Month: February 2020

Sermon on the Mount, continued:
Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. Jesus is the kingdom of heaven come to earth. God does not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear. God made you so He will surely feed you since you are important to Him. Apply the golden rule and you will resemble God.  When Jesus healed thousands of people it proved He had authority over sin and was therefore divine since in the Old Testament only God had authority over sin. Keep in mind if Satan was in charge he would kill every human being on earth in short order. Thankfully God is in charge of His creation and prevents Satan from harming us directly.

All sickness is ultimately a result of Adam’s original sin. As the person who would shortly bear the full penalty for that sin on the cross Jesus was in a position to forgive man’s sin and thereby remove the consequences of Adam’s sin. Although the disciples were slow to realize who Jesus was the demons were not. They knew Jesus immediately as the Son of God who would judge them in the end times.  Jesus’ authority over the wind and the sea identified Him as the creator and ruler of nature. The primary reason Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead was to show visible proof He was God. The Bible mentions this but doesn’t do it justice. Many places Jesus went He healed every single person brought to Him and they numbered in the thousands.

Jesus even healed Lepers! I’ll bet Jesus healed over 10,000 people during His ministry yet He was still rejected by His people. Divine power went out of Jesus every time someone was healed and often Jesus was exhausted because the human body is weak.  Jesus was tested for forty days just like Moses and Elijah were to see if He was worthy to serve God. God puts all of us to the test. It’s why we’re here on earth. Every action in the life of Jesus sets an example for us in how to lead a sinless life. Our task is to emulate Jesus the best we can.  As I read Matthew I became more aware of the eternal struggle between God and Satan for the soul of man. All the evil events in history were supported by the devil as he attempts to destroy God’s creation. Not to worry; God is always one step ahead of Satan.

Sermon on the Mount:
This sermon was the first major teaching of Jesus. It occurred on a gently sloping hillside on the banks of the Sea of Galilee attended by approximately 5,000 people. This sermon is also called the Beatitudes. It laid out rules to live by in order to enter God’s kingdom.

Blessed are those who do the following:

1. Be humble before God and depend on Him
2. Show regret over your sins
3. Hunger for righteousness in your personal life
4. Seek justice for the oppressed
5. Forgive those who trespass against you
6. As much as possible be at peace with everyone
7. Bear up under persecution which is sure to come
8. Let your integrity and good deeds shine before men

Jesus expanded on the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” to include being angry with your brother or holding a grudge. Jesus urged people to settle their differences quickly and out of court. Never swear against God because you are aligning with Satan when you do. Jesus expanded on the commandments “Thou shalt not commit adultery” and “Thou shalt not covet” when He said willful lust is a sin and unfaithfulness is the only reason for divorce.  Don’t make an oath but if you do don’t break it. Always speak the truth.  Let your no be no and your yes be yes. Be slow to anger and quick to forgive. Go above and beyond to make things right with anyone you have offended. Love God and other people because God made them too.

Whenever you are persecuted for God’s sake you are perfect before the Lord. You will receive a prophet’s honor in heaven just like the prophets of old. Pray to God and give to the needy as your heart moves you but do it in private and not to impress others. Righteous acts must be done for God’s glory or no heavenly reward is given.  Our eyes should be on building up spiritual treasure in heaven instead of earthly treasure. Don’t worry about anything and don’t judge others. God will handle it. Seek God and you will find Him. You will be known by your fruit and you can judge others the same way. Follow the teachings of Jesus and be wise; otherwise you are foolish.

I used to wonder why Matthew was the first gospel in the Bible when the gospel of Mark was written first. The answer is obvious to me now. Salvation was for the Jew first, then the Gentile. God never intended to leave us out.  God’s original plan was for His chosen people to be His priests and for them to take salvation to the Gentiles. It was only after the Jews rejected the Messiah that God turned to the Gentiles to build His church.  Getting back to my point, the gospel of Matthew is the “Jewish gospel” and therefore the first of the gospels by right. The Apostle Matthew was of course a Jew and he wrote his gospel to and for the Jews in their native Hebrew language.

Matthew establishes the genealogy of Jesus and bridges the Old and New Testaments with all the references to the Old Testament Scriptures about Jesus being fulfilled in the New Testament.  The Jewish people are jealous of their God. The Jews thought God was for them only and salvation was also for them alone. The Jews thought the Gentiles were inferior and unclean and rather to be shunned. It was a hard pill to swallow when God made it clear that salvation was for all men and we were all children of God.  God also made women the equal of men which was not the norm. Through the genealogy of Jesus God makes all this clear because it contains four women, one of which was a harlot and another was a Gentile. Jesus came to save everyone.

After the baptism of Jesus, and before He began His ministry, Jesus went to the Judean desert where He fasted for forty days while being tested by the devil (as we all are). Satan tried to get Jesus to turn rocks into bread, then jump off the temple which was 15 stories high and the highest building in antiquity, and finally Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of the earth which Satan had acquired due to Adam’s fall in the garden.  The point is, Jesus stopped Satan by quoting Scripture. Jesus was a man and didn’t use any of His powers while on earth. Jesus used God’s Word to defeat Satan and we also have that spiritual weapon today that we can use in the same manner to defeat Satan if we speak it in faith.

Jesus was setting the example for us to follow. Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus so obviously Satan had read the Old Testament and, by extension, the New Testament when it was written.  When we face off against Satan we don’t have a chance unless we know the Bible as well as he does. That’s why it’s important to get into God’s Word every day and put on the shield of faith. If Jesus had given in to Satan He would have sinned and failed the test and therefore Jesus would have been an unworthy sacrifice to redeem man from their sins.  Of course there was no chance of that since Jesus was God. The story about the trials of Jesus was meant to be an example for us to follow when tempted by the devil. We are to use God’s Word to defend ourselves and pray for God’s help. Satan has no power over the children of God other than what we give him.

PROLOGUE:
Matthew briefly covers the birth of Jesus up to the time Jesus started his preaching ministry in Galilee. It was the Jewish custom that men could not teach from the Law in the synagogues or become a Rabbi until the age of thirty. Therefore, when Jesus was thirty he went to John the Baptist to be baptized.  After Jesus was baptized heaven opened up and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove to anoint Him for His ministry on earth. For the first time God spoke directly to man from heaven when He declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  You need to understand all the Jewish people were waiting expectantly for the Messiah to appear and they knew it was imminent. Based on Old Testament Scripture everyone knew the coming of the Messiah was the next big thing on God’s prophetic calendar. It’s similar to the situation we have today where Christians are waiting expectantly for the rapture which also is the next big thing on God’s prophetic calendar in our time.

The last time God had spoken to Israel was through the prophet Malachi 400 years before the birth of Jesus. Jesus started preaching at age thirty and three and a half years later He was crucified. So God was silent for 400 years before He acted to restore the fellowship between man and God which was culminated by the crucifixion of Jesus roughly 432-33 years from the time God last spoke to man through Malachi.  When Israel was in bondage in Egypt God had not spoken to His chosen people for over 400 years. Then God sent Moses to restore fellowship between the Israelites and God by leading them out of bondage. Israel was in captivity roughly 432-33 years. It could be a coincidence but personally I see a corollary between the two similar timelines because I know God is precise. There is a lot we fail to see.  Anyway, the Jews knew the coming of the Messiah was imminent and they were aware God promised in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be descended from the lineage of King David. All Jewish people kept detailed records of their ancestry and especially those who were of the line of David because all of them were hoping the Messiah would be born through their house.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would carry the Messiah not only was Mary not surprised, she was pleased. It was like winning the lottery. Joseph wasn’t surprised either when he learned of the coming birth of Messiah through the Holy Spirit. Mary and Joseph were aware of the honor being bestowed upon them as parents of Jesus and having an important part in the promised Messiah sent to save not only Israel but all the world.  What many people don’t realize is that Joseph was from the Davidic bloodline and should have been the rightful king of Israel instead of Herod. As the adopted first son of Joseph Jesus was the legal heir to the throne of the rightful king of Israel.  Not only was Jesus the legal heir to the throne of Israel, He was the heir to the throne of Israel by blood through His mother Mary. Most people don’t realize that Mary was also a direct descendant of King David. God made sure Jesus was king of Israel both legally and by bloodline. God is precise in all He does if we can but see it.

I’ve started my annual reading of the gospels with Matthew. I want to share with you a series of letters I sent my cousin Bill in March of 2018 about my study of the book of Matthew that I think will be good background information for my readers.  The word gospel means “good news”.  God wants us to know His salvation plan for man which is contained in the gospels.

MATTHEW:
Writer – The Apostle Matthew, an eyewitness to the life and miracles of Jesus. Matthew was originally a tax collector so he was literate and was skilled at writing. Matthew’s original name was Levi. Matthew means “gift of God”.
When – Matthew was written after the gospel of Mark and may have used the gospel of Mark to assist in writing his gospel. Matthew was written around the time the gospel of Luke was written. Matthew was written some time between 55 AD to 80 AD.
Language – Written in Hebrew.
Audience – Written to and for the Jews to convince them that Jesus was the predicted Messiah.
Where – Palestine.
Type – Synoptic gospel; which means it focused on the life and actions of Jesus and similar to Mark and Luke. Matthew is not a biography nor does it read like a novel.  Matthew focuses on three and a half years of Jesus’ ministry with the primary focus on the last week before crucifixion. Matthew only contains those things God wants us to know about so we understand the spiritual implications.  Matthew stresses Jesus’ exhortations to His followers.
Important points – Matthew was known as the “Jewish gospel” and stresses the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.  Matthew bridges the gap between the Old and New Testaments.  Matthew is well written and focuses on Jesus as a teacher and showcases His teachings.  Matthew highlights the church and  the Great Commission.  Matthew is important to the Jews because it shows the genealogy from Abraham through King David and ultimately, to Jesus.
Why – Matthew was written to preserve eyewitness testimony of Christ’s ministry.

Theological truths:
1. Jesus is the Messiah.
2. Jesus is the new Abraham who establishes a church for all who believe.
3. Jesus is the new Moses who delivers and instructs His people.
4. Jesus is Immanuel, the Son of God who fulfills Old Testament promises.
5. Jesus gave us God’s salvation plan, sixty references to the Old Testament and revealed His future plans for the church and His kingdom.

Matthew gave us five discourses (teachings of Jesus).
1. Sermon on the Mount
2. Ministry of Jesus’ disciples
3. Parables about the kingdom
4. Character of Jesus’ disciples
5. Olivet discourse.

Jesus was crucified for blasphemy and not because he said anything about the temple. A Jewish man under the Law may not claim to be God and live according to the Old Testamant. When Caiaphas the high priest asked Jesus “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed?” and Jesus said “I am”, his fate was sealed. Jesus knew his time had come and it was time to be open about his identity.

Leviticus 24:16 – He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death.

There is confusion about the statement Jesus made on the cross shortly before his death where he said “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Critics argue that statement means Jesus wasn’t divine after all or that Jesus somehow had a crisis of faith. Actually, it was just the opposite.  If you look at that statement in the context of ancient Jewish culture you would realize Jesus was quoting the first line from Old Testament Scripture, the book of Psalms, chapter 22. In the Jewish tradition when you quote the first line of a Psalm you invoke the entire Psalm.

Psalm 22 is a prophecy about the coming of the Messiah. Jesus was referencing the fulfillment of this Scripture when he was near death. Jesus was actually saying to us that although he appears to be forsaken by God in his suffering and death, in the end, God will hear him and save him. The key to understanding what Jesus said is in the following two verses:

Psalm 22:23-24 – You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard.

We would all profit from reading all of Psalm 22 on a regular basis. In the Psalm Jesus is also predicting that by His death the gentile nations (which is us Christians) will come to worship the one God of Israel. The rapid growth of Christianity is his confirmation.  One last thing I want to mention. Our bodies are the temple of God. When Jesus was on the earth it was before God poured out His Holy Spirit to indwell us. The body of Jesus was the temple of God then. Jesus was sacrificed during the feast of the Passover as required by the Law.  Instead of a lamb without blemish God sacrificed His Son so that our sins might be forgiven and not just covered over.

Remission of our sins required a sinless human blood sacrifice which is why Jesus came. When the Roman soldier thrust his spear into the side of Jesus it pierced his heart and the blood that flowed out from the wound was the precious shed blood of Christ that allowed God to forgive our sins. The Passover sacrifice by Law also had to be in Jerusalem and at the temple of God and since Jesus was God’s temple He met both criteria.

I have one last comment about those who attack the gospels of Christ. Know that Satan is your sponsor so beware. Only in the last 200 years have critics started trying to convince people that the gospels of Christ are really folklore. They have asserted that the gospels were not about historical truth but only sought to portray a story about Jesus that may or may not have actually happened.  Critics say how could the gospels be accurate when there is no description of what Jesus looked like and which doesn’t contain an accurate chronology of his his life.  For the first 1800 years the gospels were accepted as historical biographies.

Keep in mind the gospels are ancient writings similar to the Greco-Roman biographies of that era that chronicled the lives of famous people of that time. In that genre of historical biographies what someone looked like was not important. An exact chronology of their life was not important.  The old historical biographies had three parts – the birth, public life and death of the person written about with the bulk of that history being devoted to the subject’s public career.  The gospels also do that.  God in His wisdom chose the genre historical biography for the gospels because people were accustomed to that. God included in the gospels only what He considered important for us to know about Himself and the salvation for man.

God never says, does or writes anything without a good reason. Therefore, whenever you read a biblical story in the gospels ask yourself, “What is God trying to tell me”? Ask yourself, “What is it I need to know and why”?  It helps if you pray to God before reading gospel Scripture for the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s Word to your mind and spirit. Ask God how to apply what you have learned in your life.  God says to ask and you will receive but the secret is you have to keep asking until you do receive because God’s timeline is His own. 

During the Babylonian captivity the prophet Daniel served the king. Daniel was favored by God to prophesy about the end times. In a vision Daniel saw the Second Advent of Jesus Christ returning to earth to judge the nations and set up His millennium kingdom.

Daniel 7:13-14 – I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

During His ministry Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man as a direct reference to the above prophecy of Daniel.  Jesus was telling His audience not only that He was God but that He would be the one on that Shekinah glory cloud on the last day.  I love the Jewish people and grieve for their loss. They are my brothers and sisters. The Jews knew the coming of Messiah was imminent in the first century but they rejected Jesus because they were expecting their Messiah to crush their Roman oppressors as the conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Jewish people did not realize Jesus Christ was coming to the earth twice, the first time as a suffering servant, and the second time as the Messiah they were expecting.

The Jewish people did not realize God’s mercy and saving grace was for all men and not just the chosen people. A careful reading of the Old Testament clearly indicates the first coming of Jesus. It’s just that the human mind cannot comprehend a sovereign God loving His masterpiece of creation so much that He would empty Himself and come to earth to die a horrible death to save us from our sins.  Man simply could not wrap his mind around that fact. I’m not sure any of us could, until after the fact. This is one of the reasons I know the Bible is truth. Man could not have conceived of a triune God and the perfect salvation plan of God. There was no other way to restore fellowship between man and God while at the same time satisfying God’s justice.  It’s too mind boggling for us to even comprehend so I know it’s from God’s mind alone.

As noted earlier, Jesus used parabolic teaching methods using questions and riddles to lead people to the answer to his divine mystery on their own so he wouldn’t have to blab out, “I’m God, here I am!”  The next story from the Synoptic gospels that I’ll touch on is when Jesus was teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem about the Messiah.  Jesus questioned why the Messiah was called the Son of David when Psalm 110 shows David referred to the Messiah as Lord. How can the Messiah be David’s son when he is David’s Lord? The servant is not greater than the master.

The term Son of David is mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament. It came into use as a Jewish tradition after the Law was written. Jesus was pointing out the actual translation of Psalm 110 should be Lord of David when referring to the Messiah. The Bible makes it clear the Messiah is a direct blood descendant of King David while at the same time pre-existent and equal to God.  Since there is only one God, the Messiah is also God and the Son of Man is also the Messiah. By his words Jesus was leading the Jews to the logical truth of his divinity. A triune Godhead is a difficult concept for some to accept but in heaven all will become clear.

The last example from the Synoptic gospels is the story of the rich man who came to Jesus and asked “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life”? Jesus responded “Why do you call me good”? “No one is good but God alone.”  Detractors have seized on this statement by Jesus to assert Jesus is saying he is not good and he is not God. The truth is just the opposite. Jesus is trying to get the man to connect the dots. If Jesus is good and God alone is good then Jesus must be God.

Jesus goes on the tell the young man to inherit heaven he must observe the commandments of God. Jesus added one more commandment to give away all his possessions and follow Jesus. The Jews know the ten commandments were written by the, “finger of God.”  Jesus, by adding another commandment was doing what only God can do. Jesus was telling the Jews he was on a par with God, that he was God. The stories in the Bible fulfill Old Testament prophecy and show who God is while revealing the attributes of God that he wants to reveal to his creation. Praise God!

In previous blogs we have documented the evidence that proves the gospels of Christ were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We have looked at the proof the gospel writers thought Jesus was God even though they may not have come out and said so openly. We identified the actions in each of the Synoptic gospels that prove Jesus also said he was God, but in a Jewish way.  Satan has for centuries propagated the lies that the gospels were anonymous, that the gospels don’t say Jesus is God and that Jesus himself never claimed to be God. Now you know the truth. If the uninformed bring up these false allegations to you please set them straight, but with gentleness.

Jesus not only acted like God in the gospels he said said he was God. Let’s look at three stories from the Synoptic gospels that shed more light on the divinity of Jesus. The first story I want to mention is the paralytic man who was lowered down to Jesus from a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching. When Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic man and his friends he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”  Scribes sitting around Jesus accused him of blasphemy because “only God” can forgive sin. Jesus told the scribes that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Having said that, Jesus healed the paralytic in their presence and sent him home to prove to all present that the Son of God has authority to forgive sins.  Jesus was telling everyone he was God but leaving it to them to figure out what he said.

The Son of Man was the favorite moniker of Jesus. Why is that? God never does anything on a whim. God always has a purpose for any action he takes. For understanding we need to refer back to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. In chapter seven, verses 13 & 14 Daniel prophesied about a divine being coming to earth riding the Shekinah glory cloud of God and looking like a son of man (i.e. he looked like a human being). This person looked like a man but was also the equal to God. He was both man and God.  To the Jewish mind someone saying they are the Son of Man is making direct reference to the book of Daniel and they are, in effect, saying they are the Messiah and God but in an indirect, Jewish way. Jesus used this title often to remind the Jews that while he is a man, he is also God.  Christians will recognize this prophecy as the second coming of Christ at the end of the great tribulation referenced in the book of Revelation.