Epaggelia

Jn. 2:13-22, Mat. 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48 

The first time Jesus cleansed the Temple, He made a whip of cords, it is described in the Greek, as vegetation, not leather, Jn. 2:15. It probably was simply long strands of bedding from the oxen & sheep stables. The whip was pieces of plants weaved together to make a cord strong enough to wave around and get attention, it wasn’t used to hurt anyone. Once he had their attention and was frightening animals with it, he gave them a saying which stuck in their minds, “in 3 days I’ll raise it up again”.  His enemies didn’t understand that he was using the physical Temple as an analogy of His body, which we are now members of.  The second Temple of Zerubbabel which Herod enlarged took 46 years to build. The Jews thought it was preposterous for Jesus to claim it’s demise and reconstruction in just 3 days.  As Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover, he meant to clean the Temple again, which he had done once before, recorded in Jn. 2:13-22. This must have been discouraging to see the greed of priests cover the Temple all over again.  He proclaimed that the Temple is His Father’s house of prayer, not a den of robbers, Mt. 21:12-13.  This teaches us one of many reasons, God comes to live with us in our bodies as a Temple, 1 Cor. 6:19-20. Prayer is an essential ingredient, making up our health, both spiritually and physically.The anger of Jesus is seen clearly by overturning tables and sending their money flying. There isn’t any mention of him harming the sellers, but financially, they must have taken a loss, because doves were let loose. Perhaps the most amazing feature of his action, is that the sellers were actually DRIVEN out of the Temple complex. This is an obvious miracle in forcing your enemies to retreat. It is prophesied in Malachi 3:1-2, “Who can stand when He appears?”. On more than one occasion Jesus displayed this power, it happened again in the Garden of Gethsemane during his arrest, John 18:3-6. God’s power within His wrath is amazing and it had the attention of is disciples too, Jn. 2:17. The zeal Jesus had for God’s house, consumed him and when people insulted him for his actions, they led to his death, this was prophesied in Psalm 69:9.  His Father’s house, the Temple was to become a house of prayer for ALL NATIONS, not just Jews, see Isaiah 56:7. But, instead of encouraging Gentiles to pray in the courtyard of the Temple, they made it difficult and expensive for Gentile proselytes to buy their sacrifices, and stole their money in the currency exchange.  The Lord was watching their greedy actions in the Temple, and Jeremiah wanted them to know it, Jer 7:11.  His wrath was seen again in the body of Ananias and Sapphira’s greedy lies as the church was being born, Acts 4:32-5:11.The even connected to his final cleansing of the Temple is the cursing of the fig tree, which was an attempt for Jesus to engrave on his disciples heart, the power of God’s wrath against hypocrisy. Mark 11:12-14, later after the image of the withered tree was in their mind, he told them a parable about the fig tree leaves giving them a sign of God’s presence they would experience powerfully, Mk. 13:28-31 & 9:1.  This world did change at Pentecost and Judaism fell, it has never and never will be restored. God’s Temple is in our hearts, not Jerusalem. These lessons of His Temple must remain as warnings to us. His holiness in our heart should be protected. Therefore guard your heart, Prv. 4:23. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Mt. 5:8

 Key Text: Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, John 12-36

The way Jesus entered Jerusalem was provocative and made a clear statement to his enemies. Sometimes Christians must take a stand for the truth in the face of sin, disregarding the consequences. Peter, John, Stephen, Paul, Silas & Jason, all displayed this attitude when faced with sin opposing truth, (Acts 4:5-5:18, 7:1-60, 16:16-24, 17:6).Zechariah 9:9 was known to Jesus, and fulfilling this prophecy meant he must instruct his disciples to acquire the foal of a donkey, through miraculous foreknowledge, it was accomplished. This unbroken new donkey was ridden by Jesus with miraculous control. Jesus was demonstrating the nature of his reign as a King over anyone or anything that was in submission to him. Even something as stubborn as a mule! Normally, Kings and royalty rode on well-trained donkeys, if and only if they were on a mission of peace & diplomacy, but if a King journeyed on a mission of confrontation & war, they would ride on a horse, here Jesus made a miraculous statement on a lowly donkey to state that his reign would produce friendship between humanity and God. It is no coincidence that the triumphal entry into Jerusalem was on a Sunday, 1 week prior to his resurrection. His reign is introduced and established on the 1st day of the week. Every Sunday we should remind our self of His Kingship as Lord of our life and the entire universe, Col. 1:13-17.His journey from Mt. Olives to Jerusalem is prophesied in Zechariah 14:4-9. The very graphic and physical language of Mt. Olives separating is apocryphal language used to describe the separation of heaven and earth when Jesus began this journey. In Heaven, he was offering peace, on earth a war began. The thief on the cross was the first to cross over the wide gap opened up from Mt. Olives, entering into peace. Today, we can enjoy the security of the new Jerusalem, as our spiritual inheritance is a reality today in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 1:3. The crowds that praised Him in his entry, were not shouting, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus”, instead they were quoting Psalm 118:25-26, they believed that God’s Davidic Messiah had arrived and that a new government would be established, never to be shaken. Many Jews understood Psalm 118 to be a Psalm of dedication for the new 2nd Temple, if this is true, we can appreciate the statement God is making to announce the dedication of his Son’s body as becoming our new Temple, Col. 1:18, 1st Cor. 6:19-20. The Pharisees, Sanhedrin and chief priest were outraged at the public’s praise. When tell Jesus to silence the crowd, his reply shows them that God is in control of their praise, and even the rocks would break out in praise if needed. See Hab.2:9-11, where evil coveters who give bad counsel, are rebuked by stones and a reply is made from beams. This alludes to their physical Temple testifying their demise.The statements of Jesus after His entry are themes established forever. Firstly, If humanity’s spirit doesn’t praise His Kingship, then nature will praise Him – God is in control, not us. Secondly since the Jewish Leaders reject His Kingship, then Jerusalem will fall, (Lk. 19:40-44). Thirdly, God will honor anyone who serves Jesus, and that service is to be based on denying our self, in imitating Jesus, (Jn.12:23-27). Fourthly, God’s voice is heard to establish the name of Jesus as a standard for judgment, (Jn. 12:30-32).  His presence as the Son of Man is synonymous with the Christ, and while He is in the world, He is a light. Our faith in Him as Christ, reflects that light in a dark world, Jn. 12:34-36.

Key Text: Luke 19:1-10

Jesus knew the name of the wee little man in the tree, why? Because when Jesus looks at us, he perceives the desire of our heart, and when our heart wants him, He comes closer and gets to know everything about us, even the number of hairs on our head, Isa. 43:1, Jer. 1:5, Mat. 10:30.  Do the eyes of our heart desire to see Him and follow Him? This was true of Nathaniel, Jn. 1:47-50. Zacchaeus was a man who spent most of his life running from God. Then one day he decided to run towards Jesus and was found by God.  What exactly leads us to learn more about Jesus?  Zacchaeus was not only rich, but he was a “chief” tax collector.  Jesus directly invited himself into Zacchaeus’ hospitality. We can not get a better example of eagerness to share our faith. Being able to invite our self into sharing our faith, is essential, if we want to be like Jesus. Yes it is true, Jesus could perceive the desire of Zacchaeus to come to his own house, so therefore Jesus was not being rude in inviting himself to Zacchaeus’ house. Jesus read the thoughts of people’s mind, see Matthew 9:4, 12:25 & Luke 6:8.

If we want to see Jesus today, we cannot just stand to watch out for him, we must climb a tree. What does that mean? Our physical eyes cannot see the Spirit of Christ, but if we pray that our spiritual eyes can see, they will, Eph. 1:16-18. His Spirit lives in Christians, Rom. 8:9 But if we should see someone climb a tree to learn the truth, would we not be safely assuming he is interested enough, for us to create a conversation?  People don’t wear signs saying, “I’m desperate, I’m seeking God”, so what cues might they give us, to show they are ready to “climb a tree” and/or hear about Jesus? Many Christians simply will not talk about Jesus, unless they are first approached. But how many of us would be pro-active in creating a conversation, if we should see some kind of interest? If not, why not?  What may Zacchaeus have heard and believed about Jesus that made him so eager to catch a glimpse of Jesus? v3-4. Could Matthew the tax collector have had some kind of influence on Zacchaeus?

Why would the public ‘talking’ of Jesus to Zacchaeus give him mixed feelings? (v5-6). Tax collectors were ostracized from Jewish society because they collaborated with the Roman occupation forces. What risk does Jesus take in entering Zacchaeus’ home? v7. How do Zacchaeus’ actions indicate the authenticity of his repentance? v8, read Lev. 6:1-5 & Ex. 22:1.  

Zacchaeus had been seeking Jesus, but in verse 10, Jesus had come seeking Zacchaeus.  How can it help us to know that the Lord actively seeks the friends you are talking to? This is proof that rich people can be saved, it is very hard, but with God, all things are possible, Lk. 18:24-27 & 19:9-10. Zacchaeus proved it.  The Spirit of Jesus Christ in your spirit continues to seek and save those who are lost.   As his disciple, what can you do to follow his example and invite people to hear the truth about Jesus? Will you need to change your direction and bear fruit in order for Christ’s Spirit to find your friend? Read Luke 3:8 and Matthew 3:8-9. 

Some of our sins have consequences which are impossible to restore. What can be done in the face of  the costs of our sin, which make us bankrupt? Trust in His grace and stay submissive. Would the skeptics of Jesus consider Zacchaeus ‘seeking Jesus” genuinely, just because he climbed a tree?  Even after Zacchaeus expressed his desire to repent, would the skeptics really believe Zacchaeus could become a saint? Remember that some of the skeptics in the crowd may have been personally defrauded by Zacchaeus.

Key Text: John 12:17-26

What are we looking for?  Everyone is searching for something.  It may be a secure job, a good retirement, a loving spouse, a child to be proud of, a house that’s comfortable, on and on the list goes, but, above all, we should be searching for God. Why? 

We were created to search for God, so that we will Find Him., He will not hide Himself! Acts 17:24-27, 31,  Isa. 55:6 & Jer. 29:13 

While seeking we won’t be turning to evil, we will be heard and Forgiven. 2nd Chron. 7:14.  

We will gain a greater understanding of life, wisdom is precious, Prov. 28:5. We will gain a greater Life, Jesus says he came to give us an abundant Life.  John 10:10, Amos 5:4 & Psalm 69:2. 

We will be Hidden from His anger on the Last Day,  Zeph. 2:3.

We will be rewarded for seeking Him diligently, Heb. 11:6. 

Searching for God, gives us the privilege of having God Searching for us, Psalm 14:2 & 53:2. God searches for those who want to truly worship Him, Jn. 4:23. 

Like Jehoshaphat, once you find Him, you can Help others find Him too, 2Chronicles 19:1-4. This is essentially what Andrew did for Peter. John 1:40-41. 

We as God’s children in Christ, need to keep looking to Jesus in order to win the race of life, so we will not be distracted and disqualified, Hebrews 12:1-2 & 1Cor. 9:27. 

People who deliberately refuse to know God, have accepted a lie.  Jer. 9:6.  If you do search for the truth, you are at least open-minded in getting to know God.  The lie of evolution’s theory can shut you off from even considering the possibility of God’s existence, it can make you narrow-minded.  If you can admit that you don’t know the all truth about everything, then the one thing you may not know, is that there is a God to be found.  Get to know Him, not just things about Him.

Job knows that God does not always punish the wicked and reward the godly. Since that is true, what motive would we have for obeying God? Eliphaz realizes that Job’s stance will put his own future in jeopardy, because Eliphaz enjoys rewards, which he thinks stem from his own godliness.  If people serve God only for what they get out of it, then they are not really serving God at all, they are truly serving themselves by making out that their practice of godliness is demanding God serve them with rewards. Jesus stated that people which have a faith in religion like that, already have their reward. Mat. 6:1-5. The best motivation for practicing our faith is love, which Job knew from Dt. 6:4-5. God didn’t need to promise Job more blessings for more faithfulness. Job knew that the fulfillment of God’s law in his own life was loving God no matter how bad God let us down. Paul expresses this clearly, Romans 13:8-10.

Eliphaz has harsh words for Job, which charge Job with hypocrisy, 15:34-35.  Job denied the charge of hypocrisy in 13:16, 17:8 & 27:8. Job knew that his friends couldn’t prove it true.  The suffering Job feels is proof to Eliphas that Job is hiding a past sin and is not owning up to it, but Job knows that his suffering in this life ends in this life, and in heaven there will be no pain or tears. Job’s suffering was working for Job to lead to glory. Job was hoping that his suffering would lead to vindication, and that his honest relationship with God would be justified in staying faithful till death. This surely is the only way Christian martyrs could face piety in the face of persecution to death, 1^st Pt. 1:6-8, 5:10 & 2^nd Cor. 4:16-18 & Rom. 8:18.

In Job’s reply we have three requests, 16:1-14, Sympathy from Friends.  16:15-22, Justice from God.  17:1-16, Relief in Death. Job does feel like God painted a target on his back and gave everyone bows & arrows. His suffering was so great that he longed to die, but he didn’t want to die before he could vindicate himself or see God vindicate him, which explains his cry in 16:18. Ancient people did believe that the blood of innocent victims cried out to God for justice (Gen. 4:8-15) and that the spirits of the dead were restless until the corpses were properly buried, Isa. 26:21. So even if Job died, he would be restless till he had been proved righteous by the Lord. The reason Job cries for a fair trial before God is because he has no advocate or mediator before God to represent him in his sufferings. None of his friends would defend him, so his only hope was that God in heaven would defend him and bear witness to his integrity (16:19).  As a Christian we have Jesus as our Advocate, 1^st Jn. 2:1-2. He intercedes as our High Priest mediating for sinful priests and priestesses like ourselves, Heb. 2:17-18, 4:14-16. So confession to Christ is essential, 1^st Jn. 1:5. If in this life only we have hope, we are miserable, but since Christ Himself is our hope, we may sorrow in suffering, but not without hope, 1^st Cor. 15:19-20.  

God looked beyond Job’s hopeless depression and bitterness and saw that he still had faith. Sometimes in life we must learn to be thankful for unanswered prayer. Because in the darkness of despair (we like Job) sometimes say things to God, we later regret, but God understands all about it and lovingly turns a deaf ear to our words but a tender eye to our wounds. C.S. Lewis says of suffering, “Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly, Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively, but don’t come talking to me about the consolation of religion, or I will suspect you don’t understand”.  If we inside religion want to be a true comforter, there is a price to pay and not everyone in religion is willing to pay it. But the God of all comfort, comforts us to make us comforters to others, not to just make us merely comfortable. God expects us to share His comfort with others. 2^nd Cor. 1:3-7.

Key Texts: Luke 7:11, 36-50 & John 12:1-8

 It is easy to confuse the texts and see them as the same event or just two events. If we consider the synonomy of Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9. It becomes even more confusing, but as we compare the differences and similiarities, we can possibly see that there are actually three different events taking place, which every gospel writer comments upon.
Luke                                             John                                  Matthew & Mark
Near Nain in Galilee                 In Bethany nr Jerualem            In Bethany nr Jerusalem
Simon, Pharisees House      Mary & Martha’s House        Simon, The Lepers House
Much Earlier                    Before Triumphal Entry                   After Triumphal Entry
Parable told to Simon              Disciples Addressed                Disciples Addressed
Sinning Woman of City            Mary the Sister of Lazarus       ‘a woman’
Upon Feet with tears                  Upon Feet, NO tears                At Head, no tears
Woman forgiven           Mary Guarded & burial mentioned     Memorial & Burial
No price of oil                         300 denarii Judas quoted         Disciples value oil
Alabaster Flask                       No Flask                                 Alabaster Flask   

Isaiah 61:1-3, is what Jesus read in the Synagogue at Nazareth (Lk 4:18-19), and it mentions the “oil of joy” replacing mourning, as a response to the Spirit anointing the Messiah.  Here in all four gospels, oil may be symbolic of God’s Holy Spirit and in each anointing we have humble women exalting the holiness and forgiveness they see in Jesus. Kingship in Israel was always instigated by the anointment of oil, see 1^st Sam. 16:13 in the example of David. It is interesting to note that David is the only King, Jesus quotes. David is also the only King mentioned in Hebrews 11, the chapter of heroic faith.  Could the women in the gospels be used by God to remind Jesus that His Kingship has a future rule to be exercised after his burial? The people certainly try to treat Him like a King upon his entry into Jerusalem. But the sentiment of His Kingship is twisted in a false charge against him during his trial before Pilate.  Obviously from our perspective today, we need to remember that our place and duty is to exalt Jesus as holy and royal.  This good news, is memorialized by an unknown woman, do we see ourself  here in this message, pointing people to Jesus?

Many people find it difficult to see this passage as anything other than a parable. Even as early as Beza in his 6^th century manuscript, with Latin & Greek writing, it’s noted as a parable.  But Luke wrote it between several sayings and warnings of Jesus. Indeed chapter 16 begins with a parable, but Luke afterwards writes about Jesus teaching Pharisees who loved money and gave them plain teaching in 16:14-18, then he begins teaching on the rich man and Lazarus. Chapter 17 begins with more plain teaching. Grammatically in the majority of Greek texts there is no reason to call the story a parable and none but Beza’s do it.  Another reason to accept it as plain teaching is it’s unique features which make it different from any other parable. Such as the naming of a person like Lazarus, and also, parables do not narrate on the spiritual realm. All parables are earthly stories which have a spiritual truth to teach.  But the story of the rich man & Lazarus is a spiritual story with a spiritual truth. Another fact that distinguishes the story from a parable is it’s lack of analogy in it’s point. True, some parables do end with no explanation, but when they do, they each have an obvious analogy. This story has no analogy, it simply tells us plain truths. If it is a parable, where is the analogy? The facts are:

1. There is no such thing as reincarnation, v26, Heb. 9:27

2. There is no migration of souls from punishment to bliss or vice-versa, v26

3.  The resurrection and the scriptures have God’s power, 31, Rom. 1:2-4, 16.

4. Everyone is given supernatural knowledge of identification after death, v23

5. Money can not buy eternal life or divine favor, the rich man met punishment, Luke 6:30.

6. God’s children are assured assistance from angels during death, v22, Mt. 18:10.

7. Beggars do not go to paradise because they are beggars.  Lazarus went to paradise because he had obviously listened to Moses & the Prophets and believed to become a child of Abraham, v31. Today we need to listen to Christ to obtain the right by faith, becoming a child of God, John 1:11-13.

8. The conclusion is that there is no second chance at salvation after death, despite what any other denomination or scholar says about eschatology, the rapture or pre- or post-millennium doctrine from interpreting Revelation otherwise. Our judgment takes place outside of time, after this part of life on earth.  Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “THIS DAY…..”  Luke 23:43.

None of the above facts, are in obvious conflict with the entirety of God’s word. Paradise is where we all want to be. The word is used in Genesis 2:8, where dwelt the tree of life, it disappears throughout Biblical history but reappears in Rev. 2:7, 22:2 & 14. The word paradise is used by Jesus on the cross to the thief, Lk. 23:43 and by Paul in 2Cor. 12:4, seeing things which were unlawful for mortals to talk about. Therein is our hope alive, Colossians 1:5. Is it by faith also in your heart?