See you back here in a few days!
Archive for December, 2013
Birth of the King
Published December 23, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: Bethlehem, Christmas, Christmas story, Herod, Nativity
![BeFunky_The_Nativity_story[1].jpg](https://i0.wp.com/witzend.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/befunky_the_nativity_story1.jpg)
The birth of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in the history of the world. It has been said that “the hinge of history is on the door of the Bethlehem stable.”
It may seem strange that the Son of God, the divine King of Kings, was born the way He was, when He was, and how He was. But the gulf that exists between sinful man and a holy God is so immense, there is no way for man to approach God even if he wanted to. The only way to bring the creature close to his Creator was for the Creator Himself to breach that gulf and come to the creature. This the Lord did in the Person of His Son. Really, God’s plan for the redemption of mankind, which began with the “Christmas story,” was brilliantly conceived and flawlessly executed.
The King is born, Matthew 1:18—25
The story begins with a shocking discovery:
These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18 TLB)
The KJV says that Mary was “found with child,” although we are never told exactly who “found” her in that condition! Did it become so obvious that her family and her fiance, Joseph, could tell? Or did she fess up to Joseph in private? We don’t know, but what we do know is that Mary knew the truth: her baby was of supernatural origin.
Her delicate condition put her in a precarious position. Mosaic Law cut a pregnant single woman absolutely no slack; she would have been stoned to death. But we tip our hats to Joseph who proved he was stand up guy:
Then Joseph, her fiance, being a man of stern principle, decided to break the engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn’t want to publicly disgrace her. (Matthew 1:19 TLB)
He didn’t want to expose Mary to disgrace or danger, so as far as he was concerned, though he loved this woman dearly, he was willing to “divorce” her on down low. To break an engagement at this time in Judaism amounted to a divorce. Mary, freed from Joseph, would quietly leave town to have her baby and live in exile.
But God had other plans for Joseph:
As he lay awake considering this, he fell into a dream, and saw an angel standing beside him. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “don’t hesitate to take Mary as your wife! For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20 TLB)
In order to prevent a tragic situation from occurring, and in order to fulfill ancient Biblical prophecies, an angel, probably Gabriel, appeared to Joseph as he did to Mary to let Joseph in on the secret. Mary needed to know the truth in order to save her sanity and Joseph needed to know the same truth to save the marriage and to preserve his wife’s reputation in his eyes. She had never been unfaithful to him but had been completely faithful to God. Any husband would love to have a wife as faithful as Mary was!
Let’s pause for a moment. Remember, for some 400 years before the events we are looking at, God had been silent. There were no visions, no prophecies, to miraculous interventions, and certainly no angelic visitations. Though God had never forgotten His people, He was not in close communication with them anymore. But all that changed with the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Consider how many people in the “Christmas story” saw and heard angels! Truly the time for the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy had come:
After I have poured out my rains again, I will pour out my Spirit upon all of you! Your sons and daughters will prophesy; your old men will dream dreams, and your young men see visions. (Joel 2:28 TLB)
Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and others all bear witness to an inescapable fact: the distance between Heaven and Earth was closing fast! The King of Glory was coming and nothing was going to stop Him from coming to us.
Mary’s faith was astounding, but, then, so was Joseph’s. He was in a tight spot to be sure, but he heeded what the angel told him; any fears or misgivings Joseph may have had surrounding Mary and their situation, disappeared. By making Mary his wife, bringing her into his heart and his home, this man, Joseph, would do God’s will, protect his wife and mother of the Lord, be blessed by God in ways we could never comprehend and show himself to be a true descendant of King David.
Martin Luther’s observations on this are invaluable:
It is an honor for the wedded state that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was not born of a simple, unmarried maid but of Mary, who was espoused as a true wife of Joseph, her husband. Our Lord was born of his mother according to the Law in wedlock and honored it with his birth.
Something that Matthew thought was very important was the idea that the events surrounding our Lord’s birth fulfilled Bible prophecy:
This will fulfill God’s message through his prophets… (Matthew 1:22 TLB)
The reason why Matthew points this out is that he wrote his Gospel to fellow Jews—unconverted Jews who needed to understand that what happened during the “first Christmas” fulfilled many things written about in their Scriptures!
The King is sought after, Matthew 2:1—8
Jesus was born in a small town just south of Jerusalem called Bethlehem. That name means “House of Bread,” which is certainly an appropriate name for the birth place of the Bread of Heaven! He was born during the reign of Herod the Great, as he was known in history. During the Babylonian captivity, a race of people known as Idumeans (Edomites), had settled in and taken over the southern part of Judah. By 125 BC, John Hyrcanus, high priest and ruler of the Jewish nation at this time, compelled these Idumeans to be circumcised, thus becoming, at least nominally, Jews. Herod was part of these people, and his religion was at best skin-deep. He was cruel and ruled without conscience.
Into this political atmosphere, Jesus was born and the Magi journeyed:
At about that time some astrologers from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in far-off eastern lands and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1b—2 TLB)
The Living Bible calls these magoi, “magi,” “astrologers.” “Magi” originally referred to priests in Persia and Babylon. As used by Matthew, though, these “wise men” were just that, and they were honorable. In ways we may never understand, these men connected the appearance of new star in the eastern sky with the birth of a new king in Israel. But did these men have in mind an earthly king or the King of Heaven? The word “worship” has reference to bowing down before an earthly ruler and/or before God, so we may never know what was really in the minds of these wonderful visitors from an eastern kingdom.
But we know what was in Herod’s mind:
King Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, and all Jerusalem was filled with rumors. (Matthew 2:3 TLB)
Jerusalem was “filled with rumors,” not because anybody in it saw that strange star, but they heard about what the magi had said. As the rumor mill churned on, Herod became more and more worried. Could it be true? Had a king really been born somewhere in his realm? Would this new king cause his people to turn against him? Like the magi, Herod decided he needed to seek out this king, but for a very different reason:
Then Herod sent a private message to the astrologers, asking them to come to see him; at this meeting he found out from them the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him too!” (Matthew 2:7, 8 TLB)
Of course, Herod had no interest in finding the king to worship him! He wanted to kill him—to eliminate the competition.
Time to pause again and think about something. Think about this:
“Where is the newborn King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in far-off eastern lands and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2 TLB)
After this interview the astrologers started out again. And look! The star appeared to them again, standing over Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:9 TLB)
We wonder: did these magi lose sight of the star when (or possibly because) they strayed off the road to consult with Herod and the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem? We also wonder if these wise men, instead of seeking human guidance, had just continued on into Bethlehem, would the “slaughter of the innocents” have taken place? Herod may never have known about the birth of Jesus if only these wise men had just kept their eyes on the star. Another good question to ask ourselves is this one: Do we get ourselves (or others) in trouble when we seek out human advice and guidance from the wrong people when should be paying attention to God’s guidance? Let’s keep our eyes on Him and His star!
The King is worshiped, Matthew 2:9—12
The fact that this star “appeared again” shows it was of supernatural origin; this was no ordinary star! It had the ability to appear, disappear, then reappear! These men traveled a great distance for a long time to find this King:
Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him. (Matthew 2:11 HCSB)
Most scholars and many translations agree that by now Jesus was a child, not a baby. This young family wasn’t in a manger any longer; Joseph had apparently found and rented a house for them to live in. He was a carpenter, so he could ply his trade anywhere. Scholars think the magi reached them a year after the birth took place! They “worshiped” this young King and gave him gifts of immense value: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These gifts have some significance. Gold, of course, was precious and costly back then as it is today. It was an entirely appropriate gift to give a king. Frankincense was an appropriate gift for a priest because it was used in temple services. And myrrh was something you gave someone who was dying; appropriate for the One who was destined to die for the sins of others. As William Barclay noted:
These three gifts foretold that [Jesus] was to be the true King, the perfect High Priest, and in the end the supreme Savior of men.
Perhaps this is where the tradition of giving others gifts at Christmastime came from. On this, Chuck Swindoll noted:
Some gifts you can give this Christmas are beyond monetary value: Mend a quarrel, dismiss suspicion, tell someone you love them. Give something away—anonymously. Forgive someone who has treated you wrong. Turn away wrath with a soft answer. Visit someone in a nursing home. Apologize if you were wrong. Be especially kind to someone with whom you work. Give as God gave to you in Christ, without obligation, or reservation, or hypocrisy.
These wise men were obedient to God whether they knew it or not and God honored their obedience. He, by means of a dream, warned them not to return to Herod. They may have thought Herod was sincere as they were in his desire to find and worship this young king. But, again, in obedience, they returned home by another route.
These magi; these foreigners, are a picture of the firstfruits of the Gentiles who would come to Christ for salvation. How interesting it is that Matthew begins his Gospel with this visit to Jesus by some Gentile wise men and he closes it with the Great Commission for believers to evangelize the whole world.
The birth of Jesus and all the events and people surrounding it make for an interesting study and show a Divine purpose. Like pieces of an immense puzzle, they give us a glimpse at the intricacies of God’s great redemptive plan.
EXCEPTional Bible Verse, Part 9
Published December 20, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: deliverance, Exceptional Bible Verses
Matthew 12:29
Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. (Matthew 12:29 KJV)
How many times have you gone to the doctor with a sore throat, headache, and stuffy nose only to have him tell you, “You have a headcold”? Well, we know that doctor is a genius! He named your condition, just in case you grew up in a sterile environment and never had a cold before. When you have a sore throat, headache, and stuffy nose, you probably already suspect you have a headcold; what you want from your doctor is not a diagnosis of your condition but relief from your condition, or better yet, a cure!
In life – spiritual life and moral life – there is a lot of diagnosing but not enough curing. It’s one thing to know what ails your life, but it’s another thing to cure it. It’s one thing to know what your spiritual problems are, but it’s something else entirely to cure them. It’s one thing to know your sin problem, but it’s thing to cure it.
Both believers and unbelievers have the exact same issue. A lot of unbelievers have heard the Gospel, they may even know the “Romans Road to Salvation” by heart, but until they actually walk the “Roman’s Road,” they don’t have salvation. A lot of Christians may have walked the “Roman’s Road,” found Jesus as the end of it and accepted His gracious gift of salvation, but they still struggle with their sin sickness, even though the cure is right in front of them. It doesn’t matter what you know; it matters what you do.
The story behind our final EXCEPTional Bible verse really begins back in verse 22, so we’ll start there.
1. The setting
Matthew 12:22 – 45 is a section of this Gospel that shows the contempt and cruelty the Pharisees had in their opposition to Jesus. Here we see the worldliness of their hearts on full display; a dazzling example of how their legalistic religion had failed miserably, as legalism always does.
Then a demon-possessed man—he was both blind and unable to talk—was brought to Jesus, and Jesus healed him so that he could both speak and see. (Matthew 12:22 TLB)
Luke records this miracle in Luke 11, but he doesn’t mention the man’s blindness, only the fact of his inability to talk. Both accounts indicate that this man was demon possessed. Luke, a physician, would know the difference between a physically and mentally disabled man and a demon possessed man. We can be sure, then, that this man was possessed by a Satanic spirit, bent on destroying him.
It’s a remarkable miracle, and yet it’s told with such matter-of-fact brevity. We can only imagine the sense of relief the man must have felt when our Lord healed him! No longer held in a Satanic prison, but set gloriously free. No longer deaf and dumb, but now able to hear and express himself and, we may be sure, able to give praise to God for his amazing healing. Of course, all of this is supposition because the Gospel writers devote a mere verse to this miracle.
Both Matthew and Luke writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, want their readers – and us – to focus, not so much on the deliverance and healing of the demon possessed man, but on the confrontation that follows it.
The crowd was amazed. “Maybe Jesus is the Messiah!” they exclaimed.
But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “He can cast out demons because he is Satan, king of devils.” (Matthew 12:23 – 24 TLB)
The NIV translates verse 23 a little differently:
All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” (Matthew 12:23 NIV)
Taylor’s paraphrase captures the sense of the people’s reaction. This miraculous deliverance and healing was so spectacular, some people thought that this Jesus might just be the Messiah, who they knew would be a descendant of David. The people were literally “blown away” by what they had just seen.
Now, the question we need to ask ourselves is this: What kind of Messiah were these people looking for? We know that, generally speaking, the Jewish people of the day were looking for their “rider on a white horse,” a political savior, to swoop down and rescue them from their present difficulties: Roman domination, poverty and misery. In other words, they wanted – and they thought Jesus could be – the MAN with a plan, sent from God to save them; to deliver them from all their earthly problems. People haven’t really changed much since the days of Jesus. People are as clueless as they ever have been. They seriously think life would be “prefect” if only this problem or that problem could be solved. People today are NO different than this man:
…oh, that there were someone who would listen to me and try to see my side of this argument. (Job 31:35 TLB)
That was the cry of Job’s broken heart: if only somebody would listen to his prayers! If only he could get some relief from his problems in life. That’s what these Jews were looking for, that’s what a lot of people today are looking for, and some think that’s all Jesus is good for: a little relief from their problems. Nobody wants to minimize anybody’s problems, but if a person doesn’t have Jesus in their hearts, they don’t know serious their problems really are.
So, the people thought that maybe, just maybe, this Jesus could very well be the Messiah. But what the Pharisees thought was something else again. They actually thought that Jesus had used Satanic powers to work His miracles! They were jealous; they were envious, and they resorted to ridiculous accusations to oppose Jesus’ work. They could feel their power over the people ebbing away as more and more of them began to support Jesus. Their influence was on the wane and they hated Jesus for this. How very different these religious men were from John the Baptist:
So they came to John and said, “Master, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River—the one you said was the Messiah—he is baptizing too, and everybody is going over there instead of coming here to us.”
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. (John 3:26, 30 TLB)
We can see the sad states of their hearts with accusation. Imagine accusing the Son of God of Himself being possessed by Satan! That’s in essence what these Pharisees had just done.
Our Lord, with wisdom and aplomb, answers them in a startling way:
Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “A divided kingdom ends in ruin. A city or home divided against itself cannot stand. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is fighting himself and destroying his own kingdom. (Mathew 12:25, 26 TLB)
This is a startling response to the Pharisees because Jesus actually “read their minds!” They didn’t say a word to Him Jesus responded to their thoughts. If that’s not a scary proposition, nothing is. You truly can’t hide anything from Jesus, even in your mind.
Jesus’ comments highlight just how ridiculous their thoughts were. The idea that Jesus was possessed by Satan and that He used Satan’s power to fight against Satan was, well, just plain stupid. It would be like a divided kingdom or a city or a home that is divided trying to stand together. It can’t be done.
Then, as if to twist the knife, our Lord ads this:
And if, as you claim, I am casting out demons by invoking the powers of Satan, then what power do your own people use when they cast them out? Let them answer your accusation! (Matthew 12:27 TLB)
Exorcism was not uncommon in Jesus’ day; it was practiced by some Jews, even by Jesus’ disciples on occasion. If Jesus was using Satan’s power to cast out Satan, then what power were they using? He was insulting them, as surely as He Himself was insulted. But He was also pointing out that other Jews were driving out demons and they, the Pharisees, never accused them of being possessed by Satan.
So far, Jesus has really put these Pharisees in their place! He basically accused them of being silly and absurd in their thinking about Him and His power. They saw the same things that the crowd of Jews saw, yet these educated Pharisees drew the completely wrong conclusion about Jesus. The conclusion they reached was absurd; it was the product, not of an educated mind, but of a warped and immature mind.
2. The crux of the matter
But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. (Matthew 12:28 TLB)
Luke’s version of this statement is curious:
But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Luke 11:20 NIV)
A “finger” is but a tiny part of the body. If Jesus is able to drive out demons by just the smallest part of God’s power, how can the kingdom of Satan possibly stand? This statement is really a statement of fact: Satan’s kingdom is crumbling before the onslaught of the Kingdom of God. In Satan’s kingdom, sin, sickness, confusion all are the norm. But the Kingdom of God has arrived in the Person of its King; sin has been dealt a death blow, the sick have been and are being healed, and in Jesus Christ there is clarity of thought and of purpose. No wonder Satanic activity is on the rise in our day! He knows his time is coming to an end; that his domination of Earth if almost over.
And all this gets us to our EXCEPTional Bible verse:
Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. (Matthew 12:29 KJV)
In one short verse, a tiny parable really, Jesus sheds a little light on the dark world of supernatural evil, allowing us a glimpse at how Satan works. The “strong man” is none other than Satan himself, and the house is really two things: this world of ours and the unregenerate heart.
The world belongs to Satan, temporarily
Many people, Christians included, are under the impression that Satan is in Hell. This isn’t even remotely true. Note carefully Ephesians 6:11 and 12 –
Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world. (TLB)
It wasn’t always this way, though. Before the Fall, the crown was on Adam’s head. But after man sinned, Satan became the ruler of the Earth. This is his domain and will remain so until the Lord returns to claim it as His Kingdom on Earth. Yes, Satan is “the strong man,” but the One who is infinitely stronger defeated Him on the Cross and Satan’s days are numbered!
The human heart belongs to Satan, conditionally
Man without Christ is pitiful; he is owned lock, stock, and barrel by Satan. The unredeemed soul is his palace – he owns it outright. Man, through sin, has become the dwelling place for Satan. He may not possess every unsaved soul, but he owns them, and will claim those souls one day.
We know that we are children of God and that all the rest of the world around us is under Satan’s power and control. (1 John 5:19 TLB)
As surely as born again believers are under the influence and control of the Holy Spirit, so the unsaved are held captive and under the sway of Satan and demonic influences.
Once you were under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins. You went along with the crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord. (Ephesians 2:1, 2 TLB)
Until the sinner’s condition changes, that sinner will remain Satan’s stooge through all eternity. But this EXCEPTional Bible verse tells us in no uncertain terms that though Satan be strong, Jesus is stronger! Jesus is the One who has come into the strong man’s house to take back what is rightfully His: you and me.
And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the Last Day. For it is my Father’s will that everyone who sees his Son and believes on him should have eternal life—that I should raise him at the Last Day. (John 6:39, 40 TLB)
