Tag: believing in Jesus

New Testament in Context

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 5 & 6

Poetry: Proverbs 19

New Testament: Acts 13

The entire Bible can be traced back to Genesis 3 where we see the fall of man from the paradise that God had desired for His creation. From this foundation we can then add Genesis 12 where God calls Abraham and gives his descendants the promise of a future land and nation. And in chapter 49 of Genesis, we see God promise a leader through the line of Judah. Throughout the Bible we see common themes continually come back and connect to these three promises. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy focus on the establishment of the people into a nation with a complete constitution. The book of Joshua tells the tales of battles fought to conquer the land. And the books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the restoration of the nation of Israel to the land after the exile. And the other books follow a story of attempts to find a leader who is good enough to sit on the throne forever. 

In chapter 13 of Acts, Paul uses a very similar tactic of preaching the gospel to the Jews. The Jews would have understood the promises of a land, nation, and a leader, and they also knew that they were ultimately waiting for the leader — the Messiah. Therefore, Paul presents the history of the Israelites starting with when God led the people out of Egypt and going through the period of the Judges and then Kings. 

Paul highlighted a couple leaders in his overview, but they all turned out to be sinful. Even seemingly good men who sat on the throne made mistakes that did not reflect the leader the world needed. Another problem with these leaders is that they all ended up dead. Paul brings up this point in verse 36-37 when he says, “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.” He does this to clearly contrast Jesus from the other leaders that the Jewish people adored like David. His purpose was to convince them that the Jesus they killed was the Messiah because God raised Him from the dead so that he would not see decay. Paul knew that the best way to prove this to the Jews was to use scriptures like Isaiah 55:3 and Psalm 16:10 to make his point. He also mentions that Jesus was seen by many witnesses after God raised him from the dead. 

Throughout his sermon to the Jews, he makes a clear distinction between God and Jesus. For example, he states that God was the source of the power that raised Jesus from the dead. He also uses the titles of Father and Son to describe the relationship between God and Jesus. 

The result of this sermon is that many Jews and Gentiles received Jesus as the Messiah. They asked Paul to return and preach again the following Sabbath. But the message also faced opposition by the Jews who were jealous of Paul’s preaching and his popularity among the crowds. In response, Paul goes back to Isaiah and quotes 49:6 in order to prove to the Jews the prophecy of the Gentiles being included into the promises of God. This sermon caused even more persecution for the early church but nonetheless the truth was spread throughout the entire region and both Jews and Gentiles came to believe in Jesus. 

-Makayla Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. What does this tell us about the importance of the Old Testament as the context for the New Testament?
  2. Would you say that you have a good understanding of the Old Testament? Or is this something that you could spend more time studying?
  3. Why do you think some of the Jews accepted the truth of Paul’s sermon while others became jealous?
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Do You Get It?

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 21 & 22

Psalms Reading: Psalm 87

New Testament Reading: Galatians 3

Despite much of the media’s focus, there are many good people in the world.  Our current culture has a strong humanistic viewpoint, with many people claiming to be “spiritual”, but not Christian.  Many spiritual people have strong moral values often aligning with Christian perspectives; they are kindhearted and they do good works.  These people (typically) believe in a “higher power” but not necessarily God, and they may feel like Jesus was a good man but don’t acknowledge the power he held or the magnitude of his sacrifice for everyone.  People with this perspective live what I would call a good life, and yet they are missing something so critical.

Paul writes in Galatians 3:5, “…Does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law?  Of course not!  It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.” (NLT).  The Message translation writes that God lavishly provides his Holy Spirit to his people, not because of their “strenuous moral striving”, but because of their trust in Him.  We, as Christians baptized in the faith, have access to the power of God, His Holy Spirit.  THAT IS A BIG DEAL.  That is something that no other religion or humanistic worldview has.  Christians are unique in this way, and yet just like the Galatians, we all too often get caught up in following the law, or looking good to others, to remember we have access to this incredible power simply by believing in the message of Christ.  Just by recognizing that the man Christ Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was raised again for our salvation is enough for us to invite the Holy Spirit into our daily lives. 

There are good people in this world, but Christians should be standing out against the crowd of “good” by being AMAZING because of what we have access to!  This makes it all the more important for Christians to maintain their moral good; while we know keeping the law does not make us right with God (v. 11), breaking the law is not a reflection of receiving the Holy Spirit and does not show the world why they should believe the message of Christ.  If a “spiritual” person treats the widows and orphans with more kindness and love than someone who has the Holy Spirit, we have failed.  In the same way, if we think our kindness and love will sustain and save, we are just as foolish as the Galatians were! 

We are no longer confined or imprisoned under the law, but we are justified through our faith in Christ (v.23-24 HCSB).   In our justification, we have been given the Holy Spirit… does your life reflect that amazing power?

-Sarah (Blanchard) Johnson

Questions:

There are some great verses in Galatians 3 that dig even deeper into the law, who we are in Christ, and overall Abrahamic faith.  What stood out to me may be different than what stood out to you!  What did God put on your heart while reading this Scripture?

What characteristics of God did you find from our passage today? And what can you discover about His son Jesus from your reading?

Prayer:

God, thank you for sharing your son with us so that we may have access to your Holy Spirit, and ultimately, eternal life.  Lord I pray that our works bring you honor and glory, that we boldly call on your Spirit each day as a way to show the people in our life just how amazing you are.  God, you are a good God; gracious, loving, powerful, and kind.  We praise you and thank you.  In your son’s name, Amen.

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Your Faith Has Healed You

Mark 5

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Mark chapter 5 has a lot of good stories but I want to focus on verses 25-34 where Jesus heals a woman who has had a sort of bleeding for twelve years.  Now at first glance this could seem inconsequential, as Jesus healed many people.  What stood out to me is the fact that she had it for twelve years!  That’s over four thousand days and over three hundred million seconds.  It’s a hard amount of time to imagine. I’m sure that it was a fact of life for her, like living in the same place for a long time. 

The chapter also says, “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse” Mark 5:26.  So, over the course of twelve years she tried everything, but it only got worse.  I don’t know about anyone else but at this point I would have lost hope in finding a remedy of some kind.  But she didn’t.  In fact, she had so much faith, that when she touched his cloak, she was healed.  That to me is amazing! 

It really isn’t inconsequential as she lived this way for over a decade.  You see a lot of people being healed by Jesus but not as many who were healed by their own faith.  

I feel oftentimes this little story is overshadowed by his raising of a young girl from the dead a few verses later, and his casting out of the demons into pigs, but there is so much you can take away from these few short verses.  She endured twelve years and still had so much faith that deserves to not be forgotten.

-Philip Kirkpatrick

Application Questions

  1. Would your faith have been enough to be healed after twelve years?
  2. What do you believe Jesus can do for you? How will you show him that you really believe?
  3. Are there small stories that you skip to get to the big ones?
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Opposite Reactions – Opposite End Results

John 12

John 12 46

John 12 opens with Jesus attending a dinner held in Jesus’ honor.  Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead was among those eating at the table.

While he was there, a large crowd came, not only to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  Then we read… 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

I am astounded at the lengths to which the religious leaders of Jesus’ day would go to deny Jesus.  They saw all the miracles, but rejected Jesus anyway.  Even after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, they still wouldn’t believe.  And because so many others believed, the religious leaders wanted to kill Lazarus again, to stop people from following Jesus.  Wow.

At this same meal, we see someone with an opposite reaction.  While Jesus was reclining at the table, Mary, Lazarus’ sister, poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet, and wiped his feet with her hair.  We’re told the perfume was worth a year’s wages.  We’re told in Matthew 26:13, where we also find this story, Jesus said,” 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”   And indeed, we’re still talking about this today.

Much later in John 12, we find this in verses 44-46:  44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

The chapter closes like this… “the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

So again, we have a decision to make.  Will we believe in Jesus, honor him like Mary did with our actions and our wealth, and live in his light?  This leads to eternal life.

Or will we reject him, like the religious leaders of his day, and stay in darkness (and be condemned at the last day)?

I choose life.  What about you?

-Steve Mattison

 

 

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