted verse (but it’s probably quoted the most of any verse in the New Testament): the so-called “golden rule.” “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (v. 12). That was Jesus’ “conclusion statement” or summary of all the items we’ve looked at over the previous 4 days, before He moves on to warnings about the eternal judgment.

First, He says that the road to righteousness is narrow, but the path to destruction is wide. Jesus predicts that many will take the wider road and only a few will find the narrow road. Next, He talks about false prophets–the famous “wolf in sheep’s clothing” (v. 15)–and false disciples, those who claim to do things in the name of the Lord, but do not do the will of the Father (we have lots of famous people who look like this right now).

He sums up all of his points with a simple lesson about the wise man who builds his house on a rock, which withstands all the weather that is thrown at it; versus the foolish man who builds his house on the sand that is destroyed easily with just the smallest amount of wind and water. When He was finished talking, the people were amazed. Why were they amazed? Verse 29 tells us, “because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” And authority He has.

Key Verse: Matthew 7:21 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: All people, even non-believers and people of other faiths, will call upon the name of the Lord at the final judgment. Simply calling on the Lord, simply saying one prayer repetitiously, or simply believing in God will not guarantee your spot in front of the throne. We must be faithful and obedient to God the Father, by following the example that Christ left for us. Jesus was baptized, He was prayerful, He was faithful, He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), and He always did His Father’s will (John 8:29). If we can follow that example, then when we say “Lord, Lord” at the judgment, He will hear us and invite us in.

2006 is now over, and for the final day we’ll be looking at the final chapter of the final book of the Bible. Tomorrow we begin a new year and a new daily bible reading schedule. I will post a link to the new schedule as soon as my church provides a link on their website. But for now, just know that this year we are going through the entire New Testament only. January 1st, 2007 starts with the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament, Matthew.

As for Revelation, the final chapter sees the restoration of Eden in Heaven, with the river of water of life flowing from the throne of God with the tree of life on either side of it. The tree produces 12 crops of fruit, once every month (v. 3). I believe this is also symbolic. Twelve of course being the symbolic number for wholeness, I believe the Spirit means that this tree continually provides fruit all the time for everyone who hungers, without ceasing.

Then an angel appears again to John telling him that what he is seen is accurate and true, and that it is his responsibility to make sure that the prophecy is heard. The angel says to John, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near” (v. 10). Once again, this verse is very important to understand that the things that John has seen in this vision are meant first and foremost for the first century Christians who are currently being persecuted. This does not mean that the principles that Revelation teaches aren’t still true for us today, however.

Jesus offers one final invitation saying, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city” (v. 14). This verse is another of the plethora of verses in the New Testament that we will examine during 2007 that proves that God wishes us to be baptized in order to cleanse ourselves from sin and receive the Holy Spirit. Believing and having faith in God are wonderful, but they are only the first steps.

As a final warning, the Spirit says that anyone who adds or takes away from this book of prophecy will receive respective curses of plagues (Hell) or the denial of the kingdom (v. 18-19). It is apparent that the Spirit did literally mean that no one should add or take away from the book of Revelation specifically. However, it is also a good idea to apply the same warning to the entire inspired text as well. (Definitely couldn’t hurt, could it?)

Jesus puts his seal of approval, so to speak, on the things that the Spirit just told John and adds, “Yes, I am coming soon” (v. 20). And the Bible comes to a close–just as this year does–with one of the most widely-recognized words in the world, αμην (“Amen”), meaning “so be it.”

Key Verse: Revelation 22:12 – “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what they have done.” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: Revelation is the most misunderstood book in the Bible and provides some of the most frightening images to believers and non-believers alike. However, the message that is loudest and most consistent through the book is that we have a home waiting for us with Christ in Heaven. It is a home filled with happiness, joy, praise, worship, singing, and no more tears. My hope is in Heaven, and it is the Lamb who was slain for me. Where is your hope?

After casting Satan, the beast, the false prophet, death, and hell all into a lake of fire along with those who were judged unworthy to enter the kingdom, God shows John that new kingdom. John sees a new heaven and earth, but he doesn’t describe them aside from saying that there is no sea. To the first century Christians, the sea represented something that was formidable, uncertain, tumultuous, and as something that divided the people of the earth.

John saw “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (v. 2) and heard a voice that said that God will live continually with his people in that city and there will be no more death or sorrow (v. 3-4). God makes the proclamation that he has made everything new for his people, and that his plan is complete (v. 5-6). The Greek word that the Spirit uses here for “finished” is not the same as was used when Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross. Jesus was referring to something as ended or fulfilled, like when you finally pay a debt in full. God here was saying that his creation is complete like when you finish building a car or a house and you can now use it, in other words, the beginning of a new era.

After God issues his “broken record” of an invitation and warning (v. 7-8), the Spirit shows John what Jerusalem looks like from a distance. The city had 12 gates each made of a single pearl, each inscribed with the name of one of the tribes of Israel. The wall that contained those gates had 12 foundations, each inscribed with the name of one of the twelve apostles. The city measured 12,000 furlongs (roughly 1,400 miles) cubed (v. 16). Again, this 12,000 is not a literal number. 12 being symbolic for “wholeness,” 10 for “completeness,” and 3 for the holy trinity, the mathematic formula for the shape/size of the city is: (12x10x10x10)³. In other words, this city is big enough to contain every faithful Jew that died before the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth, and every obedient Christian since.

The wall then gets some special attention and is described as being 200 feet thick (144 cubits, or 12×12) and having the foundation garnished with 12 precious stones. The description of the wall would have given the first century Christians much comfort, since they had no city of their own, worshiped in people’s houses, and lived continually fearful of being captured and killed. Having their own city that was impenetrable, huge, and beautiful would have given them a tremendous amount of hope and courage.

Key Verse: Revelation 21:4 – “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: As comforting to us as it was to the letter’s original audience, there will be no tears in heaven. All who enter into the kingdom will walk in the light of the glory of God. All of our trials on earth–whether as big as a cancer or a debilitating injury, or as as small as having a bad hair day–will disappear, and we will live a new life in a new city on a new earth continually worshiping God Almighty in the temple of the Lord and the Lamb.

The twentieth chapter of Revelation is one of the most twisted scriptures from the entire Bible. There are elements in this section that many people take completely out of context due to a lack of understanding of the “big picture” of the book of Revelation specifically and God’s plan as a whole.

At the start of the chapter, John sees an angel who “has the key to the abyss” (v. 1) come down from heaven and bind Satan “for a thousand years” (v. 2). This 1,000 years is very often mistaken to be a literal 1,000 years. We must remember that this is a vision–almost a dream–that John is seeing, and like dreams we have today, most things are referential to other things (symbolic). Most people agree that the key is not a literal key and the chain with which the angel binds Satan is not a literal chain, but then disagree when it comes to the meaning of 1,000 years. It is illogical to say that most everything in Revelation 20 is symbolic except the 1,000 years. Remember from Revelation 7 (December 27) that the number 10 is the symbolic number for “completeness.” 1,000 is simply 10x10x10, or 10³. Three of course, is the symbolic number of the holy trinity, or Godhead. So when the text says Satan is bound for 1,000 years, it is simply saying that Satan is bound “completely” by God.

And what exactly does bound mean? In the original language, the terminology used for being bound here in Revelation 20 is similar to the terminology Paul used for his “imprisonment.” Paul was not usually literally chained to the wall, but rather placed under house arrest and was restricted from going wherever he wanted and doing whatever he wanted. Similarly, Satan was “locked up” in the abyss and was bound (restricted). During this time that he is bound, Satan does not have free reign over the earth, and he is limited in power.

During this same period of time, all martyrs are allowed to live and reign with Christ in heaven (v. 4). This 1,000 years again is not literal, and it does not follow the previous 1,000 chronologically–they happen simultaneously. This period of time, during which Satan is bound and martyrs are with Christ, is happening now. Satan was limited when Christ was born (he failed at tempting Jesus, and could not prevent the apostles from casting out his demons) and will continue to be limited until just before the final judgment.

For “a short time” (v. 3) at the end of the Christian Age, Satan will be released and be allowed to roam freely on the earth once more. Remember that God does not wish to destroy the earth until no righteousness is found in it any longer (read notes on 2 Timothy 3, December 18). It is at this point that Satan and his army will be cast into the lake of fire, along with the beast and false prophets in chapter 19 (these events happen at the same time).

So after Satan is destroyed, all of the dead are judged according to how they lived their lives (at this point, all human life is over, because the earth has been destroyed (v. 11, 2 Peter 3:10). It is important to note that it doesn’t say that all people who believe in Jesus get an automatic ticket in and all other people are an automatic out. Granted, if you are an obedient Christian your judgment will be much more favorable than others, but every soul will be judged by their actions. “All whose names were not found written in the book of life were thrown into the lake of fire” (v. 15).

Key Verse: Revelation 20:12 – “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” (TNIV)

Seed Thought: Most people who have employers who regularly evaluate their employees know how important it is to work hard and serve the company in all earnestness. They do this because they know that whether they are allowed to get a promotion or whether they are cast out into the street depends on their behavior and performance. However, many people, even some who call themselves Christians, forget that we are continuously being evaluated based on our performance. If we’ve aligned ourselves with Jesus though (the boss’s son), all of our mistakes will be forgiven and we’ll be given a favorable performance review. If not, there’s still a chance that you won’t be “fired” (forgive the pun), but it doesn’t look so good. How is your evaluation looking right now?

In chapter 7 of the book of Revelation there are several items with which many Christians and non-Christians alike often confuse meaning. The chapter begins easy enough with God telling four angels that are doing the bidding of God on the earth not to let any harm come to the earth until the “bond-servants of God” had the seal of God on their foreheads (not literally).

At this point, John is told that there were 144,000 people from the twelve tribes of Israel that all receive the seal. The first major misconception is that many people believe that this 144,000 represents a literal number of people that will be allowed into heaven (most notably the Jehovah’s Witnesses). The number of people represented here is symbolic. 12 is used in the bible to represent wholeness. 10 is used to represent completeness. 144,000=12x12x10x10x10. Essentially, John was being told that every obedient Jew from every tribe was being sealed. However, even this is symbolic. These 144,000 were not Jews specifically (if they were then the Jehovah’s Witnesses really wouldn’t have any argument). We know this primarily because God no longer considered nationality after the establishment of his church (Romans 10:12). Also, even at this point in history (and especially today), most Jews had no clue which tribe they originally came from. So basically, these 144,000 is really referring to all obedient Jews and all obedient followers of Christ.

Following the listing of the 12,000 from each tribe, John saw a multitude “which no man could number” (v. 9) dressed in white robes. Who were they? The people just described as being 144,000. This verse is key to understanding that the 144,000 is a symbolic number and the tribes were a symbolic grouping. So if this multitude was innumerable, how did one come up with 144,000? If the 144,000 were only from the 12 tribes of Israel, why was the multitude “from every nation, tribe, people and language”?

At this point, all the angels and the multitude bowed before the throned and worshiped God (v. 11). An elder asked John who this multitude dressed in white robes were. John responded by saying he didn’t know, but surely the elder himself knew. The elder replied, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (v. 14). Here marks the second major misconception: people believe the “great tribulation” means a very specific time period after a so called “rapture” in which Christians will hover above the earth while there is great “tribulation” on the earth. Unfortunately, this is not found in the scriptures. The great tribulation that the elder refers to (we must remember the audience of this letter) is the great persecution that the church is facing at this time under the Roman rule. (See notes about chapters 2 and 3.) Please recall the setting of the letter from Revelation 1:1–things that “must soon take place.” John means in the seventh chapter that the “great tribulation” that Christians were suffering right then would soon be over.

Similar to how Jesus closed each of his letter to the seven churches (“those who overcome…”), the close of chapter seven includes what each person of the multitude in white robes who overcomes the great tribulation shall receive.

Key Verse: Revelation 7:17 – “For the Lamb at the center before the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Seed Thought: As the song Seeking the Lost says, “Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain.” Jesus was killed to take away the sin of all men. It makes no difference if you’re a Jew, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, agnostic, atheist, or anything else. Your sin was taken away by Jesus. If you follow Him, He will lead you to springs of living water that quenches the fire that burns eternally. In order to receive that living water, you must obey Christ alone, and keep his commandments.