Laurie Larsen's Blog, page 3

Jesus Is Not Afraid of Messy – the Story of Legion

 

We all go through bad times.  It’s part of the human condition. Life is not easy or perfect for anyone. But sometimes life becomes so hopeless and out of control that you can’t imagine ever turning the tide.

Jesus wants to help you get your life back.

Have you ever looked at the mess your life has become and sincerely wanted to return to Jesus, but you think he wouldn’t possibly accept you back?

Maybe you were raised in the Christian faith but strayed away.  You haven’t been to church in years and your life involves lots of unhealthy habits that God wouldn’t condone.  Maybe you’ve developed a substance addiction. Maybe you have been unfaithful to your spouse. Maybe you’ve broken the law and you’re serving a sentence.

These are all ways to mess up your life, right? And sometimes your life looks irredeemable.  But I’m here to tell you that however messy and screwed up our lives get; we can still come to Jesus and ask for help. He won’t turn us away.

Consider the story of a demon-possessed man called Legion in Mark chapter 5. Jesus and his disciples cross the Dead Sea (really an inland lake) to the Decapolis, a grouping of ten Hellenistic cities.  It was a center of Hellenistic (or Greek-influenced) and Roman culture in a part of the world that was mainly populated by Jews. It was an area that the Jews stayed far away from because it was so foreign from the laws passed down from Moses for faithful Jews to follow.  Pagan rituals, multiple deities worshipped, unclean sacrifices.  Jews of the day wanted nothing to do with that evil place! But on this day, Jesus went there, dragging his hesitant disciples with him.

Mark 5:2 - 5 (NIV): When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. … He had tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.  Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

I’m sure Jesus went to that forbidden area because he specifically wanted to meet with this poor man.  A child of God so afflicted with what his life had become that he miserably cried out and did physical harm to himself.  Possessed by demons, isolated from other humans, he had no control over his situation whatsoever. Talk about a person who can’t imagine life getting better.  He was at the end of his rope.

Jesus spotted him from a distance and, knowing that he was possessed by demons, spoke directly to them, ordering them to leave out of the man.

Here’s Legion’s response (Mark 5:7): He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”

The demons knew who Jesus was and they were terrified of him and his power.  They probably thought they could safely inhabit this poor man because why would Jesus, King of the Jews, ever venture forth into such a non-Jewish land?

But Jesus did come – to save this one lost sheep who had strayed from his flock.  Jesus asked his name and the demons replied, “My name is Legion because we are many.”

The demons knew they were no match for the Son of God, so they started bargaining with Jesus: (verse 10 - 13) He begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.  The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs.  The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Powerful. In control. Respected. All these words describe our Jesus.  Can you imagine the reaction of the people watching that day? How could they not believe that Jesus was the Son of God after watching such a spectacle?

But Jesus was only interested in the man.  Verse 15 describes him as “sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.”  The Bible doesn’t tell us this, but in my mind’s eye I can see the man (no longer named Legion) and Jesus meeting gazes. He’s astounded at what had just happened, unable to comprehend what happened, and more likely, why it happened. His life was a mess, totally out of control! His townsfolk were so done with him that they bound him with chains and abandoned him in a tomb. No one wanted to be around him.

Except Jesus.  Jesus sought him out, going out of his way to rescue him without being asked. I imagine that the man stumbled to his feet, trying to wrap his head around this amazing and generous act of love from a total stranger. His life had just become 100% better due to one minute of time from Jesus.

Jesus had been known to pull the people he’d healed into his arms and hug them, so it’s not unreasonable to think he did this with this man.  He brought him into his arms and showed him how much he was loved. And at that moment, everything about the man and his life changed.

But not for the townspeople.  Verse 17 says “Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.”  They were probably scared and didn’t want this Man of God who healed and performed miracles anywhere near their secular home.  After all, how could life go on as normal when a miraculous life-changer like Jesus was in town?

But the man who had been freed from demons knew what he needed. (Verse 18): As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Decapolis’s first missionary for Jesus.  (Verse 20): So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

The man previously known as Legion was a mess.  He was possessed by demons, he was unkempt, smelled horrible, was chained up by his neighbors and forced to live in a tomb because none of them cared about him at all.  He was just too messy for them to deal with.

But not Jesus.  Jesus was a total stranger to this man. He’d probably never heard of the goings-on across the Dead Sea, but Jesus found him, right where he needed him.  And he worked miracles to save him. And then, he gained one witness to help spread the word of God’s loving kindness.

Think about your own life again. How does it compare to Legion and all the challenges he faced? Jesus sought him out and found him and never hesitated to rescue him, even though it was messy.  He won’t hesitate to save you either.

Let’s pray:  Dear God, we thank you for always being there for us, for never turning away no matter where we are in life or what we’ve done. We have faith that you can help us, to rescue us from the messes we’ve made in our lives.  You’ll never give up on us and we ask for your guidance in finding you where we are. Amen.

 

 

Did Jesus Help Abraham Lincoln Get Elected?

Having grown up in the Land of Lincoln, I’ve always been a fan of our country’s 16th President. As an elementary school student, we took annual fieldtrips to Abraham Lincoln’s home in the Illinois state capital of Springfield, where he lived for 24 years. We also toured his tomb, and the Presidential library. Did you know that one of Lincoln’s most famous speech elements came straight from the gospels?

To refresh your memory, let me show you Mark 3 starting with verse 20. Jesus had just recently appointed his twelve disciples and he was beginning his ministry in earnest. His message was not setting well with people.

(New International Version). Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not ever able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

So, how does this tie back to Abraham Lincoln? Two years before Lincoln was elected as President, he was running for the U.S. Senate.  He was selected as the Republican candidate, running against Democrat Stephen Douglas. On June 16, 1858, he accepted the party nomination at the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln had prepared an acceptance speech that he called his House Divided speech. He delivered it to more than a thousand delegates who had gathered.

Here's a short portion of Lincoln’s full speech:

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention.

We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.

Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

 

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing or all the other.

Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South.

 

Mr. Lincoln never said, “The Bible states …” or “Jesus tells us ….” But he didn’t have to. Lincoln's audience would’ve been familiar with the concept of a house divided as a statement made by Jesus and recorded in the gospels.  By including it in the speech, the majority of listeners recognized it as Jesus’s words.

We know that the speech caused concern to Lincoln’s friends, who regarded it as too radical for the occasion. Lincoln had previewed the speech to his law partner, William Herndon before delivering it, and although Herndon considered Lincoln morally courageous, he advised that it would be politically incorrect to base this speech on Jesus’ words.

Lincoln, however, would not be deterred.  Responding to his partner, he referred to the "house divided" language this way: "The proposition is indisputably true ... and I will deliver it as written. I want to use some universally known figure, expressed in simple language as universally known, that it may strike home to the minds of men in order to rouse them to the peril of the times."

Afterward, the speech created many repercussions, giving Lincoln's political opponent fresh ammunition. Herndon remarked, "When I saw Senator Douglas making such headway against Mr. Lincoln's house divided speech I was nettled and irritable, and said to Mr. Lincoln one day this -- 'Mr. Lincoln -- why in the world do you not say to Mr. Douglas, when he is making capitol out of your speech, -- 'Douglas why whine and complain to me because of that speech? I am not the author of it. God is. Go and whine and complain to Him for its revelation, and utterance.' Mr. Lincoln looked at me one short quizzical moment and replied, 'I can't.'"

Lincoln lost that Senate seat to Douglas. A colleague of Lincoln, Leonard Swett, is quoted as later writing to Mr. Herndon, “Nothing could have been more unfortunate or inappropriate; it was saying first the wrong thing, yet he saw it was an abstract truth, but standing by the speech would ultimately find him in the right place."

The right place!  Because although he lost the chance to be Senator, he gained the vote just two years later to be President.  Reflecting on it several years later, Herndon said the speech did awaken the people, and despite Lincoln's defeat, he thought the speech was instrumental in making him President. "Through logic inductively seen," he said, "Lincoln as a statesman, and political philosopher, announced an eternal truth -- not only as broad as America, but covers the world."

Have you ever lost something that you truly wanted and worked hard for, only to later gain something else that you never dreamed of but turned out much better for you?

Do you believe that God has a hand in our elected officials? Because this situation would surely be an example of God helping to guide Lincoln to the position where he had much more control over righting the wrongs of human slavery than if Lincoln had been selected as senator from Illinois.  Through Lincoln’s loss, he was able to ultimately serve in the seat of the most influential official in the land.

When I read Lincoln’s actual words, I have to translate his meaning amidst the manner of speaking of the day, which is different from 21st century English. However, there is no doubt that he became renowned for his oration skills and his ability to rally people to a common cause. He also was known for hanging on and not losing courage in the midst of the immense difficulty of administering the Civil War.

Many books have been written about our 16th President, and interest in him has not waned over the last 150 years.  A website called YouGov rates him as the #1 Most Popular US President, most recently published in the second quarter of 2024. His speeches are studied by scholars and students and his wisdom is recognized in modern times, probably more than when he first uttered them. Along with the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address, the House Divided speech inspired by Jesus’s words became one of the best-known of his career.

Let’s pray:  Dear Father, we thank you for elected officials who read the Bible and become inspired by words and messages found there to lead the people. We thank you that Abraham Lincoln used Jesus’s words about a House Divided to inspire him to fight against the evil of slavery.  Please help us to likewise gain wisdom and inspiration from your word to help us live moral lives.  Amen.

 

If It Worked for Him, It’ll Work for Us

After Jesus was baptized by John, the gospel of Matthew describes a wondrous scene, chapter 3 verse 10 in the New International Version: At that moment, heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.”

Wow. If anyone had any doubt that this was no ordinary man, that he was special and divine, that would’ve cleared things up in a hurry. It should come to no surprise then, what happened next.

Matthew chapter 4: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

As we often see, the Bible gives us the ultimate in understatements.  Draw on your imagination for a moment and think about that scene.  Jesus, all alone in the Judean wilderness – desert, lots of sand, mountainous, very little vegetation.  Wild animals roamed freely.  Not only was he hungry – which he certainly was, because he intentionally fasted – but he was thirsty and unprotected from the elements. He was cold, he was hot, he was uncomfortable.

What did he do during this time? He prayed and focused on God.  He had just been baptized by the forerunner that God had planned for him, and now he was in communication with his Father.  I believe this is when Jesus and God laid out all the plans for Jesus’s ministry.  What he would say, where he would travel, who he would bring along with him, what he would accomplish and ultimately how his life would end.  Jesus knew all that from the beginning, and this forty-day isolation seems like a good time to shore up the master plan.

What would you feel like after forty days and nights of surviving in the wilderness with no food or drink, and no protection from the elements?  Honestly, I wouldn’t survive that long, much less engage my brain in praying and plan-making!  But it was at this moment that the devil made his appearance.

Matthew 4:3: The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

The devil knew that the Son of God beginning his official ministry on earth was not a good thing for him.  He didn’t need the sign of the dove and God’s booming voice from the skies after Jesus’s baptism to convince him that this was no ordinary man.  He was well aware!  So, he waited till Jesus was at his most vulnerable to attack him and try to change the course of history.

To Satan’s words in verse 3, Jesus responded in verse 4, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Jesus responded with the words that his ancestor Moses told the people of Israel after he delivered to them God’s Ten Commandments.  He was admonishing them to be careful to follow every command so that they may live fully and possess the land the Lord promised their ancestors.  He reminded them that God led them out of wilderness and fed them manna (bread) in the desert.

Jewish people of Jesus’ day would be familiar with that verse and Jesus used it to dispute what Satan was trying to tempt him to do.  Oh, you’re hungry, Jesus?  If you’re the Son of God, prove it by turning these stones to bread. You’ll convince me of who you are, and you’ll also end this crazy hunger strike you’re on!  I can just hear the taunting voice the devil used to the weak and hungry Jesus, trying to get him to cave.  But Jesus not only didn’t give in to temptation, but he also taught the devil a thing or two by quoting scripture.

The devil didn’t give up. He tested Jesus two more times, even going so far as quoting scripture back to Jesus!  Twisting it around to meet Satan’s own agenda.  But Jesus didn’t fall for it. He stood strong in the face of temptation and responded with scripture verses at the ready.  The last time saying, (verse 10), “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only,’” (a verse taken from Deuteronomy 6:13).

Then, what a beautiful ending in verse 11: Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. 

I can just imagine the angels that God sent to Jesus’s side. What did they do to attend him? I imagine they spoke to him, praising him for his success against the Evil One, gave him food and drink, treated whatever bodily injuries he’d incurred during his time in the wilderness. Helped him recover so he could go on and continue his important ministry.

Satan is alive and well in our modern world. He may not take the same physical form that he took with Jesus in the wilderness.  You may not be able to see him but if you know what you’re looking for, you’ll know when he’s attacking you. 

Because that’s what Satan does to Christians – he goes on the attack. Jesus himself says in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

In life, we experience all kinds of trials – sadness, despair, fear, temptation. Be assured that these types of emotion are not from God. They originate from God’s opponent – the devil. If we are confronted with these feelings because of the circumstances in our lives, let’s try handling it the same way Jesus did.

Let’s confront Satan with scripture. But how? We need to be prepared.  Put some time into identifying a litany of Scriptures to memorize. Place them in your arsenal of weapons for fighting evil. Don’t wait till Satan attacks your well-being. Do it now, during a time of peace so that you can pull them up in your mind and say them out loud when Satan intervenes.

Where do we start?  The Bible provides an almost endless supply of strength and hope that we can use to turn the tide when negativity hits our lives.  But I suggest that we start in three places:

·       Psalms

·       The epistles of the Apostle Paul.

·       The Gospels

The Psalms were written as poems or songs or even ancient journal entries by King David and many others.  Some were written to bemoan terrible things happening in their lives, but they were also written to praise God when things were good.  Flip to the book of Psalms and start reading until you find a verse or two that will help you in your warfare against evil.  For example, Psalm 46:1: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  (Short and sweet – and easy to memorize!)

The reason I suggest arming yourself with verses from Paul’s letters is because to whom and why he wrote them.  Paul’s mission on earth was to spread the gospel (the story of Jesus) to Gentiles (or non-Jews) throughout the world. He traveled far and wide and spread the word, and as a result, early Christian churches were formed.  He didn’t just urge these churches to open and then abandon them in their new faith. He stayed in touch through letters. He wrote to them with encouragement and advice and continued knowledge about the Jesus that they now serve.

Those very ancient letters make up parts of our New Testament. Paul’s advice to his fledgling churches can also be advice to us in modern times. They are also good verses to memorize to get us through dark times in life.  Such as I Corinthians 4:5: Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. (New International Version)

What better place to have positive messages to throw in Satan’s face than the actual words of Jesus himself?  We’d find those words in the gospels.  Jesus was constantly building up his disciples because he knew they needed to learn all they could about his message to spread the word when Jesus’s physical life ended.  Spend some time in the gospels to come up with something that resonates with you to use as a weapon when spiritual warfare attacks your life.  For example, John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!”

Hard times are going to hit us – it’s a reality of life.  But arming yourself with words from Scripture to help us get through the hard times is a positive and powerful method of fighting evil.  After all, Jesus himself did it so we know it works.

Let’s pray: Dear God, We want to count on you to help us when the troubles of life hit us. We know you love us and want us to survive the hard times and come out the other side to love and good and positivity.  Give us the knowledge and wisdom to select verses from your Word to memorize and recite in the face of evil. We know that this method worked for Jesus and therefore, we trust that it will work for us.  Amen.

A Clarifying Look at Jesus’ Birth

Ahhh, the story of Jesus’ birth!  We all know it, don’t we?  We decorate our home during the Christmas season with Nativity sets complete with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus, born in a wooden manger stuffed with hay, peaceful animals all around beneath the bright star, the shepherds looking on, the Three Wise Men in their finery offering strange gifts.

We read the story from the Gospel of Luke every year, either at home or in church.  We sing the carols; we may even have performed in our church’s Nativity production.

We love this story and it’s certainly earned its way into our Christian lexicon. After all, it’s the story of the birth of Jesus!

But today I’d like to offer up a few clarifying details that may stray a little bit from those that you thought you knew.  Rest assured that nothing that my research has uncovered will change a single thing about the meaning of Christmas and the birth of God’s son.  But maybe a few details will make you go “hmmm.”

Joseph and Mary’s trek to Bethlehem: Luke’s gospel, chapter 2 starts this way: In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world … And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. (New International Version)

How far was this trek that the two made to fulfill the decree?  We know that the distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem was (and still is) about 90 miles. There are several routes that they could have taken, but considering the two most likely traveled by foot, at times both walking and other times Joseph leading a donkey that was carrying Mary, the trip would’ve taken a week or more.

Joseph and Mary would most likely not have traveled alone.  Because, as the Bible says, everyone went to their own town to register, there was more than likely a caravan of travelers going together.

Imagine that – and I’m speaking mostly to the ladies here.  Have you been pregnant?  We know Mary gave birth shortly after arriving in Bethlehem, so we have to assume she was in her final month of pregnancy during the trip.  Do you remember how unnaturally big you felt, how your muscles and joints ached even with normal movement, how you couldn’t eat much, either because there just wasn’t room in your stomach, or you felt nauseous trying to digest?

Now imagine walking for a week straight, or worse yet, riding a donkey (not known for their smooth luxurious ride) – not to mention camping out along the way, sleeping on the ground, trying to make yourself comfortable atop tree roots or rocks.

To say that the trip was miserable for Mary is most likely an understatement.

Was there really no room at the inn?  Depending on the translation of the Bible you’re reading, you could be led to believe that there was no room at the inn in Bethlehem. Which is certainly understandable.  The book of Micah in the Old Testament tells us that Bethlehem is the smallest town in Judah.  Scholars estimate the town had no more than 3000 residents at the time of the census. With people flooding into such a tiny little town for temporary lodging, what ever hotels or inns the town offered would be filled to the max.

Luke 2:7 in the King James version reads, And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

However, that same verse in the New International Version reads, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Do you see the subtle distinction?  The first one says there was no room for them in the inn.  The more modern translation says there was no guest room available for them.

I believe Bible scholars have begun to more accurately understand the true reason Mary and Joseph gave birth to Jesus in a stable.  Bethlehem houses at that time were two-room structures called a cataluma, that were built over a one-room cavern-like basement, sometimes called a grotto.   

It was likely that Joseph and Mary had tried to make plans to stay with a distant family member in Bethlehem, but in all likelihood, had not been able to confirm the plans amidst all the other Nazareth travelers heading that way.  Let’s imagine Mary and Joseph completing the exhausting trip and arriving at the two-room home of Third Aunt Martha Twice Removed  -- only to find out that other guests beat them there and were staying in the cataluma.

So, what did they do?  They made due with the grotto or basement.  But guess what the grotto was typically used for in Bethlehem homes of the time?  The family’s livestock were brought into the grotto each night to prevent them from being stolen, especially the animals considered most valuable such as cows and goats.

What did the stable look like? Sometimes we see illustrations of the stable where the Holy Family started and it’s a beautiful bucolic setting with a stall surrounding by wood; clean, sweet hay up to the animals’ knees; cows mooing while the Star of Bethlehem shines down on the peaceful scene.

Probably not. These works of art were certainly influenced by western artists’ view of a modern barn or stable. Instead, the family probably made a temporary home in the stone-lined basement beneath the home that housed the people upstairs. The grotto more resembled a cave than a barn. The couple would’ve had to use whatever fabrics or pillows they brought with them to make Mary comfortable for the childbirth.

Mangers were stone watering troughs that animals drank from. The stone would’ve been effective in keeping the water temperature cool for the animals, and it would’ve been much more durable than anything wooden would’ve been.  Ladies, can you imagine placing your newborn baby in a stone cradle?

Why were the shepherds the first ones to be notified of Jesus’ birth? In Luke 2:8-12: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you: he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger.” (NIV)

In Jesus’ time, being a shepherd was considered a lowly profession, even so far as social outcasts due to their humble status in society.  Imagine for a moment the personal hygiene of men and boys who slept outside, away from the ability to bathe, always smelling faintly like the animals they guarded.  Yet the angels of the Lord appeared first to the shepherds to announce the birth of the Messiah.  Just like the odd start that the glorious Son of God arrived in a borrowed grotto, laid in the stone watering trough of farm animals after His parents had traveled far from home. By doing so, God made it clear that his precious Son, the Messiah, was coming for “humble folk.”  Not the rich and royal.

And what do you make of the fact that as Jesus ministered to people later, he was known as “The Good Shepherd,” and often used parables and analogies about a shepherd caring for his sheep?

Who were the Magi, how far did they come and when did they arrive? Matthew is the only gospel writer to mention the visit of the Magi, or Wise Men, in the story of Jesus’s birth. Chapter two in Matthew’s gospel describes the Magi from the east arriving in Jerusalem and asking “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (verse 2) This worries King Herod, and also sets into place Herod’s plan to murder Jesus before he ever has the opportunity to grow up and become a problem.

Scholars feel that the Magi or the Three Wise Men described by Matthew can best be described as priests, interpreters of omens, astrologers, or royal counselors. They were thought to originate in Persia, or modern-day Iran.  Research suggests a range of 500 up to 900 miles as the journey made by these travelers to see the Christ Child. 

Considering they were traveling most likely by camel, probably in a caravan of way more than three, including security to keep them safe, cooks to provide them with something to eat and wagons to hold their tents and extra clothes, it is commonly determined that the journey took two years to complete.

So although our holiday Nativity sets may include the “Three Wisemen” the night of Jesus’ birth, they wouldn’t arrive until the baby Jesus is a toddler.

What was the meaning of their gifts to the baby Jesus?  Matthew 2:11 reads, On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (NIV)

Note the family was no longer in the stable or the grotto – they had moved to a house and were residing in Bethlehem before their escape to Egypt to avoid Herod’s murderous search.

As for the gifts the Magi brought for Jesus, what do they mean?

I saw a funny graphic on social media that said something like, “If the Three Wisemen were women, they would’ve asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole and brought practical gifts!”

Because the Magi clearly understood the importance and destiny of this child they’re visiting, the three types of gifts are symbols of three key aspects of Christ’s identity.  The gold is a precious metal and points to Jesus’ royalty. The frankincense is an expensive perfume or fragrance and points to his divinity, and the myrrh was used as an embalming fluid to prepare a body for burial, and it points to his humanity. Their gifts told the story of how God himself came down from Heaven as our King (gold) to fulfill his priestly duties (frankincense) and eventually died for our sins (myrrh).

My thanks goes to the Christianity (dot) com article, The Gifts of the Magi: Spiritual Meaning and Significance for this information.

In what year was Jesus born?  And was it really December 25?  It’s pretty much agreed by everyone involved that Jesus was not born on December 25. Why? First of all, the Bible does not mention the date or even the month that Jesus was born. But shepherds would not have typically been out in the fields at night with their flocks in December due to the cold. This leads scholars to believe Jesus was actually born in the spring. 

When church officials at the end of the third century settled on December 25, they likely wanted the date to coincide with existing pagan festivals honoring Saturn (the Roman god of agriculture) and Mithra (the Persian god of light). That way, it became easier to convince Rome’s pagan subjects to accept Christianity as the empire’s official religion. (Thanks goes to Sarah Pruitt’s article, Why is Christmas Celebrated on December 25?)

Okay, so the date is wrong, what about the year?  BC means Before Christ, so was Jesus born in 0 or 1 AD?

No.  It takes a little bit of puzzle solving, but there are several known events in history that can help us deduce when Jesus was born.  We know that Herod the Great died in 4 BC. But he’s the king who called the Magi to him for help in locating Jesus so he could kill him before he could fulfill the prophecy.  In other words, Herod was still alive when Jesus was two years old.

Also, the Roman Census that called Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem during the final weeks of her pregnancy has been historically proven to have taken place in 8 BC.  So, a “good as any” guess is that Jesus Christ was born approximately seven years before Christ (BC). 

What does all this mean to our Christmas celebration?  So --- Joseph and Mary stayed in a stone basement full of animals instead of a stable.  The Magi didn’t appear till two years later.  It wasn’t Christmas Day as we know it, and our holiday was placed on the calendar based on pagan gods and rituals.  The resulting calendar is off track at least seven years for all time.

But does it matter?  Not to me.

The birth of Jesus, despite all the inconsistencies I brought up today, is still the most awe-inspiring event in human history. Beginning with Jesus’s birth, God made a new covenant with his people, offering up his only Son who had been by His side since he created the world, to come to earth in human form, not to condemn this world full of sinners, but to love us and redeem us. 

It’s a beautiful celebration every year, even with all its misinterpretations, and one worthy of being repeated over and over.  When Christmas rolls around again, maybe give a tiny bit of thought to what we covered today, but don’t let it change a bit of your joy and awe as you celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Let’s pray:  Dear God – we’re humans and therefore we make mistakes and yes, we’ve even made mistakes for thousands of years in our celebration and understanding of the birth of your son. But that doesn’t stop us from understanding the wonderful gift you’ve given us and continue to give us.  Help us to stay focused on you and Jesus as we live our lives until we join you in Paradise.  Amen.

 

 

The Role Zechariah and Elizabeth Play in the Jesus Story

 

The New Testament of the Bible starts with the birth of Jesus, right?  Well, that’s right, but each of the four gospel writers decided to start the story in a slightly different way.

Matthew starts by listing out the long genealogy of Jesus, then moves to the appearance of an angel to Joseph, assuring him that the baby Mary was carrying was conceived from the Holy Spirit.

Mark begins with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus in the wilderness.

Luke tells the story of how an angel appeared to a priest named Zechariah, telling him that his childless wife Elizabeth will bear a son who will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord.

And John begins with a truly poetic section about the Word (Jesus) becoming flesh and then he moves into the mission of the adult John the Baptist.

I wanted to explore Luke’s story since he alone shared it. Who were Zechariah and Elizabeth and how do they play into the story of Jesus being born?

Turns out, Zechariah was a priest of advanced age around the time that both John the Baptist and Jesus were conceived (thought by scholars to be between 8 and 6 BC). Jewish priests during this time had different responsibilities than Jewish rabbis.  A rabbi was a religious teacher who operated out of the local synagogue and was not required to belong to any particular family or tribe in order to hold his position.  Priests, however, came from a prestigious bloodline. 

Remember the Twelve Tribes of Israel? Those qualified to be priests had to descend from Aaron, Moses’ brother. They worked at the temple in Jerusalem.  (My thanks to the website Catholic (dot) com for this information.)

Luke 1:5 gives us more of a specific bloodline for Zechariah: In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. (New International Version translation).

So – both Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth descend from Aaron, the original priest of Israel. So, who is Abijah?  According to I Chronicles, at the time of King David, the priests of the Jewish faith were split into twenty-four divisions.  Abijah was the eighth of the twenty-four.

Luke 1:8 tells us, Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. (NIV)

Let’s look at this a little closer.  Zechariah was inside the temple in Jerusalem burning incense.  Typical priestly duty?  Well, yes … and no.

At this time in history, there were many descendants of Aaron who filled the ranks of Jewish priests to work in the Temple.  Because so many priests crowded the twenty-four divisions, a priest was only selected (by lot, or basically throwing dice) to perform this task for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which comes around only once a year. In other words, this particular task Zechariah was doing didn’t come around often.

And where did they burn this incense?  Luke tells us it was in the temple.  But further research shows that it was in the most holy place within the Holy Temple.  (Stay with me … I’m about to make a point!)

In the Old Testament, God appointed King Solomon, the son of King David as the king to oversee the building of his Holy Temple which would house the Ark of the Covenant.  In 1 Chronicles 28, King David gave detailed plans to Solomon, including designs for the Temple buildings, and literally everything else within its walls.

The room known as the Holy of Holies was the innermost and most sacred area of the ancient temple of Jerusalem. The Holy of Holies was constructed as a perfect cube. It contained only the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of Israel’s special relationship with God. The Holy of Holies was accessible only to the Israelite high priest. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest was permitted to enter the small, windowless enclosure to burn incense and sprinkle the blood of a sacrificial animal on the Ark. By doing so, the high priest atoned for his own sins and those of the people.  (Thank you to the website, GotQuestions, for this explanation.)

It was when Zechariah was performing this special task that he was approached by Gabriel, the angel of the Lord.  Luke, of course, described the scene accurately, but with minimal details.  Just the facts, ma’am. When you add in the additional facts of just how extraordinary it was that this particular man was performing this particular holy task during this particular time in this particular holy place – well, it just becomes that much more amazing to me.  How about you?

Luke continues his story in chapter 1, verse 11: Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. (NIV)

Paraphrase time: the angel speaks to Zechariah, tries to reassure him not to be afraid, and informs him that Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth will bear him a son who is to be named John.  And John will be great in the sight of the Lord.  Everyone will be so happy at his birth, and he’ll be a great son who will be filled with the Holy Spirit.  He will draw many people of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go on in the power of the prophet Elijah to make ready for the Lord.

It all sounds great, right?  For a distinctive priest of a long line of holy men, to be there in the Holiest of Holies, talking to Gabriel and hearing this fantastical news – Zechariah should be jumping for joy, right???

No. He says, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

He doubts!  He argues with the angel! Remember the room he was standing in was almost impossible to get into.  It was the innermost room in the temple, inaccessible except for one man, and that year it was him! No random passersby could have gotten in and made up a story of being an angel!  He had to have known that God had sent this angel, and that he was legit.

But the realities of the world invaded his mind and despite the miraculous circumstances that had brought the angel to come visit him, the first thing he thought was, Elizabeth and I are too old to have children.  This can’t be true.

But it was true.  And his doubts and disbelief were documented for us, thousands of years later to read and learn from.  Because honestly, can we blame Zechariah for his doubts? He and Elizabeth had been yearning for a family their entire marriage and despite them being righteous and blameless in front of the Lord, as described in verse 6, it had never happened.  Scholars have reached the conclusion that Elizabeth was approaching her 60’s when she became pregnant so I’m sure they both felt that the chance of having a family of their own had long since sailed.

The consequence that Zechariah faced due to his doubts was swift and immediate: in verse 19: The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

There’s more to the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, including the same angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her about her own miraculous conception and the visit Mary makes to Elizabeth, but let’s move on to the part beginning in verse 57 of John’s birth. On the eighth day they held a traditional Jewish bris celebrating the baby boy’s circumcision and Elizabeth announced that the baby’s name would be John. The attendees asked Zechariah to confirm, and since he was still not able to speak, he asked for a tablet, on which he wrote, “His name is John.”

Then, verse 64: Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.  (NIV)

Wow!  I’m quite sure that Zechariah believed the angel’s claim during the nine months prior to getting his speech back, but what fabulous proof that God keeps his promises and chose this special couple to hold a vitally important role in the greatest story ever told.

Have you ever asked God for something that you desired, over and over ... and then when it finally came true, you had trouble believing it was a gift from God?  I’m sure we can all think of at least one example in our lives, and if so, I think we can all extend a little bit of grace to our friend Zechariah.

Dear God: thank you for this story about a very holy man who, when the time came to show his faith, faltered a little bit. It helps us to remember that even when we ourselves make mistakes, you can always still come back and use us for your purposes here on earth.  You don’t give up on us and don’t expect us to be perfect.  Thank you for that.  Amen.

 

    

 

 

What Does the Name “Jesus” Mean?

There was a worship song that I used to love singing when I was in high school.  My youth group had formed a worship team, and I was one of the guitarists as well as a singer, along with my friends.  We would sing in church, and occasionally we’d take the show on the road and perform at other churches or youth gatherings.

The song I’m reminiscing about was called “Jesus: There’s Something About that Name.”  It was recorded by the Gaithers and it was a gripping melody; very simple musically and lyrically.  But for me (and undoubtedly for others), very meaningful.  Some of the lyrics go like this: “Jesus (repeated several times) there’s something about that name. Master, Savior, like the fragrance after the rain.” (Credit goes to the songwriters: Gloria and William J. Gaither)

As we step boldly into the gospels and start our journey reading about Jesus I agree with the song title.  There’s something about that name. 

What does the name Jesus mean?

In his gospel, Luke tells us this story about the angel who visits Mary, Jesus’ mother, to forewarn her about events to come: Luke 1:30 – 33 (New Living Translation): “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

In Matthew’s gospel, we read the story where an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph, Mary’s fiance, after Mary becomes pregnant. Matthew 1:20 – 21 (NLT): …An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

In my Bible, there’s a note attached to the name Jesus that reads, “Jesus means The Lord Saves.”  It is also commonly believed that Jesus translates to Yahweh saves. Yahweh is a name that Old Testament Jewish people used to address God.  So, God (Yahweh) is sending his son (Jesus) to save us.  It’s all right there in the name!

As we read further in Matthew’s gospel, we learn another name for Jesus and its meaning: Matthew 1:22 - 23 (NLT): All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.” (The verses Matthew is referring to here are Isaiah 7:14.)

I did some homework on the name Jesus to see if I could gain any additional insights.  In Hebrew, Jesus’ name is Yehoshua which, over time, became contracted to the shorter Yeshua. Yehoshua, and therefore Yeshua as well, means “the Lord is salvation.”

If ever a name was packed with significance, it is the name Jesus. Scripture says Jesus has been given “the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11, New International Version).

I find it so wonderful that as God orchestrated his master plan for sending his only begotten son to earth, that he left no detail to chance. He even instructed the couple he chose as earthly parents what to name him, the most powerful name of all.

As we read further into the life of Jesus, we learn that the name of Jesus represents spiritual authority and power over evil forces.  Mark’s gospel relates several stories of Jesus’ power to make demons flee from people they possess, and others in which Jesus’ followers purge people from evil demons simply by summoning Jesus’ name.

So, what does all this tell us as Christians?  To me, it tells us that we serve a powerful God and we have a loving and powerful advocate in Jesus.  We can rest assured that there is nothing that we will ever encounter in our lives that Jesus can not see us through. Jesus was sent to us by the Father in order to provide salvation to those of us who believe in Him.

And although that knowledge doesn’t guarantee (or even suggest) an easy life with no challenges … it means that as we encounter the troubles of life that will always accompany us, we can reach out at any time to Jesus for help as we go about our way. And we know that from the very beginning, Jesus was our Savior, our Salvation.  His message is love and that provides me with so much comfort.

Let’s pray:  Dear Father, thank you for sending your son and for naming Him such a beautiful, meaningful name that we can call on for all occasions.  Amen.

 

I’m ending this blog today with the Gaithers’ recording of There’s Something About That Name.  Enjoy.

 

 

Who Were the Authors of the Gospels? (Part 2 of 2)

 

Welcome back to the second part of this topic: Who were the authors of the gospels?  A quick summary: the first four books of the New Testament are called the gospels.  They document the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and they were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

In this two-part blog series, I’m covering what we know about these four important men.  Part One covers Matthew and Mark and is right here. If you haven’t read that yet, please do. Now we’ll continue to study the final two. 

First, Luke.  Luke was not a follower of the living Jesus.  There is no reason to believe that he ever met Jesus in the flesh. As he opens up his gospel, Luke makes it clear that he is not writing it based on firsthand knowledge: (Luke 1:1-4, NIV): Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Before we go any further, let’s try to answer this question: who the heck is Theophilus?

Theophilus is mentioned just twice in the New Testament, both in books written by Luke.  This Luke chapter 1 mention is the first one, and then the name appears later in Acts of the Apostles, a book Luke also wrote. There are several theories among biblical scholars about who this man was, and what relationship he had with Luke.

Most Excellent Theophilus:  The title “Most Excellent” was a Roman title of respect and generally refers to a Roman official. If Theophilus was a Roman official, it’s possible he was Luke’s financial benefactor or sponsor while Luke was off evangelizing to Gentiles about the growth of Jesus’ church.

A Gentile (non-Jewish person): Luke’s phrase “so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” gives the impression that Theophilus may be a Gentile with whom Luke has studied about Christianity. Luke wants to prove to Theophilus that what he has learned about Jesus is in fact true.  (My thanks to BibleInfo’s article, Who is Theophilus in the Bible Books of Luke and Acts for this info.)

Not a person at all: Some people think that Theophilus was not actually an individual person. The Greek word “theophilo” translates to “friend of God” and could be an all-inclusive term Luke uses to refer to the audience who will read his books. According to this idea, Luke simply meant that they were all “loved by God.”

Regardless of who the mysterious Theophilus was (if anyone), the main point of this essay is, who was Luke?

Luke lived in the first century AD and he was a very learned and educated man.  By trade, he was a physician.  We know that because the apostle Paul, writing to the new Colossian church says, “Our dear friend Luke, the doctor … sends greetings.” (Colossians 4:14, NIV). From the way Luke opened up his gospel, we know he dug deep into written papers and interviews with others in order to get to an honest, accurate document of Jesus’ life. This thoroughness would’ve come naturally to him after medical school and practice.

Luke hooked up with the Apostle Paul when Paul was sent out to grow the church of Christianity to the Gentiles. In fact, he was a frequent travel partner to Paul as he traveled around on his missionary trips.  Paul mentions Luke being with him in several of his letters to the early churches, including Philemon 1:24, 2 Timothy 4:11, and 2 Corinthians 8:18.

The other reason we know Luke was heavily involved in growing the church after Jesus was gone was that he wrote the Acts of the Apostles, which is the book that documents that movement. And unlike the Gospel of Luke where he doesn’t claim to be present for the events he’s describing, in Acts, he writes in first person (I, we, etc.) because he was there.  Starting with Acts 16:10: After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (NIV)

Between his gospel, and the Book of Acts, Luke ended up writing 27.5% of the New Testament! Luke has won his place in Christian history for being a devoted spiritual leader and documenter of the early Church.

I’ll close this section about Luke with this quote from Ryan Nelson’s 2019 article, Who Was Saint Luke, The Beginner’s Guide, “For someone who wrote so much of the New Testament, we don’t know very much about Luke. But while the details of his life have largely been lost to history, Luke’s contribution to Christianity and the world live on in the Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts.

Without this doctor-turned-historian, we would have massive gaps in our understanding about what happened after Jesus’ ascension. But thanks in no small part to his careful attention to detail and meticulous documentation, nearly 2,000 years after his death Christians around the world are still following in the footsteps of the original apostles.”

The final gospel writer is John.  Like Matthew, John was a member of Jesus’ tribe of Twelve, and witnessed his earthly ministry firsthand.  Mark 3:13 says, Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. … verse 17: James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”).

So, we see that John and his brother James became Jesus’ disciples together. They weren’t the only set of brothers who joined the Twelve: Simon and his brother Andrew were also chosen.

Earlier in the book of Mark (chapter 1 verse 19 and 20) we read, When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Do you wonder why these two brothers dropped out of their family business, leaving their father on his own, and immediately followed Jesus?  They would have to have a compelling reason to do so.  We get a clue of that in the book of Luke, chapter 5. Both sets of fisherman brothers (Simon and Andrew, James and John) were fishing all night long, were exhausted, frustrated and a little desperate because they hadn’t caught a single fish. They were smelly, angry and probably fighting amongst themselves. But Jesus, who was standing beside the lake preaching to a gathering, stopped what he was doing and told them to go back and try again. Reluctantly, they did, although they didn’t expect any change in their luck.

But verse 6 records this amazing scene, “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.” (NIV)

Who were those partners? James and John!  All four fisherman brothers experienced Jesus’ miracle and dropped everything to go follow him.

Why does Jesus call James and John the Sons of Thunder?  The Bible doesn’t tell us why, but this is a subject that many have theorized about.  Here are some:

·        James and John may have had loud and boisterous personalities and speaking voices.

·        James and John may have had such enthusiasm and zeal for preaching that their voices carried on the air like thunder.

·        Maybe they were "puffed up" or arrogant because Jesus had given the disciples the ability to heal the sick and cast out demons. (Mary Oelerich-Meyer’s article, Who Are the Sons of Thunder in the Bible?)

·        They were fast to anger. Luke 9:51-55 tells this story which may be proof to this possibility: As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. (NIV)

Any these reasons could be true why Jesus gave them the nickname Sons of Thunder, but I think it’s pretty cool that Jesus gave them a nickname at all.  I love nicknames among close friends. They are born often out of love and affection; a sense of camaraderie. When close friends call you a nickname, you feel accepted like into a family.

One thing I chuckle over regarding John is, he often refers to himself as the disciple that Jesus loved. John 13:23 (NIV): One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. John wrote that about himself. 

Another reference: John 19:26: When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son.”

And here’s another one. John 20:2: So she (Mary Magdalene) came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

What do you make of John repeatedly describing himself as the most beloved disciple? To me, it comes across as attention-seeking. You know when kids from a big family assert, “Mom always liked me best!” It’s often the point of view of the sibling who feels the opposite but asserts the unpopular position to raise his own self-esteem.

In her article, Why Is John “The Disciple Jesus Loved?” Hope Bolinger provides her take on this issue: “We can throw egotism out of the question – John didn’t use this name to draw attention to himself. The opposite, rather, seems more likely. John wanted to make himself anonymous. Those who read the Gospel who had born witness to the events would have known John’s identity from some key factors he points out. For instance, he doesn’t mention his name explicitly and mentions he leaned on Jesus’ bosom during the Last Supper.

But John appears to draw the spotlight away from himself in the narrative by removing his name and putting in a nickname instead, a trait: someone loved by Jesus.”

John wrote a great deal of the New Testament.  In addition to his gospel, and three epistles that bear his name (1 John, 2 John and 3 John), John wrote the entire book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible. Jesus chose John to receive a visit from an angel to reveal to him the events that will eventually happen.  It’s the ultimate final prophecy.  Only Luke and the Apostle Paul penned more of the New Testament than John did, and he played a major role in the early church.

Now that we’ve learned more about these four authors, it’s clear that each gospel complements the other, and provides a multifaceted look at Jesus’ ministry and teachings.

 

Dear God, we’ve learned a great deal about the four men who authored the books that teach us about Jesus and we know the learning will never be complete.  We thank you for new insights and concepts that help us to grow ever closer to you and your son. Amen.

 

 

Who Were the Authors of the Gospels? (Part 1 of 2)

In my trek through the Bible in a year, I had now completed the Old Testament!

(Insert celebration and cheers here – maybe the pop of a champagne cork!)  Ha ha.  Yes, reaching the New Testament was certainly a cause for celebration because I was now embarking on the central figure of the faith of Christianity – Jesus Christ!

The New Testament begins with four books known as the gospels. The four gospels are the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  They collectively tell us the stories of Jesus when he was born, carrying out his earthly ministry, was crucified, and resurrected.  Often, the gospel writers chose the same incidents to feature in their individual accounts, but there are also stories that appear in one or two gospels but not the others. 

This is understandable. It’s not like all four sat at a long table consulting with each other in the creation of their books – “Hey Matthew, did you include this parable?  No?  Okay, I will.”

Although the four gospels give us, as Christians, many stories and accounts of Jesus’ teachings while he was on earth, John’s gospel assures us, (John 21:25, NIV): Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

So … who are these men who wrote the gospels of the life of Jesus that we are still learning from thousands of years later?

When I started researching the answer, it interested me to know that not all of them were members of Jesus’ Twelve Disciples who followed him around during his ministry.  In fact, only two of them were: Matthew and John. 

Let’s dig into a little bit of research to get more familiar with all four:

Matthew:  The New Testament begins with the Book of Matthew, which of course means that Matthew also is the start of the four gospels. Before leaving everything behind to follow Jesus, Matthew was a tax collector. In the New Testament, tax collectors were considered despicable and dishonest people. I never really understood that.  I mean, we have the Internal Revenue Service in modern United States – those are basically the “tax collectors” of our time.  IRS employees don’t have the same horrid reputation, right?

No, they’re different. In an article by James M. Rochford I learned that in Jesus’ time, “taxes weren’t similar to modern day taxes, which pay for education, roads, and other public services. These taxes went directly to Rome—the occupying empire dominating Israel. In other words, the Jewish people were paying their oppressors to oppress them!”

Rochford’s article, Tax Collectors in Jesus’ Day, goes on to say, “In Jesus’ day, the Roman Empire overpowered the nation of Israel as a foreign, imperial power. The Romans extracted taxes from the Jewish people. The Romans would buy certain Jewish provinces for periods of five years. These Roman businessmen would employ local Jewish men to collect the taxes from these territories. The tax collectors would then tax imports, exports, bridge-tolls, road-money, town-dues, and much more. The highest bidder would win the territory, and consequently, the tax collectors would skim money off the top for themselves.”

Okay, now I understand the Jews’ hatred for their own people who were partnering with their oppressors to treat their countrymen unfairly.  Matthew was hated by his peers, but he wasn’t the only hated tax collector mentioned in the gospels.  Zaccheus was another one.

The Gospel of Luke, chapter 19 starts out with the story of Zaccheus who was a chief tax collector and very wealthy. He wanted to see Jesus as he walked down the street in Jericho, but Zaccheus was short and couldn’t see over the crowd. So, he climbed into a sycamore-fig tree to get a glimpse. Jesus looked up and greeted him by name and invited himself to Zaccheus’ house for dinner!

Although the people around them started grumbling about how Jesus should not be fraternizing with a hated person such as Zaccheus, the man himself announced that he would give half his possession to the poor and make right with anyone that he had cheated.

Jesus responded, (Luke 19:9 NIV): “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Back to Matthew. I imagine he was having the same change of heart as Zaccheus when Jesus approached him. Maybe his conscience was bothering him. After years of betraying his people for profit, and probably defending his actions to his critics, being in the presence of Jesus made him realize that he was capable of much greater things than these.

In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 9, he recounts the story of his own encounter with Jesus (Matthew 9:9 – 13 NIV): As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him … Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. … For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Personally, it is a huge comfort to me that Jesus feels that way. Because guess what … we’re all sinners!  And he still wants us to follow him.  He doesn’t turn his back on us just because we’re not perfect.

Mark: Moving on from Matthew, the second gospel is written by Mark.  Also known in the Bible as John Mark, he was not one of Jesus’ Twelve. So, how did he get the material to write his gospel?  The answer is that he was a very active participant in the growth of the Church detailed in the book of Acts of the Apostles, following Jesus’ resurrection.

Let’s take a look at where Mark is listed in the Bible (Jack Zavada’s article John Mark – Author of the Gospel of Mark was a huge help here):

·        It is believed that Mark was present when Jesus was arrested on the Mount of Olives after being betrayed by Judas Iscariot, as he wrote this somewhat mysterious reference in his gospel. Scholars believe he is referring to himself:  A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.  (Mark 14: 51 – 52)

·        He is first mentioned by name in the book of Acts in connection with his mother. Simon Peter (Jesus’ disciple) had been thrown in prison by Herod Antipas, who was persecuting the early church. In answer to the church's prayers, an angel appeared to Peter and helped him escape. Peter hurried to the house of Mary, who was the mother of John Mark, where she was holding a prayer gathering of many of the church members.  (Acts 12:12)

·        We see that Mark’s family actively supports spreading the word of the Church of Jesus.  Not only does his mother Mary offer her home for large gatherings of all the believers, but his cousin Barnabas becomes a valued travel partner of the Apostle Paul.  Barnabas puts in a good word for his young cousin to Paul, and Mark becomes an active evangelist in the Book of Acts spreading the word of Jesus to all the world. 

·        But his career starts out on a sour note!  Paul made his first missionary journey to Cyprus, accompanied by Barnabas and Mark. When they sailed on, Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. No explanation is given for his departure, and Bible scholars have been speculating ever since.  Some think that young Mark was homesick. Others say he might have been ill from malaria. A popular theory is that Mark was imagining all the hardships that lay ahead and was understandably afraid. Regardless of the reason, Mark's behavior soured him with Paul and caused an argument between Paul and Barnabas over Mark’s future (Acts 15:39).

·        Paul refused to take John Mark on his second missionary journey, but cousin Barnabas still had faith in him. Barnabas took Mark under his wing and mentored him on several trips. Over time, Paul changed his mind and forgave Mark. In 2 Timothy 4:11, Paul says, "Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry." (NIV)

·        The last mention of Mark occurs in 1 Peter 5:13, where Peter calls Mark his "son," no doubt a sentimental reference because Mark had been so helpful to him over the years. It is logical to assume that during the time John Mark and Simon Peter spent together in ministry, Peter would've told Mark many stories from his time following Jesus.  Mark, coming from a wealthy family, would’ve been much more educated than Simon Peter, a fisherman in a small town who probably didn’t have much formal education.  Although Peter would’ve been an ideal candidate to write a gospel himself, it is believed by some that Mark wrote the gospel based on his close relationship and learnings from Peter.

We’ve got two more gospel writers to cover, but I’ll break that into a separate essay.  Keep reading and enjoying! 

Let’s end in prayer:

Dear God, thank you for the presence of the four gospels in the Bible. They allow us to learn so much about the life and times of your precious son, Jesus.  They help us to imagine being right beside him as one of his followers.  Please always keep our minds open to learning more about you and your church.  Amen.

Four Hundred Years of Silence

 

Last year, as I made my way through my Bible in a Year journey, the day arrived when I reached the end of the Old Testament. I let out a cheer and a sigh of relief.  Done with the long books of history of God’s people Israel. Done with the many (way too many) battle descriptions where God led his people into bloody war with other nations to fulfill his promises.  Done with the countless rules and laws God called for his people to follow.  Done with the multitudes of prophets telling God’s people what was to come, along with pleas to be ready.

It seemed to me that if you pulled way back from the Old Testament and looked at it from the 40,000 feet level, here’s what it’s about:

1.        God loves his people and provides them with everything they need

2.        His people eventually take his love for granted, sin against God and his expectations

3.        God becomes angry and doles out discipline on his people, just as a loving parent would

4.        The people mourn and repent and ask for forgiveness

5.        God provides forgiveness.

Repeat steps 1 through 5.  Then repeat steps 1 through 5.  Then repeat steps … you get the idea.

And side note: We are “his people.” Yes, it was the ancient Jews who made the mistakes documented in the Old Testament, but I could just as easily write, “we” instead of “they.”  Throughout the Bible, when people act in a certain way, you can rest assured that modern people in today’s age still make all those same mistakes!

In order to speak with his people, God appointed prophets to share his message. His primary message was a warning that a time was coming when God will make all things right and restore humanity back to how they were originally intended before sin invaded the Garden of Eden. And the people needed to be alert and ready for that time.

Malachi is considered by most to be the very last Old Testament prophet God sent, although not all – my Chronological Bible reports that some historians believe Joel was the last one. Regardless, the very last verses of the entire Old Testament are Malachi 4:1-6. Let me share them here, in the New Living Testament translation:

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed – roots, branches, and all.

“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my servant – all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel.

“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

And … cut.  That’s it – that’s the end.  Essentially, a big “THE END” appears after that speech.

But … that’s not a satisfying ending, is it?  That’s a cliff hanger if I’ve ever seen one! If that were at the end of a bestselling suspense novel, or Hollywood blockbuster movie – if the credits came on or you turned the page only to find the About the Author page – you’d be furious, wouldn’t you?  You’d flip pages and say, “What?  Where’s the rest of it?  What happens next?”

I heard an incredible sermon that included these six verses of Malachi from one of our church’s pastors, Eric Spatz. He asked us to place ourselves as one of the Jews who lived in the era of Malachi, about 430 to 400 BC. Malachi had just delivered this fiery, impactful prophecy. You were fired up! This message was welcome, after all the fighting and difficulties of life on earth. You were determined to do everything the Lord had said. Malachi had sold you on the sense of urgency and you certainly wanted to be the side of the Lord!

Then, what happened?

Nothing, that’s what.  Life went on and assuming Malachi died off, it was time for God to appoint another prophet to keep his people informed.

But there wasn’t one. Instead, there was silence from God.

Eric asked us to imagine what we’d be praying to God after a year of silence, five years, ten years, twenty.  “God? Are you there?  Why are you silent? The world is black and you’re not responding, Lord.  Have we sinned so badly that you simply can’t forgive us?  What’s going on?”

The current generation fell away, and a new one grew up.  And another one. Now, no one alive had actually heard the prophesies of Malachi or any of the other prophets.  God’s messages were now just ancient history written on scrolls, read by rabbis and priests in the synagogue every week.

Did God forget about them?  Did he even care anymore?

To go from the end of the Book of Malachi in the Bible to the beginning of the New Testament, it takes a second to flip one page.  But for those people at the time who were waiting, it was four hundred years of silence.

As Christians, we all know what happens when we flip that one page:  Jesus is born! But before we go there, let me take you somewhere else. Eric’s passionate sermon made me start wondering, before this four hundred year wait between prophets, what was the normal length of waiting for new prophets to appear?  How different was four hundred years to what the ancient Jews were accustomed to? So, I did the research.

Here is a list of the prophets of the Old Testament with their approximate years of activity prophesying for God:

·        Elijah, 870 – 848 Before Christ (BC)

·        Elisha, 848 – 797 BC

·        Amos and Jonah, 760 BC

·        Hosea, 755 – 722 BC

·        Isaiah, 740 – 700 BC

·        Nahum, 664 – 612 BC

·        Jeremiah 627 – 580 BC

·        Zephaniah, 612 BC

·        Habakkuk, 605 BC

·        Daniel, 605 – 536 BC

·        Obadiah, 586 BC

·        Ezekiel, 593 – 571 BC

·        Haggai and Zechariah, 520 BC

·        Joel, 400 “ish” BC

·        Malachi, 433 – 430 BC

Was four hundred years between prophets a big deal for the Israelites in Malachi’s timeframe?  YES!  It was.  According to this table, the most they’d ever gone without a prophet sharing God’s word with them was about forty years. Often, several prophets were all sharing messages simultaneously.

For believers at the time, it was a dark, scary, silent time. And then … we have our choice of four gospels that tell the story of Jesus. But let’s look at one: Mark. Mark starts his gospel with the words (NLT version): This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1a)

WOW! If there was any doubt that God had arisen from his long silence, Mark tells us that this is the event everyone had been waiting for!

He goes on to quote a prophecy from Isaiah: “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’

John the Baptist! 

His message is clear (Mark 1:7 – 8) John announced, “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am – so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

And we’re off and running into the beloved story of Jesus, sometimes described as The Greatest Story Ever Told.  The pace will pick up incredibly, culminating in only about three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry before his crucifixion and resurrection. The days of waiting in darkness were over.  Thank God that He ended the silence in such a fabulous way!  A brilliant light has replaced the darkness and all the hope in heaven and earth has replaced the sadness.

Prayer: God, thank you for the way you introduced the coming of your son in such a positive and exciting way after the final prophecy of Malachi. Thank you for loving us and continuing to forgive us for our sins when we stray, and for pulling us back into the fold when we repent. Thank you for being a good, good Father. Amen.

 

 

 

Divorce and the Modern Christian

Malachi 2:16 reads, “’I hate divorce!’ says the Lord God of Israel.”

(New International Version)

Wow.  That’s really straightforward. Many sections I read during my journey through the Bible caused me to scratch my head and say, “What is this meaning to say? I need help figuring it out.”  But this one? There’s only one way to interpret it.

God hates divorce.

I was curious how many times in the Bible God admitted to hating something.  So, I Googled it. Curiously, Proverbs 6:16 – 19 provides a list of seven things God hates but excludes divorce! 

1.        Haughty eyes

2.        A lying tongue

3.        Hands that shed innocent blood

4.        A heart that devices wicked schemes

5.        Feet that are quick to rush into evil

6.        A false witness who pours out lies

7.        And a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.  Oh, and if you add Malachi’s …

8.        Divorce.

The Proverbs Seven look to be a very reasonable list of actions to avoid in your life. They also appear to be things that a person has power over avoiding.

Except that divorce thing!  Divorce is the breaking up of two wedded people, so at the very least, two people’s actions and thoughts and problems enter into the decision to end it.

What does God say before that frequently-quoted (and isolated) verse about divorce? Maybe that will help us know the perspective.

In verse 13 of Malachi 2, we read: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. (NIV)

Marriage was created by design by God Almighty and he has high standards for it. Sure, it’s a fairly easy process to take a partner to the courthouse for a civil union or to a church for a wedding. But God holds marriage in high esteem and has high expectations for the people who take the vows of marriage. In this section of Malachi we see that God made the couple one, and so in flesh and spirit, the husband and wife are his.

Remember the verse often read during wedding ceremonies, “What God put together, let no man put asunder?” (Matthew 19:6).

Here’s my interpretation: God doesn’t want divorce to be an option considered lightly.  As in, this marriage thing isn’t fun anymore.  I’m not as happy as I was on our wedding day.  It’s getting, you know, hard. Let’s get a divorce.

No.  Marriage isn’t something we can get flippantly in and out of like we’re changing socks.  On the website, GotQuestions (dot) org, we read: “Marriage is a picture of the covenant God has with His people (Hebrews 9:15). A covenant is an unbreakable commitment, and God wants us to understand how serious it is. When we divorce someone with whom we made a covenant, it makes a mockery of the God-created concept of covenant relationship.”

Reading through the Proverbs list of the things God hates, it strikes me that if a married person keeps those seven types of actions out of the marriage, there would be far fewer divorces to begin with! 

Okay, so God sees marriage as a sacred covenant between people, that includes He himself as a witness or partner. But people often make mistakes and sometimes, divorce seems the only option instead of a lifetime of misery for one or both spouses.  Does the Bible give us any exceptions to the divorce dictate?

Yes. Matthew 5:31 – 32 reads (Jesus is speaking): It has been said, “Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.” But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. (NIV)

When Jesus says “It has been said,” he’s referring to a law or dictate in the Old Testament, but what he goes on to say actually provides a higher standard on marriage and divorce than what was in practice before.  Marital unfaithfulness was mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments as reasons accepted by God for two believers to divorce. But other than that, marriage should remain a lifelong commitment.

That’s very disheartening news for Christians and Jews who have found themselves on the receiving end of very harmful behavior by their spouse. People who have entered a marriage with a person they loved, approached the relationship with the commitment required, and when they faced troubles, did their absolute best to solve the problems, leaving dissolution of the marriage as the last resort.

One year in the last decade, there seemed to be a divorce cavalcade among my friend group. In a twelve-month period, thirteen of my friends or co-workers announced they were getting a divorce. It was uncanny! Each and every one had a specific problem at the heart of the decision.  Infidelity; a drug, alcohol or gambling addiction; overspending the couple’s money without consulting the partner; the loss of interest in parenting the couple’s children; physical and/or mental abuse at the hands of the spouse.

In each case, the relationship had strayed far from the sacred covenant between spouses that God had created and intended. In some cases, the couple attempted to improve their relationship through counseling. In others, one spouse or the other was determined to throw in the towel without listening to alternatives.

Living in a marriage with this extent of problems pays a toll on all the members of the household. The spouses could be miserable and bitter and angry. The children could be confused and sad for the loss of their loving parental team.  Does God want believers to live like that in order to avoid divorce at all costs as the scripture says?

I don’t believe so.  God may “hate divorce,” but he certainly doesn’t hate his beloved children who have pursued divorce after trying with all their hearts to work it out.  God loves us and wants us to live fulfilling, happy, peaceful lives. And if we can’t live that kind of life under the negative constraints of a broken and unfixable marriage, then what can a believer do?

Pray to God to watch over you and make sure that you’re not acting in haste. Ask for forgiveness for the action, knowing how strongly He feels about it.  And ask Him to walk with you as you move on and recover from the harm you endured (or caused) within your marriage.

Danita Huie, a writer for the organization Women of Joy, gives us this encouraging message about God’s love: “There is no fine print when it comes to God’s love for you. He never says, “I’ll love you if…” He never says, “I’ll love you as long as you don’t …” Your actions, good or bad, do not determine His affection for you. There is nothing you can do that will cause Him to love you more or less.  You don’t have to earn it, and you can’t lose it. The measure of God’s love for you was unfathomable before you were formed in your mother’s womb. It’s not conditional. Immovable. Unwavering. Unconditional. That is God’s steadfast love.”

These words give me a great sense of peace. And relief.  Of course, we’re going to mess up and not deserve the immense love God has for us. But we don’t have to deserve it.  We just have to accept it.  And try to do better the next time to avoid making the same mistakes we made today.

CNBC recently performed a study of divorced people at least eight years after their marriage ended.  Interestingly, 63% of the focus group said there was one key factor that would have prevented the dissolution of their marriage. Here is a list of those key factors:

·        A better understanding of the commitment of marriage prior to marrying

·        A better understanding of the values and morals of their partner

·        Waiting longer to start a family 

·        Seeking professional help from a therapist or couples' counselor 

·        Waiting longer to get married 

Although the study didn’t break out believers from non-religiously affiliated people, my opinion when looking at all these factors is that they are all commonsense items that could’ve (and should've) been taken into account when approaching the marriage decision.  Communication about these topics between the pre-married partners would go a long way toward weeding out potentially future problems.

I recently spoke to one of my friends who is a) a strong and inspirational Christian, b) the nicest woman you would ever want to meet and c) divorced from an abusive spouse.  She has now moved on and enjoyed a long-term successful marriage with a man who is a great fit for her.  I asked her how she felt about the Malachi 2:6 verse.  Her response?  “I feel guilty.”

“Guilty? Why?” I asked. “Because you divorced your husband?”

“No, I had to divorce him because of the damage he was inflicting on me and my children.  The guilt is because divorces have long repercussions. Broken families and damaged relationships prevent the happy holidays and family dinners that non-divorced families enjoy. I should’ve never married him in the first place, as opposed to marrying him and having to end it.”

Please leave me a comment with your thoughts and experiences on this timely topic. Have you worked through problems in your marriage and gone through broken to repaired? Have you had to end a marriage due to the damaging environment the marriage provided for you and/or your family? What do you think of that list of actions that would’ve prevented a divorce? 

I look forward to your feedback.

Prayer: We thank you for sharing with us your vision and plan for the sacred covenant of marriage. We are sorry that as humans, we don't live up to your expectations all the time. Thank you for loving us through our problems and our faults.  Let us call on you and rely on you when we need help. And help us to be diligent in selecting a mate who will last a lifetime.  Amen.