The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.  If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.  The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.  Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.  That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.  Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs.  Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.  The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

Exodus 12:1-13

The Hebrews have been enslaved in Egypt for a period of 400 years. Accepted as guests in the land at the time of Joseph and his Father Israel, they now are in oppressive bondage to the Egyptians. Despite numerous God directed plaques, the heart of Pharaoh was unresponsive to the demands of God. God’s plan of freedom required a ritualistic meal of an unblemished male goat or lamb, one year of age to be utilized in a particular way of sacrifice. The blood of the sacrificed animal was to be placed on the door frame of the Israelite homes. It was this blood seen by the Lord that would spare the inhabitants of that home. The Hebrews complied and were saved by this visible blood. The Egyptians were not so protected so that the first born males of men and cattle died. At midnight the land of Egypt mourned in unison and the Hebrews were released from their captivity.

They were “passed over” by the Angel of Death not because of their actions or status but because of the visible blood of sacrifice.

Passover Restrictions

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:

“No foreigner may eat it.  Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him,  but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it.

“It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.  The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

Exodus 12: 43-47

The directions for the preparation and sacrifice of the Passover Lamb are specific and covered in great detail. Those directed to take this meal must come in a specific manner. A participant may not be outside of the Hebrew community. The animal carcass must likewise be cared for in a specific manner. A provision must be rendered so that none of the bones are to be broken.

The Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt occurred shortly after midnight. In celebration of this fact, this meal was to be enacted each year on the 14^th day of the first month.

The Death of Jesus

 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”  A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.  When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.  The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.  But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.  The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.  These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”  and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

 John 19:28-37

1500 Years later, John, the disciple Jesus loved, recorded for us an eye-witness account of the crucifixion of Jesus. Three years earlier, John the Baptist declared that Jesus of Nazareth was the lamb that takes away the sins of the world. The similarity between the lamb of the Passover and Jesus of Nazareth is clear. Both were deemed perfect. The lamb of the sacrifice was perfect in a physical sense and Jesus was perfect in a spiritual sense. He was without sin. Both surrendered their life giving blood to do God’s will. It is of note that the crucified Jesus had no bones broken during His crucifixion. The Exodus provision requires that the sacrificed lamb is to have none of its bones broken as well. Biblical uniformity is preserved.

Hours before His death, Jesus had modified the Passover celebration by the introduction of a New Covenant. This covenant did not have law as its basis but focused on the very person of Jesus. Using bread as a symbol, He declared that it was symbolic of His broken body and was to be internalized by His followers. Likewise the Passover Wine was symbolic of His blood that was to be poured out for those who believed in Him. In essence He was gifting His life’s blood so that others could live.

It is this act by the Christ (dying willingly for others) that completes the covenant enacted by God with Abraham the Father of the Hebrews. Jesus chooses to walk the blood path of life as the representative for Abraham and his kin. Such is necessary for neither Abraham nor his descendants could complete it in a sinless state. Perfection is the requirement. Only Jesus is sinless and perfect.

How does this apply to us? We come to God just as Abraham did, in faith. This faith resides in Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God who is the Way to God. It is He who walks the path of death as a substitute for crushed sinners.

We live in a time in which man considers himself smarter that God. He establishes himself as an authority that is more knowledgeable and trustworthy than God. The folly of such should be obvious but we are often guilty of having eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear.

Jesus has declared that He comes with a sword that will disrupt the whole of society. This sword is the Biblical revelation. Take care where you get your information.

We live in a time of critical decision making. Shall we stand and witness for Christianity with our lives or concede the high ground to secular humanism? The stakes are extremely high for our families specifically and society generally.

 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.  So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found.  So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”

 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Genesis 2:19-25

This scripture is taken from the Biblical Creation Story with Moses as the recorder. I hesitate to designate Moses as the author since authorship implies a control over the nature and content of the story. Moses penned this work but was not there as an eyewitness. He, in his own style, relates to us God’s view of His creative work.

Immediately we grasp that this writing pits those who accept it against the scientific teaching of this day. Rather than a plan created and enacted by God, those who declare themselves to be more rational than others, affirm that this story is mythological and a more reasonable understanding is that all of this merely evolved. No debate of ideas is accepted and the scholastic law of the land is that all of this merely happened randomly and time is going nowhere except round and around.

The Genesis story declares that God created a singular man and woman to be the parents of a humanity that would populate the earth. From this beginning God gifts procreation, but not life, to this pair. By this union the family will emerge and serve as the foundation for society.

What is apparent is that God is the responsible first cause of Motherhood. It is in the qualities of the good mother that we see the gift of a God-like love to humanity itself. Her love is innate in her composition and is not a learned behavior. It does not require a period of evolution.

 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.  One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me.  The third day after my child was born; this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him.  So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast.  The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”

But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king.  He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

1 Kings 3:16-27

 

Solomon was a son of King David born to Bathsheba. On the death of David, Solomon became the King of Israel. When visited by God in a dream he requested not riches or power but wisdom to rule God’s people. This incident of determining the mother of a living child reflects this God-given wisdom. His decision concerning this child created a crisis. The true mother forfeited her rights of motherhood so that her son could live. The other woman spoke from a platform of false-reasoning. King Solomon’s decision was based on what would be best for the child as determined by the true mother.

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

 Matthew 1:18-21

In the Hebrew society a girl became a woman when she reached the age of 12 years and 1 day. We cannot be certain how old Mary was when she was chosen to bear God’s child. Perhaps she was an early teen who was now in the standard year of betrothal. She was recognized to be the wife of Joseph but they still lived apart from one another. The wedding ceremony and consummation of their marriage lay in the future. Her husband Joseph was a man of character and did not demand that she be stoned to death. His intention was to handle this without invoking the authorities. His ability to accept the angelic revelation is proof of his knowledge of and fellowship with God. So, Joseph became the earthly father of his wife’s son. Joseph is frequently overlooked. He is no ordinary man.

In our individual search to find the God who is seeking us, what helps to solidify and assure us of His existence? Some have reasoned that it is man that has created God and not the reverse. What helps to convince you that God is real and the Bible is true? This is a very personal issue and perhaps differs for us all. What are some of the understandings that help us to grasp that God is Creator and the lover of our souls?

The Bible is an orderly compilation of books, 66 in number, written over 1600 years by 40 plus authors. Despite this diversity, it remains on task. Both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are filled with prophecies both fulfilled and awaiting fulfillment. True fellowship with God does present a peace beyond understanding. This just scratches the surface.

What seems obvious to me is that God created mothers and motherhood. It did not evolve, it is not learned behavior, and resides in the soul of the good mother. The affection that dwells in the soul of a good mother parallels the love of God. It is a love of intention because of who she is and who her child is. Such allows a mother to share an attribute of God.

Today is a day set aside for the honoring of motherhood. True and honorable motherhood embraces more that conception, gestation, and delivery. True motherhood requires a lifelong devotion of intentional love to her solitary child or children.

Genesis 12:1-4, 15:6

The Call of Abram

The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you; I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,    and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

Genesis 12:1-4

Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6

The Bible assures us that our age, or in fact any age, is not different from any other. What was created in perfection has been tainted by sin. The world presently and in the past has been dominated by evil and sin. We like to think of ourselves as enlightened because of all of the changes that have occurred in the secular world. Polio is no longer the scourge of the young, rheumatic fever is rare in this and other countries and life expectation has jumped from 47 years to the mid-seventies in the past 100 years. Despite all of the advances in the secular world, it remains a realm of darkness and danger. At the present time the Syrian people are being killed by their own government. Even in our own city, the prudent do not go to certain areas once the sun sets.

As a solution for the darkness that engulfed His creation, God called to a solitary man, Abram of Ur, and simply “Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  In more simple terms, because of faith in the person and character of God, Abram became in fellowship with God. Seeking faith in God fills the hole in everyone’s soul.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying  “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.  The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.  So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’  So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

  “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.  He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

   “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus spoke in parables which are simple stories that are directed to only one or two points. These generally fictional stories are meant to be interrogated by the soul and not merely by the mind. The mind is capable of investigating and storing knowledge. The soul has the ability to turn this learning into wisdom. The simplest definition of wisdom is to think as God thinks.

This story deals with the Kingdom of Heaven and the offer of the King to grant entrance. The invitation is ignored by most but is opened to all. One who comes is not properly attired and is expelled from the Kingdom into darkness. The point that seems clearly made is that we come to the King (God) on His terms and not in any random fashion. The emphasis is on the universal call to all to come to the feast but God dictates that which must be met to participate in the joy.

The Incarnation of the Word of Life

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  We write this to make our joy complete.

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John 1:1-7

1st John, written by the Apostle John, “the one Jesus loved,” is a letter written by John in his waning years. The purpose is to discount heresy that had attached itself to the Christian message. John’s thrust was that joy does not have to be postponed to the future but is available at the present if we seek to fellowship with God.

The Scripture from Matthew alerts us to the fact that this fellowship is initiated by God and certain conditions must be met before we are accepted into His presence. The reference to the “wedding suit” makes it clear that this is not a casual “come as you are” affair.

At issue is the transfer from the Kingdom of Darkness (the secular world of sin) to the Kingdom of Light wherein we have fellowship with God and with one another. The means and the mechanism by which this occurs are attributed to “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Some in theologic circles of our day are appalled by the idea of “Substitutionary Atonement” and the shedding of the blood of Christ for the cleansing of sin. The idea, however, is as old as the Old Testament itself which declares that there is no forgiveness from sin without the shedding of blood. I doubt that even the most tenured of seminary professors would be bold enough to challenge John’s statement. John’s statement is backed by personal experience with the Savior Himself.

The thrust of 1st John to his audience of nearly 2000 years ago has the same application today. Joy does not find its source in the contemporary secular culture of any day. The secular world is dark, seducing and temporary. It may provide fleeting happiness but never lasting joy. Joy is an awareness of an intimate fellowship with God that overcomes all circumstances and situations.

It is fellowship with God that Abram discovered and enjoyed. This same fellowship with God is available to all who accept the Lordship of Jesus. By the aspect of forbearance the blood of Jesus cleansed the sin of Abram centuries after he died. The same act of selfless sacrifice can cleanse us all. We must seek it, ask for it and follow its source. Only Jesus can provide us with fellowship with God. It is then that joy dawns in our souls.

Have You Been Gifted?

Then the LORD said to Moses,  “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,  and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—  to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze

Exodus 31: 1-4

The Hebrew people had been enslaved in Egypt for a period of 400 years. They were used as manual labor for the construction projects of the Pharaohs. So, any man’s occupation and labor differed very little from any other. When God called and led them from their status as a slave people it was necessary for God to teach them of His nature and character. He initiated this by giving them rules and regulations that we refer to as the Hebraic Law. He likewise had to teach and direct them in what was to be acceptable in worship. The pagan culture of the Egyptians was saturated with multiple gods and idols. The Hebrews were to understand that the God who called them was solitary and must be approached in a God-directed fashion.

God commanded that a Tabernacle (a portable tent) of complex design be fashioned to house theologic symbols that would direct not only them but us many centuries later. These articles were not to be idols to worship but would point to their liberating God. To accomplish this work God endowed Bezalel and Oholiab with the necessary skills and knowledge to construct these specific objects. The combination of skill and knowledge was gifted by the Holy Spirit so that they might do such all for the glory of God.

At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

“Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.  Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.  So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,  I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

 1 Kings 3:5-12

Centuries later, after the Kingdom of Israel had been established, Solomon became king. The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and gave him an open opportunity to ask for whatever he desired. Unusual for politics at anytime was Solomon’s request for wisdom that would guide him in his governing of the people. In true modesty, he requested a discerning heart to distinguish between right and wrong. His request pleased God and God granted him both wisdom and riches beyond his imagination. Unfortunately Solomon turned his gifts toward earthly pleasure. As a result we find his writings reflecting disappointment and depression as Solomon’s gaze was turned form God to other issues.

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  For we live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:5-10

 

Paul, as the apostle to the gentiles, spent a considerable time in Corinth where he had established a church. Of all of the ancient cities, Corinth was the prime example of a pagan culture and its focus. The church had made great strides but it is only natural to suppose that trouble was just around the corner. 1^st and 2^nd Corinthians deal with issues of doctrine as well as general principles. Paul as their founder was confronted with clarifying issues about daily affairs, resurrection and judgment.

2 Corinthians 5:10 (For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.  ) speaks to an issue that was confusing to the Corinthians and perhaps to us as well. We always draw back at a Biblical pronouncement of “Judgment” for we realize that ordinarily judgment is concerned with the aspect of sin. Paul is however writing to a church body that contains members who have professed Jesus as Lord and Savior , on whose soul and body their sins were punished. These are persons of faith and not merely nominal Christians. So, with what does this judgment deal?

With the miracle of rebirth the very Spirit of God comes to dwell in your soul and He provides spiritual gifts that are to be directed to the good of God’s Kingdom and to His Glory. The gifts are individualistic, numbering one or more and are given as equals to all the recipients. One gift is just as important as any other. The judgment rendered here concerns what we have done with the gift or gifts. The results are “tested by fire” so that which is not of true value is burned away leaving that which was clearly done for the Kingdom of God. The “whether good or bad” does not deal with sin but with the utilization of these gifts. The judgment here does not deal with banishment but with reward for the good and tears for the bad.

The question of all of us is “What is your gift or gifts and what are you doing with it or with them?” To say that “I don’t have a gift” is not an acceptable objection. Your talent may have nothing to do with the conduct of organized worship within these walls. The issue comes down to what we do for God and others as a manifestation of our love for God and neighbor. We all must answer this question.

“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.  Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.  Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.  But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

Daniel 12:1-4

The Old Testament book of Daniel contains many significant events such as the survival of his three friends thrown into the fiery furnace, Daniel’s night in the lion’s den, the hand writing on the wall, as well as an end time countdown when time expires and a judgment ensues. Perhaps more striking is a generalized resurrection of the dead to either everlasting life or eternal shame and condemnation. To this point in time, the nature and extent of the resurrection of the dead was nebulous. Such is clearly promised and the implication is that Daniel will be one of the wise who will shine like the stars in the heavens. What is implied is that death will not have the last word but will be defeated. This news is noteworthy and has application to the whole of humankind this and all days. The prophetic word is not accompanied with any explanation that declares how this is to come about. Such a mystery is to be disclosed in the future.

Who has believed our message    and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

Isaiah 53:1-2

By oppression^] and judgment he was taken away.  Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living;   for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence,  nor was any deceit in his mouth.  Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,  and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days,    and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered,   he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Isaiah 53: 8-11

 

Years before the great prophet Isaiah had introduced us to the Suffering servant who was to be God’s agent. The Jews of his day and later as well did not know what to do with this Suffering Servant. The knowledge hinted at by Daniel is portrayed in a 2700 year old work that outlines the role, purpose, crucifixion and death of this figure who will likewise be resurrected from the dead and will see his offspring.

Those who turn to look upon Him in faith will be rescued from shame and their sins will be completely and everlastingly overcome.

Jesus Has Risen

 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

 Matthew 28:1-8

 

Four gospels present us with four different accounts of who was there, when and how. Does this lessen the veracity of the fundamental story? No, not really. If there were four identical accounts, we would certainly have something to worry about. If multiple witnesses in a court of law give identical eyewitness accounts, they have been coached as to what to testify.

Was the tomb really empty? This is the one thing that everyone agreed upon. The soldiers revealed it to be so. How, they didn’t know. The skeptical Jews said that the disciples stole the body away. Their state of mind was not one of taking on a contingent of armed Roman soldiers. They were hiding behind closed doors and concerned as to whether they were next. Thomas was unwilling to take the word of his companions despite his close association with them for 3 years. An ancient book of religion dating over 1500 years into the past said that Jesus merely swooned and the cold stone of the tomb revived Him. This is a great faith in homeopathic medicine. Jesus had been exsanguinated by His multiple wounds and the Roman lance plunged into His right chest would have killed Him had He not already expired. Multiple additional witnesses included His brother James who thought Him to be insane, the pair on the Road to Emmaus, 500 on a mountain top in Galilee and to Saul of Taurus on the road to Damascus.

What else makes this story ring true? Convinced Jesus was alive; His disciples challenged the Jewish leaders, the Roman Empire, and the secular world at large with this story. Such cost the majority their lives.

But why did Jesus not appear to the powerful and the elite? The issue is not with the intellect alone but with the dark soul and spirit of humankind. The need is not merely knowledge to inform but wisdom to transform. Jesus came for sinners who can comprehend that they need a Savior. There is only one who died on a cross but was resurrected from the grave. It is He that provides the narrow path to a resurrection of Joy.

Good Friday has its purpose and the proof of its worthiness is the resurrection of the Savior on Easter Sunday. It is on this day that Christians profess that the Savior has arisen. He has arisen indeed.

 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River^] to the ends of the earth.
As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.

Zechariah 9: 9-11

A Christmas gift of this past season was a historical work of Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. I suspect Mr. O’ Reilly did little of the work but his name as one of the authors provided the book with a potential audience. The book was “Killing Lincoln” and it outlined a dark chapter in our history. It portrayed the great ambivalence of our country at that time and clearly exposed the dark heart of humankind. John Wilkes Booth as a Southern Sympathizer was able to get close enough to Lincoln as he sat watching a play to fire a pistol shot into his head. In contrast to “Gabby” Giffords who was shot in similar circumstances, Lincoln did not survive.

After Lincoln was shot a call went out for a physician and a young military doctor responded. There was little he or anyone could do but he offered what was available at the time. I was amazed to read that the physician was able to “restart” Lincoln’s inspirations by stretching himself out on Lincoln’s body as it was placed on the floor. The technique used by the doctor was taken from the Bible as applied by both Elijah and Elisha on young men who appeared to be dead. I found this to be striking that a technique applied in the Bible would be standard practice thousands of years later and would be known of and applied by Lincoln’s emergency physician.

Even more impressive to me are the prophetic utterances that are contained in the Bible. That which deals with God’s Anointed is defined as Messianic Prophecy. Not only are we told who His ancestors were (genealogy), we know of His birth place, His role, teaching style, demeanor, death and resurrection form the grave.

Zechariah, who wrote hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, described the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey, an animal of peace. The prophet Daniel also predicted the exact time that this entrance would occur. God revealed to him that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem 173,880 days after an edict was delivered. Is all of this merely chance? I think not.

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

  They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.  Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.  Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,   “Hosanna”   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”    “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Mark 11:1-11

 

This is certainly a more familiar scripture and is a historical recording of this predicted feat. It serves as an official announcement by Jesus that He is the awaited Messiah. He comes on an animal of peace rather than war therefore stating that His mission was different than anticipated by those that looked for Him. His role was to destroy the curse that has hung over mankind since our first disobedience. This ancient political rally with calls for “God save us” (Hosanna) anticipated a physical freedom from Roman rule. However, the Anointed Man riding the donkey had come to turn sinners into children of God. The curse of death hanging over all of the sons and daughters of Adam was to be removed by accepting this man as the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.  “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?  It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.  She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.

Mark 14: 1-10

When a famous man, such as Jesus, was being entertained by a dinner, a limited number of people were allowed to enter to view the event. The host allowed the general populace to see and hear him. Such a woman entered and poured a jar of a very expensive liquid over the head of Jesus. She was scolded for such action but Jesus rose to defend her. Jesus interpreted this as a preparation for His burial. Burial is preceded by death so Jesus was publicly declaring that His death was eminent.

It is at this point that this story becomes very, very personal. Paul in his letter to the Romans declares that all sin and fall short of the glory of God. The standard for going into a blissful eternity is perfection. Time and time again the Bible assures and warns us that this perfection is beyond us. To be perfected requires an action by God. This action embodies mercy. Mercy is not only clothed with forgiveness but is offered in the setting of the immense love of God.

God has provided a plan for our recreation, curing our state of sinfulness. Such is replaced with perfection and a claim on eternity based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the grave.

The cries of Hosanna receive an unexpected fulfillment. Jesus prevails over the gates of Hell and opens the door of Heaven to His sheep.

The End Times

 ¹ “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. ² Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. ⁴ But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

Daniel 12:1-4

By the 12^th Chapter of the Book of Daniel, the author has spent 70 years in exile in Babylon. He is no longer young as he was when first transported to Babylon as a portion of a conquered people. Despite his status as an exile, he had gained a degree of recognition within this foreign culture. Anxious to return to God’s chosen city of Jerusalem, he prays to God asking when restoration would occur. The angel Gabriel then answered his question but also gave significant information concerning the End of Times. This information was then followed by a vision that was monumental for the Hebrew Scriptures. The focus was upon a resurrection from the dead with many rising to everlasting life and others to everlasting contempt. Physical existence of life followed by death would eventually result in a resurrection of the dead to life clearly showing that this was not all that there is. Such was a quantum leap in Hebrew theology.

¹ “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

John 14:1-4

Many hundreds of years later we find Jesus of Nazareth in an upper room attempting to comfort His disciples prior to His capture and confrontation with the authorities who wished Him dead. His assurance deals with His preceding them to “His Father’s House.” He will then return to bring His followers to be with Him. His message speaks both of resurrection and fellowship with Jesus.

Jesus then drops the theologic Atomic bomb by declaring that no one comes to the Father other than by Him. The answer to the modern day multi-pluralism in religion jumps from the page of John’s Gospel. Jesus declares that no one can come to the Father other than through faith in Him as the Son of God. The exclusiveness of this statement is obvious. Jesus offers no compromise.

 ¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:11-15

But what of the resurrection which the Bible speaks of repeatedly? The Biblical declaration is that all of mankind will be raised to life at an appointed time. The declaration is that the individual soul is eternal and will be in the presence of God or separated from God in grief and darkness.

A secular misunderstanding shared by some pursuing religion is that merely dying serves as a justification for going into eternal bliss. More simply, you go to Paradise when you die no matter how you have lived your physical life. This is the definition of universalism. Note that such an understanding declares that this life is not followed by a judgment. This understanding is certainly not Biblically based.

This Scripture from Revelation is concerned with judgment and is called the Great White Throne Judgment. Note that both the great and the small stand before the judgment seat. One of the books opened is the Book of Life. Those being judged were evaluated with respect to what they had done as recorded in this book. The hearing is fair and justice prevails. Sadly, every one appearing here will be found guilty. Here is the true and valid theologic point that needs to be understood. This judgment scene is reserved for those who failed to establish fellowship with God through Jesus the Son in this life time. The issue is sin. Those who have sought Jesus as Sinbearer and Savior in this lifetime will not be found in this judgment scene before the Great White Throne. Their sins have been judged on Jesus in the past as He hung on the cross as the Suffering Servant. Faith in Jesus as Savior and followed as Lord results in God’s action to extend mercy that makes them sinless in the eyes of God.

A word of caution is in order for us all. Being a member of a worshiping body as the result of a confession of sin is no guarantee of salvation and safety. Being called Christian by ourselves or others does not award one the verdict of “not guilty” by God. Not only must we seek Jesus as Savior and Sinbearer, but we must follow Him by doing His will and loving others as did He. We must not be tempted to rewrite the Biblical code of morality to accept what secular society proposes and adopts. We must be willing to swim against the current of the secular world, pursuing Christ in His righteousness and love. We are not now nor will we ever be at liberty to ignore the clear dictates of God as recorded in the Bible. God is not changed now nor will He ever be. What was revealed several thousand years ago as acceptable morality will not and cannot be changed. The definition of sin originates from God and not man. The reason is clear. Sin is the wounding of God by His created. The grasping of spiritual peace requires that we believe and accept God’s written revelation to us. The Bible is the Word of God.

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, So far from my cries of anguish?
² My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

 ³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises^.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

 ⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
⁸ “He trusts in the LORD,” they say,
“let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”

Psalm 22:1-8

One of the Bible’s features that sets it apart and makes it unique from all other literary works is the aspect of prophecy. In this song written by King David 1000 years before the birth of Jesus we cannot help but recognize that it points to the crucifixion scene of the Christ. The theme is the desperation of Jesus that causes Him to cry out in anguish, lamenting His abandonment by God. He contrasts His isolation from God to that of His ancestors. They cried to God and were saved from enslavement and exile. His lot is one of ridicule, insults, and mocking. His trust in God does not result in rescue. Either His God is not powerful enough to intervene to save Him or perhaps His relationship with God was not sufficiently perfected to warranty being rescued. However Isaiah presents another point of view.

³ See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness— ¹⁵ so he will sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Isaiah 52:13-15

¹ Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

 ⁴ Surely he took up our pain    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

 ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression  and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

 ¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,  he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Isaiah 53:1-11

 

It was not until the 16^th century that the various books of the Bible were divided into chapters. This seems not to have been an inspired work of God since simple reading would add the latter portion of Chapter 52 as an introduction to 53. Over 700 years before the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet Isaiah gives us a vivid preview of the fate of the Suffering Servant so clearly depicted in his work. The confusion concerning its meaning would seem obvious for crucifixion as punishment for a capital crime was not to be developed for another 500 years. What was clearly mysterious for those who read his work was obviously clarified by the brutal death of Jesus outside the walls of Jerusalem on a wooden cross.

Not only do these passages provide a graphic picture of the crucifixion of Jesus but the reasons for this event are made clear. It is here that we grasp that this punishment and suffering is borne by One who is innocent for all who are guilty. His being pierced and smitten was not for His crime but for the sins of others. We are perhaps surprised to find that it is for the very will of God that this is taking place. He is not merely killed but is crushed and abandoned.

It is then that Isaiah rises to the top of a mountain of declaration to indicate that death is not the victor. (Isaiah 53:11_ after he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,    and he will bear their iniquities) The triumph of triumphs is heralded and He is resurrected from the grave. This act of God makes it clear that the Suffering Servant was not guilty of sin or crime but was restored to life with His work accomplished.

Think deeply about this issue. It is written as prophecy and not as history. Hundreds of years must pass before that predicted  becomes historical fact.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

 ³² As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷ Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

 ³⁸ Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

Matthew 27: 32-42

 

Isn’t it interesting that Isaiah’s recording seems to give us more facts than that of the actual historical recording in the 4 gospels? He was pierced and crushed but in His destruction we are healed by His wounds. The remote historical recordings do however bring out a very important point. The depravity of the entirety of society is evident. He is mocked by the chief priest, elders, and teachers. He is taunted by the soldiers. We also are aware that previously the crowd clamored for His crucifixion when just a few days before they petitioned that He save them. They honored Him as He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. What was a glimmer of faith in His person days before, turned to disbelief and the onlookers jeered an ultimatum. If only He would come down from the cross, they would declare their faith in Him.

Surely Jesus was tested “to come down” from the cross but that was not God’s will. God’s will was then, and is now, that mankind  be saved from sin, himself and Satan. To do so does not require only “a mind event.” This would be the realization intellectually that Jesus was who He said he was, the Son of God. The proof would surely be there but the issue of the separation of mankind from God would still be operative. The need was the individual need of each chief priest, elder, teacher and us to experience a new birth of soul that can be produced only by God the Holy Spirit.

Our problem is not intellectual but is spiritual. Until we are reborn in soul and spirit we are dead to God. We are unable to communicate with God until we are crushed by our sin as was Jesus on the cross under the weight of the sins of the whole world. Jesus called to God in despair and anguish and we must do so likewise. We must be changed in mind, memory, will, conscience, and affection. Alone this is an impossibility for us as sinners. Only God can do so. Critical is faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Only God can gift this. We must be willing and desiring to be changed.

We are powerless to make this change. Had Jesus responded to the calls to come down from the cross, which He could have done, we would have no hope. Our hope is reality in the resurrected Savior. Jesus is the eternal Sinbearer for those who acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior.

A New Covenant

31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,[a] says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 Jeremiah 31:13-34

Jeremiah was a prophet of God in the late portion of the 8th century B.C. His prophecy was given at a time of great spiritual adultery. The people had not abandoned the worship of the God of Abraham but they had added idol worship as a portion of their rituals and ceremonies in Jerusalem. What possibly could have been their thinking since God’s  first and second commandments declare that God is solitary and prohibits the worship of idols? The answer is surely in the realization that they had dark hearts and were tempted and seduced by their own natures. Has the passage of 3000 years altered our responses to similar temptation? The answer is clearly “no” as we view our culture engrossed in materialism, illicit sexual intimacy and perversion, and often times hooked on mind altering drugs that are both legal and illegal.

Jeremiah declares the word from God that will result in a spiritual change of man’s dark heart prompting a true and focused worship of the God of creation. So accomplished, God’s displeasure will be turned into blessings for those who seek and follow His directions.

24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Ezekiel 36:24-27

In a somewhat miraculous fashion, God planned to rectify this problem by removing mankind’s unresponsive heart ( both to God and man) and to replace it with a new heart and a new spirit. In association with this change of the soul will be the administration of clean water to wash away mankind’s sin and disobedience. So changed, mankind will be changed and motivated to follow the laws of God in obedience. The end result of this is that those changed would be acknowledged as the people of God and God would be the true God without rivals.

The New Birth

3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

John 3:1-9

 

Moving forward some 800 years, Jesus of Nazareth bursts forth on the scene as a young supposed prophet of God. Nicodemus comes at night, the time for study. Jesus cuts to the heart of the issue for Nicodemus  and the rest of us as well. Our desire should be to reside in God’s Kingdom in this life and eternity  as well. Nicodemus as a physical descendant of Abraham has been taught that he, upon his physical death, will reside in God’s Kingdom. Jesus destroys this avenue of reasoning by declaring that new birth of Soul and Spirit is essential to be a member of God’s Kingdom. Reflecting on the scriptures of Jeremiah and Ezekiel this is not new theology and Jesus chides him for not understanding the authoritative revelations of God.

What is plain then and now is that this necessary change is spiritually induced and is the work of the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit of God. Simply, this is an action from above initiated, completed, and demanded by God.  A heart of flesh (living) is substituted for a heart of stone (dead to God).

The first cardiac transplantation was attempted  in Mississippi in the 1950′s. Such was offered in a heroic attempt to save and prolong life. In this first simplistic approach the surgery went well but the patient failed to survive. The actual surgical procedure was not too demanding but the post operative management was daunting. The body of the host (the patient) immediately recognizes the transplanted organ to be composed of foreign proteins and attempts to reject it. The surgery was years ahead of the necessary support to guarantee recovery and life. Additional information would be necessary to transplant a human heart.

The Hebrew heart (our Old testament comes from Hebrew writers) is composed of the soul and the spirit. All of God’s created have a soul and spirit but without rebirth by the action of God, they are dead to God and unable to communicate with their Creator. Jesus reveals that communion with God requires a spiritual miracle. This miracle is beyond the capabilities of man. It is Spirit work.

God carefully and painstakingly provides a solution by the shedding of both life and blood from His eternal Son, crucified on a cross outside of the city of Peace. The offer to overcome sin is universal but we must recognize and claim this opportunity to enjoy  its benefits. Jesus is the only way to the Father.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

Ecclesiastes means “preacher.” The author seems clearly to be King Solomon so the dating of this book is nearly one thousand years before the birth of Jesus. Solomon was granted the gift of wisdom by God but unfortunately he squandered a great percentage of such in the pursuit of earthly wisdom ad experiences rather than fellowship with God. The far reaching theme and message of this book is that life can become a search characterized as vanity (folly) if your focus is on the temporal and not the eternal.

The Biblical story reveals that it is God who gives work to mankind. Such is to be a fulfillment of life. The entrance of sin into the world transformed work into toil and produced a hardness to life that was not the original intention.

There are two striking characteristics in life that are revealed in the 3^rd chapter of this book. The first is that He “put eternity in the heart of man.” Within the heart, a combination of the soul and spirit, is the awareness that the soul of man is eternal. Who we are as individuals will never die. We therefore are spiritual beings confined at this moment in a physical body.

The second point speaks to a major issue of our day. Did we merely evolve from a lower form of life rather than being created by God as the ultimate of His creature genius as portrayed by the Bible? Prior to the age of Charles Darwin man looked at nature and saw God. Now we are told to look and only see chance. God says through Solomon that man can never figure this out. Its unfolding is by Biblical revelation only. God must tell us.

¹ LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

   You have set your glory
in the heavens.
² Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them^]

 ⁵ You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their  feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

 ⁹ LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8:1-9

The 8^th Psalm is a hymn of praise declaring God as the Creator of all including mankind. He has made man to be a little less than that of the heavenly beings. God has gifted him with both glory and honor and has created him in the very image of God. This image allows him to think and reason, give love and receive it and to glorify God. It is God’s desire to fellowship with man but only on His terms. This fellowship allows us to be in harmony with God despite the great disparity in our natures. Simply, God is Creator and we are the created. All of this is for the glory of God.

3^rd Scripture/ Blue Ribbon

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.   ²⁸ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Matthew 16:24-28

The revelation within the Old Testament prepares us for the coming of Jesus of Nazareth that we accept as God’s Messiah. It is our understanding that the Anointed One of God comes to deal with the aspect of sin that has marred God’s creation and mankind as well. The barrier between men and between man and God has been destroyed by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The benefit of the work of Jesus is claimed by accepting Him as the Savior of mankind. Faith in Jesus makes it possible for sinful man’s eternal soul to go into the presence of God in eternity. The options are only two. Following earthly life, we are either granted an eternal residence in the presence of God or denied such. The choice of which it will be must be made in this lifetime.

Jesus instructs all of us who desire to come unto Him to deny ourselves and to pick up our cross and follow Him. The understanding is quite clear. The cross picked up by Jesus led to His sacrifice of His life so that others could live eternally in the presence of God. Our cross is not likely to require our physical death but does require that we gift our lives to God and to neighbor. In keeping it we lose it, in giving it away we gain it, all for God’s glory. That is why we are here.