Chapter Twenty-four

The week of July 1


No Ordinary Man

Jesus did not have his own home. He occasionally traveled in southern Judah (predominately for festivals), and ventured into Samaria in the middle of Israel, but His predominant ministry was up north in Galilee, particularly in Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. His teaching consisted primarily of stories with somewhat predictable endings. The stories were more obvious to those seeking God and more obscure to those with hardened hearts. Story narratives speak to post-moderns. If you had been there, how would Jesus' stories have spoken to you?

Pp 335-40 Many of Jesus' hearers lived by the soil so He used these topics in His parables, earthly stories with heavenly meanings. One parable spoke of the common seed falling on various kinds of soil. The seed was potent to sprout, but the receptivity of the soil gave opportunity to grow. The moral was to rely on God's changeless message and to be receptive soil in order to multiply growth. In another parable grain ripened when you are not looking, and is reaped sooner than later. In another, a mustard seed, one of the smallest, can grow to be one of the largest plants. Growth is by faith, not by sight.

Jesus spoke of a shepherd looking for his lost sheep, a woman seeking her lost coin equal to ten percent of her worth, and a father who gave his selfish son his inheritance. When the son repentantly returned, the father was grateful, but his other son begrudged the brother's return. This showed the heart of God Who desired sinners to repent, and the heart of the Pharisees, who gloated in keeping people in bondage to man's laws.

Jesus told the story of a man being beaten, robbed and left on the side of the road. While others lacked compassion and passed him by, a man, even a dishonored Samaritan, went out of his way to care for the man and provide for his well-being. Jesus highlighted the person who had mercy on another as being the good neighbor.

Pp 340-3  Jesus gave extended teaching on values of the kingdom. He was the King and this was how He wanted His kingdom to operate. It was an upside/down kingdom in which the servants were elevated and emulated and the proud were reaping what they sowed. People were 'blessed' when they did what God desired. These were the salt (seasoning) of the earth and the light of the world, shining the light on God's way. People were taught to pray in a simple, authentic manner. Forgiveness was in proportion to one's own forgiving. Treasures are not counted in ‘things’ and worry is banished because God cares for us. As birds and flowers represent a caring Creator's provision, we may set aside anxiety and realize God care for us.

Pp 343-6  Jesus used challenging moments in the natural world to make teachable moments. Jesus calmed a storm at sea with His own voice. An out of control, self-destructive man living in a graveyard succumbed to a word of authority from Jesus. Persons were more important than animals as the demons went from this man into many pigs. A woman with a twelve-year bleeding disease was healed as she faithfully touched the hem of Jesus' garment. The synagogue leader’s (Jairus) daughter was raised back to life after briefly tasting death. Two blind men had restored sight as they had concomitant faith in Jesus' authority to heal. The blind could see and the mute could speak; surely God was present and Jesus was His Ambassador.

Pp 346-51  Jesus' ministry multiplied when He sent out the twelve to go two by two, replicating many of the same things Jesus did: preaching, healing, proclaiming the kingdom being upon the people.

King Herod, the titular Jewish monarch, was disturbed with these reports. Who was this man? It couldn't be John the Baptist (could it?) whom Herod had beheaded. John had spoken against Herod's murderous and adulterous practices. Herod toyed with John, then ultimately had him killed, so Herod would not be shown up at a party.

Jesus was distraught that John, His relative was dead. Jesus attempted to withdraw from a crowd to be replenished (He was human, after all). But the people streamed to Jesus and His compassion overcame His lack of stamina. He had five thousand families (likely 15,000+ people) fed with five loaves and two fish. His faith released God's power. Another incident with a storm and Peter on the water caused the disciples to realize that Jesus did deserve their trust. Soon after that, Jesus challenged the crowd to come to Him for spiritual trust, not merely meeting physical needs. He was the Bread of Life, a broken person bringing life to the world. Rather than asking questions about what 'eating and drinking Jesus' meant, people stopped following in droves. Would the twelve leave Jesus as well?

Fortunately, Peter acknowledged that there was nowhere else to go. Only Jesus was the Holy One, with words of eternal life. Do Jesus’ words make you go deeper with God or cause a pause in your trust?

Chapter Twenty-three

The week of June 24


Jesus Ministry Begins

From the time Jesus was 12 till 'about 30' the timeline of His life is silent. He likely led a small town existence in Nazareth of Galilee, northern Israel. He was nurtured by His parents, played with His siblings and learned the carpentry trade from His father (it is unknown whether Joseph was still alive during Jesus' ministry).

Meanwhile Jesus' relative John, only a few months older, grew in the hill country of Judah, southern Israel. He later was in the desert wilderness and then the area surrounding the Jordan River, eastern Israel. John's message from God came with boldness, more in line with the Old Testament prophets: Repent.

Pp 321-4  John's message was motivated by 'the Kingdom of God coming near'. He was not stylish nor was his diet something to emulate, but droves of people from southern Israel, including Jerusalem, came out. Many did confess their sins and were baptized in the Jordan. This was a controversial practice, because gentiles were to be baptized in coming to the Jewish religion, but Jews had never needed to be baptized. You can bet that the Jerusalem authorities wanted to know the authority under which John acted.
We can understand why God wanted the Jews to repent, by why be baptized?

Jesus appeared at the Jordan to be baptized by John. After John told Jesus that he, in fact, should be baptized by Jesus, Jesus told that it was proper for John to baptize Him. When Jesus was baptized, God’s Spirit came down on Him and the Father spoke of His love and pleasure in His Son (notice that though the word Trinity is not in the scripture but the concept is).
If Jesus identified with humanity by being baptized, even though He did not sin, why is it hard for believers to be baptized to identify with Jesus?

Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit and was tempted by Satan to trust in himself and not in His Father in Heaven. Jesus passed this testing and piloted dependence in God through the proper use of scripture and by trusting, not tempting God.
If God trusted His Son to be tested, but not beyond his ability, what does this mean about God testing us (1 Corinthians 10:13)? Why do we think God is against us when we are tested (James 1:12-18)?

John the baptizer continued to baptize and point people to God through Jesus. John would decrease in recognition while Jesus would increase. Jesus was 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world'. John was pointing to the One that all prophets had awaited, the Anointed One, Messiah. Even some of John’s disciples left him to follow Jesus.
Can you see why John may have felt a little disconsolate over this?

Pp 324-6  Jesus' followers would tell a friend or relative; Andrew brought his brother Peter. Jesus would challenge men to follow Him. This was a big thing to leave home because the men were needed to provide financially for their families.

While at a wedding, Jesus intervened in an awkward situation when the wine ran out. He turned several large jars, a total of over 120 gallons, into wine. Initially, only the banquet director knew this, but the news likely spread quickly when people tasted the quality of the wine.
Why was Jesus' first public miracle in this particular manner?

Pp 326-7  Jesus held private meetings to utilize people's needs as a means of describing Himself. Nicodemus was a strict member of the ruling council. Jesus told him that people need to be 'born again' and 'born of the Spirit' to enter God's kingdom. Jesus' word pictures did not translate into Nicodemus' experience. God wanted people to know He loved them so much that He 'gave' His Only Son, so that they may experience eternal life. Nicodemus would have three years to ponder this.

Pp 327-9  While many Galileans would bypass around Samaria to not be contaminated by religious half-breeds, Jesus directly went to Sychar for a divine appointment. In being asked for a cup of water, a woman saw a discrepancy; she was a woman and a Samaritan, the opposite of Jesus. Jesus used the word picture of water as an analogy to living water that He could offer. He ended the conversation by disclosing His identity to her. He understood her identity by telling her she had many husbands (and presumably was unfulfilled, needing this spiritual water). We are not told if she brought her man-friend, but she did bring the rest of the town, who then believed in Jesus for themselves. Conceptualize the townspeople, adorned in white, coming to the well. The fields were white for harvest.

Pp 329-31  Jesus had a profound healing ministry. There is nothing like meeting people in great physical need that would start a people movement. People with psychotic behavior had spirits removed from them. Peter's mother had a fever broken. This, and much of Jesus' ministry centered around Capernaum, Peter's hometown. People with skin diseases were healed, making them socially acceptable. A paralyzed man was healed in front of his friends and other pairs of eyes, who were impressed. Jesus tied this power to His power to forgiving sins. How could this be; only God could forgive sins. Jesus would heal common people and call regular sinners to follow Him, such as the disciple Matthew, a tax collector. Jesus was not looking for 'self-righteous' but God-convinced sinners, people who knew they needed God.

Pp 331-2  Jesus put human needs first. The Law was for humans, not humans for the Law. When a man was not allowed to be healed because it was the Sabbath day, Jesus had unalloyed anger. The Sabbath was made for mankind; so Jesus healed his lifelong shriveled hand. Healing was many times the springboard to His teaching.

Pp 332-3  Wherever Jesus stepped a crowd appeared. Sometimes these turned into extended times to tell about the kingdom, how to relate to others under the authority of the King. Jesus called twelve men to move from the follower-disciple status into the sent ones-apostle status. They were still learners, but now would be emissaries of Jesus, preaching and healing. Women were called to follow as well. They had been recipients of Jesus' ministry and helped to support the endeavors of the traveling ministry.

Pp 333-4  John the Baptist spoke the truth no matter what. He was arrested by Herod Antipas for publicly criticizing Herod after he murdered the husband of his future wife. Later John wondered if Jesus really was the true One sent by God. Instead of critiquing him, Jesus lauded John as the greatest man ever born and spoke that John was the forerunner prophet, the Elijah who was to come.

Chapter Twenty-two

The week of June 17


The Birth of the King

Malachi had been the last prophet to be heard. For 400 long years there were priests and local leaders,but no king and no prophet with God’s word. The Greeks with Alexander the Great succeeded the Persians in dominating the known world and then the Romans ruled with the Caesars. Israel showed a spirited fight during the times of the Maccabean revolt, but all of Israel yearned to throw off the yoke of Rome and have the peace of Messiah. As Paul would later write in Galatians: It was the fullness of time.

Pp 309-11  The apostle John in his Gospel describes the incarnation (God becoming flesh) as the Word becoming flesh. The Word of God, so long silent, was now a live human being as a baby. He was with God and was God at the same time, transversing time because 'He was in the beginning'. He was the Creator, Life-source, and Light of the world, coming from His Father and was His only Son. He would give the prerogative for humans to become children of God. His mission was to make God His Father known and explained.

His human name was Jesus, meaning God saves. God sent His angel to a female descendent of David (the new king must come from David), to tell her she would conceive and give birth to a son, the Son of the Most High. How would you have responded to this message?

Mary knew she was a virgin so she asked how this could be. The answer was: through the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit normally came upon prophets and warriors, not servant girls. Yet she lived by faith and glorified the Lord for choosing her.

Pp 311-13  How would you respond if you were Joseph, Mary's finance? Mary boldly told what the angel had said. Joseph understandably had a difficult time believing her and was going to quietly release her from their marital responsibility when the angel confirmed Mary's story. This and over 300 other Old Testament prophesies were confirmed in the life of Jesus. So Joseph took the pregnant Mary as his wife.

The Caesar of that time was Augustus and he set an order that all people should return to their ancestral home for a census. Joseph set out for Bethlehem (remember David had shepherded sheep there) with a great-with-child Mary. What an uncomfortable ride! Arriving in Bethlehem they found no room but a makeshift barn and an animal feeder. Their firstborn son was delivered in these humble surroundings as God had touched down. The manger was his first bed on earth. Even more common folk were notified of the arrival. Shepherds, so untrustworthy that they could not testify in court, would witness God's music with light show and find this simple setting in the barn. Why is it so important that God's Son came to regular people? As in the Old Testament, God weaved together difficult circumstances to accomplish is aims.

Pp 313-15  Sometime before Jesus became 2yo, several esoteric men from the East came looking for this child to whom God directed them. Jesus was that person. They bore gifts and gave accolades. One problem developed when the puppet-Jewish King Herod said he also wanted to honor the child. When these men skipped town, Herod slaughtered a couple dozen young children to make sure for himself that the chosen child was dead. The angel had alerted Joseph so they already had escaped to Egypt. Isn't it interesting that the Savior would again be called out of Egypt? Once Herod had died, Joseph took his family to Nazareth where he had made his living in carpentry.

Pp 315-16  Jesus lived an obedient life to his parents. He made the travels with them to festivals including as a 12yo to Jerusalem for Passover, an 160 mile round trip. After beginning the trek home, Jesus' parents realized he was missing and frantically backtracked to the Temple. Here they found him knowledgably in dialogue with the teachers (he would later do more of that). Everyone was impressed with his insight. Jesus' response to his parents was that they should have known he was about his Father's business. Though he was the Son of God, Jesus would grow in every aspect of learning life.

With this dramatic debut, Jesus peaked interest in what he would become. God sent His Son not merely for His entry, but for the reason of His purposeful exit.

Chapter Twenty-one

The week of June 10


Rebuilding the Walls

For 93 years following the initial return to Judah, the exiles continued to return. They usually followed a particular person who had orders from the king to refurbish an area, like the temple or the broken-down walls. Two of these leaders are documented in books of the Old Testament.

PP 291-4  With Artaxerxes as King of Persia a noted teacher of the Law, Ezra received permission to take an entourage to Judah. Artaxerxes had favor on him and granted him ability to bring people who would be profitable to him as well as silver and gold from the royal treasury to rebuild the temple artifacts. So Ezra departed. Why do pagan kings continue to bless God’s people to leave for home?

Ezra completed the temple but found culture intruding into the resident people as they were marrying pagan spouses and worshipped their gods. Ezra's demonstrative, repentant prayer led the people of Israel to repent. When family life becomes compromised, the people leave God.

Pp 294-5  Thirteen years later Nehemiah, the king's cupbearer was in Susa (where Esther had been). While the temple was replenished, the wall surrounding the city was broken down, leaving Jerusalem's inhabitants vulnerable to marauding bands. Nehemiah wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed. He pled with God, confessed his sins, and asked for success in approaching the king. Nehemiah, like Ezra, received permission and a blessing with finances and authority to complete the travel and project.

Pp 295-9  After arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah surveyed the perimeter of the city and then challenged the Jewish leaders to take responsibility to rebuild the wall. Rivaling authorities Sanballet and Tobiah were threatened by this Jewish initiative and set out to undermine it. In response Nehemiah prayed and set a guard.

Nehemiah encouraged the people and divided the work with proximity to where people lived. They built in rotating shifts, each with a weapon at their side, ready to respond at the sound of the trumpet. Amidst the threats, smear campaign and hard work, the wall was completed in 52 days, a stupendous feat. God did his part in protecting and the people did their part of persevering in hard work. Why does it take both of these parts to make things happen?

Pp 299-301 As the giant gates were hung, the people gathered to celebrate and hear the reading of the Law from Ezra. The people were touched by the reading of the forgotten Law and began weeping. Nehemiah encouraged them to rejoice because of the position God had for them. Mourning was turned into rejoicing. Now the people were truly home, with their temple and the safety of the rebuilt walls.

Pp 301-4  Malachi was called by God to be the last prophet of that era. He challenged those living in Jerusalem to live holy, pure lives; by being faithful and not divorcing their wives. Don't rob God of tithes and offerings. A person will come in the spirit of Elijah to bring holiness to the people. But it would be four silent centuries before this happened.

How are the physical rebuilding of the Temple and walls a symbolic parallel to the spiritual removal of rubble and rebuilding of our lives in Christ. What needs to be removed and renewed in your own life?

Chapter Twenty

The week of June 3


The Queen of Beauty and Courage

All the people of Judah did not return to their land when the exiles came home beginning in 538 BC. Some of them lived in servile roles under the domain of ever-conquering kings. Xerxes ruled over 127 provinces from India to Cush, all from his throne in Susa. Watch to see how this kingdom was affected and almost permanently affected the Jewish people.

PP 275-9 Kings often are known for their gratuitous self-love. With his wealth and prosperity on display for half the year, Xerxes drew this time to a conclusion with a week-long banquet with nothing reserved. His Queen Vashti was summoned to parade her beauty in an ode to himself. Only Vashti refused to participate. His ego dashed, Xerxes needed to decide his own response. His counselors told that the women of the kingdom would be disrespectful if she was not banished from the king. We don't know if the women became respectful, but many young virgin women did become desirous of being the next queen. Let the beauty pageant begin. Unfortunately, women were treated as chattel and had few civil rights. So the women were vying to be objects of attention and to respond to the whim of the king.

As a harem was conscripted (remember that this was a social step up for most women) a young Jewess named Esther became a part. She was put through the year-long beauty treatment and listened to her cousin Mordecai concerning a strategy for being chosen. A big part was to not reveal that she was a Jew. Finally Esther's evening with the king came and went and she won the lottery! She had favor with the king and the people. This story seems almost silly to be in the Bible; a beauty pageant for a self-serving king. Why would Esther participate in this? But this was bigger than Esther and Mordecai. Have you been in events that only made sense when you looked backward? Name one.

PP 279-82 Mordecai sat by the gate of the city and both alerted the throne of a possible assassination attempt and refused to honor Haman (who had been elevated by the King) by bowing at the gate. Haman set out to annihilate the Jews because of Mordecai's insubordination. The king gave authorization that Haman should send out a decree to be enacted later.

Mordecai is in anguish with this prospect. The Jews in all the lands grieved as well. Mordecai in a note implored Esther to plead to the king. Yet if she did so without his requesting her, she could be killed. And she had not seen the king for a month. Mordecai further warned Esther that she was also included in the decree. God could cause a rescue from another way, but that she had perhaps come to her royal position for 'such a time as this'.

Esther knew that the prior Queen, Vashti, has already been banished. Mordecai and the Jews would fast from food for three days, and then she would go to the king unannounced. 'If she perishes, then she will perish'.

PP 282-5 When approaching the king by faith, Esther was well-received and asked to give her request. Her request was a personal dinner with the king and Haman. After a first banquet she offered to prepare a second banquet for the two of them. Haman was full of himself for such good fortune. He even took the advice of setting up the pole it impale his nemesis Mordecai.

It is just the way God acts when He awoke the king that evening and had the record of his reign read to him (it was all about Xerxes). He discovered that Mordecai was not rewarded for his good deed of reporting an impending assassination. Who was presently in the royal court to honor Mordecai? It just so happened that Haman had entered to ask the king to impale Mordecai. So Haman in humiliation was the one to lead Mordecai through the streets, proclaiming his value.

When Haman arrived home, it was time for the 'party' with Esther and the king. Esther divulged that her life and the lives of her Jewish people were in jeopardy from Haman’s scheming. Haman was killed in their place and Esther received his estate while Mordecai received the ring with the king's seal.

PP 285-9 While Esther & Mordecai were saved, all the people throughout the extended kingdom were at risk to be slaughtered because of Haman's decree. Esther took an additional risk and petitioned the king to reverse the decree. He agreed to do so and had Mordecai send out the new decree with the king's seal. The Jews of these cities retaliated and killed 75,000 of their enemies.

Purim is the Jewish celebration that is remembered every year when grieving was turned into joy as the faith of Esther and Mordecai and the faithfulness of God was rewarded.

Name some character traits of Esther and Mordecai.
Why can we trust that God is working behind the scenes?
Why did the characters respond in faith and not give up?