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2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 317

Nov13

     Day 317—We are in the ELEVENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

Day 317 – Luke 23, John 18 – 19 (Judas’ betrayal, Passover/Lord’s Supper, Jesus foretells Peter’s denial, Gethsemane, Arrest and trial, Peter’s denial)

After the Last Supper and Jesus’ private teaching of the disciples and prayer, the group leaves for the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane, where Jesus and His disciples are used to hanging out.  Judas knows this and leads the religious leader and soldiers there so Jesus can be arrested.

When they take Jesus away, the eleven disciples flee in fear. John and then Peter follow the crowd to Caiaphas’s palace, where several mock, illegal trials are held for Jesus. He remains silent even with the false accusations and abuse but finally says that He IS the Son of God, as they say.  Meanwhile, Peter is met with three accusations. At each, he proclaims and swears that he is NOT a follower of Jesus and, in fact, he does not even know Him. A rooster crows, Jesus looks at Peter, and the “brave” disciple runs away in great remorse.  

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Next, Jesus is taken to Pilate, who questions Him extensively about being a “king.”  Jesus says He is a king, but His kingdom is not of this world. Pilate learns Jesus is from Galilee and tries to shirk his duty by sending Him before King Herod, who is also in town. 

Herod is gleeful. He’s wanted to see the “miracle worker” for a long time and hoped to see Jesus do some miracle.  Jesus remains silent before “that fox,” and so Herod arrays Jesus in fine clothing and allows his soldiers to mock and mistreat Him. Then, he sends Jesus back to Pilate. “Herod and Pilate become friends from that day.” 

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Pilate approaches the Jewish leaders and says he finds NO GUILT in Jesus, and neither has Herod. “Therefore, I will punish and release him.”

The crowds, stirred by their leaders, respond, “Away with this man. Release to us, Barabbas! Crucify, crucify Him.”  Finally, Pilate, tired of the matter, washes his hands and tells them to do with Him as they wish. He turns Jesus over to their will.

“Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” Pilate had written on a sign to be placed above Jesus’ head, showing the “crime” he was accused of. The Jews objected, but Pilate was firm.

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And so, the procession to Golgotha. Jesus, struggling under the weight of the beam, is helped by a stranger. He speaks warning to some weeping women along the way. Two other criminals follow to be crucified with Him. 

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At the place of The Skull, they nail Jesus to the cross. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The soldiers cast lots for His garments and His robe as was usual, AND as it was prophesied (Psalm 22:18).

Inspired by Satan, who is still trying to keep Jesus from dying on the cross (and ending his power over mankind), people taunt Jesus to come down from the cross to save Himself…. IF HE IS THE CHRIST.

The criminals beside Jesus mock Him, too, but then one of them turns, repents, and asks Jesus to “remember him in His kingdom.”  “Truly, I say to you, today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Standing near Jesus’ cross were His mother, Mary, with three other women, and John.  “Woman, behold your son!” Jesus said to her. To John, indicating His mother, He said, “Behold your mother!”  And from then on, John took her into his own home. 

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At noon, a gloomy darkness covered the land until 3:00pm and Jesus cried out, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? (My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?)  Spectators thought Jesus was asking for Elijah and said, “Wait, let’s see if Elijah comes.”

With a parched mouth, Jesus rasped, “I thirst.” They dipped a sponge into some sour wine (vinegar) and held it to His mouth. Moisture returned, and He said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  And with a final breath, Jesus cried aloud, “It is finished!”  And. He. Died. (Satan, YOU LOSE!!)

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A great earthquake shook the earth and split rocks. Tombs were opened, and saints walked about. AND THE CURTAIN IN THE TEMPLE WHICH SEPARATED THE HOLY PLACE FROM THE MOST HOLY PLACE….TORE IN TWO FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP! (Opening the way for all people to approach God through His blood/death.)

“Truly, this man was the Son of God!” cried the Centurion overseeing the crucifixion. 

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Ever suspicious and worried about their own status, the Jews went to Pilate and asked that the crucified men’s legs be broken to hurry on their deaths. They needed the bodies DOWN before the sun went down and the Sabbath began.  A soldier did the deed, and the two criminals soon died. But when he came to Jesus, he saw He was already dead. He thrust his spear into Jesus’ side and saw the blood and clear fluid flowing out, proof of death, so Jesus’ legs were not broken. (This fulfilled Numbers 9:12, Zechariah 12:10)

There was a man, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, a good and righteous man who had NOT agreed to the verdict and action by the council, a man looking for the kingdom of God, a secret disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus to bury Him.  After Pilate confirmed that Jesus was indeed dead, he agreed. Joseph and the other secret disciple, Nicodemus, took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in linen with many pounds of burial spices, and laid it in Joseph’s newly hewn tomb. He rolled the stone across the opening.  The women who were at the cross followed and noted where Jesus was buried. 

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The next day, the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate. They were worried about the rumors circulating about Jesus’ promise to “rise again” on the third day.  They asked Pilate to make sure the tomb stayed closed by posting a guard to keep the disciples from “stealing his body” and claiming Jesus had been resurrected. (They knew that this circumstance would have been worse than the first.)

Pilate gave them a guard (16) of soldiers. “Go, make it as secure as you can.”  These Jews made sure a Roman seal was put on the stone, sealing it (like an official envelope), and set the Roman guard around it.  There!  Done and dusted!

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AS IF… a wax seal and 16 puny humans could stop the SON of GOD from coming to life!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 316

Nov12

     Day 316—We are in the ELEVENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

Day 316 – Matthew 27, Mark 15. (Judas, Pilate, Barabbas, Crucifixion/Death, two thieves, Burial/Tomb)

(Today’s and tomorrow’s readings cover the same events,  so we will look at the details of each.)

The Jews, finished with their three mock trials with their verdict of “blasphemy” (John 18), now deliver Jesus to the Roman authorities to get the death penalty. (The Jews, under Roman rule, were not allowed to impose the death sentence. Also, their means of death would have been stoning, and prophecy stated that Jesus would die cursed “on a tree”

Judas sees Jesus condemned to death, and changes his mind (not his heart in true repentance). He tries to return the 30 pieces of silver he was paid and stop the fiasco, but the Jews do not care for him and refuse.  He throws the money at them, then goes out and hangs himself.  They take the “blood money” and buy a burial ground for strangers.

“Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate asks Jesus.

“You have said so.” (In other words, yes.)

(Luke 23 here tells how Pilate, trying to get out of his responsibility, sends Jesus to Herod. Herod sends him back.)  (John 18 tells of Pilate’s extended conversation with Jesus about truth and His kingdom that was not of this world, and his attempts to release Him.)

“I find no guilt in Him,” says Pilate. “And according to my tradition, I will release one criminal to the people at Passover.  Do you want Barabbas (a murderer and insurrectionist), or Jesus who is called the Christ (Messiah)?”

“BARRABAS!!” they shouted.

“Then what do you want me to do with Jesus?” he asks in desperation.

“Let Him be crucified!” they shouted.

“Why? What evil has He done?”

“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

“Okay,” Pilate finally agrees, knowing they wanted Him dead out of envy, “but I am innocent of this man’s blood.”

“His blood be on us and on our children,” shouted the Jews.  (They meant the “guilt” of Jesus’s death, but in reality, Jesus’ blood on us is what saves us in God’s sight.)

So Pilate released Barabbas, scourged Jesus, and delivered Him to be crucified.  It was the soldiers, a whole battalion of them, who scourged Jesus (whipped Him with cords embedded with bits of bone). They also mocked him, putting on a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns and kneeling before him. They struck him about the head with a reed and spit on Him. “Hail, you King of the Jews!” Then they stripped Him of the robe.

They laid the cross piece of the cross on Jesus’ bloody shoulders and compelled Him to carry it up Golgotha’s hill. When He stumbled and fell, they compelled a stranger, in town for the Feast – Simon of Cyrene – to carry it for Him. (Luke 23 tells about Jesus addressing some weeping women along the way.)

They offered a drugged wine for Jesus to drink to dull the pain, but Jesus refused it. Then the nailed Jesus to the cross, hands and feet.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 283

Oct10

    Day 283—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 283 – Matthew 5 – 7 (beatitudes, salt & light, wrong attitudes, Lord’s prayer, treasures, fruit, house on sand/rock)

Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” is full of practical teachings on the Christian life, especially humility, love, and holiness.

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, his disciples came to him, and he taught them.”

This almost sounds as if Jesus went away from the crowds to a place where He could teach his disciples. But most commentators say Jesus is teaching a large group spread out on a hillside.  Either way, His words are directed to ALL those who want to follow Him.  (Compare to Luke’s account in 6:17-49)

The first section, the Beatitudes, combines humble attitudes with rewards, and they seem to go in a progressive list.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, are meek, and hunger for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, and those persecuted for Jesus’ sake. The rewards are mountainous compared to the attitudes. They will receive the kingdom of heaven, comfort, the earth, satisfaction, and mercy. They will see God, be called His “sons,” and receive the kingdom.

Next, Jesus tells how His followers are to be “salt” (to make unbelievers thirsty for salvation) and “light,” both to the world (set on a hill) and their own families (a table lamp), pointing to God’s salvation through Jesus, the Light of the World.

Jesus also speaks of the Law, which the Jews revered.  He’s come to fulfill it, not abolish it. But God requires a greater righteousness than keeping Moses’ law. Only through Christ can one be made perfect in God’s sight.

Then Jesus teaches on sensitive topics like anger, lust, divorce, taking oaths, retaliation, donations, and praying.  These are all heart matters and not things that show on the outside. God sees the heart and rewards accordingly.

After this, Jesus gives a formula for praying to their Heavenly Father. Their prayer should begin with worship and acknowledgment of their Father’s perfect will and way, then include petitions for daily needs, confession of sin with the assurance of forgiveness, and end with an earnest desire not to yield to sin and temptation.

Jesus then teaches more about forgiving others, fasting in God’s way, storing treasure in heaven and not on earth, dealing with anxiety, and not judging other people but instead examining the “fruit” they manifest in their lives.  The heart attitudes Jesus taught earlier are considered a person’s “fruit,” but also is their obedience to the Father’s will.  It’s possible to miss out on the Kingdom by professing but not possessing, Christ.

The “Golden Rule” states the correct heart attitude, but the way is narrow and hard.  Walking the “wide path” of tolerance, selfishness, and pride is easy, but the end is destruction.   Jesus tells a profound parable about building your life on sand (temporal things of earth) or a rock (lasting faith in Jesus). The storms of life and the end times will cause you to either stand firm or fall and be washed away.

“When Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, not as their scribes.”

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 282

Oct9

    Day 282—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 282 – Matthew 12, Mark 3, Luke 6 (Man with a withered hand, blasphemy, crowds, mom & brothers)

Several of the incidents and teachings of Jesus are in all three of these passages today. 

Matthew, Mark, and Lukeall tell about a man with a withered hand whom Jesus encounters in the synagogue. The conversation begins with the Jewish leaders’ strict rules (not the law) about how to keep the Sabbath.  They say healing someone is breaking the law. Jesus says mercy rules and that it IS lawful to do good on the seventh day. (Their priests do good and work every sabbath when they offer sacrifices.)

“Stretch out your hand,” He tells the man, and his hand is restored. Fury burns in the Pharisees’ hearts, and they discuss what they can do to Jesus.  Jesus is grieved by their hardness of heart. Because of this, He withdraws from there. Crowds follow Him, and he ministers to them ALL. 

Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-4 about Jesus’s ministry.  “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench until He brings justice to victory; and in His name, the Gentiles will hope.”

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Matthew and Mark tell us about the next incident and teachings.  Jesus heals a man who is blind and mute because of a demon. The healing amazes the crowd. “Can this be the Messiah?”   But the Pharisees say that Jesus is possessed by a demon and only heals by the power of Beelzebub (the devil).  Jesus must have chuckled at that. “If Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided against himself.” Then He corrects them.  “But it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, and the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Then Jesus levels a grave accusation at them. “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, EXCEPT the blasphemy against the Spirit. It will NOT be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven…. in this age or the age to come.“

Do you want to know the truth about someone? Look at their fruit. “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the HEART, the mouth speaks.”   “I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for EVERY careless word they speak, for by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.”

“We wish to see a sign from you,” said the Pharisees. (In other words, PROVE IT!)

Jesus answers them with Old Testament scripture. “You evil and adulterous generation.  The only sign you’ll be given is that of the prophet Jonah. As he was three days and nights in the belly of a fish, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth.” (Speaking of his death, burial, and resurrection).   “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for THEY repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold….. someone greater than Jonah is here.”

Meanwhile, Jesus’ mother and siblings are concerned about Him. They hear about his ministry to the crowds and confrontations with the Jewish leaders. He is so involved that he doesn’t have time to eat. (Of course, a Mom would worry about this.) “He is out of his mind,” they say.

They stand at the edge of the crowd and call to him.  Some notice and tell Jesus, “Your mom and your brothers are seeking you.”

But Jesus gestures to those around Him, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”  Jesus was not “trashing” his family but emphasizing the importance and eternality of a spiritual relationship with Him.

(NOTE:  Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 mention the names of Jesus’ four earthly half-brothers and the fact that He also has sisters.)

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Luke 6 also begins Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.”  But we’ll read that tomorrow with Matthew 5 – 7.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 281

Oct8

    Day 281—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 281 – John 5 (healing the lame man, authority, what bears witness)

Jesus is again in Jerusalem at Feast time. By the pool of Bethesda, many invalids languish, waiting for the water to move (currents or some believed an angel). The first in the pool when this happened got healed.  

One man had been waiting there 38 years because he had no one to help him, and with paralyzed legs, he couldn’t get to the water before others.  WHAT A TERRIBLY SAD PLACE THIS MUST BE – FULL OF DASHED HOPES. But Jesus came by, saw him, and knew all about him.

“Do you want to be healed? He asked.  What a question. Of course, he wanted to be healed, didn’t he? But…maybe not. Maybe there was just enough alms to keep him going. With working legs, he would need to go to work, hold a job, and be responsible. No more free money and pity.

“I have no one to put me in the pool when the waters stir.”  (Is that the same as “Yes, I want to be healed”? Or was it a whine that nothing was HIS fault.)

(Remember, Jesus KNEW all about him.)  “Get up. Pick up your bed.  Walk,” Jesus commanded. And he did.

And the religious leaders were mad! It was the Sabbath. Carrying a mat was “work,” so the man broke the 5th commandment. Passing the buck, the previously lame man said, “The man who healed me told me to.” They asked him who that man was, but the fellow did not know Jesus, and the Lord had withdrawn into the crowd before he could ask. 

Later, in the temple, Jesus found the man. “See. You are WELL. Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” (Unlike the man who had been blind through no fault of his own or his parents, it seems that maybe sin was involved in this man’s affliction.)  Immediately, the man went to the Jewish leaders and told them Jesus had healed him.  (Tattle-tale?)

Jesus refuted their restrictive man-made Sabbath/work traditions as NOT what God had instituted.  God had given His people REST, while the ultra-strict Pharisees had chained them to tiny rules that even THEY couldn’t keep. “Hey, My Father is working until now…and so am I,” said Jesus in their face. 

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 

Jesus told them His words weren’t the only evidence that the Father and He were one. He asked them to remember 1) the witness of John the Baptist, whom they questioned thoroughly.  He asked him to look at 2) the “works” or miracles He was doing.  They also validated that He was one with the Father.  3) God Himself had validated Jesus at his baptism. And finally, 4) the scriptures they said THEY knew so well testified about Him. Jesus had MORE than the two or three witnesses that the Law required to establish a truth. 

“And yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”  

(NOTE:  What a sad statement. Their hardened hearts refused to be humbled, to acknowledge that Jesus was their anointed Messiah, and to believe in Him for their salvation.

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 279 and 280

Oct7

    Day 279 and 280—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

NOTE:  Both Sunday and Monday studies are posted on MONDAY.

    Day 279 – John 2 – 4 (a wedding, Nicodemus, Samaritan woman)

John doesn’t always put his gospel of Jesus in chronological order. Jesus had done many miracle healings until this point. John, instead, says the water-to-wine miracle was the FIRST of eight significant spiritual “signs” that pointed to Jesus as God.

John 2 begins with a wedding in Cana, and John 4 ends with His healing an official’s dying son in Cana.

John 2 starts with a new Jewish couple getting married, and John 4 is about a Samaritan woman who has been married five times.

In between, in John 3, Jesus talks to a Jewish teacher privately at night about being born again as the only way to receive eternal life. During the day, John the Baptist preaches a magnificent sermon to crowds, saying whoever believes in Jesus, God’s Son, has eternal life. (See John 3:27-36, wonderful!)

John 2.  Jesus and his disciples go to the wedding, probably a family member, since Mary seems to be a hostess. They run out of wine (thirsty guests or poor planning), and Mary tells this to her Son. His answer is confusing.  “What does this have to do with Me?  My hour has not come.“

The “hour” Jesus mentions refers to the very reason and focus of why He had come – His death and resurrection.  Prophets like Jeremiah 31:12, Hosea 14:7, and Amos 9:13-14 spoke of a time in the Messianic kingdom when wine would flow freely.  Jesus knew that the cross must first come before the blessings of the millennial age. Perhaps he was reminding his mother of this (?)

Next is Passover, and Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He is angered at how the temple is desecrated by animals, buying & selling, loud noise, and greed.  He makes a whip and drives the sellers and animals out, overturning their tables of carefully stacked coins.  “Do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 

(This reminded me of Nehemiah who discovered merchants buying/selling in the city on the Sabbath. He also drove them all out and locked the gates!)   Of course, the religious leaders, who saw their money-making schemes go down the drain, accosted Jesus angrily.

John 3. Later that night, when Jesus was alone, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus secretly. Perhaps he was going to ask Jesus about what happened at the Temple earlier, for he said,

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher, come from God, for no one can do these signs you do unless God is with Him…”

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.“ Jesus interrupts.

(I can imagine Nico’s face. “Huh?”)  He responds to Jesus, perhaps annoyed, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter back into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus responds. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” 

“But…but, how can these things be?” Nico answers.

“Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?”  Jesus explains more, then speaks that beloved verse, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus explains that everyone who does NOT believe in Him is already condemned. The judgment is that Light came into the world, but people loved darkness more because their deeds were evil. They hate the Light because they know their wicked deeds will be exposed.

We don’t see or hear what Nico did with that. I know he will have lots to ponder in his heart.  I know also that by the time Jesus died, Nicodemus was a believer.

John 4. On the way back from Jerusalem to Galilee, Jesus and His men paused at Jacob’s well (Genesis 33:19 and 48:22) in Samaria, where a hard-looking woman was drawing water in the heat of the day (not morning when most women came). Jesus sent his disciples into town to buy food, leaving Himself ALONE with a woman and a Samaritan.

“Give Me a drink,” Jesus asked politely but pointedly.

“How is it that YOU, a Jew, ask for a drink from ME, a woman of Samaria? I thought you had no dealings with us.”

“If you knew who I was, you would have asked ME to give YOU a drink, and I would have given you Living Water.”

“You don’t have a bucket to draw water,” she said maybe disgusted.  “Where are you going to get that ‘Living Water?’ Are you greater than our father, Jacob?”

I’m sure Jesus looked her right in the eyes, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the Water that I will give him will NEVER thirst again.  Instead, it will become like a spring of water welling up to ETERNAL LIFE.”

“SIR, give me this water…… so I don’t have to come to this well again.”

Jesus tells her to go and bring her husband, knowing that she has had FIVE husbands and that the man she lives with now is NOT her husband. (Perhaps she was barren, and no man wanted to keep her if she couldn’t bear him offspring.)  She exclaims that He must be a prophet and starts to get sidetracked. Jesus brings her back with how true worshippers will worship the true God “in spirit and truth.

Then — amazingly so — Jesus tells this unloved woman that HE is the Messiah, the Christ.”

Just then, the disciples return with food, and she runs off. But now she has a message and will soon bring the whole town back to see and hear “the Man who knew everything about me.”

Jesus tells the disciples that THIS is the food He desires, and to look at the fields of souls. So many are ripe for harvest. The people all come and listen to them. He stays two days, then they make their way back to Cana.

There, an official comes to Jesus, begging Him to heal his deathly ill son.  Jesus tells him to go home because his son will live.  The man believes, and eventually, his whole household believes because of the miracle.   John says this is the second “sign” that Jesus did in Galilee.

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    Day 280. – Matthew 8, Mark 2 (healing ministry, confrontations with leaders)

Jesus heals many diseases and conditions.

8:1-4.  “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean,” said a leprous man kneeling before Jesus.

“I will. Be clean.”  And immediately, his leprosy was cleansed.

8:5-13.  “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home,” said a Centurion in Capernaum.

“I will come and heal him,  said the generous Jesus.

“Only say the word, and he will be healed, for I am a man in authority over others too.”

“I have not found such faith with any in Israel! Go. Let it be done for you as you believed,” said Jesus.

8:14-17. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever, but when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left, and she got up and began serving him.  Later MANY sick were brought to him – some oppressed by demons. He healed all the sick and cast out the demons.  To account for this, Matthew pointed to Isaiah 53:4-5 “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

8:20-34.  Across the Sea of Galilee, in Gentile territory where villagers raised a great herd of swine, Jesus and his men met more demon-oppressed men living among the tombs. Immediately, the evil spirits recognized Jesus. “Have you come to torment us before the time, O Son of God?  If you cast us out, we beg You, cast us into the herd of pigs.” 

Jesus sent the unclean spirits into the unclean swine, and they promptly ran down the hill, off the cliff, and perished in the sea…thousands of them.  The villagers were scared to death and angry at Jesus. “Please leave,” they begged Him.  (Mark’s account of this incident mentions only one of the possessed men and how his life had changed. He wanted to become a disciple, but Jesus told him to go into town and witness to others what had happened to him. 

Mark 2 retells the story of the paralytic man who was let down through a roof to see Jesus because of the crowds and how the Lord healed him because of his FRIEND’s faith. Jesus also forgave him his sins, which infuriated the Pharisees who were watching.

Those Pharisees also admonished Jesus because He and his disciples were plucking heads of grain and eating them as they walked along a field. (Perfectly legal according to Mosaic law – Deut. 23:24-25.) The religious leaders’ “beef” was because it was the Sabbath, and their actions constituted “work” according to their “traditions.” (Seriously?)

Jesus reminded them of a time when David, the future king of Israel, had requested and received the Showbread loaves from the Tabernacle’s Holy Place for himself and his men to eat. The High Priest gave it to them. (1 Samuel 22:19-20)

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

 

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 278

Oct5

    Day 278—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels. 

    Day 278 – Matthew 4, Luke 4 – 5 (Jesus tempted, calls disciples, great crowds healed)

Matthew 4 and Luke 4 tell what happens immediately after Jesus is baptized and God expresses His pleasure in His Son. The Holy Spirit leads the Son of God into the wilderness for a 40-day fast… to be tempted by the devil.  WHY? We might ask.  

When John baptized Jesus, He identified with us sinners, only without sin.  And where and how did mankind first sin? In a beautiful garden where their every need was met when they were tempted by the devil in three distinct ways.

(These temptations are listed in 1 John 2:16, and Satan uses these three temptations on all of us often. They are: 1) the lust of the flesh (a desire to indulge self), 2) the lust of the eyes (a desire to acquire something), and 3) the pride of life (a desire to impress others.) See if you can see all three in Genesis 3:6.

And so Jesus also encountered these temptations by Satan as well, but in a harsh environment when he was hungry and physically weak. 

Luke 4.  1) “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  (Satisfy your physical hunger, indulge yourself.) 

Jesus resisted by using Scripture. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.” (Deut. 8:3)

2)  “If you will worship me, I will give you ALL THE WORLD’S KINGDOMS.” (Satisfy your desire to acquire power and glory.)

Again, Jesus resisted by speaking God’s Word. “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”  (Deut. 6:13)

3)  “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from this pinnacle of the temple, for you know angels will bear you up lest you strike your foot on a stone.” (Satisfy your pride by proving you are “special” to God.)

Here also, Jesus replied with Holy scripture: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut. 6:16)

After the Devil’s three-fold temptation (Jesus the clear winner), he left the Son of God “until an opportune time.”  As Jesus nears the time of His crucifixion, Satan will intensify these temptations for Jesus to choose a different path than the one “set before Him” for our salvation (and the devil’s own head-crushing). 

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Luke 4. Leaner and tested, Jesus “returns in the power of the Spirit to Galilee” to begin His ministry.  He goes into his hometown synagogue in Nazareth.  As any Jewish man could do, Jesus stood up to read. That day, it was the scroll of Isaiah.

He read Isaiah 61:1-2.  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll and sat down.  All eyes were upon him, expecting Him to teach from the passage. Instead, he shocked them by saying, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

WHAT! WAS THIS JESUS, JOSEPH’S SON, CLAIMING TO BE THE MESSIAH???   Yep.

They told Him to “do some miracle” as He’d done in Capernaum to prove his claim. But Jesus said He couldn’t because of their unbelief.  Then they got furious and actually rose up, drove Him out of town, and tried to throw Him off a cliff.  WHAT??? 

But Jesus, the Son of God, their unrecognized Messiah, simply walked through the crowd…unnoticed. 

After that, Jesus moved from Nazareth to live in Capernaum (possibly at Peter’s house).

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Luke 5 and Matthew 4 tell of Jesus beginning His ministry by choosing His disciples.  Walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Peter and Andrew casting a net into the sea and said, “Follow me,” and they did.  Next, Jesus spotted James and John in a boat with their father and called them.  They also immediately left everything to follow Him. (Remember, these men had earlier met Jesus and been convinced He was the Messiah.)

Luke gives more detail, telling how Jesus got into Peter’s boat and pushed out a little way so he could teach the crowds who were flocking to him.  Later, when Jesus showed the fishermen a huge swarm of fish to catch, Peter fell down at Jesus’s knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  Jesus answered him, “Don’t be afraid; from now on, you will be catching MEN.”

Then, Jesus went on a massive teaching and healing campaign in Galilee, cleansing lepers, delivering those oppressed by demons, healing diseases and disabilities of all kinds (one time even telling a paralytic that his SINS WERE FORGIVEN, which freaked the religious leaders who said only GOD could do that.  Well…yeah.)

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Probably to the shock of the four young fishermen following him, Jesus also called a hated TAX COLLECTOR to join them, and Levi (or Matthew) eagerly left his tax booth to follow Jesus.  Later, Levi held a big feast for his tax collector friends and introduced them to Jesus.  Of course, this incensed the religious leaders. How can he be a Rabbi and eat with such despicable people???

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call “the righteous” but sinners to repentance,” was Jesus’ response.

Then they raise the question about “fasting often,” complaining that Jesus’ disciples don’t do it.  

No, of course not.  The wedding guests don’t fast while the bridegroom is with them. One day, He’ll be gone, and then they will.  Then Jesus gives them a parable about NEW WINE put in OLD WINESKINS.

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Tomorrow’s reading will find Jesus at an actual wedding and dealing with a shortage of wine.

 

 

 

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 277

Oct4

    Day 277—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 277 – Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3 (John the Baptist, Jesus baptized, early ministry, Luke’s genealogy)

In all three Gospel accounts, we see more details about John the Baptist. Luke 3 sets the political scene, with Tiberius as Caesar, Pontius Pilate as governor, Herod as tetrarch (king) of Galilee, and high priests Annas and Caiaphas.  Most of these will play a role in the life of Jesus.

Luke connects John with the priest Zechariah and tells how John spent his years in the wilderness. When the time is right, John arrives in Judea at the Jordan River, calling people to repent and be baptized.  Luke quotes Isaiah 40:3-4, who wrote that someone (John) would be a “voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord….for all flesh will see the salvation of God. ”   

We also see a bit of the fiery preaching by John, calling the religious leaders to task, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned YOU to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.”  Unlike the leaders, the crowds of people cried out, “What should we do?”   John preaches love, service, honesty, compassion, kindness, and contentment, all compatible with a repentant heart.  With many other exhortations, he preached the good news to the people. 

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Mark 1 begins by titling his work as ‘the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.’  He also refers to the Isaiah passage about the Baptist, stating that when John began baptizing, “all the country of Judea and Jerusalem came out to him and were baptized, confessing their sins.  He also describes John, saying he was “clothed with camel’s hair, wore a leather belt, and ate locusts (carob seed pods) and wild honey. 

John claimed that he only baptized with water, but One, who was coming, was mightier than him and would baptize them with fire and the Holy Spirit. (Zechariah 12)

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Matthew 3 also shows John as Isaiah’s “voice,” wearing rough clothes and eating raw. He tells about many coming to him to be baptized, including the Pharisees and Sadducees, whom he called a “brood of vipers,” and warned that if they didn’t repent, only the axe and unquenchable fire awaited them.

All three gospels tell of John baptizing Jesus, but Matthew’s has the most detail. 

Jesus came from Galilee to the place in Judea by the Jordan river to BE BAPTISED. John was not thrilled with this saying that Jesus should be BAPTIZING HIM. 

“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” said Jesus.

(Jesus was identifying with us sinners, though He had NO SIN in Himself. He came to be our substitute sacrifice when, on the cross, the wrath of God was poured out against sin, and the sentence of death was applied.  Jesus was the perfect, spotless Lamb and substitute for us, paying the price and “fulfilling all righteousness” in God’s sight.)

So John immersed Jesus in the Jordan water, and when Jesus came up, “the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him.”  Both He and John heard the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

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Luke 3 closes this chapter with the genealogy of Jesus, tracing His lineage back through David’s son Nathan (not Solomon) to Judah, Abraham, Noah, Seth, Adam… to God, HIMSELF (with whom Jesus existed in eternity past.). 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 276

Oct3

  Day 276—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 276 – Matthew 2 (Visit of the wise men, Herod, Egypt to Nazareth)

Matthew 2.  A COUPLE YEARS after Jesus was born, the family is still living in Bethlehem but in a house now. 

Herod the Great (the cruel and psycho king who was an Idumean and descended from Esau) ruled in Israel. He was so paranoid about losing his power that he killed a couple of his sons and even a favorite wife.  It was to this king that the wise men from the east came and asked about the newborn KING OF THE JEWS.  (Oops!)  He freaked out (and all of Jerusalem with him because they knew when the king was upset, THEY would suffer.) 

The wise men (see Daniel 5:11 for a description) had traveled possibly 1K miles to Jerusalem after seeing “His star.” It had taken them nearly two years. Now they needed to know WHERE this new King lived. You better believe Herod wanted to know where He lived too and not to worship him, as the wise men desired.  Herod asked the Jewish scribes, who instantly knew the prophecy of Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  He called the wise men back and asked exactly when the star appeared, then sent them off with the request to be notified when they found him.

However, the wise men didn’t need Herod’s directions because when they left the court, the star appeared again, leading them right to the house where Jesus lived. There, they worshiped Him. Can you imagine the neighbors’ thoughts when a caravan of camels and funny-dressed rice men parked at Joseph’s house? Can you imagine Mary when these finely robed men came inside, bowed low before her toddler son, and offered those jewel-encrusted boxes of gold, frankincense, and myrrh?  They must have stayed at least one night because God warned them in a dream to go home a different way – avoiding Jerusalem and King Herod.

What was that star anyway? Some have suggested it was a comet, a unique line-up of planets, or even a supernova (star exploding).  But perhaps it was a supernatural reality similar to the Shekinah glory of God that led the Israelites through the wilderness after they left Mt. Sinai. 

What were those gifts the wise men gave?  Symbolically, the Gold represented Jesus as King. Frankincense pointed to His Deity as God.  Myrrh,  a perfume used to wrap in burial cloths, suggested Jesus would be the supreme Sacrifice for sin.  And, of course, they all could have been used as funds for traveling to Egypt and living there for a time.  God warned Joseph to flee there after the wise men left because King Herod was looking to murder the boy, Jesus.

When Herod realized the wise men were not returning, he was furious. He ordered all the baby boys two years old and younger in and around Bethlehem to be killed. NO ONE would threaten HIS THRONE!  His soldiers obeyed the command and murdered them all.  What a horror! 

Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15, “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted because they are no more.”  This mourning for the children killed in Jerusalem at the time of the Babylonian invasion and captivity was an echo of the current disaster caused by the insane Herod.  (Also, Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, died in childbirth and was buried near Bethlehem.)

Joseph obeyed his angelic dream, took Jesus and his mother, and set out for Egypt the following day. They stayed there until an angel told Joseph that Herod was dead.   They traveled back to Judea (where Bethlehem & Jerusalem were located), but the angel again warned Joseph not to stay there.  Herod’s three sons now ruled Israel, and the most wicked one, Archelaus, reigned in Judea.  Instead, Joseph took his family north into Galilee (where Herod Antipas ruled) and settled in Mary’s former town of Nazareth. 

How were the O.T. prophets’ prophecies fulfilled in that Jesus grew up in Nazareth? What did it mean that he was called a “Nazarene?” This possibly was because Nazareth was an “other side of the tracks” town. Everyone looked down on it as undesirable, even detestable.  Remember, even Nathanial asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)  The prophets wrote that the Messiah would be “despised, abhorred, and rejected by men” (Isaiah 49:7, Isaiah 53:3) like someone from Nazareth. A Nazarene.

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 273 & Bonus Day

Sep30

    Days 273 & a bonus day—We are in the NINTH month of Bible reading, finishing the Old Testament with the prophecy of MALACHI,

NOTE: Sunday and Monday studies are posted on Monday.

    Day 273 – Malachi 1 – 4 (Jews become complacent and hard-hearted while Nehemiah is back in Persia; Malachi addresses their polluting sacrifices, marrying foreign wives, withholding tithes, and committing social injustice. When God often accuses them of sin, they respond arrogantly, HOW have we sinned?)

Malachi 1.  God tells the backsliding Jews, “I have loved you.”  They say, “HOW have you loved us?” And God reminds them of His choosing of the younger twin, Jacob (their ancestor) over Esau, and how He has cared for them as a father for a son.”

God then confronts the priests, “Where is my fear, O priests, who despise my name.”  And they answer belligerently, “How have we despised your name?”    “By offering polluted food upon my altar,” God says.  “How have we polluted you?“ they wonder.  When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil?  I have no pleasure in you, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”   “Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it…..and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished!”

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Malachi 2. God continues through Malachi. “And now, O priests, if you will not listen, if you will not take to heart to give honor to my name, then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings.  Indeed, I already have cursed them.”  God had made a covenant with the tribe of Levi for life, to set it apart for Himself. These priests deceived themselves by claiming the covenant’s privileges while neglecting its conditions as if God was obligated to bless them.

“A second thing you do,” says the LORD. “You cover my altar with tears,  weeping, and groaning because I no longer regard the offering or accept it with favor from your hand.”   The people respond with, “Why do you not?”  And the LORD tells them why.  “Because I am a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your wife by covenant.  What was I seeking? I was seeking godly offspring.  The man who does not love his wife but divorces her…covers his garment with violence.  SO, GUARD YOURSELVES in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”  (NOTE: They were divorcing their Jewish wives to marry pagan wives.)

‘You have wearied the LORD with your words.  But you say, “How have we wearied him?”    By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them.”  OR by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

(What cantankerous, hard-hearted, arrogant people?  (Oh, LORD, am I like that sometimes?)

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Malachi 3. The king is coming and sending his Messenger before him to prepare for and announce Him.  This is the voice of “one calling in the wilderness” (Isaiah 40:3) and the Elijah of Malachi 4:5 who initially comes before the Lord.  (The New Testament says he is John the Baptist. (Matthew 3:3, 11:10, 17:12+, Mark 1:2, Luke 1:17, 7:26-27, John 1:23)). The prophecy extends to the second coming of the Lord too, when judgment will come on all who have broken all God’s laws.

God calls to the ‘children of Jacob,’ “Return to me, and I will return to you.”  But they say, “How shall we return?  God accused them, “Will a man rob God?  You are robbing me.”  They say, “How have we robbed you?  

God answers them with a challenge.  “In your tithes and offerings, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you!”  

THE CHALLENGE:  “BRING THE FULL TITHE INTO THE STOREHOUSE, THAT THERE MAY BE FOOD IN MY HOUSE. AND THEREBY PUT ME TO THE TEST, SAYS THE lord OF HOSTS, IF I WILL NOT OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN FOR YOU AND POUR DOWN FOR YOU A BLESSING UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE NEED. I WILL REBUKE THE DEVOURER FOR YOU SO IT WILL NOT DESTROY THE FRUITS OF YOUR SOIL OR VINE.  AND ALL THE NATIONS WILL CALL YOU BLESSED, FOR YOU WILL BE A LAND OF DELIGHT….. says the LORD of hosts.”

Some feared the Lord, and He heard them. “They shall be mine in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.”

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Malachi 4. This last chapter features prophecies about the great and terrible DAY OF THE LORD when He will come in judgment to “set ablaze all the arrogant and evildoers.”  There are links to Isaiah, Joel, Zephaniah, and Revelation.  All who refuse to repent will be cast into the fire of hell.

And the “the Sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”

Malachi closes with a promise of fulfillment. They can prepare by remembering the law of Moses, the statutes, and the rules.

“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 the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers….” (opposite of what happens in Christ’s first coming)  (Matthew 10:34-36)

NOTE: John the Baptist is a type of Elijah at Christ’s first appearance. Moses (the law) and Elijah (the prophets) appear with Jesus at the transfiguration, and they may also be the actual two witnesses in the great tribulation (Revelation 11:1-3)

THE END OF OLD TESTAMENT

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    Bonus Day – A Free Day for Leap Year.

Spend this day thumbing through the Old Testament, remembering all you have read, reviewing the passages and verses that touched your heart (or conscience), and preparing your heart and mind for the New Testament and the story of Jesus Christ and His followers.