For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:8‭, ‬10‭-‬11 ESV ¶The risks of Paul's lifestyle were acceptable because of the prayers he solicited from saints like these. The burden of affliction is lifted through prayer. In the cycle of venture, affliction, prayer and deliverance, we need prayer to complete the cycle, close the loop. In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, Paul encourages generousity in supporting the Jerusalem church with their money. In this his next letter to them, he asks for generosity in their prayers.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:8 ESV ¶Imagine the confused mess that surrounded Jesus's death on the cross: the fearful followers, the compromised Jewish leadership, the crowd provoked to rage, the doubting Roman centurion, the cynicism of Herod, the evasiveness of Pilate, the tauntings of a common thief, on top of which was the need to get the entire ugly mess finished and covered up before the start of Passover. Their efforts to cobble together a twisted justice and faux-righteousness make a mockery of our feeble efforts to avoid the truth about ourselves. Like the faithful prophets before Him, Jesus would not only speak the truth of God's Word, but live it, die by it, and live again by it's power.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:2 ESV ¶This salutation of grace and peace is more than a "best wishes to you and yours" greeting. It is news of the Father's great gift to us. In John 14:27, Jesus leaves us with this: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Jesus not merely wishes peace; He gives peace. The Lord Jesus Christ, by the will of God the Father, endues His people with peace.

For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 1 Corinthians 16:7 ESV ¶I have known a few individuals who, when faced with the unruly and critical, do not withdraw, but engage, and respond not with rejection, but respect. In view of the tangled mess of problems that the Corinthian church presented to the apostle Paul, I would not blame him for wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. I would be like "okay, next church!" Thank you, Paul, for not giving up on the Corinthians. Thank you God, for not giving up on me!

Women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. 1 Corinthians 14:34‭-‬35 ESV ¶It is likely that these early churches resembled the original community of disciples Jesus assembled around himself. There were the twelve, all men, and then there were women. Women were the last disciples at the cross and the first at the empty tomb. But women could not go out "carrying neither money bag, nor knapsack, nor sandals", staying in the homes of strangers, declaring the good news of the kingdom. That was men's work. In that place, then as it is now, women needed to be protected. The domain of this protection was the family. It was the honor of the family that protected women from danger and exploitation. It was to the dishonor of any man who did not provide su...

All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children. Romans 8:19 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Revelation 21:3 ESV Jesus the Good Neighbor is coming back to dwell among us and complete the renewing of our world. When He returns, He'll see the work we have done healing, rebuilding, and delivering, and He'll say "that's what I'm talking about!" and "well done, good and faithful servant."

You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 1 Corinthians 12:2‭-‬6 ESV ¶People emphasize things differently. They have different strengths, not good or bad, better or worse, just different. They have been given different gifts. The Lord Jesus left His Spirit to distribute varieties of gifts among us. Variety comes from the Lord Jesus Himself. The manifold variety of gifts all tumble forth from the same spiritual source. They all find their place in the people God is bringing together. When we were pagans we attributed God's good gi...

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:23‭-‬26‭, ‬28 ESV ¶Lord, in this common practice, whenever we eat and drink, let us remember your suffering, death, and sacrificial work.

For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. 1 Corinthians 11:6‭-‬7‭, ‬14‭-‬16 ESV ¶The concern of the apostle Paul is this: that you be born again. All of these issues of hair and coverings are ways to conform our external appearances to the truth of the Gospel. We today have been overly sensitized not to allow the norms of family and society to effect the expression of who we feel ourselves to truly be. At best these are secondary issues. At worst, focusing on t...

For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 1 Corinthians 11:7 ESV ¶It is to our glory, men, that there are women, not just to marry and take as wives and bear our offspring, but to complete the fellowship given us in the body of Christ, to kindle our awareness of beauty outside of ourselves, and to model nurturing love.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 1 Corinthians 11:3 ESV ¶How often do we bridle at the the necessity to submit to the authority of someone whom we know is no better than us? Christ did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a servant. It's about our roles, not our value. The authorities that we are encouraged to respect and emulate are those who come among us not to dominate, but to serve. The desire to usurp authority is the very thing that disqualifies from authority.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:14 ESV What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 1 Corinthians 10:19‭-‬22 ESV ¶Paul confronts his contemporaries on the issue of eating food offered to idols with language from the Second Commandment: “You shall not make for yourself an idol...You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God." The scarcity today of foods sacrificed and offered to idols does not obviate the relevance of Paul's concern, for, as John Calvin famously observed, "the human heart is perpetually an idol factory". The implic...

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:13‭-‬14 ESV ¶So what is the weapon given to us against this foe (v.13)? Patience. Endurance. Bearing up. Merely to continue to be, remaining in the abiding place of His presence where His Spirit through His Word promises to keep us. Impatience is what drives us to idolatry (v.14). Seek no other substitute, no other way out.

However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 1 Corinthians 8:7‭, ‬9‭-‬11‭, ‬13 ESV ¶There are places, things, habits, activities in our culture which can be stumbling blocks to the weak. Indeed, we do well not to encourage others to stumble by our participation in them. But we must also consider our own weaknesses. If I become arrogant about my own ability to approach false idols and not make them my own, I can ...

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5:6‭-‬8 ESV ¶Leaven is the thing that puffs us up. When we seek to exalt ourselves at the expense of others, it only encourages others do the same toward us. To remain unleavened is to be still, let God lift us up, to see ourselves as God sees us.

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 1 Corinthians 1:2 ESV ¶By His call we are invited to call upon Him. This is of course the work of the Holy Spirit. What do called ones look like? They read the Bible with eagerness, not just because it is interesting, but because it is transformational. They boldly approach the Most High God in prayer for themselves and the world. They see a world white for harvest, and make the most of kingdom opportunities.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1:27‭-‬29 ESV ¶Boasting is not a practice of the low and the despised. The foolish and the weak have nothing to boast about. Boasting is a sign of misplaced confidence. There is no profit in comparing our places with one another when it is the destiny of all of us to stand before God in His presence. Paul had no confidence in his status or circumstances, only in the Lord.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:1‭-‬7 ESV ¶"Do this, don't do that." That's how we control the behavior of children. They're treated no differently than slaves. Completeness, maturity, Holy Spirit fullness, means living as owners, sharing in the heavenly enterprise with God the Father.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. Galatians 3:16‭-‬18 ESV ¶Sometimes we debate about whether the promised salvation is for everyone, or only for an elect few. There is a more important reality in play, however. Without Christ, salvation is completely impossible for anyone. He is the Elect One, the chosen offspring of the promise. Outside of Him, there's a zero percent chance of anyone receiving the promises. But Jesus came. He pitched His tent among us. He became our neighbor. He received the promises on our behalf. The chances are never zero. There...

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:17‭, ‬19‭-‬20 ESV ¶This turns out to be the issue other religions have with the Jesus faith: "How can your religion allow you to just go about willy-nilly, your sins all forgiven? We need laws, rewards and punishments, to keep us in line (and by "us" we usually mean "other people"). Otherwise order and structure would be replaced by confusion and disorder. When you forgive, don't you also condone, and actually serve sin's purposes?" So we thought, laboring under the curse of sin, until Jesus. He came, not that we would live the o...

And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 2 Thessalonians 3:4 ESV ¶I wish I had Paul's confidence. Knowing the disappointments, the conflicts, the sufferings that Paul had experienced in starting churches, what kept him so steadfast in his confidence? Was it that the Thessalonians were of such sterling character that they stood out from all the other churches? Was it in the proven effectiveness of his church-planting scheme? His confidence was in the Lord.

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9‭-‬12 ESV ¶In the previous chapter, 2 Thessalonians 1:11, Paul has just called it a high pleasure for us see God's purpose fulfilled in our lives, that the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in us, and us in him. But for this pleasure there is a strong competition. The object of the most vulgar of desires can be dressed up in the most charming and seductive outfits that compete with the high pleasures. It is so easy for those who deny the work of the Spirit to embrace the world, the flesh, and the pride of life. These temptations are normal for the world...

Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:11‭-‬12 KJV ¶Whose pleasure is it when 2 Thess 1:11 refers to the pleasure of fullfilling our calling? Luke 2:14 uses the same term to refer to God's pleasure, or goodwill, towards us. "Eudokia", meaning "our every good pleasure", or "our every resolve for good" may mean either man's pleasure in fulfilling our purpose, or God's pleasure in seeing men fulfilling their purpose. Either way, this is the high pleasure I will seek.

...that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. 1 Thessalonians 4:10‭-‬12 ESV ¶What does it mean to apply this aspect of holy living across all strata of society, not just to those at the bottom, who find themselves dependent on the charity of others, but also to those at top: servant-masters, shareholders, officials of government and industry, who profit from the labor of others? So it turns out we're all dependent on others, it's a question of how we do it. For a start, it means to be present, as Adam was placed in the Garden to live there in proximity to his work, as the Lord God came to visit them there and to walk with them in the cool of the evening, as Jesus came to be our neighbor here as am...

We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. 1 Thessalonians 2:2‭-‬4‭, ‬6‭ ¶Suffering became Paul's bona fides. It was his sacrifices, his perseverance under pressure that gave the lie to any charge of self-interest, not...

  Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. Acts 15:36‭-‬40 NIV ¶When Ananias laid hands on Paul in Damascus, the Lord said to him "I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." Paul understood that the majority of the things he must suffer for the sake of the Gospel were still ahead of him. It may have been that prospect which originally caused John Mark to shrink back. Like Jesus, Paul's desire was for disciples who would stay, watch, and pray wit...

You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. Acts 15:29 NIV Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord...Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, Ephesians 5:22‭, ‬25 ESV ¶Many parts of our world today deal with the issues of safety for women and family stability in the same way as they did then. What may have changed, however is how the rules are enforced. What started as cultural norms have been codified into laws which control the lives, especially of women. External codes which control how women dress, where they may go, the need for a male guardian, such things still attempt to impose structure and stability on the outside, but are internally rife with societal corruption and family violence. But what if there were people, men and women, both fully free and with full agency, who could love e...

When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. Acts 15:13‭-‬14 NIV ¶James, ever the Hebrew scholar, goes back to the Old Testament to find a precedent for what he sees God doing in this new age. In Deuteronomy 14:2 God tells Israel “You are a people [lxx laos] holy to the Lord your God. Of all the peoples [lxx ethne, nations] on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.” In the same way, God is still calling from among the Gentiles [ethne, nations] a people [laos] for Himself as well.

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. James 4:11 ESV ¶"Doers of the law" are actually more powerful than "judges of the law". The term "doer" comes from the Greek, "poietes": making, creating, producing, bringing something into being. The law of the Spirit has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). By what they do, the "pneumatikoi", spirit-filled believers, are actually displaying the new life-giving law of the Spirit.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. James 1:23‭-‬25 ESV ¶In 2 Cor 3 Paul talks about minds that are hardened. Without Christ, the veil over the law remains unlifted, so that the law of Moses is unable to accomplish its intended purpose, which is to reveal God's glory. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another."

And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could prevent God’s way?” And when they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” Acts 11:16‭-‬18 LSB ¶The apostles here described the gift of the Holy Spirit as "the repentance that leads to life". In 2 Cor 7 Paul identifies the opposite, which he calls "worldly grief that leads to death". Then he describes "repentance that leads to salvation" which is less concerned with the personal consequences of our sin than the interpersonal consequences to our relationships with our neighbors and our God. This "earnestness, this godly grief, this eagerness to clear ourselves, this indignation, f...

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” Acts 9:15‭-‬16 LSB ¶Wait! That's not what the world thinks. Suffering is for Jesus, not for us, right? If you're suffering, you must be doing it wrong.

And as he was traveling, it happened that when he was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, Acts 9:3‭-‬5 LSB ¶Saul's encounter with the glorified Jesus. Like the Temple guards he fell to the ground at this "ego eimi" (I am) of Jesus, prostrated before the brilliant light that accompanies His presence.

So he rose up and went; and behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. And Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8:27‭-‬28‭, ‬30‭-‬31 LSB ¶What a great gift it is when, as we take the time to gaze deeply into the commands and the promises of the prophets, the story of redemption, the Spirit guides us into all truth, and we encounter Jesus.

And he said, “Hear me, brothers and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,... But being full of the Holy Spirit, he (Stephen) gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; They went on stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:2‭, ‬55‭, ‬59‭-‬60 LSB ¶Glory is not something we go away to. It comes to us. It dawned crystal-clear for Stephen in his remembrance of God's mighty works among His people. The age-old story broke open anew his awareness of God's glory. Everything, the wandering, the promise, the captivity, the exile, the prophets, all was glorious; all was well; all was forgiven. The theodicy question: "How can evil exist in the world if God is b...

this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him together death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. For David says of Him, ‘I saw the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Acts 2:23‭-‬25 LSB ¶Lord God, let your presence be so continually at our side, our right hand, that not only would death be swallowed up in eternal life, but that, as we behold your glory, the agony of death would cease.

26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. Acts 1:26 LSB Whatever their lot, God had taught them to say "It is well, it is well, with my soul!"

These all with one accord were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers. Acts 1:14 LSB ¶The brothers in His own family would know the real Jesus, and be able to tell if He were just putting on an act. Yet they found in Him their own personal Savior.

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands, He blessed them. And it happened that while He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. Luke 24:50‭-‬53 LSB ¶These men and women were so full of joy! So different from their state after Jesus's first departure 40 days earlier, when the apostle John says they locked themselves away in fear. By all appearances, their hero and champion again taken from them, they were worse off. But what did they now have? They had a story. They had the Gospel, waiting to be released in their lives by the power of God's Spirit. They had the good news of the Gospel, the fulfillment of God's ancient covenant promise to deliver His people, not just from the oppression of other people, but from themselves. So it follows that they would return to the temple, about which Jesu...

Now Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the rest of the women with them were there; they were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they were not believing them. Luke 24:10‭-‬11 LSB ¶These women were the first gospel-bearers, with the good news of the resurrection of Jesus. We relate to these unbelievers, because we, like them, have not yet seen his resurrected self. Yet, as Jesus told the apostle Thomas, "blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe". So what else are we to do, but hear, trust, obey, and await His glorious return? Considering the alternatives, that's reasonable faith.

And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40‭-‬41 LSB ¶Jesus's desire is that His disciples be equipped for Kingdom work, starting with prayer. As fully man, He shares the struggles we experience in our spirit versus our flesh, so His acknowledges our weakness, yet He calls us to walk closer with Him in truer likeness to Him.

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; John 17:1‭, ‬22 LSB ¶The special thing God did with Moses in revealing His glory on Mount Sinai was transformative. Here now Jesus stands between the Father and His own asking Him to manifest His glory. This is what John the Apostle says He beheld in Christ, straight from the Father, shed for the light of the world. Jesus's prayer is that in Him and around Him we would get glimmering glimpses into the new heaven and new earth that He came to inaugurate. The glory which we are being invited to behold is of a type that is overwhelming, even intimidating. The normal human response to it is to fall down on our faces. It's just a part of the "born again" process, without which we are unable to see the kingdom of God (Joh...

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you...I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; John 14:26‭, ‬30 LSB ¶Going forward, we can expect two things. One, an Advocate will be sent to us to remind us of what He said, and teach us further. The other, that worldly powers will continue to deny His truth.

  Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. Luke 22:1‭-‬2 ESV ¶What happened in the upper room that day before Passover, when bread and wine were substituted for body and blood of the sacrifice, was not the actual paschal event of our Savior's sacrifice. That would follow in the three days of His Passion. It was a prequel. Every subsequent Lord's Supper would be the sequel.

Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:11‭, ‬14 ESV ¶Is this the account of a bipolar god, whose cup is filled with wrath one day, and is then loving and kind the morning after? Or is it just quaint to ascribe emotions to a universe that modern science assumes to be implacably indifferent to our concerns? But within the fear there is comfort, comfort that there is right and wrong, comfort that there is the order and purpose needed for every humanistic endeavor. In the natural world, the cares of this life renew our fears day by day, as we confront the dangers and challenges of surviving each day. When we daily purposefully remember God's acts of steadfast love and faithfulness, however, love casts out fear. Naked fear drives us away. Fear cloaked in love invites us to approach. That is something called not fear, but r...

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luke 21:27 ESV ¶This verse describes Jesus returning not "on" a cloud, but "in" a cloud, as it were, surrounded by cloud. He is depicted not as riding around on clouds as a vehicle to transport and support Him. He is within a cloud of glory, as He appeared In Exodus 16:10, where "the glory of the Lord appeared (to Moses and Aaron) in the cloud". His power and glory are transforming the very matter of creation, creating a shimmering glowing presence. The cloud of smoke and fire that led God's people through the wilderness returns, more real than ever, closer to His final return, when God’s dwelling place will be among people, and the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our God.

And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. Mark 13:21‭-‬23 ESV ¶We in the world are misled, not by our lack of faith, but by faith in the wrong things. Jesus separates the world from His own not by their lack of faith, but by their faith that is misdirected toward the wrong things. We settle for false Christs, false prophets, and little idols. "Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." C. S. Lewis, "The Weight of ...

Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away. Matthew 22:19‭-‬22 ESV ¶Where has God left His mark and His likeness, if not on man himself? Jesus was calling on them, and us, to render ourselves to God. In their marveling, did the Pharisees realize Jesus's implicit radical call to discipleship?

And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Mark 11:22‭-‬24 ¶We are not perfect. Because we have not yet been perfected, our prayers are not perfect. We see "through the glass dimly." To "pray believing", is to know that God hears our prayers, and fulfills them according to His will. On that future day when we know fully, even as we're fully known, everything we ask will be granted. Until then, the promise is that the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" Matthew 21:4‭-‬5‭, ‬9 ESV ¶We are grateful to Matthew the author for explaining this prophecy in its fulfillment here, but, in a community steeped in messianic expectation, the meaning was clear. Jesus was sending a message, not with His words, but by His deeds. The king was coming. Use of the donkey, however, was not just secret code for His true identity. It was a sign upon the way to the cross of the true humility of our champion, and a call to repentance, a call not for pride, but for humility and contrition.

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." And he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. Luke 18:35‭-‬38, 42-43 ¶For someone sitting blind by the side of the road, this man was already a good ways down the path to the kingdom of God. He recognized Jesus to be the promised heir to the throne of King David. He recognized that the one right then passing by him held power not only to heal, but to judge, and to forgive sin. Jesus did not need to stop and give a tutorial on the relative greatness of speaking words of healing versus forgiving sins, like He did with the Pharisees. Seeing God'...

And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:37‭, ‬39‭-‬40‭, ‬43‭-‬45 ESV ¶James and John thought they could get preferred seating by requesting an early check-in. Despite all that Jesus had said and done, they ultimately still thought that the first would be first, and the last would be last. But Jesus came not upon a war horse, but on a burro. ...

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. John 18:4‭-‬6 ESV ¶What was it that caused Jesus's enemies to fall to the ground when He spoke the simple words "I am"? What was it that impelled Moses to remove his shoes before the presence of the burning bush? What was it that so covered the face of Moses that his own people could not stand to gaze upon it? What was it that consumed the sons of Eli when they offered "strange fire" before the temple of the Lord? What was it that filled Isaiah with such dread before the heavenly throne of God that he felt undone? Standing alone before the glory of God's holiness is not a pleasant experience for us sinners. Like bei...

But he said to them, "Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given... Let the one who is able to receive this receive it." Matthew 19:11‭-‬12 ESV ¶The ones able to receive the things Jesus is teaching, who are they? They are the sinners, the poor in spirit, the losers, the ones who know they won't end up at the top of the heap. But Jesus applies a different standard. If we compare ourselves, not with each other, but with God's standard, we all fall short. We all lose. The first step in receiving the upside-down kingdom of God is to realize we are unable to receive it.

"Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Luke 14:34‭-‬35 ESV ¶Like a Zen koan, Jesus presents to us for our meditation a hypothetical that is contradictory: when is salt not salty? Salt is salty. Salt cannot lose its saltiness. If so, it would not be salt, but something else. Salt is in fact what keeps every other food from decay. And we crave it. Because it is vital to life, its value to us and to the other species that co-inhabit our world extends back in time well beyond that of any precious metal. Gold, silver, jewels, they are all just ways to get salt. Because it is so basic, our need for it so ubiquitous, we become unaware of our essential requirement for it. In a sense, salt is like the sea to a fish, except that we carry the sea within us, thanks to salt. We need salt. We need a way to arrest ...

But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:10‭-‬11 ESV ¶Who is the best example of this but Jesus Himself, who humbled Himself, born in the likeness of men, who was obedient to the point of death, and whom "God highly exalted, and bestowed on him the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9)? Of course, this way passes through a narrow door, and few it is that will pass through it, but Jesus holds it open, and bids us follow Him through.

Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.' But he will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!' Luke 13:26‭-‬27 ESV ¶There is a false familiarity that we can develop by adding the element of "Christian" to our identity, to our concept of self-worth. Rather than saying "we belong to Him" we begin to say "He belongs to us". Rather than just receiving and appreciating His teaching, we begin to take credit for our knowledge and understanding of it. We can take Bible quotes and substitute them for true statements about our actual daily lived experience of God and His Word. It is through meditation, not mere quotation, of God's word and the Gospels that we are transformed. Our privilege is to look steadily into the Word of God "when Moses is read"...and, with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord’s glory, and be tr...

Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.' Luke 13:33 ESV ¶Jesus had a further way down to go in His suffering and humiliation before He in His rising again He would bring us with Him into glory.

To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." John 10:3‭-‬5 ESV ¶It seems to me the sheep have three choices. They can (1) remain penned up in the bounds of the sheepfold, where they may feel safe for a time until they (a) run out of resources, or (b) are consumed by devouring predators, (2) they may follow the shepherd out of the fold, but then wander off on their own. But the ones who (3) hear his voice, and follow, find themselves in verdant pastures, along living streams, in the comfort of his rod and staff, at a table spread before them in the presence of their enemies.

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains. John 9:1‭, ‬3‭, ‬39‭-‬41 ESV ¶Jesus was able to do a greater work among those who were born blind than among those who could see. Is it hard to believe that, as sad and broken as this world is, it is becoming the scene where God reveals His greatest glory? That is our hope.

They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. John 8:39‭-‬40‭, ‬42 ESV ¶This is where Jesus fits into the mold of Melchizedek, king of Salem. He stands apart from the priestly lineage of Levi. Abraham did not recognize his claim to a tenth of all his possessions on the basis of his ancestry. The book of Hebrews tells us that in this way Melchizedek was "made like" the Son of God, without genealogy. He prefigured the Christ. Abraham sought, and found, in the king of Salem, someone greater than himself, greater even than all the priestly line that would come out of him. Even greater that all tho...

And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise." Luke 10:27‭, ‬29‭, ‬36‭-‬37 ESV ¶Who is it that this expert in the law is being taught to love? Is this just a story about the rightness of rendering roadside assistance? Is it even a story uncovering our biases toward those like Samaritans who are different from us? Did the lawyer, when he commended "the one who showed mercy" realize he was ultimately describing God Himself, who shows mercy not only to the poor and broken ones, but to the outcast and the outsiders? When Jesus add...

Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. Luke 10:5‭-‬6 ESV ¶This is the essence, the seed, the germ, the core, of evangelism. When we who are born of the Spirit offer someone the peace that is theirs in Christ, the Spirit does the work, and finds (or does not find) His place in their life. Never discount the weight of the phrase "the peace of Christ be with you". Unpack it and you will find everything else needed for life and godliness. What a wonderful, free, unmerited gift it is! Receive it. Spread it.

And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not...

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?" And when he said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself." Matthew 17:24‭-‬27 ESV ¶Jesus used the tax as a lesson on His own sonship, not of the rulers of this world, but of His Father in heaven. Nevertheless, he submits and pays the tax, making a point of doing so with power from on high. Like His answer to Pilate, "you have no power over me unless it had been given you f...

"So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:26‭-‬27‭, ‬34 ESV ¶The first step, whether it be against internal infection, tumor, or indwelling sin, is to expose it. Without the sword or the knife, it festers, spreads, and consumes. In the Levitical law, before it can be purified, the walls of a house contaminated by mould must be scraped out, the stones torn out, and it all thrown into an unclean place. For a person, for a people, even if it is painful, the process of healing passes through here as well.

As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." Matthew 9:32‭-‬33 ESV ¶Thanking God for the miracle of REGENERATION. The one forced by his muteness into isolation, is given a new life. When we feel ignored, voiceless, we are not isolated and hopeless. We may be dirt, but we're born-again dirt, ready for God to use, to receive His good word, and bear good fruit.

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. Matthew 13:41‭-‬43 ESV ¶Jews must have heard this and remembered that the land promised to their fathers was now occupied by their enemies the Romans. For us as men who judge, then, the difficult part of going about destroying evil is the unintended consequences. We destroy the good with the bad. We destroy the bad, only to uncover another layer of badness beneath it. To wait for the end of all things is to leave the winnowing, the weeding, the "gathering out" to the Son of Man and His angels, to see not the end of all things, but the final separation of truth from lies, good from evil.

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Matthew 13:24‭, ‬27‭, ‬30 KJV The second in three parables about seeds. Right now, when I take a slice of bread from the loaf, I remember the grain at its source. War has prevented the fruitful fields of Ukrainian grain from feeding the world. This enemy has come, not in the sowing, but in the harvesting, and in the distribution of the grain. Planted seed awaits the harvest, the grain to be ground to flour, and baked into bread for the world. Sometimes the seeds from our kitchen end up tossed in our compost...

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that "'they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.'" Mark 4:10‭-‬12 ESV ¶With the parable of the sower and the soils, Jesus was crafting an agricultural metaphor that is intuitively obvious to the world. He was giving a discourse on the sowing of seeds for a crop. Anyone would easily understand what He was talking about and agree with it. In fact, the true farmers and gardeners in the audience would probably think it a bit quaint that a carpenter and the son of a carpenter would lecture them with such a basic lesson in agriculture. Not much of a mystery, not much of a secret, here. But is it possible that the ones most familiar with the topic under discussion would...

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.""Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— Mark 3:22, 28 ,29 ESV The infection man has is grave, and the cure is singular. To the scribes, the rule of sin, and the reality of demonic power to destroy lives, seemed commonplace, and easy to accept. For them, the reality of Jesus's rule over sin and death was inconceivable. For them there was no reality of the Holy Spirit. Power was only the domain of evil spirits. When Jesus came, He did not accept the higgledy-piggledy set of rules they had assembled against the power of sin. Instead He offered Himself. Considering the uniqueness of His coming, as rare, as singular, as were His action...

"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds." Matthew 11:16‭-‬19 ESV ¶Too much, not enough, never satisfied. The best of this world's philosophy, going back to Greeks such as Hesiod (c.700 bc), was 'moderation is best in all things’. But the saying never really says anything. What is moderation anyway? Who defines it? What is the definition of a moderately sized personal yacht? What about those who do not have the resources to choose between "too much" and "not enough"? The apostle Paul rep...

 "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds." Matthew 11:16‭-‬19 ESV This Elijah will bring news of a Son who embodies every aspect of perfect sonship. He will accomplish what is necessary to turn the heart of our heavenly Father with favor toward us. He will leave in our hearts a new Spirit, a spirit of holiness, that is turned, not just toward the blessings of heaven, but toward fellowship with the Father in the Son.

  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." Malachi 4:5‭-‬6 ESV ¶This is much more than a promise to put an end to all the generations of family dysfunction, parental abuse, and disobedience that continue into the present age. The entire Old Testament is a testament to our inability to keep a promise to simply "do better next time". In Malachi's prophecy, though, before the "next time", comes the utter destruction of all things. But Malachi also tells of another prophet Elijah who is to come. This Elijah will bring news of a Son who embodies every aspect of perfect sonship. He will accomplish what is necessary to turn the heart of our heavenly Father with favor toward us. He will leave in our hearts a new Spirit, a spirit o...

  I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 8:11‭-‬12 ESV ¶I've got my invitation, and I'm going to the feast. Are you coming too?

But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Matthew 5:34‭-‬35 ESV ¶What then of the many who will come in God's name saying "God spoke to me and said..."? Is that presumption? What if it is accompanied by a strong feeling of certainty? Would you swear an oath to it? If not, better just to judge whether its consistent with Scripture, use your best judgement, and trust the results to a sovereign God.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Psalm 32:1‭, ‬5 ESV Question: What is that becomes covered when you uncover it? Answer: Our sin!

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:13‭-‬16 ESV ¶Jesus's teaching is steeped in images from the Torah. They match up with ways God had already spoken to His people. God describes His covenant with man as a covenant of salt (Numbers 18:19). It is self-preserving. It does not deteriorate over time. If we are the salt of the earth, then as we follow Jesus, the promises are preserved. Within the temple's Holy of Holies, light was appointed to shine from lamps upon seven lamp sta...

And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. Mark 3:11‭-‬12 ESV ¶Why did Jesus order the unclean spirits to be silent? He forbade them to speak so that no one would begin to follow and believe them. Like the beast out of the earth in Revelation 13, they were given power to speak and deceive men. Jesus does not allow this.

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Matthew 12:8 ESV ¶I think I am going to take a rest from telling everyone else how to "keep the Sabbath", literally and figuratively. Think how much mental head space I would have if I just quit thinking about what everybody else was doing wrong!

And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27‭-‬28 ESV ¶Resting in the completed work of Christ is the sabbath behind the Sabbath. When we figure out how to "cast your deadly doing down", we observe not only Sabbath rest, but we live daily by God's grace, with minds clear, and hearts activated to the cause of the Kingdom.

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins." Mark 2:21‭-‬22 ESV ¶Jesus is preparing us to see His Spirit poured out far and wide. No longer do Jews have to maintain their status as God's chosen people by their pure pedigrees and their holy habits. The veil is torn, the promise is fulfilled, none are excluded.

And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them." Matthew 8:4 ESV ¶What troubles the leper, the afflicted, is their lack of community. The leper is not healed until he has been restored to his place in the worshiping community.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) John 4:7‭-‬9 ESV In 445 BC Nehemiah had to make sure to preserve the "people of God" in the homeland God had given to them. He spent some effort making sure that no half-breed, syncretistic, "people of the land" ended up inside the wall the Jews were building around Jerusalem, only Jews with certified blood-lines. He even had the Jews themselves put away foreign wives and their children from among them. This was indeed a messy business, all brought about by their disobedience to Yahweh's command to have no other god but Him. They were to be a living depiction of the holiness of God's temple. The path back to becoming a "holy nation...

But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people John 2:24 ESV ¶Jesus does not entrust Himself to us. We entrust ourselves to Him. We look to Him, not to ourselves, for truth.

Then he called the bridegroom aside and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now." John 2:10 ESV ¶Bet they were glad they didn't bail early on that party. No better place to be when Jesus is there!

John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'" John 1:15 ¶John is speaking in a riddle, one that is good to contemplate. He says that Jesus his younger cousin was before him. First he says Jesus out-ranks him. Yes, that seems possible. But then he says Jesus came before him. How could he say that someone born 3 to 6 months after him was before him? Is John speaking truth, or gibberish? Does faith require us to veer off into saying absurd and irrational things? One thing is sure, we cannot just stake our lives on the immediately obvious, and ignore the riddles. We cannot just enjoy the superficial pleasures of this world and ignore the ghastly beauty of the cross. There's truth in these riddles.

Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph,... the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,...the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,...the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,...the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Luke 3:23‭-‬24‭, ‬31‭, ‬34‭, ‬38  ¶Yes, this genalogy of Jesus presents the credentials that validate His identity as a son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But more important to us, it shows His place among His people, validating their identity in Him. He was indeed actually physically present in the loins of the generations of these His ancestors. That is nothing, though, compared to His presence, His active role, as the guarantor of the covenant God had with His people. It is only in Him that t...

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Matthew 3:8‭-‬9 ESV ¶Before Jesus spoke to curse the barren fig tree, here is John, already shifting the definition of what it means to be the people of God, and changing the discussion from our bloodline to our fruit-bearing.

And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?" And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to do." Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages." Luke 3:10‭-‬14 ESV ¶Like the rich ruler who asked Jesus "What must I do...", we want our prophets to be more specific. "Okay, what percent bad am I? Can I just pay the tax on that and then get on with my life guilt-free? Are we good now?" Jesus's answer to him: "Let it all go. You have me now, and you are mine. You don't need to worry about anything else. I've got you covered." ...

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. Mark 1:10 ESV ¶Revelation 6:14 describes the stars falling away, and the sky being rolled up like a scroll at His coming, in the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 34:4. It begins now, when the heavens are torn open and the Spirit descends like a dove upon the firstborn of a new creation.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; Matthew 2:1‭-‬3 ESV ¶Herod was no joke of a king. He held sway over Jerusalem in such a way that you could say "when Herod ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" When Herod was upset, so was all of Jerusalem. Little did he know how far beyond the realm of his control events were progressing. Like the demons who believe in God and tremble, Herod believed the prophetic word, but was nonetheless troubled by it, even to the point of conspiring against it. When we are today buffeted by the power plays of rulers, radicals, and reactionaries, can we not only believe, but trust, and obey, that more sure word of prophecy that was fulfill...

And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John." And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. Luke 1:59‭-‬64 ESV ¶The angel Gabriel told the priest Zechariah what to name the son he was being given, John, then struck him mute. At his birth, though, it is his mother Elizabeth who announces his name to be John. Zechariah is there to confirm it, and in doing so is delivered to speak again. Zechariah might have been rendered mute, but Elizabeth knew the name, and announces it even before him, though it was to him that the angel had spoken it. "Z...

And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die. They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you. And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. Numbers 18:2‭-‬5 ESV ¶Here we see the institution of the temple guard. The were to be drawn from the ranks of the Levites. They were ordained, not to protect the holiness of the Temple/Tabernacle. God had already demonstrated His ability to protect His holy dwelling by fire. The guard was originally intended to protect the people from approaching the Holy Presence to their harm...

All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you." Numbers 18:19 ESV ¶Actual physical salt was not used in sealing the priestly covenant described here, or as a part of the Davidic covenant described in 2 Chronicles 13:5, but it comes up again and again as a way to describe the permanence and the indestructibility of God's promises, and His reliability as a covenant partner. Jesus himself calls us the salt of the earth, and asks the question, which can only be rhetorical, "if the salt loses its savor, wherewith can it be salted?" But salt cannot lose its saltiness, and without a faithful God remembering His precious promises, how do we hope to avoid spoilage and decay? Even more astounding, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth. We are the means by which God intends ...

"Then you answered me, 'We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.' And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. And the Lord said to me, 'Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.' Deuteronomy 1:41‭-‬42 ESV ¶When men purpose to leave God out from their plans, they often end up trying to accomplish the same goals, but without God's means.

And they said, "Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?" And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" Numbers 12:2‭-‬3‭, ‬5‭-‬8 ESV ¶God carried Moses through stress and sorrow in meekness. He did not seek high place, but instead humbled himself before God on behalf of his people. By contrast Aaron and Miriam seek to be exalted to a place alongside ...