John 20:30-31; 21:25, Staking the Claim

Sometimes people mistakenly say that Jesus was not clear about His Messianic claims, including the claim to Deity.  Concerning what I just said, remember that the OT prophecies of Messiah included His Deity.  This can be seen in the imagery of Gen. 22 (Abraham with his “only beloved son” Isaac on Mt. Moriah).  Messiah is “Mighty God, Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6).  Messiah, the Branch, is “the LORD/Jehovah our righteousness” (Jer. 23:5-6).  When Messiah enters the Eastern Gate it is “the LORD God of Israel” who has entered (Ezek. 44:1-3).  And so forth.

But now, coming back to those who mistakenly say that Jesus was not clear about this, what follows is taken from John’s Gospel, chapters 1-10.  It is probably incomplete, but it reminds us of Jesus clarity.

First, several people acknowledged Jesus as Messiah and were not discouraged by Jesus in their confession.

·       John the Apostle in the prologue (1:1-18).

·       John the Baptist (1:29-34).

·       Andrew (1:41).

·       Philip (1:45).

·       Nathaniel (1:49).

·       The Samaritan Woman (4:29).

·       The crowd (6:14).

·       The man born blind, who worshiped Jesus (9:38).

Jesus sounded like and looked like Israel’s Messiah.

·       John 2:16-17: He had a Messianic zeal for His Father’s house, the temple.

·       John 3:13: He had applied a Messianic title, “Son of Man,” to Himself (Dan. 7:13-14).

·       John 4:25-26; 9:35-37: To both the woman of Samaria and the man born blind, He “introduced” Himself as Messiah and Son of God.

·       John 5:46:To the Jews He claimed to be the fulfillment of Messianic prophecies made by Moses.

·       John 8:58: He claimed to be the “I AM.”

Jesus frequently pointed to the miracles as miraculous signs of His Messiahship (3:2; 5:36; 10:25).  John, led by the Spirit, chose miracles that manifested qualities of Deity in Jesus (e.g. creative ability, omniscience).  When He turned water to wine (2:1-11, a miracle of creation) John said that Jesus “manifested His glory” (2:11; i.e. His deity, the glory He had had with the Father, 17:5).  Healing the nobleman’s son (4:43-54) displayed omniscience.  You see it in all the miracles in John because, as John himself said, these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (20:31).

How do we know that the Jews understood what He was claiming?  We know it by their reactions.  On several occasions they sought to kill Him (John 5:18; 7:1,25; 8:59; 10:31).  Furthermore, the crowds were regularly arguing about who He was, among each other and with the leadership (7:40-44; 9:16; 10:19-21).  When you read these exchanges you will see that there were people who were getting the point about Jesus because they were seeing and hearing the things we are talking about here.  In other words, our point today: there was clarity in Jesus claims.

Now of course, the issue of clarity is not the bottom line.  The bottom line is: do I believe Jesus so that I have come to believe in Him? 

Phil. 3:8-11; 4:8-9, Poignant Principles About Television

I have a "change bag."  I keep it in the door of our car.  When I pay cash for something and invariably get change it goes in the bag.  And then when I'm satisfying my need of a hot fudge sundae or  a frosty I pay for it out of the change bag.  Never makes it to my financial program. :)  Of course, the bag collects pennies.  So every now and then, when the drive thru line is slow, I put 5 or 10 pennies together instead of giving a nickel or dime.  That's about the only way pennies have value, when they are grouped together.  Beginning today, for the next week I'm going to put some pennies together.  These are individual posts that stand on their own.  I'm not saying they aren't worth anything.  I hope you are encouraged.  But I need to put a bunch together and empty out the change bag.  Towards the end of this month, Lord willing, we will pick up again on a series of connected posts.  I think we will spend some time in Genesis.

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(I.e. Heavy Thoughts on the Tube)

Many years ago someone, out of the kindness of their heart, or so they thought, gave us a TV.  Not surprisingly, I had the biggest problem in our family with bad habits related to the telly.  So I did what any good preacher would do: I devised a sermon on the subject so I could guilt others with my problem. (Please, note the sarcasm.)  So here it is in the original form.  I believe it has a pretty clear crossover to our issue with cell phones, other than #4.

1)    TV is less important than other things, and far less important than people.  Some of the things that take priority over TV include …

a)    My own personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

i)      Phil. 1:20-21: I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (By the way: my father’s life verses.)

ii)   Phil. 3:8,10a (from today’s reading.)

b)    My family.

i)      Col. 3:18-21: Wives, submit to your husbands … husbands, love your wives … children, obey your parents… fathers, do not embitter your children.

c)    My work and school work:

i)      Prov. 10:4: Lazy hands make a man poor but diligent hands bring wealth.

ii)   Prov. 14:23: All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

iii)            Prov. 1:5: He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

d)    My church and youth group.

i)      Rom. 15:2: Each of us should please his neighbor for his good to build him up.

ii)   Eph. 4:16: From Him, the whole body, joined together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

e)    My active recreation.

i)      Ex.23:12: Work six days but on the seventh day do not work so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.

2)    Too much TV dulls the mind and stifles creativity.  (A fact born out by scientific research.)

3)    TV is neither all good nor all bad.  Therefore I must use discretion in the selection of programs.

a)    Col. 1:1-3: Since, then, you have bene raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

b)    Phil. 4:8 (from today’s reading.)

4)    When more than one person wants to watch TV, I cannot always watch what I want but must defer to others.

a)    1 Pet. 3:8: Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

b)    Rom. 12:10: Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.

c)    Phil. 2:4: Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5)    TV is a privilege, not a right (not a necessity).

6)    At it’s best, TV can be a means to enhance the Lordship of Jesus in a Christian home.

a)    Col. 1:18: And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.

b)    Phil. 2:9-11: Therefore God highly exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Esther 9-10, We Are In a Battle

What happened with the Jewish people is a great illustration for us in the fact that there is still a battle being waged.

·       Esther 8:4: With boldness Esther again came before the king.  Our daily success in battle requires that we come before our Lord daily.

·       Esther 8:5-6: She prayed not only for herself but for her people.  Our daily battle is fought with God’s people, especially the local fellowship from whom we find strength and encouragement.  You see that the Jews twice were said to “gather together” to battle their enemies (9:2,15; cf. Heb. 10:24-25).

·       Esther 8:7-8: The king had already made great provision for Esther; of course he would grant this request as well.  Remember, He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things (Rom. 8:32).

·       Esther 8:9-12: The people counted on a letter written by the king that would give them authority in all the provinces of the kingdom.  So we are dependent on the Word of God through the prophets and apostles (2 Pt. 3:1-2).  That book reveals the victory that has already been won and the effect of that victory in life.  It was this letter that gave authority for the Jews to band together.  (On a completely unimportant point, v9 is the longest verse in the King James Bible.)

·       Esther 8:13-14: The document was for all people in every nation, not unlike the Bible, because the victory of Christ (the gospel) is for all the nations.

·       Esther 8:15-17: The people had light and gladness, joy and honor with Mordecai in the place of authority.  The king had given Mordecai the “signet ring” (8:2) which meant he had all the authority necessary for the good of the people.  He could provide them with anything they needed.  So, God has given us, in Christ, every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3), all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pt. 1:3), and has given us the Holy Spirit so He can remind us of what is available at the time it is needed (1 Cor. 2:12).  Christ has been given the signet ring by the Father: all authority is given to Me in heaven and earth (Mt. 28:18).

Chapters 9-10 complete the story of the relief and deliverance provided by the LORD.  It confirms the establishment of a feast called Purim (from the Hebrew word for “lot” since they rolled the dice to choose the days to kill all the Jews, Esther 3:7).  We have been in Israel more than once on Purim and I have to say it is a bit strange.  Everyone dresses as participants in the story, including, oddly enough, Haman.  Who wants to be Haman the Agagite, the portrait of Satan?  Then they read the story from the Bible.  And then all night long, in Jerusalem at least, there are sirens as the police deal with the behavior of drunk celebrants.  Go figure. 

Esther 8, Work Out Your Own Salvation

·       Esther 8:1-2: Here’s something else the king did not know: Esther and Mordecai were related.  Mordecai had a very significant role in Esther’s brave decisions.  He had raised her in his home.  Then he advised her when they both were under the decree of death.  They were both as good as dead; now they were both rejoicing in the promise of life.  It reminds us of our situation.  We died with Christ, and then we were raised with Christ (Rom. 6:1-5).  The key was that He was our kinsman, our Kinsman Redeemer (Gal. 4:4-5; Heb. 2:15; 1 Pt. 1:17-18; the Story of Ruth in the OT illustrates this). 

·       Esther 8:3-6:  Haman was dead!  And yet, he had left behind a plan and willing wicked men to carry it out.  Remember: the law enacted by Haman and the king was still in effect.  The Jews would have to deal with this.  Wow!  That is certainly a devotional thought.  Jesus made a spectacle of Satan and the principalities and powers through His death on the cross.  Satan is defeated!  Through the resurrection of Christ death has died.  So why do I still experience the attack of sin in my life and why do I succumb to the temptations?  We must, as Paul put it in Phil. 2:12-13, work out our own salvation.  The victory must be applied to our own lives.  It is interesting that Phil. 2:12-13 comes immediately after Phil. 2:5-11, the humiliation (Incarnation, death) and exaltation (resurrection, ascension, return in glory) of Christ.  All the excitement of Esther 7:10 (the death of Haman) and 8:1-2 (the honoring of Mordecai) is followed by the realization that we must now prepare to do battle against wicked people in the kingdom.  That is what we are doing until the day we die.  The victory is secure in Christ, but it must be applied to our lives daily until we enter into the glory that Christ has prepared for us.  As Esther 8:3 puts it, we need the help of our God to counteract the evil of Satan and the scheme which he had devised against the followers of Christ. 

Esther 7:3-10, Propitiation!

·       Esther 7:6: Haman had been bold in public, and he was the king’s right-hand man.  But not now!  I am reminded of Satan and his boldness in Job 1-2.  He had the audacity to challenge God with respect to the integrity of Job.  The “power of death” gives Satan that kind of boldness, even as with Haman.  He had, by the unchangeable law of the Medes and Persians, the authority to put to death all the Jewish people.  But in the end, as with Haman, so with Satan: he is foolish to display such audacity.  Esther had something better: the favor of the king!  The believer has something better.  To be in the presence of God, in the name of Jesus the Son of God, is far greater than anything Satan can muster.  But remember: it is not us.  Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you” (Jude 1:9)!  Esther did not confront Haman directly but through the king.  So we deal with our enemy by coming to the Father in Jesus name.

·       Esther 7:9-10: Here is yet another deep thought about NT truth from Esther.  The place for Mordecai’s death became the place for the defeat of Haman.  The place of Jesus’ death, the cross of Calvary, became the place of Satan’s defeat.  This is the teaching of Col. 2:11-15.  There was a “handwriting of requirements.” so to speak, against the Jewish people, and Mordecai was the cause (his refusal to bow before Haman) and centerpiece (to be hung high for all to see) of it all.  A legal document that all the Jews must die.  So, Jesus “wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us.”  He took the Law that rightfully indicted us as sinners, and He nailed it to the cross.  The obvious difference in this story and THE story is that in Esther the transgressor died, and in the story of salvation Jesus was numbered with the transgressors.

·       Esther 7:10: Note that the hanging of Haman on the gallows he had built for Mordecai satisfied the wrath of the king.  The king’s wrath subsided.  Of the 5 times this specific term is used in the OT, it’s used twice in Esther and almost with the same words.  In 2:1 it says, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided.  Certainly this king was a sinful man.  But on the other hand, of all the people in the land the king has the most right to be angry.  If he or his efforts are hurt, he get angry.  There must be satisfaction.  In Ch. 2 he had deposed Queen Vashti and then some time had passed before his anger was satisfied.  In Ch. 7 it took the hanging of Haman to satisfy his anger which it appears had risen on the same day it subsided.  The same term in Num. 17:5 says God “rid” Himself of the complaints of Israel in the wilderness.  There had been a rebellion against the leadership of Aaron and Moses; God’s anger was aroused so that he judged the rebels and then with the budding rod of Aaron He rid Himself of that which stirred Him to anger.  God is not like an evil tyrant.  As with Ahasuerus, so with God: He has every right to be angry and His anger must be satisfied.  That is the definition of the word “propitiation” or “sacrifice of atonement” in the NT (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10).  All these passages say the same: Christ is the propitiation for our sins.  He satisfied God’s anger.