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The Messiah’s Secret – Pentecost 1

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The Messiah’s Secret – Pentecost

Evening Lectionary: John 16: 4-15. Exodus 33: 7-20. Revised Standard Version Bible
Human beings can step into the fishes environment and swim with the fish. We can climb on board a space craft that is propelled into space by a rocket and step out of our air environment into space.
In both instants we cannot live in them permanently in our natural state, we need the air contained in cylinders and wet and space suits to protect our bodies.
Through the Holy Spirit being sent into the world at Pentecost, God has made it possible to enter into His eternal dimension through his indwelling presence within the Christian.

Visual Aid.  A play dough fish in a bowl of water.
At home we have a gold fish and it lives its life in the
water.

We live in a band of air that covers the globe.

In the Exodus reading  God met with man in a tent. 

Moses and the people of Israel were travelling through the wilderness towards the Promised Land. They lived gathered together within the camp area, but in order to meet with God they were told to go from the camp to the Tent of Meeting which Moses had pitched some distance away. In this designated place Moses and any person from the camp met with God on a one to one basis. Exodus 33: 7-11.                                                                                           

God our Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world to reveal Jesus to us in a personal way by dwelling within a person, on a one to one basis.

God’s love reaching out, our meeting place with God is at the cross of Jesus while we are still in our sin. Scripture says: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we rejoice in God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through whom we have received our reconciliation.” Romans 5: 8-10. 

The Holy Spirit was sent into the world at Pentecost and he reveals Jesus to us.
“The Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness and judgement.” John 16: 8. Dis – ease  or ill at ease . The TV Soaps are meant to portray ordinary people’s lives and the drama of it all is being worked out in each episode. In the stories we see the sins of the flesh causing pain and distress and were God is at a distance almost out of sight for many people.  The TV soaps only occasionally portray the way of life that brings love, joy and peace the Christian way. 
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”                                                           

Visual Aid.

A bowl with clean water, a few drops of red dye and a small quantity of bleach
Add a drop of red dye into the water, the red dye represents impurities in the water. (fallen nature and sin in our blood)

I then pour the bleach into the water and the red dye disappears. Representing  the cleansing of the impurities. (Our sin cancelled out) 

The blood of Jesus going into action when we turn to Jesus recognising our sin against God. It is also a picture of repentance and forgiveness. 

The Bible teaches us that life is in the blood, however, in our blood we carry the hereditary fallen nature of Adam and Eve. The application of Jesus’ blood blots out the hereditary sin of Adam and our sin of the past and present. Repentance on our part brings about forgiveness and reconciliation with God. “Repent therefore and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out  . . . . and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” Acts 3: 19, 20.  

Moody’s Stories   
“In Ireland some time ago a teacher asked a little boy if there was anything that God could not do. The little fellow said, “He can not see my sins through the blood of Christ.”                                            From the mouths of babes such profound words. 

As a result of us having faith in Jesus’ blood  we receive his promise. 
Jesus said, “If a man/women/child loves me, he will keep my word, and the Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14: 23
The promise of eternal life entering into the Lord our God’s kingdom. 

(Some Christians say you are not a Christian until you have the baptism of the Holy Spirit or until you speak in tongues. Paul’s letter to the Romans 10:9 does not say that, he wrote: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. . . no one who believes in Jesus will be put to shame.” A person will only confess that Jesus is Lord by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12: 3.)

Having received both God our Father and Jesus the Son of God  the Holy Spirit puts substance to our faith, through a variety of ways. 

Through someone praying for us. Paul praying for the members of the church at Ephesus, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Ephesians 1: 16.

The words of the Bible drop from our mind down into our heart. Continuing with the letter to the Ephesians, ”That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the glorious inheritance in the saints.” Ephesians 1: 17, 18. The enlightening of the eyes of our heart is were our head knowledge about Jesus, becomes heart knowledge. 
“All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said he (Holy Spirit) will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16: 15.
The words of Jesus expresses God’s love for us and his words become alive, living words as they are acted upon by God’s Holy Spirit.                                                                                                                      

Move from being under law to being under grace. Paul’s letter to the Galatians he reminds them that he is justified by faith and not by the works of the law. Salvation is received as a free gift, we can not earn the gift by our own merit, we can only accept what Jesus has achieved for us by faith.  “ I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; the life I now live in my flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2: 20.   
When we understand we move forward in faith, receiving what Jesus has done for us on the cross. We depend upon God for his love and forgiveness. 

Laying on of hands. The people at Samaria had accepted Jesus as their Saviour and were baptised but they had not received the gift of the Holy Spirit. “Now when the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8: 14,15. 
What I have heard about Jesus, now I know it is true. I remember Miriam saying to me, “It was like scales falling from my eyes.” Hours before she told me she was going to see Rev Ron Freeman our Vicar (now with the Lord) she had some questions to ask him. I knew that after their discussion he would pray with her and using the gift that the Lord had given him which was for people to receive of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. Miriam received the precious gift.  
It was my own experience too through Ronald’s gift, the Lord has put substance to my faith, I know that Jesus is God made visible in the flesh and the Holy Spirit is still at work in the world. (Approx two years before I had been healed of a sickness through the laying on of hands at a Bible Study.)

Baptism My sister at her children’s Baptism, (Anglican Church) the Lord added substance to her faith when she received the the Holy Spirit in power. Many people at their Baptism receive the Holy Spirit.

Humility.  For a number of Christians who have been brought up in the faith who have never had a ‘Damascus Road’ experience, but have received substance to their faith by the receiving of the Holy Spirit in a very unassuming way. 

Living in the Spirit of God’s Righteousness and Judgement.
It is like us, entering into the gold fish’s environment, we give the fish its food to sustain its life.  In order to sustain our life in God’s kingdom we need the spiritual food.
Jesus said, “My words are Spirit and life.” John 6: 63.

Christian Crackers by Phil Mason. “A lady was very nervous about her appointment with the dentist. Before leaving home she sought courage by reading the text for the day from her calendar. It was Psalm 81: 10:  “Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.”
                 
The word of God guides us to share what we have with others, “And let our people learn themselves to apply good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful.” Titus 3: 14
Quite often the Lord calls us to response to the practical needs of people, who through no fault of their own find themselves unable to feed their family so that they can pay their bills. As a result they need short term help to get through the crisis. Collectively we can help by providing food stuffs for the Food Banks or through networking or sign posting we can enlist the help of the appropriate organisations to suit their need.  

Every so often the Goldfish bowl needs to be cleaned out. There is debris on the surface of the pebbles and algae on the glass.  
We look to the Word to remind us of the things that pertain to a life of godliness. 
In 2 Peter 1 verses 3 -8 Peter confirms this equal standing that we have with the disciples in our faith in Christ. We do not need to the look to the world to live a fulfilled life, we have the Lord’s precious and very great promises and his divine nature that enables us to live a godly life.  

“For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and with self-control with steadfastness, and with steadfastness godliness, and with godliness brotherly and sisterly affection, and with brotherly and sisterly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  2 Peter 1: 1-8                                        

The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus continually as we are built up in through the study of the Bible.
The Holy Spirit will build us up in our faith through the study of the Bible, not through memorising scripture, although that is useful, but it’s as he reveals through the study, understandings about Jesus, that he is God made visible in the flesh,  Jesus is the living Word and in our relationship with Jesus, we have been crucified with Jesus and that we are raised up with him in his resurrection etc.
For example: through the study of Matthew Chapters 5,6,7. The Sermon on the Mount. The Holy Spirit revealed to me in the Spirit that Jesus taught the perfect law of God as he was God himself.
Through the study of 1 John that Jesus is the living Word, he is the Word of God clothed in the flesh etc.

We are built up and strengthened in our faith, as the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us in the study of the word of God. The choice of the translation of the Bible from the Hebrew and Greek is very important to me because of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in revealing Jesus through the study of both the Hebrew and the New Testaments.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Carsten Peter Theide, Essene Community., Essene Gate, Jewish Christian community., Josephus, Philo, Pliny, Qumran Scrolls, Sect

The Messiah’s Secret – The Early Christians and the Essenes

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The Messiah’s Secret – Early Christians and the Essenes.


This blog is based on the study of Carsten Peter Theide’s book “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish origins of Christianity” Carsten was one of the world’s leading papyrologists on the history and texts of the first century. He was Professor of early Christian history at STH Basel Switzerland and a board member of the History Department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer- Sheva Israel.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found contained in Jars, they were following Jeremiah’s words; ”Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take the deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time.” Jeremiah 32: 14. 

The Scrolls help us understand Judaism and its development during the centuries between the Hebrew Bible and the origins of Christianity.

Long before the Dead Sea Scrolls were re-discovered in caves in 1947 by three Bedouins the Ta’amireh tribe  A Jewish group called ‘Essenes’ settled near the Dead Sea. The settlement’s ancient name is thought to be Secacah, situated on the ancient road which links Jericho with Mazda, En Gedi, Sodom and Eilat. It was not an isolated settlement; there was an oasis near bye. The modern Arabic name Qumran was given to it as late as 1953-56, during the Jordanian occupation of the region.

Pliny the elder documented the existence of the Essenes and he wrote about them after the destruction of Qumran in AD68.  
Pliny the Roman statesman and natural historian documented the region with its settlements mentioning the Essenes. He died during the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. 

Philo the Jewish philosopher and diplomat died in AD 50. He knew some of the Essenes’ teachings and knew of more than one settlement.   

Josephus a former Pharisee and priest, a Jewish general in the revolt against the Romans and finally an advisor and historian at the court of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, he knew the Essenes personally and their teachings. Josephus having spent time living with the Essenes, he records that there were 4,000 male Essenes dwelling in places all over the country. They had links with other communities; a fragment 4Q159 refers to the Essene link with the Therapeute movement active mainly in Egypt. 

Questions frequently asked:  
a) How much did the first Christians know about the Essene movement and visa versa how much did the Essenes know about Jesus and his disciples? 

b) Was John the Baptist an Essene? 

c) Was the first Christian Community based on the Essene model?  

Archaeological Evidence of the First Century.  
Josephus recorded a Jerusalem city gate named ‘Gate of the Essenes’ it was situated on the south- west hill. The disciples and Jesus would know of it and about the Essenes. In the late 1990’s a team of Archaeologists excavated near the gate and found Essene purifying baths and nearby latrines. Josephus having spent time living with them gave details of the rules that had to be observed by the Essene community. 

James and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, like so many other Jews, knew about the writings and teachings of the Essenes, as they also knew about other groups of the time. And they not only knew the teachings, they probably knew the people themselves. They could have met them almost anywhere.  The Christians closer to the Pharisees than to the Essenes.  

Two Isaiah Scrolls were found in Cave 1 with varying style and vocabulary without interfering with the content of the Hebrew originals.
Cave 4. Carsten Theide writes that finding fragments of the Greek Bible (translation of the Hebrew Bible) the Septuagint at Qumran was a breakthrough. Greek the common language all over the Roman Empire and beyond, at least since the first century BC. Page 126/7 
The Greek Bible, which was the one almost exclusively used by the Christian Jews outside the Holy Land in New Testament times  –  and by the authors of the New Testament themselves.

Christian Hippolytus of the third century AD wrote of the Essene belief in the resurrection: “The doctrine of the resurrection has also derived support among them, for they acknowledge both that the flesh will rise again, and that it will be immortal, in the same manner as the soul is already imperishable. They maintain that when the soul has been separated from the body, it is now borne into one place, which is well ventilated and full of light, and there it rests until judgement.” 

Hippolytus was the first Christian to regard them explicitly as kindred spirits at least in some of the central areas of the Jewish heritage which Christians and Essenes had in common. Qumran fragment found in Cave 4 and numbered 4Q 521does deal with the question of the bodily resurrection, proving Hippolytus to be a trustworthy late classical source. It was one of those fascinating cases where similarities between Essene theology and the teaching of Jesus are visible, going back to the same Old Testament passages, against the tenets of the priestly Sadducees who rejected it. Mark 12: 18-27. 

Since the editing of these New Testament fragments in 1962 there has been great debate as to the likelihood of Christian scrolls being found at Qumran. In Cave 7 fragments 7Q5 and 7Q4: 1 Timothy 3: 16- 4: 1,3.  and Mark 6: 52, 53   
Carsten Theide writes, ”Between the first public proclamation of the Christian message at Shavuot/Pentecost in AD 30, and the ‘closure’ of Qumran in AD 68, some thirty eight years or almost one and a half generations went by. It goes without saying that the Qumran Essenes heard about the new, personified messianic message during those decades. After all, they even had an outpost in Jerusalem, on the south-west hill which today is called Mount Zion, not far from the local community centre of the followers of Jesus. To put it bluntly, if there is any place where we must expect to find the first writings of these Jesus people, it is the study library of that other vibrant messianic and eschatological movement, the Essenes.” Page 149   

The Essenes Scrolls reveal that they believed in two or even three Messiahs, a Messiah from the line of David and another from the priestly line of Aaron who was regarded in the Damascus Document as the eschatological one, “He will teach righteousness at the end of the days’ (Dead Sea Scrolls scholars are not unanimous) If a third Messiah can be identified, he is the so-called ‘Prophet.’ The Community Rule mentions him once. And specifies that he will come together with the Messiah Aaron. The Davidic Messiah was triumphant, he was victorious. He was the Messiah of Isaiah 11, of 4Q 161, 4Q 285, and perhaps even of the famous War Scroll 1QM. 

Carsten Theide does not mention that any of the fragments that have been looked at indicate of the second Messiah raising the first Messiah from the dead. (See blog Isaiah 53) 

b) Was John the Baptist an Essene?  
Carsten Theide is of the opinion that John the Baptist cannot be directly associated with the Qumran, his desert abode was five miles west of Hebron at a place called Ain el-Ma’ mudiyyeh (Spring of Baptism) John’s baptism a complete purification through an immersion by another person and does not bear resemblance to the Essene daily practice the ritual of self-purification. 1QS 3:9. CD 10: 11) The only connection was the use of water in its cleansing effect.  John was the first person in Jewish history that immersed fellow Jews in an act of repentance and purification. 

Also the Baptism formula proclaimed by Peter at Pentecost was quite unprecedented. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2: 38.

c) Was the first Christian Community based on the Essene model?  
 In AD 937 The Karaite historian Qirqisanic wrote: a certain David Merwan, had written about the sect the ‘cavemen’, so called because their writings were found in caves. The ‘cavemen’ and their texts are mentioned after the Sadducees and before Jesus and his followers – that new Jewish movement of the first century. 

The New Testament Gospels and letters that were written in the early stages of Christianity were circulated from one congregation to another.   

The disciples believed in the resurrection after they had witnessed seeing Jesus crucified and die on the cross and there were those who witnessed him being embalmed and sealed in the tomb. Within three days they saw Jesus in his risen body and had conversation with him in the house at Jerusalem where they touched his resurrected body and watched him eat the same food as they were eating. Afterwards he left them without going through a door or window; he disappeared in a moment from where he had been with them in the house. Paul records in his letter to the Corinthian Church that over 500 people witnessed to seeing Jesus risen from the dead.  

The Essene belief in two or three Messiah’s is contrary to the beliefs of Jesus and his disciples. Jesus taught and demonstrated that he was the Messiah fulfilling the Hebrew prophesies in his suffering and death, resurrection and ascension. He spoke of his return with the angels of God and that there were some standing listening to him say this would see the kingdom come in power. Mark 8:38 9:1.   

The Messiah’s Secret proves that the disciples fulfilled scripture in observing the requirements of Jewish law to form a community. 
The disciples and the followers of Jesus were Jews and they shared the same Hebrew Bible and it’s prophesies with the Essenes and other Jewish groups, the Pharisees, the Zealots and the Sadducees. 

The formation of a Jewish Christian community in Jerusalem has a similarity with the Essene community, but under the rules of the Mishnah in order to set up a community the number of officers required was twelve, one tenth of the whole community.  At that time there were eleven disciples, and there were one hundred and twenty gathered at the house in Jerusalem. Therefore they brought their number up to twelve to comply with the rules. More importantly, it was in response to the fulfillment of scripture, ‘His office let another take,’ Matthias became the twelfth disciple.   Acts 1: 15, 20, 23. Peakes Commentary page 778 Cf. Mishnah (Sanh.1 with a small six)
The disciples expected Jesus to return soon after Pentecost. Acts 3: 17 end. 
Jesus himself hoped to return within their life time. Mark 8 : 38. 9: 1. John 21: 21. Acts 1: 11.                                                          
The disciples were to be about their master’s until he returned. Mark 13: 32-37.  

Essenes and Christians were called sects by the Jewish authorities. The high priest and Jews at the trial of Paul before Felix referred to Paul as a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Paul’s response, “But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers.”   Acts 24: 5, 14. 28: 22.
The Jewish Christian Community proclaimed Jesus to the members of the Jewish ruling council that Jesus was the nation’s Messiah and he that would return. Acts 3: 17 end. 4: 8-12. 5: 29-32. 
The disciples and followers broke bread in their homes whilst the temple sacrifices continued. The baptism spoken of by Peter continued and the Holy Spirit was received by thousands of people. The healing ministry of the disciples and followers continued as all still continues today.  

The delay in Jesus’ return 
The prophet Daniel prophesied that “And after sixty two weeks (of years) ‘the anointed one’ (the Messiah) would be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people and the prince who is to come shall come and destroy the city.” Daniel 9: 26 
Jesus hoped to return soon after his ascension, but the response from Israel’s leaders after Pentecost did not allow this to happen. But Jesus also knew that only God his Father knew of the day and of the hour of his return. Mark 13: 32  

Discovered in the 3rd Century   
Origen in his writings mentioned that he used a scroll that came from a jar in a cave near Jericho. 
Ninth century a Nestrum bishop referred to such scrolls as a matter of course. This evidence of the existence of ancient scrolls was never acted upon by Archaeologists. 

Carsten Theide wrote that someday in the future some of the fragments found will be looked at again and the hundreds that had still to be analyzed will reveal their secrets.   

Answered Prayer
After the sermon/blog ‘Isaiah 53’ I asked the Lord to know more about the Essene period. On Thursday 2nd May my prayer was answered, my husband and I we visited Howarth (Bronte Sisters home town in Yorkshire) We go once every year and I like to look in the secondhand bookshops. There is one in particular that has a good Christian selection and  I was delighted when I found and bought Carsten Theides book. I humbly thank you, Lord.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
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The Messiah’s Secret – A Stone Rolled Away

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The Messiah’s Secret – A Stone Rolled Away

Evening Lectionary   Matthew 28: 1-10, 16-20. Zephaniah 3: 14-end. Revised Standard Bible. Picture – A typical tomb with a huge stone to cover the entrance.                                                                                                          
Seeking Jesus. 
Matthew wrote that the women wanted to see the sepulchre, they were grieving and probably wanted to be near Jesus. When Mary Magdalene and Mary arrived at that tomb, an earthquake occurred and at the same time an angel rolled the stone away from the entrance to the tomb. Matthew 28: 1-10, 16-20

Stony Hearts. 
We can have a stone covering our heart, until it is removed by the operation of God.   John Wesley heard a reading of Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans, and penned the now famous lines “I felt my heart strangely warmed”.   His heart of stone had become a heart of flesh. John Wesley had made the connection were his head knowledge became heart knowledge.  His heart, his soul transformed by the operation of God.  Luther taught that salvation is not earned by good deeds but received only as a free gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin.                                                                                  

Paul made the connection with Ezekiel’s prophecy in his letter to the Corinthians and his own experience, “And I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11: 17-20.   How he must have rejoiced in realizing that this prophecy was being fulfilled when he wrote to the Corinthian church.  

“Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all men; and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 
2 Corinthians 3: 1-3.           
The letter contains the life in the Holy Spirit taught by Paul and each Christian evangelizing the personal knowledge of the resurrection in Christ. 

Paul knew that Ezekiel’s word was referring to a person coming out from under the law to being under grace. From being motivated by doing things by a set of rules, to the rules becoming part of us, the law written in the heart. The law encourages us to be self righteous by looking to ourselves to fulfill God’s laws, but we fail we can’t keep the law, the system breaks down and we are convicted of our sin by our conscious bearing witness of our creator’s laws.

Smith Wigglesworth in his book “Ever Increasing Faith” wrote, “There is a great difference between a pump and a spring. The law is the pump, the Baptism is the spring. The old pump gets out of order, the parts perish, and the well runs dry. But the spring is ever bubbling up and there is a ceaseless flow direct from the throne of God. There is life.”  

The cross is where Jesus changed us from working like a pump unable to keep God’s law, to being able to keep God’s law through the nature of God being at the centre of our being. 
God’s love for us payed the cost, the price for our sin in Jesus’ death, and changed us from being under law to being under grace in his resurrection. The new order of life in Jesus’ resurrection; we are constantly being filled with the spring of eternal living water straight from God’s throne.

Jesus’ Baptism of the Holy Spirit pointed to in the Hebrew Scriptures.   
 “Then Moses led Israel onwards from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur; they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah, because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.” Exodus 15: 22-25. 

 Baptism 
The desert with its desolation of life it is like having a knowledge of God but not knowing him. The dryness that seeks to quench its thirst is like a person that is seeking Jesus.
The bitter water represents the sin that weighs us down, like a stone. 
The tree represents the cross were Jesus’  death on the cross pardons us from all our sin against God. 
The sweet water representing forgiveness and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. 

From having a distant coldness between ourselves and God, to having a loving heart for God, with his nature, his way of doing things in our hearts. The Lord’s concerns being ours, we will to do the will of God. 
The new life in the Spirit that Paul taught and from the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence, we love to do the things that are right, pure and holy and we shudder at the things that are wrong. The devil will tempt us and we may fall, but he that is in us is greater. In falling we learn how to stand against the principalities and powers.

Faith and Grace in receiving the Good News about Jesus.
The angel was a messenger of good news telling the women that Jesus was risen from the dead. And he asked the women to tell the disciples “Go and tell the disciples that Jesus will meet them at Galilee.”  

The women became the messengers 
The disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where he had directed them. When they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 

Today we are messengers of the Good News, God can change the hearts of the doubters. 

Moody’s Stories.  
“On his visit to Scotland Moody met a man who wanted the people who he employed to be reached with the Gospel, so he invited them to go and listen to Moody.  One of his employees who he invited declined, as he did not like what he had heard about Rev Moody.  

Moody wrote: “Several times this man was asked by his employer but every time he refused, until after we left town and went away up to Inverness, the employer had some business up there, and he sent this employee to attend to it, in the hope that he would attend some of our meetings. One night I was preaching on the bank of a river, I happened to take for my text the words of Naaman, I was trying to show the difference between men’s thoughts and God’s thoughts. 
This man happened to be walking along the bank of the river he saw a great crowd, and heard someone talking, and he wondered to himself what the man was talking about. He did not know who was there, so he drew up to the crowd, and listened. He heard the sermon, and became convicted and converted right there. Then he inquired who was the preacher, and he found out it was the very man, that he said he would not hear – the man he disliked. The very man he had been talking against was the very man God used to convert him.” 

Moody was trying to show through the true story about Naaman the difference between men’s thoughts and God’s thoughts. God used someone who was his enemy to be the means of his healing of his leprosy.
Israel under Assyrian occupation were enemies of Syria.      ( Syria had recently rebelled against Assyrian rule and had gained their independence.)  Naaman the Syrian Commander had captured an Israeli girl on one of his raids into Israel, and she became his servant and was one of the messengers to Naaman, from her he heard of great healing taking place at the hands of Elisha. 2 Kings 5: 1-16. 

 God acted on Naaman’s faith and by grace he would be healed through the prophet Elisha’s ministry to him.
 In faith Naaman sought permission from his King to make contact with Elisha. The Syrian King could have pointed out that they were enemies with Israel, but that stone was removed by grace. 
The King sent Naaman bearing great gifts of gold, silver and festal garments along with a letter to the King of Israel asking him to heal Naaman of his leprosy. Even though the King of Israel was affronted by this request, by grace Elisha hearing about it, stepped in, convincing his King that it would be good to let the Syrians know that there was a prophet in Israel. 
In faith Naaman went to Elisha’s home he expected to speak directly to him, but instead Elisha sent his servant to him with a message. (another messenger to Naaman.) He was instructed to go and bathe in the river Jordan seven times and his flesh would be made clean. Naaman was angry and at first and refused to do as Elisha suggested. However, he relented persuaded by a servant and he went down to the Jordan and dipped seven times. To his amazement he was healed. Naaman offered a gift to Elisha but he refused to accept it. By grace Naaman was blessed by his enemy, who wanted nothing in return.

I knew a man who had a wonderful Jesus -like gift of healing, I thought of him as a walking Bible, he used to say often to me,“The power’s in the Word Dorothy.” I used to ring him up when I wasn’t well and he would pray for me over the phone and it always worked, as I had faith in his ministry, just like the girl who told Naaman about Elisha.                               
 Mr Oldham died in the late 1990’s, then I had to look to the cross for my healing as I didn’t know anyone with the gift of healing. I take the words that Matthew recorded from Isaiah 53, “He took our infirmitives and bore our diseases”and also he bore the sin of humanity that nailed him to the cross and more importantly Jesus winning the victory over them by God raising him up from the dead. By my faith I expect, my healing through the operation of the Holy Spirit working with the Word, as God my Father loves me and wants to restores my well being. 

A month ago at our evening Communion service I brought a problem that I had to the Lord. I waited until the receiving of the tokens, the bread and the wine I visualized Jesus bearing my problem on the cross and as I handed it over I thanked the Lord for my healing through the victory in Jesus’ resurrection and it worked problem resolved.Matthew 8: 17

This reminds us of Zephaniah’s prophecy. Zephaniah 3: 14 end
“The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you in gladness, he will renew you in his love.  . . . “At that time I will bring you home, at that time I will gather you together; yea, I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.”


Zephaniah prophesied that God would gather together the Jews under the King, the Messiah. Their king having such love for them. It was expressed in his ministry, in being mighty to save.
At the time of Jesus Jews from every nation where dwelling in Jerusalem. Those who came to faith and joined the community in Jerusalem, after the dispersion of the Christians Peter wrote to the exiled Jews of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, encouraging them in their suffering as they looked forward to Jesus’ return. 
 Acts 2: 5, 8-10. 8:1.    1 Peter 1 :1.  Zephaniah 3: 14-end.  

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
Zephaniah had prophesied that their King would be praised among the nations. For the last 2,000 years the message of the good news about Jesus has been received among the Gentile nations. Every generation witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus. He is risen indeed.                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Christ's temple, First Degree, Freemasons, Hiram Abiff, New Jerusalem., rituals, Second Degree, secret name, Secrets, Third Degree

A Christians View of Freemasonry

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A  Christians View of Freemasonry
This study is based on the study from the book “Freemasonry and Christianity Are they compatible?” The Working Group in response to the name ‘Jahbulon’ the Freemasons give to God, asked the question: How is it then, that Jahbulon is thought to be the sacred name, the name of God on whom the rituals of the Royal Architect are focused, mentioned in each Degree?  It is a syncregistic name for God made out of the name of Yahweh, Baal and Osiris the Egyptian fertility god.
Freemason’s Third Degree – Jesus raised himself from the dead.
Jesus did a complete work of redemption on the cross for all of humanity and the creation. He defeated the devil and his principalities and powers through his blood poured out as the final sacrifice for sin including hereditary idolatry on the cross, where he died. His dead body was placed in a tomb and on the third day Jesus raised himself from the dead. John recorded Jesus saying, “Therefore, my Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to to take it again. This command I have received from my Father. John 10: 17, 18. Jesus in conversation with Martha said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me though he dies yet shall he live.” John 11: 25. Jesus’ prophecy in John 2: 19, 21. “Destroy this temple, this building with all its rituals and sacrifices, and in three days I will raise it up.” John wrote, “But he spoke of the temple of his body.”

(A contribution to discussion. Prepared by the working Group established by the Standing Committee of the General Synod of the Church of England. Published by Church House Publishing. 1985)

Freemasonry, in its concept of God the Architect, represents or be a party to, an all faiths understanding of religion and representation of God.
Freemasons meet in common respect for the Supreme Being as he remains supreme for that individual religion. Although they may be conscious of addressing their God and their Brother addressing his god in the course of the rituals.
Freemasonry may understand themselves either to be addressing the God of their own religion or to be addressing the God of different religions under one neutral home.
The supreme Degree inspires its members a reverence for Jehovah the eternal Ruler of the Universe.
The Working Group in response to the name Freemasons give to God, asked the question: How is it then, that Jahbulon is thought to be the sacred name, the name of God on whom the rituals of the Royal Architect are focused, mentioned in each Degree?  It is a syncregistic name for God made out of the name of Yahweh, Baal and Osiris the Egyptian fertility god.
Syncretistic – tending to blend opposing parties and speculative systems by minimising differences.
It is the obvious result of juggling of the Hebrew characters is to emphasise the formation of Bal. The name of the Semitic deity bitterly opposed by Elijah and the later Hebrew prophets. To associate this name in any way with that of Jehovah would have deeply shocked them.
The Working Group has concluded that Jahbulon (whether it is a name or a description), which appears in all the rituals, must be considered blasphemous: in Christian theology the name of God (Yahweh/Jehovah) must not be taken in vain, nor can it be replaced by an amalgam of the names of pagan deities.

Freemasons disclaim any practice of religion  
The Working Group in their study of the practices and rituals found that its activities are centred on Temples whose rituals contain references to ‘altars’. Each Lodge has a Chaplain albeit he need not be in Holy Orders
 
The Rituals  
The rituals themselves are allegorical dramas based on the partly factual, partly fictional history of King Solomon’s Temple. The work of Hiram Abiff its chief architect and the Master Mason in command of the construction of the Temple. 2 Chronicles 2: 13 (Huram Abi)  1 Kings 7: 13
Fiction – The story of his murder and in the Holy Royal Architect ritual, the discovery in the foundations of his ruined Temple of the ‘omnific’ word: the lost name of God. 
The candidate impersonates Hiram Abiff – he falls to the floor shams death and is buried. He is raised up by the Worshipful Master. 
 
First Degree Training Board given in Emulation Ritual (Emulation – follow in the footsteps of) 
The usage and customs among Freemasons have ever borne a near affinity to those Ancient Egyptians their philosophers unwilling to expose their mysteries to vulgar eyes,   systems of learning and polity (civil) constitution under signs and hieroglyphic figures which were communicated to their chief priests magic alone, who were bound to solemn oath to conceal them. The systems of Pythagoras founded on similar principle. 
Many are concerned by the secrecy of Freemasonry: if Freemasonry is right, why all the secrecy?’ asks Andy Arbuthnot and many others. In their evidence to the Working Group, the Untied Grand Lodge argued very strongly that the element of secrecy was much exaggerated by their detractors, making the point that Freemasonry, historically, has been exempted from legislation suppressing secret societies considered a danger to the state.  
The Working Group had no difficulty whatsoever in obtaining copies of the Emulation Ritual, one of the several ‘workings’ of Lodges under the Grand Lodge of England. Nevertheless an essential feature of the rituals of the Craft Masonry is that the candidate undertakes ‘without evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation of any kind’, never to reveal to a non-Mason any of the steps, signs and grips and words which are disclosed to a candidate in the initiation ceremonies.
Any good library will have books which contain or explain the “Secrets” of Freemasonry. Yet Craft members continue to swear a solemn oath on the Bible not to reveal secrets, which are not secrets at all. Canon Demant concluded his observations on the Obligations: ‘there is no certainty that the Christian initiate will not find afterwards that he has joined an alien cult’. 
 
Opening prayers. First Degree page 68 Incorporation of familiar Christian prayers.   
 
First Degree. Vouchsafe Thine aid, Almighty Father and supreme Governor of the Universe . . . . to the honour and glory of Thy Holy Name.  
 
Second Degree. There are references to ‘the help of God’ and ‘the blessings of Heaven’; there is an actual prayer.  
 
Third Degree. Almighty and Eternal God, Architect and Ruler of the Universe . . . to pour down on this convocation assembled in Thy Holy Name the continual dew of thy blessing.  
The opening ceremony of the Aldergate Ritual for the Royal Architect Omnipotent – God unto whom all hearts are open, all desires are known and from whom no secrets are hidden, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your Holy name, but words: through Jesus Christ our Lord are omitted. 
 
Freemasons firmly reject the suggestion neither that nor merely the absence, but the deletion, of the name of Christ from their rituals constitutes a denial of him. ‘As Freemasonry is not a religion or a substitute for it, there is no reason why the name of Christ should be mentioned in its rituals. (Evidence from the United Grand Lodge)  
 
Christian opponents of Freemasonry frequently assert that it could just as reasonably be argued that, this being the case, it is unwise, to say the least, to pluck phrases and prayers from undeniable and recognisable Christian liturgies. The identification one with the other is too natural, and too misleading in the light of Freemasonry’s claim that its rituals ‘do not amount to the practise of religion’. Christian belief that none come to God save through Jesus Christ our Lord; and for some, it would appear to be a denial of the divinity of Christ.  
                                   _____________________________________

A Temple made with Human Hands  
Hiram Abiff was under the Law of Moses in his work for Solomon. He was called by Solomon to build his Temple.  This Temple made by hands, by human effort, forced labour and was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the second Temple built by Zarubbabel and Joshua extended by King Herod was also destroyed by the Romans in 70AD. 
 
A Temple made without Hands 
Jesus’ prophecy in John 2: 19, 21. “Destroy this temple, this building with all its rituals and sacrifices, and in three days I will raise it up.” John wrote, “But he spoke of the temple of his body.” After Jesus died on the cross and was taken and laid in a grave tomb, the body of Jesus having the Temple rituals and sacrifices completed in his life and death: the Passover lamb, the Scapegoat, the final sacrifice for all sin, the perpetual light of the temple, the candlestick, the manna and the shrew bread, the water contained in the laver, the altar of incense, a booth and so on. 
 
The New Jerusalem  
“And I saw no temple in the city (Jerusalem), for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb (Jesus).” Revelation 21: 22.  
God resurrected Jesus and gave him a resurrected body. In the resurrected body of Jesus we have the temple of the eternal kingdom and when we come in faith and receive Jesus as our Saviour we enter into his kingdom our earthly bodies become the dwelling place of God’s Spirit. Paul refers to our bodies being the temple of the living God.  
 
“What agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For we are the temple of living God; as God said, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from among them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6: 16-18.                                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                            
cloud, Dorcas, Feast of Dedication, For-get-me-not, Joppa, Judas Maccabeus, Margaret Thatcher, resurrected body, sheep, Tabitha, Winston Churchill

The Messiah’s Secret – The Resurrection of Christ

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The Messiah’s Secret – The  Resurrection  in Christ.  


Readings Acts 9: 36-43. John 10: 22-30
The picture on the right: For-get-me-nots.

Is it a weed or a plant?  
Herb Robert, Dandelion, For-get-me-nots are they in your eyes a weed or a plant?      
A weed is where it is found in the wrong place: a rose found in a vegetable patch is classed as a weed. Perhaps you don’t agree.
Last week we saw a divided opinion over Margaret Thatcher’s funeral whether it should have been put on a par with Winston Churchill. The outcome on Wednesday the funeral  was a ceremonial service with strands of a state funeral woven into  it.  Both  Margaret Thatcher and  Winston Churchill had a similar style of leadership, strong and determined, but both were in the right place at the right time.

Judas Maccabeus was one of Israel’s great leaders he defeated the occupational armies of Antiochus Epiphanes. The temple at Jerusalem was desecrated by Antiochus. Judas Maccabeus cleansed and  rededicated the temple  in 164 BC. The Feast of Dedication commemorates this event. 

In John 10: 19 we read that there was a divided opinion among the people about Jesus was he the kind of leader that the Messiah should be, so they asked Jesus, “Tell us plainly if you are the Christ.” 
Some of the Jews were perhaps looking for the Messiah to be a man like Judas Maccabeus  who would free them from the Romans. 
Jesus had a commanding presence about him, he spoke with authority on the scriptures. He spoke out when he saw their desecration of the temple: the money changers and the sellers of pigeons, sheep etc  “My house shall be a house of prayer.”   
In John’s account of this incident, he gave the Jews the sign of his resurrection. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  John wrote, “He spoke of the temple of his body.” John 2: 13-22. Luke 19: 45. 

It was unthinkable by the leaders and many of the Jews that God would change from a temple made with hands to one made without hands, to a new constitution and government in this man Jesus. They did not understand that it really was the end of Israel’s system of government with the temple rituals and the ruling body of the Sanhedrin.  God had planned a complete change to one of the ruling presence of God and Christ’s reign over it. The resurrection is to do with this new government of Christ’s kingdom.  

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles
We see the difference, were once the eleven disciples did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, but now they do. 
The disciples at Joppa did not hesitate to send for Peter who was at the nearby town of Lydda, where he had prayed for a man who had been paralised and he was healed, they asked him to come without delay. At Joppa  a disciples named Tabitha had fallen sick and died. This lady was highly regarded by the church she was known for her good works. 
When Peter arrived he went to the room where Tabitha lay dead. The mourners wept and the widows showed him the garments that she had made. Peter asked them all to leave the room. He knelt down and prayed and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha rise,” and her eyes opened and when she saw Peter she sat up. Peter presented her alive to her friends.  
 However, this was not the resurrection into eternal life. It was a sign of the way, to find the truth and eternal life.  

Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth explained to them that flesh and blood can not inherit eternal life.  “For all flesh is not alike, but there is one kind for men, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.”  1 Corinthians 15: 39-42, 50. 

Three cards with textured material on them. Pass around congregation. 
Just to get the feel of what Paul was saying, I put on card some of the materials that probably Dorcas made her garments from and they differ in texture: linen, sheep’s skin, leather, silk, cotton. Dorcas had a hand in producing garments from them. Just has God has had his hand in creation.

At birth, Jesus had a natural body, in his resurrection, his natural body was raised up a spiritual body.  God had created for him a spiritual body. 
We read from the Gospel accounts, the resurrected body of Jesus had the marks where the nails and spear had pierced his flesh, he ate the same food as the disciples but he was able to walk through walls, and  his body was without blood.  Luke 24: 39-42. 

Our resurrected body will be raised up a spiritual body, a new creation, and we will have our personal identifying marks.  

Moody’s Stories “Moody wrote – A friend of mine was in Syria, and he found a shepherd that kept the old custom of naming his sheep. My friend said he wouldn’t believe that the sheep knew him when he called them by name. So he said to the shepherd, “I wish you would just call one or two.” The shepherd said, “Carl.” The sheep stopped eating and looked up. The shepherd called out, “Come here.” The sheep came, and stood looking up to his face. He called another, and another, and there they stood looking up at the shepherd. “How can you tell them apart?” “Oh, there are no two alike. See that sheep toes in a little; this sheep has a black spot on its nose.”My friend identified them by their markings.” 

So we will be able to recognise our own bodies in the resurrection, but the make up of our bodies will be like that of Jesus. 

Our lives are hidden with Christ, in life and in death. 
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” John 11 : 25, 26.  

At Baroness Thatcher’s funeral service the Bishop of London Richard Chartres in his sermon said: “It is almost as perplexing to identify the “real me” in life as it is in death. The atoms that make up our bodies are changing all the time, through wear and tear, eating and drinking. We are atomically distinct from what we were when young. What unites Margaret Roberts of Grantham with Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven and constitutes her identity? The complex pattern of memories, aspirations and actions which make up a character were carried for a time by the atoms of her body, but we believe are also stored up in the Cloud of God’s being.” 

The uniting of what is stored in the cloud of God’s being, will be joined together with our bodies, when the Lord calls out the church from the earth, those who have died in Christ our bodies will be raised from a grave or from where our ashes have been scattered they will be gathered together. And those who are alive “We shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye.”  
“Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at  the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable  must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15: 51-53 

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; so shall we always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

This is our hope, that when we are changed and have the resurrected spiritual body like that of Jesus, we put on immortality, the gift of eternal life. After this takes place we go the marriage supper of the Jesus and his bride the church in heaven. 

Early Church in Acts of the Apostles and another view on the Feast of Dedication.
“And the word of God increased and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” Acts 6: 7.

After Jesus’ resurrection a small number of disciples  gathered at the house in Jerusalem. Later after Pentecost the word church was used which means assembly a large gathering of people.  Before the name Christian was used by the believers, several names were used: Apostles, disciples and saints. The chosen disciples of Jesus were the called Apostles the ones who had been with Jesus, the disciples were both men and women as Tabitha was called a disciple and saints was used for all believers. Saints being Godly people. It was at Antioch were the name Christian was first used. Christian meaning a Christ-like person. Acts 11: 26.)  

There were great expectations of Jesus’ return as the disciples went about their master’s business watching for his return. Mark 13: 32-37.  

In the first few chapters of  ‘The Acts of the Apostles’ Peter, John, Stephen and the six disciples and Philip are mentioned as working in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

There soon followed a dispersion of the community at Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen. Saul  was ravaging the church by rounding up men and women and committing them to prison. After Saul’s conversion the church enjoyed a time of peace, earlier in chapter 9 we read of Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road.  Instead of pursuing the disciples and imprisoning them, he began at Damascus preaching in the synagogues, that Jesus was the Son of God and proved that Jesus was the Christ. The Jews  plotted to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket. 

Saul went to Jerusalem to join the disciples, but they were afraid of him, they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the Apostles  and he declared to them he had seen the Lord who had spoken to him. The Hellenists disputed with Saul and threatened to kill him. When the disciples heard, they sent him off to his home town Tarsus. 

Hellenists.“ Eyre & Spottiswoode Bible notes page 1634” 
“It was commonly understood that Hellenists were Jews who spoke Greek and/or adopted Greek customs, whilst Hebrews were more conservative Jews perhaps native of Jerusalem who spoke Hebrew (Aramaic) and abstained from Greek customs. Even in the early church a certain tension between the two groups was inevitable.”                                                                 

“So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied.” Acts 9: 31. 

Peter, James the Lord’s brother and John were regarded by Paul as being ‘pillars of the church’ Galatians 1: 19 Peter and James’ letters taught the faith. The church was being built up on the knowledge of Jesus fulfilling the prophesies in the Hebrew scriptures and the working of the Holy Spirit in the saints lives. 

Principal Feast Days in our Churches Calendar   
Epiphany, Easter Day, Ascension Day, Day of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints Day and Christmas Day.  

The Feast of Dedication.  
In our Gospel reading the Feast of Dedication coincides with Christmas Day, the birth of the Saviour Jesus Christ. The Feast of Dedication commemorates the re-dedication of the temple to God’s worship. 
In 168 BC the temple at Jerusalem was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes. Judas Maccabeus recaptured the city and had the sanctuary cleansed of the symbols of idolatry 164 BC the Feast of Dedication was celebrated  and it is revered every year in the Jewish month of Chislev. (Kislev. December) It is also called Hanukkah it begins on the 25th of Kislev and lasts for eight days. 

Jesus in his life laid down and in his resurrection  fulfilled every aspect of temple worship, he fulfilled the ‘Feast of Dedication’ when he emptied the temple court of the money changers who were desecrating the temple and he gave the Jews the sign of his resurrection. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  John wrote, “But he spoke of the temple of his body.” John 2: 13-22 
The significance of this feast being mentioned by John was that Jesus was the Saviour of Israel and his body, his life laid down the final cleansing of sin against God. God had prepared a new temple in Christ made without hands.    This was accomplished in the temple of Jesus’ body in being: the Passover lamb, the Scapegoat, the final sacrifice for all sin including the desecration of the temple. He is the perpetual light of the world, the bread of life, living water, the intercessor  between God and mankind, a shelter and so on. Revelation 21: 22. 2 Corinthians 5: 1.

The Jews were undecided about Jesus so they asked him, “Tell us plainly if you are the Christ.”                  
Jesus earlier had spoken about being the good shepherd, “ I am the good shepherd; I know my own and they know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep,  that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock , one shepherd.” John 10: 14-16  

Moody’s Stories.  
“Moody wrote – A friend told me about being in an eastern country some time ago, and he saw a shepherd going down to a stream, and he wanted to get his sheep across. He went into the water and called them by name, but they came to the bank and bleated, and were too afraid to follow. At last he went back, tightened his girdle about his loins, took up two little lambs, and put them inside his tunic. Then he started into the water, and the old sheep looked up to the shepherd instead of down into the water. They wanted to see their little ones. The old sheep got them over the water, and led them into the green pastures on the other side.” 

The Jews who heard the call of their shepherd and questioned whether he was in fact their shepherd are like the older sheep who having heard the call of the shepherd, but stood bleating on the banks of the river. The two lambs represent the other sheep who are the Gentiles who God hoped would bring the Jews to recognise Jesus as their Messiah. Acts 13: 46.                                                                                                                      
ambition, disciples in prison, Evening of the Day of the Resurrection of Jesus, fall and rise, hands and feet, Humpty Dumpty, rise and fall., Road to Emmaus, seek the lowest place

The Messiah’s Secret – Fall and Rise

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The  Messiah’s  Secret  –  Fall  and  Rise
        Readings Acts 5: 27-32  John 20: 19-31.

Humpty Dumpty.
A 17th Century Rhyme. The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by the composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott in his book of National Nursery Rhymes Nursery Songs published in 1870.                                         
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the Kings horses and all the Kings men,
couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Visual Aid.     
Humpty Dumpty was happily sitting on the wall watching people scurrying by, but something caused Humpty to fall off the wall. 
Was it a gust of wind? (Ask the children to make a sound like the wind.)
Was it the rain?  (Pita, pata)
What do you think could have made Humpty fall off the wall?
Someone may have pushed him off the wall. 
(Humpty fell off the wall by pulling the peg out, parts stuck on with blue tack)

Someone may have been upset by something Humpty had said or done.
The king sent his soldiers to put Humpty back onto the wall, but they couldn’t because he was in bits. (Holding up the arms and legs of Humpty Dumpty.)

When we feel hurt and down hearted because of what someone has said or done to us, there is someone who can help us and that is Jesus. He can mend our hurts and fears when we ask him in our prayers.

Song
The *astrick I have used to indicate the parts left out of the sermon.

The rhyme speaks of the rise and fall of nations and people.  We think of the rise and fall of great Empires like: the Babylonian Empire, the Persian, Greek and Roman Empires and in more recent times the British Empire.  

Politicians Rise and Fall
People in political life rise up to prominent responsible positions: Richard Nixon rose to become the President of the United States of America only to fall when he was implicated in a scandal. The book ‘All the Presidents Men’ was made into a film, echoing the rhyme, ‘The king’s men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.’  
The film is about the ‘Watergate Scandal’, referring to the failure of the Presidents staff to repair the damage once the scandal had leaked out. 

The Fall and Rise of the Messiah    
In the Bible Simeon prophesied concerning the Messiah it is the opposite, he would fall and rise.      
“Behold this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.” Luke 2: 34.   
The fall is where Jesus died on the cross and was placed in a tomb. 
The rise is on the third day after his crucifixion and death, God raised Jesus from the dead. 
The prophecy also includes others in association with the Messiah like the disciples.

Later on the day of the resurrection the disciples were gathered in the house at Jerusalem, I suspect that they were broken hearted, confused, and afraid. A sign of their desperation the doors were locked, they had fallen into despair.                                                           

*The disciples were certainly sceptical of Jesus’ resurrection when earlier in the day they heard from the women who came from the tomb telling them that Jesus was raised and they didn’t believe them.   People today are slow to believe, not sure if the resurrection really happened. Taking the word of people who lived 2,000 years ago is questioned by the logical mind.  However, one experience is worth a thousand arguments, we find out that resurrection of Jesus is true when we experience it for ourselves in this life. 

*We understand why the disciples did not believe the women when we read Luke’s account of the evening of the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Two disciples left the house to go to Emmaus, as they travelled along the road, they met the stranger. In their conversation with him they told him about Jesus who had been crucified at Jerusalem and that day was the third day since these things had happened and they had hoped he was the one who would save Israel.  
From these words it would seem that they did not expect the Messiah to come and redeem them on a cross at Jerusalem. Their vision of the Messiah was typified when the crowd hailed Jesus as the Son of King David “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” John 12:13. Luke 24: 21. 
The two disciples invited the stranger to stay with them at the village, so he went with them and when they sat down to the evening meal, he broke the bread and they immediately recognised that the stranger was Jesus. Now they believed just like the women who had reported seeing Jesus to them earlier. They returned to Jerusalem, and as they were telling the disciples all that had happened.*
  
In their fallen state of doubts and fears, Jesus came and stood among them saying, “Peace be with you.” He showed them his hands, his feet and his side. The disciples seeing Jesus lifted them up, setting them free from the fear of falling into the hands of the Romans, and the Jews.

Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit. Jesus fulfilled John the Baptist prophecy, “He (the Messiah) will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3: 16 
Similarly in our fallen state we can find that Jesus is alive and we too can receive the Holy Spirit from Jesus. We come just as we are to Jesus in prayer, reaching out in our fears, maybe confusion or in having doubts and ask the Lord to make himself known to us.

*On the same evening Jesus by the giving of the Holy Spirit opened their understanding of the scriptures concerning Jesus’ suffering and resurrection.* Luke 24: 45 

Jesus gave them his authority to forgive or retain the sins of people.

Acts Chapter 5 reveals the rise and fall of people in the world and were the Apostles were witnessing their faith in their fall and rise.  

At the beginning of the Chapter we have an example of sins retained put into practise by Peter: Ananias and his wife Sapphira. 
   
*Ananias and Sapphira. (I think of them as the Adam and Eve of the New Testament.)
Rise –They joined the community at Jerusalem having been baptised and received Jesus as their Messiah. Signs and wonders were done among the people by the Apostles. The community shared all their wealth and possessions. Along with others they sold a piece of land with the intention of giving the proceeds to the community.  
Fall – However, after they had sold it, they decided to hold on to some of the proceeds. Maybe like Thomas they had some doubts about what they believed and decided to keep some money just in case they left the community. When Peter asked what they had received they lied. He discerned what they had done and said to Ananias, “You have not lied to men but to God.” He fell down and died on the spot. Peter asked Ananias’s wife did they sell the land for so much and she said ‘Yes’ and she too fell down and died.   Even after a person is saved, the devil will sow seeds of doubt. Read the parable of ‘The Sower’. Acts 5: 1-11. Mark 4: 13-20.
*The Messiah’s Secret   
The Apostles were setting up the kingdom of God being about their master’s business until he returned. 
The ruling rod of iron of sins forgiven or retained. Psalm 2. Rev 19: 15. 
They expected Jesus to come with the angels and bring in his kingdom. Mark 9:1. 13: 32-35. John 21: 21. Acts 3: 17 end 
The disciples will judge the twelve tribes of Israel.  Matthew 19: 28.*  

Disciples arrested 
The Jewish council clearly wanted the demise, the fall of the community that had risen up in Jerusalem, so they arrested the Apostles and put them in prison.
During the night an angel open the prison doors telling the Apostles to witness about Jesus in the temple. The captain of the guard went to the prison to bring the men before the council for questioning. He found the sentries on guard and the doors were locked but there was no sign of the prisoners in the cells.

A puzzle to unravel. 
Hand out the box chained and held securely with a combination lock. Clues to the number that will open the lock. There are two numbers in the RSV Bible Gospel reading John 20: 19-31. The numbers 1& 8 other two numbers are 0. Find the combination.  

The Captain heard that they were teaching in the temple, he found them and without violence brought them before the council. They were told not to teach in the name of Jesus. But the Apostles spoke boldly to them saying, ”God exalted him (Jesus) at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel forgiveness of sins.” and that they must obey God rather than men. 

The Lord used this situation to give the assembled high priest and members of the ruling council of the nation the opportunity to bring the nation to repentance. Jesus had given the leaders a sign he would be like Jonah three days and nights in the heart of the earth. The King of Nineveh repented when he heard Jonah’s message. The acceptance of the Messiah was a national calling. Matthew 12: 40, 41. Jonah 3. 

The council had a problem they were perplexed and were unable to stop what they had brought about by crucifying Jesus and they were clearly afraid of the people taking the side of the Apostles this could have led to their downfall. 1 Peter 2: 8. 

Rise and Fall of False Messiah’s 
A member of the council the Pharisee named Gamaliel a teacher of the law, he suggested that these men should leave the room while he had a private word with the members of the council. He reminded them of Theudas who rose up with about four hundred followers, but it came to nothing. Also Judas the Galilean arose and drew some of the people after him, but again it came to nothing they were scattered after his death. Gamaleil’s advice to the council if it is not of God it will fade away, but if it’s of God, the council may be opposing God. Acts 5: 33-39  
The council responded to Gamaleil’s words, they beat the Apostles and told them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.    The Apostles left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus and they continued to teach Jesus as the Messiah.  

The rise of the community continued.  

Today’s Christian’s fall and rise.  
I had a phone call on Easter Monday afternoon from a friend she was wanted to share with me her good news. Her daughter–in-law has become a Christian. 
Her daughter-in-law had been very down at a low ebb. The family seemed to go from one problem to the next problem. Like many people today suffering as a result of our economic situation.   However, on Easter Saturday evening at a meeting at her mother-in-law’s church, that was to change. After hearing the message from the guest speaker she responded by taking a step of faith and accept Jesus as her Saviour. She fell into repentance and was raised up into the Lord’s forgiveness.
Like the disciples at low ebb, she had fallen into despair and like the disciples when Jesus came into their midst he breathed on them the Holy Spirit and their lives were changed. The Lord on Easter Saturday breathed on her his Holy Spirit. 
It is just the beginning of a journey now she will be raised above the storms of life; even in the troughs when things are at their worst she will be strengthened to overcome the situation. 

Despair is a Desperate Companion. 

Despair is a desperate companion for facing the unknown. 
Much rather the funny, dancing loving partner of my journey,
 the spirit of sparkling hope to lighten my load and wash away my tears. 
Perhaps I’m searching in the wrong place; asking the wrong questions. 
O God, midwife of my life, deliver me from anxiety, dispel my fear, calm my racing heart, bring hope to birth again. 

Kate Mcllhagga from the Book ‘Praying for the Dawn’ Ruth Burgess and Kathy Galloway. Wild Goose Publications.    

*Followers of Jesus. 
When we make a decision to accept Jesus as our Saviour, we look to his teachings in order to follow him.   
In the parable of the marriage feast Jesus taught us that we should humbly seek the lowest place and God will raise us up in order to fulfil his work in making Jesus known in the world.
By seeking the lowest place we won’t fall into ambition, were our humanity takes over the Lord’s work. Luke 14: 10 
It is so easy in all sincerity and being zealous to be doing what the Lord Jesus has called us to do, to move from being in that lowest place where we are walking closely with the Lord, in not moving to the left or the right without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. To where through being successful we become ambitious for the Lord’s work in anticipating what should happen next. This brings us under law as we find we have reverted to move forward in the power of self and start to run ahead of the Spirit.*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Ethiopian Eunuch, God raised Jesus from the dead, Isaiah 53, Jesus was a Jew, Messannic kingdom, Nathanael, Philip, Qumran Scrolls, resurrection, Suffering Servant, two Messiahs

The Messiah’s Secret – Isaiah 53

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The Messiah’s Secret – Isaiah 53                                                                                   
“David foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” Acts 2: 31, 32.                                                                                            
Isaiah 53: 1-12. Luke 24: 13-47
Since the book of Isaiah was written, the ‘Suffering Servant’ in chapter 53 has led many to interpret its meaning to there being two Messiahs. Evidence was found in Qumran Scrolls.

 Qumran Scrolls 
Between 1947 – 1956 972 scrolls were found in caves in Qumran by the Dead Sea. They have since been radiocarbon dated it estimated that they were written between 385BC and  82 AD.  Several of the fragments of parchment reveal that the Essene, a religious sect of Judaism wrote of their belief in two Messiahs. One from the tribe of Aaron and the other of Judah, priest and king. This view is disputed among leading Theologians today.

“Many scholars believe that the Essenes were connected with the rise of the Pharisees in the centuries before the birth of Jesus.” John Drane ‘Introducing the Old Testament.”

The Essenes view at that time was not held by the majority of Jewish teachers at Jerusalem, they held the traditional belief of the Messiah who would be a descendant of King David. 

Formulation of the Jewish Talmud.
In the second century AD,  during the formulation of the Jewish Talmud Jewish rabbis studied the messianic prophesies in the Hebrew Scriptures, especially Isaiah 53 and they concluded that there were two Messiahs. Arnold Fruchtenbaum “Jesus was a Jew” page 24.

The First Messiah.
Isaiah had depicted a man as the ‘suffering servant,’ the rabbis named him ‘the son of the  Joseph,’ he would undergo a great deal of suffering that would end in death. This servant would suffer and die for the sins of others. The passage goes on to indicate that this servant would be resurrected.

The Second Messiah.
The rabbis believed that the second Messiah would raise the first Messiah back to life, he would come as a conquering king who would destroy the enemies of Israel and set up the messianic kingdom of peace and prosperity.  Arnold Fruchtenbaum “Jesus was a Jew” page 24.

Arnold Fruchtenbaum  writes: “An ancient eleventh century Jewish writing by (Rabbi Shlomoh Yizchaki, better known as Rishi.  Rabbi Rishi put forward his theory of two Messiah’s from Isaiah 53.” He uses the suffering servant as an allegory, the first Messiah son of Joseph, and the second Messiah king David’s descendant both representing the people of Israel in their suffering in a Gentile world.

Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s own view.
Arnold Fruchtenbaum suggests: “But to make the passage in Isaiah speak of a collective body of Israel seems to force the interpretation. The passage taken by itself seems to have only one individual in mind.” In his book he refers us to the passage and points out where the words clearly speak of an individual and where they speak collectively. Isaiah includes himself with the collective body of Israel.

Summary of Isaiah 53: 1-12.
 I. The Jewish people confess they do not recognize the Servant in his person and calling.

2. The people noted that there was nothing special about him. His childhood was no different from any other child. His personality and his outward appearance did not make him stand out from others.

3 The prophet would suggest that he was not charismatic, he did not attract people to him, but instead he was despised and rejected by men in general. He was sorrowful and grieved for the loss of people’s hearts towards God. 

4. The people confess that at the time of his suffering, they considered his suffering to be the punishment of God for his own sins. 
Now, however, they acknowledge that the Servant’s suffering was on behalf of others. The Servant was afflicted, taking the punishment would be laid upon him.

 5. The people will understand the Servants suffering more deeply, through his suffering he will heal their sicknesses and diseases, “By his stripes we are healed.”                                                                                                                                                
6. Only God could bring about reconciliation through a substitute being made for sins.The people confess that they had gone astray; they each had gone their own way.                         
7. The prophet appears to be speaking as he describes the suffering that leads to the Servants death. The Servant submits to all the hostility against him.

8.The sentence of death was from a judicial court of law, although he was innocent of all the charges made against him, he did not deserve death. The Servant was executed as a criminal.

9. The Servant was buried not as a criminal, but his burial was in a rich man’s tomb.

10. It is hard for us to understand how God allowed his precious Son to die for the sins of mankind. His death brings about forgiveness and reconciliation with God. He prolongs the Servants days as God would raise him from the dead.


11. God accepts the offering of his Servants sacrifice of his life laid down. The Servant will justify many through faith in him.


12.The Servant greatly blessed by God having brought to fruition the redeeming plan of God for all creation. Through his love for God his Father and for us his children, he was mocked, ridiculed and despised.

Matthew in his Gospel identifies Jesus’ healing ministry  with Isaiah’s ‘Suffering Servant’ “This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” 
Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled these scriptures in Isaiah 53 in his suffering and death becoming our substitute for our sins against God, followed by his resurrection.  Through faith in Jesus we are redeemed, set free from sin and raised with him in newness of life that is eternal.  We enter into a relationship with Jesus in receiving the Holy Spirit. 

A more recent Jewish view.
Even today Rishi’s view of the Suffering Servant being the people of Israel is held by the rabbi of the Menorah Synagogue in Manchester England, but he also stated that the Messiah was the land of Israel.
Shoah Seminar – May 5th 2000 held at the Menorah Synagogue, Manchester. ( Notes taken at the seminar)
Twelve years ago I was invited to attend the Shoah Seminar at Menorah Synagogue in Manchester England. This day was in preparation for the first Holocaust Memorial Day in our area that took place on 27th January 2001.
The Rabbi of Menorah Synagogue when he spoke on the Holocaust, Holocaust meaning ‘burnt sacrifice.’ He referred to the Jews that had been taken by the Nazis to the concentration camps fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 53 ‘the suffering servant’. The people of the Holocaust were the burnt offerings for the atonement for their nation’s sin against God. Also the rabbi stated that God established the new covenant when the state of Israel came into being after the Second World War, and that the land of Israel, was their Messiah.

Whilst I respect Rabbi’s interpretation of his own Jewish scriptures, and I feel great sorrow for their suffering in the camps during the second world war, as a Christian through the churches study of the Hebrew Scriptures, I see the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the ‘Suffering Servant’ in Jesus, his suffering and subsequent death. Jesus being the sin bearer for the people of Israel and all humanity.

King David prophesied that the Messiah’s body would not be burnt by fire. Jesus’ body was not consumed by fire, nor was he corrupted by sin.  
“David foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” Acts 2: 31, 32. Psalm 16: 10. 49: 9.  
In Jesus’ bodily resurrection he did a complete work of redemption. Not only redeeming the believing Jewish people, but all those who have faith in him. The Messiah, the descendant of King David establishing his kingdom in the hearts of people. (Jesus will return and conquer the Antichrist)  

Philip called Jesus son of Joseph
At the early stage of Jesus’ ministry he had spoken nothing concerning his suffering and death. John the disciple records the conversation between Philip and Nathanael. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” John 1: 45. 
                                                                          
The all knowing Lord our God put in place through this conversation between the disciples, the true interpretation of Isaiah 53, in that any later reference to the son of Joseph, would point to being fulfilled in Jesus. The fulfilment of the one Messiah in Jesus’ suffering and death and resurrection were God himself raised Jesus from the dead.
Yet to be fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus being the governor of Israel. Matthew 2: 6. Micah 5: 2.                                                                   
The Early Church.
The majority of the Jews in the gospels were looking for the coming of the descendant of King David. Luke 1: 31-33.
They were expecting the Messiah the Son of David the deliverer of Israel.  In our reading on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and the other disciple in conversation with the stranger said, “But we had hoped that he was the one who would redeem Israel.” They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the descendant of King David. 
When they arrived at the village they invited the stranger to stay with them and he did so.  When they sat down for the evening meal, he broke and blessed the bread and gave it to them. At that moment these two disciples recognized Jesus, the stranger was Jesus and then in a moment he was gone, no longer sat at the table with them. 
Take hold of the promise in Revelation 2: 20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” It speaks of having fellowship with Jesus, like the disciples invited Jesus to stay with them at the village. Jesus would have you invite him into your life, as he knocks gently on the door of your heart.                                                                                                                                 
Under Law.
We also understand that the people at the time of Jesus had been taught that when the Messiah comes he would remain forever. John 12: 34. 
It had been part of God’s plan to keep the chief priests and rulers from understanding the scriptures that related to the one Messiah’s suffering, death and resurrection, also including his disciples.
When these two disciples returned to Jerusalem to the house where the disciples and followers were staying soon afterwards Jesus appeared in the room where they were gathered. The resurrected Jesus, whom God had raised from the dead, revealed himself to them and breathed on to them the Holy Spirit and also he had opened up their minds to understand the scriptures concerning his suffering and resurrection. Luke 24:21, 44-47.
The bringing in of the messianic kingdom would have followed soon after Jesus’ ascension. Acts 3: 17-end. 

The Messiah’s Secret. 
It was a call to the nation, but the chief priest Caiaphas and many of the council rejected Jesus as the Messiah at and after Pentecost that was when the disciples proclaimed the prophesies concerning the suffering death and resurrection had been fulfilled by Jesus. 

After the dispersion of the Christian community at Jerusalem Philip went to the city of Samaria and proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ (Greek for Messiah) He was later directed by an angel to go towards the south on the desert road that went down from Jerusalem to Gaza. He responded and as he walked along the road a chariot came by. In the chariot was an Ethiopian man, who he recognised as being a minister of the Ethiopian Queens’s treasury. He had been to Jerusalem to worship there and was returning home.
Philip led by the Holy Spirit went alongside the chariot and as he did so he heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah, Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. The man replied that he needed someone to guide him in the understanding of the scripture; he invited Philip to join him in his chariot. The passage that he was reading was this: “As a sheep is led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe this generation? For his life is taken up from the earth.” Isaiah 53: 7,8.
The man asked Philip,”About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Philip than began to tell him the good news about Jesus and in response to hearing about Jesus the man was baptised and he went on his way rejoicing. Philip was caught up by the Spirit and was found at Azotus and from there he went to Caesarea, preached the good news about Jesus along the way. Acts 8: 26-40

”The man asked Philip, “About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”                                                                                                                      
The Ethiopian man thought that the scriptures were referring to the one Messiah. After hearing from Philip that this scripture had been fulfilled in Jesus, he discovered it was true, Jesus.the suffering servant resurrected by God from the dead, the redeemer of Israel and of all those who believe in his name, he gave power to become the children of God.
(Link with earlier blog “A Kept Secret”)                                                                                                                             
Anointing, Bethany, Mary, Psalm 23, rest and peace in the midst of strife, resurrection morning, she has done a beautiful thing, spikenard, trial

The Messiah’s Secret – Mary Anointed Jesus

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The Messiah’s Secret – Mary  anointed  Jesus

Matthew 26: 6-13. Mark 14: 3-9. John 12: 1-8.

During Lent we focus on the events in Jesus’ life that took place at Jerusalem leading up to the time of the Jewish Passover 2,000 years ago.

Setting the scene.
I have brought together the three accounts in the Gospels: Matthew 26: 6-13. Mark 14: 3-9. John 12: 1-9. Each account gives some details of the occasion: agreeing on the value of the ointment, Jesus words varied slightly in response to the murmurings of the disciples and Jesus points to the anointing for his burial.
There where a number of people present at Bethany; Jesus and his disciples, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They came together to share a meal. John in his account in verse two wrote, “They made him a supper,” Jesus was their special guest.                                                                                                                                        
Visual Aid  
I set out a table at the front of church with lots of fruit: apple, orange, lime, lemon, mango, grapes, sweet potato, almonds, figs and spikenard oil. This visual aid was to help us to imagine the scene at Bethany where fifteen or sixteen people were celebrating Lazarus being raised from the dead.
The joy and excitement would have been apparent as they reclined chatting around the table.


We are not told how Mary felt earlier when Jesus restored her brother’s life, but here’s an indication. In a surging wave of gratitude, all her deeply felt but hard to express emotions rose to the surface.There amongst her friends she felt able to express her love and thankfulness, as she knelt down and used her hair to apply the ointment, the perfume’s heavy fragrance would have filled the room.
In Matthew and Mark’s accounts Mary anointed Jesus’ head and feet with the nard. Whereas John only mentions Mary anointing his feet. 
                                                                                                                                                           


‘Ungers Bible Dictionary’ I am informed that it was not unusual for a special guest to be anointed with perfumed oil as a gesture of good will. The nard that Mary used was probably imported from India to Egypt, that is why it was so expensive.

After Mary anointed Jesus, the atmosphere in the room must have changed.

Wasting all that money on a gesture. 
All three gospel accounts testify that this anointing was not well received by the disciples. The disciples were indignant and reproached Mary. Some are recorded as saying, ”Why this waste? “Why was the ointment thus wasted?” John gave us more detail Judas Iscariot said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor.?” In Mark’s account he mentions the cost of the ointment as being three hundred denarii, but he does not tell us who said it. It is the same amount, indicating the same incident. 

Jesus said that Mary had done something beautiful to him. Jesus response “But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” Mark 14: 6.
When we witness our faith acknowledging our belief in Jesus to a group of people, among those hearing some may be filled with indignation and reproach towards us. However, we have the assurance that we have done something beautiful for Jesus. 
In doing something for our Christian friend because Christ is in them, we have done something beautiful for Jesus.                                                                    
“Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you shall always have with you, but you will not always have me.”John 12:7.
Jesus was drawing his disciples attention to his death, he would not always be there with them.                                                                      

I put these two points forward for your consideration.
Jesus was drawing his disciples attention to his death, he would not always be there with them. Secondly he was also fulfilling the Psalmist prophecy, “Thou hast preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.” Psalm 23: 5. 
The roast leg of lamb is placed on the table with the fruit.


First Point
Jesus the ‘Lamb of God’ the sacrificial Passover lamb.
The disciples were told by Jesus that he would be killed, but he never told them when it would be, at least not until two days before the Passover.

The Passover Lamb.
The night before the Israelites left Egypt, God instructed Moses that each household should select the best yearling male lamb from amongst their flocks and in the evening kill it and take some of its blood and brush it onto the doorposts and lintels of every Jewish home so that when that night the angel of death saw the blood he would pass over that house and where there was no blood the first born son and animal would die and judgement executed on the gods of Egypt. Exodus 12: 1-13 

Jesus the Lamb of God sets us free from the slavery of sin.
John the Baptist said concerning Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” John 1: 29.                                                             
Jesus the lamb sacrificed for the sins of the whole world.
When God sees the blood of Jesus on the doorposts and lintels of our heart, we have passed over from death to life. Through faith in what Jesus has done for us on the cross, his blood atoning for our sins against God, we receive eternal life in Christ, passing over death to life. 

Short prayer: Lord I pray that you would help me to understand the cross and its meaning, I come to you believing that Jesus has taken my sin upon himself and his blood has washed me clean. I receive your forgiveness and pray for your love to fill my heart. In Jesus’ name Amen. 

Second Point.
 He was also fulfilling the Psalmist prophecy, “Thou hast preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.” Psalm 23: 5                                                                                                                                                     
The table the unleavened bread is now placed on the table. 
The unleavened bread – bread without yeast/leaven in it. In the Hewbrew Scriptures leaven also means sin.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread.
This feast originated when the Israelites who were in such a great rush leaving Egypt that they had not time to put the yeast into the dough, as a result it was unleavened bread, in scriptural terms bread without sin in it. (see blog Law and Grace)  On the first day of the feast every Jewish home removed all traces of any old bread, bread with the leaven/sin in it.

On this day at the temple the lambs were sacrificed in the temple in readiness for the Passover meal the day after. Jesus the Lamb of God was crucified on the the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the same time as the Passover Lambs were slain. Mark 14: 12                                                                                                                                                                              
Jesus was born sinless, his life’s blood was free from inherited sin, as his blood originated from God at his conception.
Jesus was the bread that came from heaven, not like the bread, the manna that God gave them in the wilderness that fed their physical body. Jesus’ bread feeds the soul. Jesus referred to his words as being ‘the bread of life’. “ It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” John 6: 35, 63.                                                                                                                            
Verse 5. “Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.” 
Among his friends reclined around the table was one who would betray him.
Jesus knew what was in his disciples hearts: the murmurings of self will, the indignation of the disciples when Mary anointed Jesus. He also knew that one of them would betray him.
John named Judas Iscariot  as the one who said, ” Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denirii.” John also enlightened his readers to the fact that Judas stole from his friends. Judas did not hesitate in selling his loyalty to Jesus for money.

Soon afterwards in the upper room the towel and basin where there, but no one amongst them offered to do the menial task of washing their feet.
Earlier Jesus was at the centre of turmoil when Jews heard him say that he was the bread from heaven. “The Jews murmured because he said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” John 6: 41.
Jesus feared no evil for the God his Father was with him. His Father’s works and words were a rod and a staff to him. “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees his Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.”

 “Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee; for I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from thee; and they have believed that thou didst send me.”   

Jesus guarded his disciples from the evil one, except for Judas Iscariot who he describes as ‘lost’ that the scripture might be fulfilled. John 5: 19. 17: 7, 8. 12.

Jesus would soon fulfil the prophesies concerning the Messiah as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death bearing his cross, in front of his enemies.
The news of his arrest and trial would have taken people by surprise. It all happened so quickly, Jesus was arrested in the evening he was taken to Caiaphas’ house where a trial took place before the council. In the morning they brought him before Pilate.
“For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was reckoned with the transgressors’; for what is written about me has its fulfilment.” Luke 22: 37.                                                

Verse 5. “Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.” 
The Anointing.
Jesus’ response to his disciples remarks expressed something wonderful. Jesus said that Mary had done a beautiful thing that pointed to his death and burial.

Mary of Bethany had anointed Jesus, just before he was to fulfil the plan of God in the work of redemption that God had called him to do. God the Father chose Mary to anoint his precious Son by doing so fulfilled  the Psalmist’s prophecy. What a great privilege given to a lady who had shown such thankfulness for her brothers resurrection from the dead.

Verse 5. “Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.”

A Cup that overflows – suffering. 
At his trial at Caiaphas’s house Jesus was accused of blasphemy: he was asked by the high priest Caiaphas, “Tell us if you are the Christ the Son of God.” Jesus’ response, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore his clothes and said, ”He has uttered blasphemy.” The council concluded in pronouncing, “He deserves death.”  Matthew 26: 63-66.

In their ignorance they fulfilled many prophesies including Caiaphas’ prophecy that one man should perish so that the nation would be saved. God’s saving grace was proclaimed by the disciples at Pentecost by the disciples.

Jesus spoke of his return.
Jesus repeated to the leaders at his trial what he had said earlier to the Jews, that some would see the coming in of the kingdom of God.  Jesus would come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels and there would be some standing there who would not taste death before they saw the kingdom of God come with power. Mark 8: 38. 9: 1(See blog ‘What is the Messiah’s Secret’)                                                                                                                                                                                                          
The Cup that overflows – peace and joy.
The anointing enabled Jesus to find the still waters of rest and peace. His resting I feel was in his obedience, he sought not his own will, only to do his Father’s will to be crucified and die.

The peace and the joy in fulfilling his Father’s will was expressed in those words to Mary when she anointed him, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” 
We see no beauty in suffering or dying in pain. I think Jesus saw things differently because he had the mind of God, he rejoiced in his suffering. For Jesus it was a joy to save us from our sins.
As we walk in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life, rest, peace and joy.                                    
                           Psalm 23  

 “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want; 
he makes me lie down in green pastures, 
he leads me beside still water; He restores my soul. 

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
 I fear no evil; for thou art with me;
 thy rod and staff, they comfort me. 

Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; 
thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; 
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”   
Revised Standard Version of the Bible

Jesus suggested that they should save the rest of the spikenard ointment for his burial.
“Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you shall always have with you, but you will not always have me.”John 12:7.
It is possible that Mary of Bethany was one of the ladies who in Luke’s account of the morning of the day of Jesus’ resurrection took the ointment to the tomb and found that Jesus was not there, he was risen, risen indeed..

                                                                                                                                              

40 days in the wilderness, daffodil, Fasting and Prayer, humanity, lent, righteousness and faith., temptation

The Messiah’s Secret – Faith, Fasting and Prayer

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The Messiah’s Secret – Faith,  Fasting  and  Prayer 

Romans 10: 8-13. Luke 4: 1-13                                                  
Verses three and four of Romans chapter ten shows us that righteousness and faith are closely linked.
“For being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they do not submit to God’s righteousness, For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified (declared not guilty).”

The righteousness in relation to faith is explained to us when we read about Abraham’s faith. Abraham and Sarah were old and childless; God promised Abraham and Sarah they would have a son. Abraham believed God and his faith was counted as righteousness, Genesis 15: 5,6. 



 Visual Aid    A daffodil in bloom in a pot. One bulb, a flower pot and soil 
                     
                     
                                                         


The bulb, which represents the righteousness of God, it is then placed in a flower pot and covered with soil.

                                                                                                                                                       

The green leaves and stem represent faith.
The rain falls into the soil, the roots of the bulb takes nutriments from the soil and from the goodness coming from the bulb green shoots begin to appear. Followed by the stem and leaves. 
“Now faith is being sure of what we do not see” Hebrews 2: 1.







Salvation represented here by the flower of a daffodil.
Faith and righteousness working together produce by grace something beautiful, the flower of Salvation.                                     

The righteousness of God is constant. Matthew 5: 45. Whereas, our human righteousness or goodness is impure it’s not constant, which the Bible calls self righteousness. 

Jesus has made it possible for us to receive God’s righteousness through faith in what Jesus has done for us on the cross.
 “For, “every one who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”             
All who come to Jesus in repentance having recognised that unrighteousness separates us from God and that a penalty for sin must be paid for? Neither Jew nor Gentile can by our own effort pay the price or penalty for sin.
The Member of Parliament who asked his wife to take his penalty points on her driving license for his speeding offence. He found out this is not allowed under the law, he has to pay the penalty for it.
Unlike Jesus who by God’s grace which is undeserved giving from God, takes our wrongdoing upon himself, becoming our substitute for sin and so paid the penalty for us, by laying down his life and dying on the cross.
After repentance, forgiveness is realised and thereby we receive the righteousness of God in our being, we are saved. Jesus is our Saviour, we can’t save ourselves.
Romans 10: 8-13. 
Anyone reading this blogg who feels moved by the Spirit of the Lord to ask for forgiveness, please don’t delay, the Lord Jesus loves you and wants you to know his redeeming love.  

When we come to faith, we begin a journey of faith and witness.
Jesus’ journey began by spending 40 days in the wilderness, where he fasted and prayed.
Biblical fast means – “To pour out your heart like water, before the presence of the Lord.” Lamentations 2: 19.
Having a deep sorrow for sin, a person humbles themselves in repentance before the Lord. 

Isaiah gives guidance on fasting: “Is this the fast that I choose: to lose the bands of wickedness, to undo the throngs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 
Isaiah 58: 6, 7

.Isaiah’s words remind us of Jesus’ ministry which he read out at the Synagogue at Nazareth.
 ”The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Luke 4: 18. 
Jesus’ fasting and prayer prepared him for his ministry.

After the forty days were ended (not during his fast) we read Jesus was tempted by the devil. At this point Jesus was at his most venerable, physically weakened by fasting for that length of time. The devil took the opportunity to attack his motivation he tried to disqualify Jesus’ ministry through his humanity.

  A summary of the three temptations.
First the devil tempted him to turn a stone into bread. This was to tempt Jesus in order to satisfy his physical hunger.

Secondly he was tempted to satisfy human ambition to become the ruler of the world.

Thirdly he was tempted to take his own life. This would have disqualified the plan of God which was to redeem us through Jesus’ death on the cross.

Jesus withstood the devils temptations through the righteousness of God dwelling within him.

“Jesus is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15.

Jesus was not deceived; he came to release us from the bondage of the devil, sin, death and hell.                                       “Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has power over death that is the devil.” Hebrews 2: 14   

“Because he himself suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.”
Hebrews 2: 18.
When we are tempted and need help to resist, the Lord understands and he will be strength to us, as we feed on the words of scripture.

Preacher D L Moody describes temptations as being like weeds, we need to uproot the weed, before it develops into a plant.

Lent.
Through the centuries Jesus has given his followers his ministry. Were Jesus calls us to fast and pray; The church encourage us to fast and pray during the season of Lent Pointing to the scripture “When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they shall fast.”  Matthew 9:15.

Two types of fasting.

One – To deny ourselves a particular food that we enjoy.

Two – During the day, fasting by missing a meal or fasting for a whole day or more going without food, remember always to drink plenty of fluids.

Whether we fast or if we are not able to fast for health reasons etc Keeping in mind the words in Isaiah 58 for our payers to focus on the needs and concerns of others.

Fasting and Prayer with a Promise.. 
Isaiah reveals in the same chapter of how the Lord feels when we are prepared to fast and pray for the needs of his church and world.
 “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, here I am.” Isaiah 58:8, 9.

This is a wonderful promise from the Lord as he watches over us, and he delights to answers our prayesr.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Forgiveness and healing of the nations., Gossip the Gospel, Holocaust, Jesus was a Jew, tell the story about Jesus

The Messiah’s Secret – What is the Messiah’s Secret

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What  is  the  Messiah’s  Secret? 

A word was given to me in 1996 “The disciples were setting up the Kingdom of God at the beginning of Acts.’  What made this word stand out, moments before I was gently rocked in my chair from side to side, the chair did not move, the word then came into my mind. Two weeks later I received another word, I awoke with the word, ” Jesus could only be received as the Messiah after his death, resurrection and ascension.” 
The two words came together, the disciples were setting up the Kingdom of God in anticipation of Jesus’ return soon after Pentecost.  

This word opened my understanding. 
What this word revealed I could not find in any of the books or concordances. The Holy Spirit opened up the Gospels, I wrote everything down under headings which formed the book. I had been taught like many others that the time for the Jews to receive Jesus as their Messiah was before his death on the cross and that Jesus was rejected by the nations leaders and handed over to the Romans and as a result he was crucified. Were you taught the same?

The Messiah’s Secret Revealed
The time for the Jewish nation to receive Jesus as their Messiah was at and after Pentecost This understanding has been hidden, lost for centuries and as a result the Jewish people have suffered.
In November 2009 I went to listen to Singer Helen Shapiro she sang and also told us her life story. Helen is of Jewish decent born in London in 1946. At the age of six she went to a state school. She told us of how she remembered a child coming up to her in the playground and saying, ‘You killed Jesus.’ She was devastated and never forgot those hurtful words. In the late 1980’s she discovered Jesus as her Saviour and the promised Messiah to the Jewish people.   

Arnold G Fruchtenbaum also confirms that this teaching was widely taught and as a result the Jewish people have suffered.
Arnold G Fruchtenbaum’s Book “Jesus was a Jew” page 92 First Published 1981
“Israel’s objection to the Messiahship of Jesus is not so much an objection against Jesus himself as it is against the way his name has been used throughout Jewish history. For have not Christians persecuted and killed Jews for centuries? Has not the cross been a symbol of death to the Jews? Has not the church issued discriminatory laws against the Jews? Has not the name of Jesus been used to scorch Jewish homes and bodies? Has not in baptism been used in forced conversions to Christianity and as an excuse to separate Jewish children from their families? All of this is true and so is a lot more. It may be questioned whether those who perpetrated these atrocities were really Christians, but they certainly called themselves that.”                        

The Message of Salvation to all Nations 
On the evening of the day of Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus opened the minds of his disciples to understand the prophesies concerning his death and resurrection.
“Then Jesus said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ (Messiah) should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Luke 24: 44-47.

The disciples proclaimed for the first time at Pentecost that Jesus was the Messiah. The prophesies prove that it was in the plan of God that the Messiah had to suffer and die in order to be the final sacrifice for sins against God. God resurrected Jesus from the dead and in doing so fulfilled his plan of salvation for human beings and all creation.
(Linked with earlier blog “A Kept Secret.)

The Disciples were setting up the kingdom in anticipation of Jesus Return.
At the beginning of the Acts of the apostles Luke recorded that there were 120 people present in the upper room, this was the number required to form a town according to the rules of the Mishna, one tenth being the officers. Matthias took Judas’ place to make up the number to twelve, one tenth. (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible.) Before the Mishna came into being the oral law was in force that was passed on down the generations.
It’s no coincidence that the number gathered in the house were the exact number required to set up a community. The problem of being one short to make up the required number of officers was prophesied in the Psalm quoted by Peter. Acts 1: 20. Psalm 109: 8
Thousands of people became part of the community of believers after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

Watching for Jesus’ Return.
Jesus hoped to return within the lifetime of the Apostles, but he also knew that it would be God the Father who would send him at his appointed time. Acts 1:7. Mark 13: 32.
“But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Watch therefore you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning- lest he comes suddenly and finds you asleep. And what I say to you I say to you all: Watch.” Mark 13 : 32-37.

These verses speak for themselves in telling us that Jesus definitely was going to return, but at the Father’s appointed time. Jesus left his disciples in charge of his business of putting in place the things that he taught them for forty days before his ascension concerning the kingdom of God.

Below are some important texts that confirm Jesus would have returned soon after Pentecost.

“For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here that will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” Mark 8: 38. 9: 1.                                                
                                                                                                                                               
 “The saying went abroad among the brethren that this disciple (John the Apostle) was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you.” John 21: 22, 23.

“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by his holy prophets from of old.” Acts 3: 17 21.

The times of refreshing, the eternal throne and kingdom of King David being established by the Messiah. 2 Samuel 7: 13, 16.

God had given a prophecy to the leading figure on the Jewish Council
High priest Caiaphas and the Pharisees brought the council together. They discussed the influence that Jesus had, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” Caiaphas said to them, “You know nothing at all; you do not understand that it is expedient that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.”
John the Apostle said, “He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they took council how they might destroy him.” John 11: 47-53                               

Confusion in the Teaching coming from the Chief Priests, Scribes, Lawyers, Rabbis, and Pharisees
God had spoken directly to high priest Caiaphas the main leader of the ruling council of the Jews and Caiaphas believed that the prophecy was pointing to Jesus; he was the one man who should die for the people. But he did not believe that the Messiah would come and die. The people had been taught from the law that when the Messiah comes he will remain for ever. John 12: 34 

Whilst Jesus was dying on the cross the chief priests and scribes mocked him saying, “He saved others but he can not save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Mark 15: 31, 32.

When Caiaphas and the Pharisees heard that Jesus had been raised from the dead surely they should have realised that God had given them a word of prophecy concerning the Messiah, in order to bring the nation to acknowledge Jesus as their Christ. Also when they heard the well known prophesies of King David that the Apostles declared in association with Jesus’ death and resurrection and the prophecy of Joel being fulfilled in the last days I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh and whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2: 17, 21.Sadly Sadducee Caiaphas did not believe in the resurrection from the dead. The Pharisees their hearts were hardened.   Read Acts 2: 22-27

The Good News Message was first to the Jews. The Jewish people as a nation of priests in the plan of God they were to take out the good news of the Messiah to the rest of the World. Exodus 19: 6 Acts 15: 16.
John the Apostle wrote that as a nation they failed to take out the good news about the Messiah.
“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become the children of God; who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God.” John 1: 10-13          

Paul Proved that Jesus was the promised Messiah Acts 13: 13-52
The early church came together at Antioch and whilst they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke and called Saul and Barnabas to go on a mission. After they fasted and prayed they laid their hands on them they set off.
They sailed to Cyprus where John Mark joined them and assisted them. From Cyprus they sailed to Perga in Pamphlia, here John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. At Antioch in Pisida they went into the synagogue. Visiting Jews were often asked to speak at the service, to give news and words that would encourage the members of the synagogue. Saul or now called Paul (verse 9) responded to the rulers of the synagogue’s invitation. He stood up and beckoned them to listen. 
 “Men of Israel, and you that fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about 40 years he bore with them in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance for about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.                                                                                                  

Then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Saviour. Before his coming John the Baptist had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ “  Acts 13: 16-25

Paul stated that Jews fulfilled the prophesies as a nation when they handed Jesus over to Pilate.
“Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham and those among you that fear God, to us has been given the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognise him or understand the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning him. Though they could not charge him with nothing deserving death, yet they asked Pilate to have him killed. And when they fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb. 
But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God had promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as it is also written in the second Psalm ’Thou art my Son today I have begotten thee.’ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke in this way, ‘I will give you the blessings of David’ Therefore he also says in another Psalm, ‘Thou wilt not let thy Holy One see corruption.’” Acts 13: 26-35. 
Here Paul points to Jesus as being the promised Messiah, he makes it known that the rulers of the nation in their failure to understand the prophesies concerning the death and resurrection of the Messiah fulfilled the prophesies in Jesus. King David had prophesied that the body of the Messiah would not decay. Jesus was seen by first the disciples who touched his wounds, proving that he was not a spirit. Luke records that they saw he had flesh and bones, indicating no blood in his risen body. Luke 24: 39.

 Paul continued, “Let it be known to you therefore, brethren, that through this man’s forgiveness of sins proclaimed to you, and by him everyone is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the laws of Moses.” Verses 38. 39.

Jesus the final sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus has redeemed us from all that separates us from God. No sinner too guilty to be saved from all that we have done that has grieved the Spirit of God.
 Many of the Jews wanted to hear more especially the ‘God fearing men’ the converts to Judaism.  Following this on the next Sabbath almost the whole of the city came to hear the word of God. The Jews were filled with jealousy, and contradicted what Paul had said. This caused Paul and Barnabas to speak out boldly saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you the Jews first, Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.” 44-46.

Prayer
Lord, thank you, that you have shown great mercy by bringing the Gentiles to know Jesus as our Saviour. Please forgive the occasions when the Jews, your people, have suffered as a result of our (the Gentiles) ignorance in not understanding the Hebrew prophesies.  The scriptures that reveal that the Messiah had to suffer and die, be resurrected and ascended into heaven before they and us could receive him as the Messiah. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gossip the Gospel
 It is by telling the story again the events that took place surrounding Jesus’ ministry, his trial, his suffering and his death that awakens the soul of a person who is searching for the truth. The resurrection of Jesus is well documented by many witnesses. The coming of the Holy Spirit reveals to all who believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

The promise of eternal life in Jesus’ kingdom is a living hope, having tasted the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, the reality of Jesus’ kingdom is within the soul.                                                                               

There will be a change of attitude towards the Jews in the Millennium of Christ’s reign.
“Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'” Zechariah 8: 22, 23. (See blog ‘ The Third Temple.’)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

By Dorothy Newton