Passage of the Day - December 13, 2012

Hebrews 5:1-10

5 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; ² he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; ³ and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. ⁴ And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.

⁵ So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,

“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”;

⁶ just as He says also in another passage,

“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷ In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. ⁸ Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. ⁹ And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, ¹⁰ being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

We have been examining different passages through the lens of Jesus being the Word/Message of God.  This perspective has made the Book of Hebrews much easier to understand.

Here we see that according to the Law, the high priest would offer sacrifices on behalf of the people and himself for their sins.  It was a shadow of things to come.  Jesus Christ has not only become the eternal High Priest; He is the eternal Sacrifice.

Since Christ is our eternal Sacrifice, we know that all our sins will forever be paid for.  Since Christ is our eternal High Priest, we know that we always have a mediator between us and God.  This is why Jesus could accurately say “No one comes to the Father except through Me”.

We learned yesterday that Jesus is the eternal Prophet and the eternal Prophecy.  That means we should listen to Him for what He says is what God says.  Today we learn that Jesus is the eternal High Priest.  That means we should communicate with God through Him.  We should honor Christ’s position as High Priest.  We also learn that Jesus is the eternal Sacrifice.  This means when we partake of His body and blood, we do so with the knowledge that it was our sins the His body had to be offered and His blood had to be spilt.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)  

Passage of the Day - December 12, 2012

Matthew 21:33-46

³³ “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. ³⁵ The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. ³⁷ But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” ⁴¹ They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
⁴² Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. ⁴⁴ And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.

Over and over God sent prophets to Israel to warn them of their unfruitfulness and the damage they were inflicting upon themselves.  They wouldn’t listen.  They would ignore and then eventually beat and/or kill them.  God provided them His very Son.  They still would not listen and even killed Him.  The difference was that God’s Son was not only a Prophet, but He was the actual Prophecy.  He was, and is, what Scripture is all about.  This is what makes Jesus Christ greater than Mohammed.  Mohammed is said to be the great prophet of Islam, but Jesus Christ is the Prophecy.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)  

Passage of the Day - December 11, 2012

John 19:31-37

³¹ Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; ³³ but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. ³⁶ For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

What is the significance of Christ’s legs not being broken?  Have you ever wondered about that?  Sure, it keeps with the ordinances concerning the Passover lamb, but what was the significance of the lamb’s bones not being broken.  I would argue that everything in the Old Testament was a foretaste of the New.  Jesus Christ was pierced, scourged, nailed, hung on a cross, spat upon, and placed in a tomb to rot, but Jesus Christ was never broken.  Let me say that again.  The Word of God was pierced, scourged, nailed, hung on a cross, spat upon, and placed in a tomb to rot, but the Word of God was never broken.  The significance of no bone of Jesus being broken is that God’s Word was never broken.  God’s Word can never be broken because God is true.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)  

Passage of the Day - December 10, 2012

John 10:24-38

²⁴ The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”
³¹ The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” ³³ The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), ³⁶ do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷ If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

In verse 29 we see that Jesus calls the Father greater than all.  In verse 36 we see that Jesus was sanctified (set apart, declared holy) and sent by the Father to do the works of the Father.  In this 15 verse passage, Jesus refers to the Father nine times.  The Message of God always points back to God.

We can get tripped up with passages like these when we use terms like “co-equal”.  This passage clearly teaches a subservient nature to the relationship between the Father and the Son just as the message of any person is subservient to the author of the message.  We have also seen that the message of the person is, in effect, the person.  Unless this concept is understood, it is very difficult to marry this passage to the doctrine of the Trinity.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - December 9, 2012

Matthew 4:1-11

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

This used to be a very confusing verse to me.  You see, I created in my mind a view of the Trinity that isn't accurate.  I thought of the Triforce.  Yes, that Triforce (from the Legend of Zelda).  I used to think it was three equal powers working together as one entity in perfect harmony.  It sounds good, until one runs into a passage like this.

How can God be tempted?  From James chapter 1, we know that God cannot be tempted, yet here we are.  This is very confusing and some explain it away as the "great mystery" that is the Trinity.  That works for the believer, but not the skeptic, Muslim, or Jehovah's Witness.  This is why it is important for us to have a strong understanding of the relationship between the three Persons of the Godhead.  As we discussed before, Jesus is the perfect, unadulterated, personification of the Message of God.  Just as my message is me, yet not me the person, so it is that Jesus is God, yet not God the Person.  Therefore, the Person Jesus Christ is able to be tempted without violating the principle laid out in James chapter 1.

With this understanding, let's take a closer look at what is actually going on.  We typically look at this verse as Satan making three futile attempts at tempting the Son of God to reject Himself and choose Satan instead.  It almost seems silly.  However, Satan wasn't attempting to convert Jesus to Satanism.  He was pulling out all the stops to taint the Message of God.  He played word games with Eve to cause The Fall, surely he could trip up the Message of God into falsehood or self-rigtheousness.  Instead, the Message of God always perfectly brought attention back to God.  The Message of God came out of the forty days just as pure as it went in and was not found lacking.  We find in this passage that Jesus Christ was not self-seeking, but rather sent to bring God's Message to the people and to bring the people to God.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - December 8, 2012

John 1:1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

John 1:1 is a very famous verse that points to Jesus being God.  But, how exactly does it work?  We know that the Word is Jesus.  Therefore, we know Jesus was with God and we know that Jesus was God.  Sounds good, but seems rather simplistic doesn't it.  It is quite a leap.  Aren't there many verses in the Bible that point to Jesus' lack of perfect omniscience (all-knowing) or subservience to the Father?  How does that work?  Through this passage and others, I plan to show how our models and ways of explaining the Trinity fail to meet the challenges of the skeptic.  I will start, however, with providing a model that does not.

Our question should not be "Who is the Word?", rather "What is the Word?".  There are various interpretations of "the Word" or "Logos".  These include reason, knowledge, etc.  Trying to wrap the old coconut around this can get a little hairy.  Therefore, I am going to offer a different perspective.  We can best understand "the Word" as "the Message".  

Jesus Christ is God's message of love to us.  God's Message was there at the beginning.  God's Message was with God, God's Message is inseparable from God to the point of being God.  Think of it like this:  "Only thing we have to fear is fear itself".  Who was that?  "That was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, of course!", you say.  Oh really?  Looks like words on a blog to me.  But, think about it.  Aren't those words synonymous with Roosevelt?  When you hear that message it actually is Roosevelt.  It is his message of calm, his revelation of his leadership, his call on Americans to not be controlled by fear.  

Jesus Christ is God's Message of love, hope, and redemption to His people.  As we will see in future passages, Jesus is in perfect union with God, the Father.  Therefore, the Message is actually God.  God with us.  Jesus Christ is the personification of God's Message and being in perfect union with God and emanating directly from God, He is actually God.  However, since Jesus Christ is God's Message, he is subservient to God and is not required to have perfect Omniscience (not knowing the day or hour of his return, etc.).  I hope to show how this works throughout scripture and will help passages of the Bible to come alive in a whole new light and understanding.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)

Passage of the Day - December 7, 2012

Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶ But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. ¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

As I mentioned in my facebook post inquiring on the interest of starting up Passage of the Day again, I mentioned my theological/spiritual journey.  I can think of no better passage to sum up this path than my favorite passage.  During the past couple of years I have been examining the Bible on three primary issues: the Trinity, baptism, and ministry/missions.  Matthew 28:16-20 contains all three.  But, what do each of them really mean?  Do we have a firm enough grasp on the Trinity to explain it to a Muslim or Jehovah’s Witness?  Are we positive that we fully understand baptism to the point we are sure that our children should not be baptized until a later age or are we positive that they should be baptized as infants?  Verse 19 starts with the word “Go”, but what does that mean for me or you, specifically?  I plan to share with you what I have found over the next few weeks.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)