February 11

Yesterday, we touched on Jesus looking back to Isaiah’s description of the coming Messiah, a prophecy written seven hundred years before His birth. He does the same in today’s Bible reading in Matthew 11:2.

John was confused, possibly doubting. His relative, Jesus, had been ministering for some time now, and John had told his audiences Jesus was the Lamb of God Who would take away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) Now, however, things didn’t look quite like he’d expected. Had he missed it entirely on Jesus’ identity?

As we read the Gospels, we find that Jesus’ disciples also experienced doubt and confusion. Often, these sprang from their own hearts, their expectation or desire for something else—something bigger, flashier.

But Jesus held no interest in big and flashy. He wanted spiritual depth. He wanted people to see God for He truly was—not as they wished Him to be. We will see in Jesus’ parables that the Kingdom of Heaven seldom looks like what we’d expect. The Kingdom of Heaven operates by a different set of rules. [1]

Matthew concludes this chapter with some of the Bible’s most comforting words, as Jesus says:

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30 (CSB)

Rather than a conquering King overthrowing Roman oppression of the Jewish people, Jesus came as a low and humble servant. That is, He came lowly and humbly in His first coming, but will come a second time as the conquering King. He will reestablish God’s order and create a new heaven and earth. He will redeem the world from its crushing bondage under the current reign of sin.

Application

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met a world leader. In fact, I’ve never met anyone with more political influence than a state governor or a U.S. congressman. Many of us are impressed by influencers and flashy things—big things, important things. But, in His first coming, Jesus appeared lowly and humbly. He came in a way we all could relate to and understand.

Think about that. The Creator and reigning King of the universe stepped down into His creation and took up residence. He put on a human body and became one of us. (John 1:14) We needed Him to come as that low and humble servant the first time—the perfect Man to represent us before His Father, replacing the imperfect man, Adam, with whom we all relate to in sinfulness.

[1] Matthew is the only Gospel writer who uses the term “Kingdom of Heaven.” Others refer to it as the “Kingdom of God. There is no difference between these terms. As with his birth narrative, Matthew is drawn to the royal motif of Jesus’ ministry.

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January 30

Welcome to the Gospel of Matthew! Like John, Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples, specifically one of the twelve apostles. Scholars also identify Matthew with the name Levi in Mark 2:14. (Compare with Matthew 10:3)

You may have heard critics argue that Isaiah 7:14, the prophecy that Matthew quotes in verse 23, denies the Virgin Birth. Interestingly, there are two Hebrew words for virgin: bthuwlah (pronounced beh-too-lah), meaning a true virgin—one who has not had intimate relations with a man. The other word is almah’ and refers to a young woman of marital age, possibly one newly married. Critics argue that, since Isaiah used this second word, almah’, instead of the first, bthuwlah, Mary didn’t have to be a virgin.

However, they not only ignore the fact that almah’ is used in other verses like Genesis 24:43 and Song 6:8 (where context clearly reveals its virgin use), but Matthew also uses the Greek word for a virgin in verse 23 as he quotes Isaiah’s prophecy, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive….” This Greek word is parthenos, and it always refers to a woman who has never had sexual relations. No double meaning here!

As if all of this was not enough evidence, Matthew reveals that Joseph considered divorcing Mary, presumably because of her seeming unfaithfulness during their betrothal. Matthew also carefully notes, “It was discovered before they came together,” meaning Joseph and Mary had not entered into sexual relations.^[1] Finally, Matthew, with that sharp, tax-collecting-trained eye of his, adds the detail that Joseph did not “know” Mary until after Jesus’s birth, also referring to sexual relations. (Matthew 1:25) Don’t you just love God’s modest language as well as His impeccable detail in the Scriptures?

For what it’s worth, Isaiah 7:14 was both an immediate and distant prophecy. Immediately, Isaiah foretold that, in the time for a young woman to conceive, deliver her baby, and the child grow to know right and wrong, God would deliver His people from their Exile. (Isaiah 7:15) That immediate prophecy was fulfilled 150 years later when, just as Isaiah later prophesied, King Cyrus the Great released Israel to return home from Persian captivity and rebuild the Temple of the Lord. (Isaiah 44:28; 45:13; Ezra 1:3; 2 Chronicles 36:23). The distant prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus with the Virgin Birth.

Application

Does someone have to believe in the Virgin Birth to be a Christian? This is an important question to ponder. Paul says that all one must do to be saved is believe Jesus rose from the dead and confess that He is Lord. (Romans 10:9–10) So, technically, believing in the Virgin Birth of Jesus isn’t required. But, rejecting the Virgin Birth reveals that someone is either immature in faith or doesn’t take the Bible seriously as this doctrine is clearly revealed in God’s Word.

The Isaiah passage that Matthew quotes in verse 23 says that the virgin’s son would be called Immanuel, which is translated as “God is with Us.” Isaiah also refers to Jesus in Isaiah 11:1–9.

Some seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied a miracle… well, three miracles, really. The first two were: 1.) the Virgin Birth, and 2.) that Jesus would be the incarnation of God Himself. (John 1:14) God the Son became a man and began His human life as a vulnerable baby. Then came miracle number 3.) God living with His people. The concept of a close-up God was not at all common to those living under the Old Covenant, and to pagans the idea was not just unheard but deemed insulting to gods. Gods weren’t in the habit of leaving their glorious abodes to sully themselves with dirty humans!

No different, as many of us used to believe, God was “out-there” but not close. And then, through the incarnation, it was as if God pulled up a chair, sat down at a table across from us, and extended an invitation, saying, “Let’s get to know each other.”

God is here. God is with us. God is with you! And, He will never leave you nor abandon you! (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5; John 14:16) How’s that for the first chapter of Matthew’s Good News?

^[1] Strong, James. Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995.

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January 18

Several times in today’s chapter Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit. In fact, He not only talks about the Holy Spirit but the Father as well, sharing some of the Bible’s clearest and most detailed insights about them. John 14 then is a very important passage, and one reason is that it is unmistakably and unapologetically Trinitarian. It reveals to us the mysterious God who exists in three Persons.

This truth, however, is not always well received. A popular argument employed by opponents of the concept of the Trinity points out that the word “trinity” doesn’t appear in the Bible. They then conclude that since the word doesn’t appear, the idea of the Trinity isn’t there either. This is a logical fallacy called a non sequitur, meaning its conclusion does not follow its premise.

Indeed, the word “trinity” does not appear anywhere in the Bible. But thousands of other words like “omnipotence”, “omniscience”, and “omnipresent” don’t either. Since these words can’t be found in the biblical text, should we also infer that God, respectively, isn’t all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere? Of course not. Why? Because a multitude of verses clearly reveal that He possesses all of these qualities. Equally, the word “trinity” doesn’t need to appear in Scripture because the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly seen and well supported in verse after verse.

I said on the first day of our journey, when we looked at John 1, “Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created everything. John 1:3 tells us that the Word (Jesus) created everything. Genesis 1:2 completes the picture of a Triune God—One God in three persons—by telling us that the Spirit of God was present as He hovered over the earth’s surface.”

In today’s reading, Jesus says that He must leave the disciples and go to the Father. (John 14:12) He follows this announcement with a promise: the Father will send the Holy Spirit as “another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.” John 14:16–17 (CSB)

Did you catch that? Jesus said the Holy Spirit would remain with the disciples in His absence. Isaiah said that the Messiah’s Name would be Immanuel, which means, “God is with us”. (Isaiah 7:14) God is with us. God is with you.

Last week I addressed that the Incarnation tells us that God became a Man, the Man Jesus Christ, Who was both fully God and fully Man. He always was God, and He always will be God.

Jesus said that the Father would send another Counselor. He implies that He was the first Counselor, as “someone to walk alongside”. The Holy Spirit is another Counselor. The original Greek word here allos, translated as “another” doesn’t mean an additional or different kind of Counselor. It means another of the same kind. The Holy Spirit is another Counselor of the same kind as Jesus. The Holy Spirit is someone Who walks alongside you. God walks with you.

But the Holy Spirit is not just with us. Notice the last part of John 14:17, “He … will be in you.” This is a radical departure from the Holy Spirit’s work in the Old Testament. Under that covenant, God’s Spirit would occasionally come upon a prophet, priest, king, etc. God’s Spirit would come on ordained people to do special things for God. Under the New Covenant, however, God’s Spirit comes and dwells in ordinary people to do all kinds of things for God. (John 14:12–14)

The prophet Ezekiel says of the New Covenant, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.” Ezekiel 36:26–27 (CSB)

Jesus promised that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to live in His covenant people. But why did the Father do this? To make us holy. The Holy Spirit came to change our “wanter,” so that we will want to obey Him. What’s truly staggering here, though, is that He not only changes our desires to live obediently, but gives us the power to do so! No longer do God’s people merely have God’s Law to follow. Under the New Covenant, He has “written His law on our hearts” by placing His Holy Spirit within us to change our desires to His and give us the ability to do what glorifies Him. (2 Corinthians 3:3)

Application

Do you feel that you struggle perhaps too much in your walk with Jesus? Does obedience to God seem impossible to you? How often do you feel that you just can’t live a life that pleases God?

Spend a few minutes reviewing John 14:15-31. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak through God’s Word to show you areas where you need to draw from His power in order to produce holiness in you—from the inside out.

The Holy Spirit’s work in you doesn’t just produce holiness in your behavior. Holy behavior is the fruit of holy beliefs and holy attitudes that He teaches and instills.

If you are a believer, God’s Holy Spirit is with you. And, God’s Holy Spirit is “working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13, CSB) The Holy Spirit labors within you, me, and all believers to produce the work of holiness and the willingness to walk in it before Father.

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January 15

John 11:1-44 tells the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It’s a familiar story for those of us who have been around church a while. It reveals the Lord’s authority over death and demonstrates His compassion for His friends.

It also contains the Bible’s shortest verse, the famous two-word passage: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) Certainly an easy verse to memorize, yet these words reveal some powerful truths about Jesus.

Many of us in Western culture cannot imagine Jesus expressing emotions. We tend to see Him as “dignified”-above expressing emotion, perhaps even Stoic. That’s how many see Him, but that’s not what John saw at all. He saw both the Son of God and Son of Man—One mastering nature and all her elements in one moment (walking on water, silencing storms, etc.) then exuding great emotion in the next: joy, anger, compassion, sorrow, and beyond.

We have several English words for “cry”. Greek also has several words for cry:^[1]

• to wail in oriental style, to howl in a consecrated, semi-liturgical fashion
• to shed tears, weep silently
• to give formal expression to grief, to sing a dirge
• to weep audibly, cry like a child
• to give verbal expression to grief, to lament
• to express grief by inarticulate or semi-articulate sounds, to groan

Only two of those words are used in this passage. The word that John uses to describe Jesus’ emotion means to shed tears, weep silently (John 11:35). Jesus expressed emotion. This is a different Greek word from the description of what Mary’s friends thought she was going to do at the tomb (John 11:31); that word means to weep audibly, cry as a child.^[2] This word also means to wail. In other words, there is a stark contrast between Mary’s response and Jesus’ response. One response is very loud, and the other is quiet. Each of us mourns differently.

John adds that when Jesus gets to the tomb, He is deeply moved (John 11:33; 38). This word doesn’t mean to cry, but to feel strongly.^[3] John continues his description of Jesus’ emotions: Jesus was greatly distressed^[4]. Jesus was deeply bothered in His soul by the loss of a beloved friend.

Application

There is no right or wrong way to grieve the loss of a loved one. We’re not talking about sin, of course. We’re talking about how God created each of us differently.

Jesus’ friends sent word that his friend Lazarus had died. Knowing everything, Jesus knows that He will raise Lazarus from the dead. Yet, as He approaches His friend’s grave, Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

The Jewish bystanders correctly observe that Jesus could have kept Lazarus from dying in the first place. I’m sure that His disciples wondered why He didn’t go straight to Bethany when He heard that Lazarus was sick. In John 11:4, Jesus says that Lazarus’ sickness wouldn’t end in death, but would lead to glory being given to God. Obviously, Jesus’ understanding of the situation was far better than ours!

And yet, Jesus wept.

Jesus tells the disciples that He’s glad that Lazarus died so that they might believe (John 11:15).

And yet, Jesus wept.

Jesus tells Martha that Lazarus will rise from the dead. (John 11:23) Martha acknowledges that Jesus is the Messiah. (John 11:27)

And yet, Jesus wept.

Regardless of how hopeless the situation looked, Jesus knew that God would work everything out to His glory. (Romans 8:28)

And yet Jesus wept.

Jesus loved His friend, Lazarus. Jesus also loves you. It’s okay for you to express your emotions. I would go so far as to say that it is healthy to express your emotions in a God-glorifying way. God created us in His own image. God has emotions. As a human being, Jesus expressed emotions. And, we too can express our emotions in a God-glorifying way.

^[1] Strong, James. Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995.
^[2] ibid.
^[3] Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, Electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., vol. 1, United Bible Societies, 1996, p. 293.
^[4] ibid, p. 314.

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January 1

John begins his Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John 1:1 (CSB)

Right out of the gate, John recalls the first chapter of Genesis, which states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:1–2 (CSB)

Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created everything. John 1:3 tells us that the Word (Jesus) created everything. Genesis 1:2 completes the picture of a Triune God—One God in three persons—by telling us that the Spirit of God was present as He hovered over the earth’s surface.

John unapologetically introduces us to Jesus, Who was not only the unique Son of God, but also God the Son. John says that Jesus was God Who had become a human being. This is called the Incarnation and is based on John 1:14…

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Our somewhat chronological reading through the New Testament begins with the Gospel of John because John introduces us to Jesus in a unique way. Whereas the other Gospel writers introduce us to Jesus’ birth (Matthew 2 and Luke 2), and Mark jumps straight into Jesus’ ministry, John begins with the revelation that Jesus was both fully God and fully man. This is a powerful distinction!

While the other three Gospel writers present a generally historical account of Jesus’ life, John shares more of a theological one. In short, the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us about the Kingdom of God, but the book of John focuses more on the King Himself.

Application

Jesus can relate to us as humans. Why? Because He became one of us, John says. So, He understands temptations, and He proved that experiencing temptations is not the same as committing sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

This month, as we read through John’s Gospel, we will see the sinless Son of God, and that we are sinners. But we will also see that God forgives everyone who puts their faith in Jesus because He was God’s perfect sacrifice.

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