Epaggelia

Key Text: Jn. 5:1-30
The colonnaded pool of Bethesda is today hard to reach and identify, but one of the three pools near or under the Convent near St. Annes Church in Jerusalem certainly is the pool where Jesus healed the lame man who suffered there for 38 years. The five colonnades are not all intact, but various artefacts attest to them being around the three different pools. The Jews of his day had very strong opinions and faith in angels, and it lingers to this day. This story is to help us restore our faith in God’s powerful mercy, being greater than the demands of any law. We need His word here, to help us enact His mercy in our lives, rather than exacting the demands of God’s law upon our self or others. Once the mercy of God touches our hearts, then the motivation is there, to help us obey the law of Christ. Hosea 6:6, Matthew 9:13 & Galatians 6:2.

The law of the Sabbath was strict and real. Jesus obeyed it, but not the contemporary interpretation of the Sabbath law. As Christians we need to always have a ready and open mind in applying our lifestyle to the law of Christ. However, we must be ever conscience of what the law of Christ is, and what an interpretation of it is. Understanding Galatians 6:2 is imperative, believing it and living it, is impossible without God’s strength and wisdom. This is exactly where Jesus and the religious leaders of his day came into conflict. Christians can expect the same conflict to arise, when we try to practice the law of Christ. Why does this conflict exist? Because as humans, we all try to please God by our own means, wit, strength and wisdom. It doesn’t come naturally to any of us, to cooperate with God’s word & Spirit. How do we let Him work in and through us, in obeying the law of Christ? Here are some facts about God’s work in Jesus.

1. God desires our cooperation with the words of Jesus. He told the man to get up, pick up his mat and walk. Jesus did NOT tell him to go to the water when the angel stirred it. God simply desires our cooperation with His word and Spirit.

2. God’s commands, when we first hear them, might sound impossible. After being lame for 38 years, which one of us, would actually try to do what Jesus said?

3. God’s work demands our hearts desire to be healed, fixed, helped and strengthened. Do we really want his help to do His work, not our own? This question, is the reason, God proclaims faith as God’s work, not our own. John 6:28-29, Romans 14:20 & 2nd Cor. 9:8.

4. God’s work always supersedes our own work. Notice the lame man, without anyone’s help, actually did try to get to the pool on his own steam, maybe crawling, (v7) but regardless of how hard we try to help our self, it is futile in God’s eyes. We must let him help us in our attempts to do what is right.

5. God’s work takes us into direct conflict with the worlds’ work. If Jesus had told the man to Rise and Walk, that would not have upset the Pharisees. It was the fact that he picked up his mat, that broke their interpretation of the Law on the Sabbath. The healed man would have not been an offence to them. But Jesus working to heal him, would indeed upset the Pharisees, but since the man picked up the mat, he too was in danger of prosecution. The Pharisees ‘let him off”, but ONLY after he confessed that it was Jesus who told him to pick up the mat.

6. God’s work is in searching and finding people who want to do His work and cooperate with His word and Spirit (v14). He will not forsake us, Hebrews 13:5 & John 4:23.

7. God’s work always results in any real damage from the world being done against Him, not necessarily or always our self. (v16-17). Colossians 1:24.

Are we willing to make progress in God’s work in our spiritual healing and helping others to get His work of spiritual healing too?

Key Text: Matthew 12:22-32, Mark 3:20-35, Luke 11:14-23

After immediately healing a man who is both blind and mute, the crowd may be amazed, but they don’t jump to conclusions very easily. The Jews are more sceptical than the Samaritans, the Jews ask, “Could this be the Son of David?”. When the Pharisees see their fellow Jews being attracted to this Triumphal conclusion, they quickly criticize Jesus. Why?
Three reasons:
Jesus…

To understand God’s view of His reign, we must focus on the words of the angel Gabriel. …and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”  Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”  And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you… that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:31-36. Many of us  today are just like Mary, we get confused about the physical aspects of God’s Kingdom coming, being enforced and enlarged. Why confusion? Because many of us focus on the physical attributes of God’s reign with Israel and neglect to learn of the spiritual attributes of Kingship, which Jesus had in mind. Jesus talks of his Kingship several times with a spiritual aspect for all his disciples, this should affect you and me.

1. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:  ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”‘?  If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”  And no one was able to answer Him a word… Matthew 22:41-23:1 & Psalm 110:1-2.           

2.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:19-20

3. Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say,’See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”  Luke 17:20-21.

4. “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”  Mark 9:1

5. Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”  Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”. Jesus answered and said, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”  John 18:36-37The points to prove in our daily lives are:

1. Jesus is God, therefore He is worthy to be King of kings and His Kingdom is synonymous with the Kingdom of God.

2. The King demands divine righteousness as inherently required before anyone becomes a citizen of the Kingdom.

3. The Kingdom of Christ is spiritual in nature not physical.

4. People in Christ’s generation saw His Kingdom arrive with physical power, but became martyrs and were brought into a victorious spiritual reign.

5. Christ’s Kingdom originates from Heaven, but is victorious on earth, proving our fight is not physical, but spiritual. See Eph. 6:12 & Col. 1:13-18. As Jesus fulfiled the Psalmist & King David’s prophecy, we rule with Him in the midst of his enemies, Psalm 110:2. Do we pray for the Kingdom’s advance into the hearts of other people and that His reign will increase in our life as we grow in doing His will on earth?  Matthew 6:10.

Four Biblical Lists
Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16 & Acts 1:13.
Within the apostleship, there were 3 sets of brothers. 1-Peter & Andrew, were sons of Jonah, Mk. 1:16, Jn. 1:42. 2-James & John, were sons of Zebedee. 3-Matthew & Thaddaeus (Simon the Zealot) & James, were sons of Alphaeus. The only safe assumption we can make from this, is that Jesus wanted his leaders to emphasize a love for family within the church, 1Pt. 3:8, 5:3, 2Pt. 1:7, Php. 1:8. Bartholomew in (Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts) is called Nathaniel in John’s gospel. “Iscariot” has a vague meaning, it could mean a district in southern Judea, or it could be his fathers name. If it is a reference to southern Judea, then the betrayer is different in that all the rest are from Galilee in the north. Judas Iscariot was replaced by Matthias, Acts 1:26. James the son of Zebedee was martyred and replaced by Saul named Paul, Acts 12:2, 13:1-3,9. Simon the Cananaean was known as Simon the Zealot. The twelve apostles correspond to the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Matthew 19:28, Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Revelation 21:14, The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Ephesians 2:20, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. This teaches us that they have eternal authority within the church.
Jesus prayed all night before making his apostolic appointments, Luke 6:12. We should follow Jesus’ example of using fervent prayer before we make decisions. Jesus gave them a model prayer and instructed them to be devoted to prayer, but they didn’t always place it as high a priority as God did, Mk. 14:37-40, however after the resurrection, prayer is always prioritised, Ac. 1:14, 2:42, Col. 4:2.
The number 12 is used in various ways to signify delegated divine power. The 12 parts of the Holy Spirit’s fruit describing the new creation He grows in each Christian. As well as the 12 fruits on the tree of life in Revelation 22:2. The leaves of this tree has power to heal pagans. The fruit of it gives life the saints thrive on. 1. Love. 2. Joy, 3. Peace, 4. Patience, 5. Goodness, Gal. 5:22-23, Eph. 5:9. 6. Faithfulness, 7. Kindness, 8. Gentleness, 9. Self-control, and 10. Holiness, Romans 6:22. 11. Righteousness, Ephesians 5:9, Hebrews 12:11, James 3:18, and 12. Truthfulness, Ephesians 5:9. No one can doubt that the apostles were all common Galilean sinners, but they also were great examples of spiritual maturity and power.

Key Texts: Luke 7:18-35 & Matthew 11:1-24

The honest inquirers from John the Immersionist are not criticized, but rather served by Jesus in the performance of many miracles. This shows the value God places on fervent prayer for faith & wisdom in searching for truth in our life. James 1:5-6 & Mark 9:23-27. But after the honest messengers from John, leave with good news, then Jesus addresses evil in the worst sense.  When good people do nothing in the face of wickedness, sin itself grows worse.  It’s one thing to start a lie, it’s another thing to knowingly remain silent.  The first sin was Adam’s, in not stopping Eve from doing what he knew was bad for her, Gen. 3:6 & Rom. 5:12.  Yes there are degrees of sin, just as there are different levels of temperature to fire, here and in hell. Whatever the world exalts, the Lord finds nauseating, Mt. 11:20-24, Lk. 16:15, Rv. 3:16.

“THEIR GENERATION”  (Lk 7:24, 31) was complaining like children, and are not accepting John’s standard of living and rejecting Jesus’ standard of morals.  They felt John’s diet of locusts and honey was insane and proof of demonic possession. They felt that the fellowship of Jesus with tax collectors and sinners was proof that He was one of worst kind of sinners. But this passage shows that Jesus thought the men of his generation were rejecting the will of God. Why? Because they wouldn’t accept baptism! (Lk. 7:29-30) His generation ought to know better, but they didn’t care, nor did they see reality, they were living a pretence. Mat. 13:14-17. Does our generation care about the reality of our morals in comparison to God’s morals? How does our generation view baptism? Yet in the face of this blind apathy towards the morality and message of God, He still searches for people who want to worship Him in truth and spirit, Jn. 4:24. God in Jesus is so gracious & merciful!

WISDOM IS JUSTIFIED, v35.  &   GOD IS JUSTIFIED, v29. Solomon often talked about wisdom itself, as if it was a woman, Prv. 1:20-33 & 9:1-6. Jesus takes the same view, Mt. 11:19 & Lk 7:35 and gives her children! Christian disciples are fruit of God’s wisdom and in our heart we grow His fruit, Gal. 5:22-23, so that it’s passed on to others to become Christians. Therefore God is made to be seen as justified (made right in their eyes). Before people become Christians, they often see God as unfair and somehow ruling in an oppressive way, over the lives of people in the world. Worldly people seem to always regard God as uncaring, but in Christians, we regard God as love and try to share Him. So were the tax collectors receiving baptism, v29.

The WOES of Jesus, Mt. 11:20-24.  Woe is used to express how much a person deplores something, and Paul uses it to express divine wrath upon himself, see 1Cor. 9:15-18. What exactly did Jesus find so tragic? The apathy of Chorazin, Bethsaida, & Capernaum would cause worse divine wrath upon themselves, than what Sodom experienced, Gen. 19:24.  The cities Jesus quoted were all on or very near thelake of Galilee, with Capernaum being the largest and having the most recorded miracles within it. Bethsaida was very near where Jesus fed the 5000 and people from Chorazin must have seen miracles of Jesus on the lake, as it was on the shore. The calming of the storm must have had an enormous reaction. In March 1992 a storm on the lake caused 10ft waves causing damage to downtown Tiberius.  Today, all of them are just ruins, only Tiberias remains on the west coast of the lake, retaining it’s name which John used, Jn. 6:1 & Lk 5:1.  If Jesus came to your neighbourhood healing the sick and teaching the truth, what would the reaction be?

Key Text:  Luke 7:11-17

The first attempt, successfully raising the dead, but Why? –  Compassion for a widowed mother and the gift of a son to care for her. Since the beginning God has always wanted us to honor our parents and Paul stressed this to Timothy, (1st Timothy 5:4).  The Lord’s wondrous work of miracles does not spring from a distinct purpose of establishing his credentials as Messiah, but rather from his infinite sympathy with human suffering. Later at the end of Mark, we learn that God’s purpose in miracles was to confirm His words as from God, not necessarily proof of His nature or credentials, Mark 16:20. Nain was a walled city having a gate, this record is the only mention of Nain, it is only Luke that records this resurrection. Perhaps the  reason why others don’t repeat the record of this resurrection is because they don’t want to detract attention from the resurrection of Jesus. The firstborn of the dead, Colossians 1:18.  Unique, in that His resurrection was self-instigated and performed by God’s Spirit innately. Acts 2:27.

Many people can’t accept the bodily resurrection and deity of Jesus. Here are the main points in Scripture proving it true. Proof is simply evidence written by eye-witnesses which has never been disproved with contrary evidence. In order to prove the bodily resurrection of Jesus false, someone must present evidence against the eye-witness accounts in the New Testament. Today, there are theories abounding about alleged bones of Jesus being discovered in Jerusalem, but they are simply that, theories. However, non-Christian scholars refute the bones as even legitimate evidence, and conclude that they are anonymous bones. Let us consider what the New Testament says. Afterall, it is the most well authenticated ancient writing in the world. Here are five internally Biblical facts as logical evidence confirming the resurrection.

1. Buried in a Tomb!  From the event to present day, no one is on record historically to deny the tomb is empty, neither did anyone produce a body.  Jesus was placed in an identifiable tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea with burial preparations and women watching as the body was placed in the tomb, when they returned with more preparations, they found it empty. The heavy stone covering was large, and was officially sealed by enemies of Jesus, providing a witness to the fact that the disciples could not have stolen the body.  The Temple guards of the tomb, faced the possibility of execution upon failure to carry out their duties. The only thing found in the tomb were grave clothes, tidily unmoved, yet stained with His precious blood, the redeeming price for the sin-sick souls of humanity. Jn. 19:31-20:10.

2. The Disciples of Jesus. Before his death, they proved to be cowards, but after the resurrection, James his own physical brother had a change of heart, Peter’s past denial turned into a proclamation, Thomas’s skepticism turned into confession and in all of them, the message of the resurrection brought upon them brave sacrifice and even martyrdom. They did not expect Jesus to rise! So why would they plan to steal the body, as falsely reported?  If the resurrected body of Jesus was a hallucination, they would need to have had an expectation to have seen it. They were brought to belief after the resurrection against their own past doubts. Jesus led them to face the truth, because of his undying love for us, Jn. 20:19-29. The change in Saul and the early Apostles is phenomenal.  1st Corinthians 15:1-17 & 2nd Corinthians 11:22-28

3. The Appearances of Jesus, are noted in over 15 occasions in varying times, places and by different people. Sometimes being in small groups or in a large crowd. People saw him, touched him and even ate with him. Eye-witnesses are the best proof for undeniable truth which can’t be proven false in the future. In order to logically disprove the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the unbeliever must produce some evidence contrary to these reports. Evidence which could out-weigh eye-witness records in the most authenticated historical document the world has ever known, the New Testament.  Paul claims the deity of Jesus rests on the undeniable resurrection of Jesus, Romans 1: 1-4.

4. Jesus claimed that he would rise from the dead, prior to his death. His disciples heard this publicly, but did not understand the reality of it, until after it happened and then recorded it. This act of self-prophecy by Jesus, would either make him out to be a liar, an idiot or God with us.  The fact of his own resurrection proves life goes on, as every human craves for it beyond the grave.  Jesus truly met & defeated our greatest fear, Jn.2:13-22. The Old Testament prophets predict the resurrection, Gen. 22:5-14, Psa. 49:15 & Hos. 13:14, showing fulfilment in Jn. 8:56. Jesus identified with theses prophecies before his death!

5. The Establishment of the Church verified by the New Testament was completed and recorded within the lifetime of people who could argue against it’s claims and provide the body of Jesus as evidence against their teachings, but it never happened. Yet the resurrected body of Jesus was central to the church’s message.  The new religion was so different, they forever revoked their holy day as the Saturday Sabbath to the Sunday “Lord’s Day” because of the resurrection. The church’s most public displays of faith are the Communion and Baptism, both of which focus their purpose on the death and bodily resurrection of Jesus.  Whenever the day arrives for the unbeliever to present evidence against the resurrection, the Church will dissolve. Until then, the burden of evidence rests on the unbeliever, not Christians. 

In all honesty, in view of the five facts above, can anyone dismiss the resurrection as a factual historical event today without sacrificing their own reason or logic?