Proclaimed in Baptism

January 3, 2010

Background Scripture: Matthew 3
Lesson Passage: Matthew 3:1 – 6, 11 – 17

The Sunday School lessons for this month center around the evidence that points to Jesus as the promised messiah of Israel. No other gospel account is more appropriate for this than Matthew. Matthew’s account of the gospel is biased towards the Jewish recipient. It contains many references to Old Testament messianic prophecy along with Matthew’s exposition of how Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy. The genealogy of Matthew presents Jesus as a descendant of Abraham through the royal lineage of Judah.

In today’s lesson, Matthew presents the historical account of the water baptism of Jesus. Chapter three opens with the ministry of John the Baptist and he is immediately linked to Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the forerunner of the Messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy is found in chapter forty and verse three. Here, the fulfillment of the prophecy is found in the fortieth book of the bible and chapter three. Matthew presents the ministry of John the Baptist as that fulfillment. John preached the need for repentance in order to be prepared for the coming of the Lord. Where Isaiah speaks of valleys being lifted up and high places being brought down, Matthew says that all Judea went out to John and responded to his preaching. Those who responded included both the downcast and the high and mighty. John even mocked the religious leaders for coming to repent and asked them mockingly, “Who has warned you snakes to run?” Then he demanded of them true signs of repentance as he warned them that being born a Jew was not sufficient to save them from God’s wrath. He went on to warn them that God would judge their lifestyles and punish the unfruitful wicked. From this point, John went on to point out the contrast between his ministry and that of the coming Messiah. After these things, Jesus came to the Jordan River to John to be baptized. This is remarkable when one considers how Jesus is a contrast to the message that John was preaching. John’s message of repentance would not apply to Jesus, who had no sin and needed no repentance. Yet Jesus insisted that he be baptized as an example to all who followed after him. (If Jesus accepted a baptism of repentance without having any sin of his own, how much more should we who were born in sin and shaped in iniquity submit ourselves to repentance and after having accepted Jesus, also to baptism.) As Jesus came up out of the water, the triune presentation of the godhead was in full expression: the submissive son was preparing for his ministry, the Holy Ghost descended on him as an expression of the power that he would walk in and the approving voice of the Heavenly Father falling from the heavens. All of these things are but evidence of Jesus as the Messiah.


Robert C. Hudson
December 22, 2009

Messiah’s Birth Causes Joy and Rage

December 27, 2009

Background Scripture: Matthew 2
Lesson Passage: Matthew 2:7 – 10, 16 – 23

From birth, the effects of Jesus’ ministry could be seen in the reactions of various people. Some worshiped while others worried. The news of his birth traveled far and wide and engulfed people in its wake. Some traveled from a distant country to worship him while others nearby sought him to work wickedness against him. Wise men (either philosophers or scientists) were in awe of him while a king trembled at the thought of the meaning of his birth. All recognized that he was born king. This is remarkable considering there was no “earthly kingdom” of the Jews at that time and there had not been one for almost six hundred years. Neither was he born heir to the throne of a reigning king though he was born in Israel’s royal lineage of Judah. In spite of these gaps in regal succession, prophecy had foretold of his much anticipated coming. Some who anticipated with joy brought expensive gifts to give him along with their worship and adoration. They remind us of the custom in this country of giving gifts as part of the celebration during the Christmas season. On the other hand, King Herod, who learned that this anointed child was prophesied to be the king over Israel, committed monstrous acts in a failed attempt to kill him and prevent his ascension to the throne. The most hideous of all of his actions was the ordered execution of all children in and around Bethlehem who were two years of age and younger. On the other hand, God’s providential actions were in accordance with human desires and intentions whether they were pure or not. For those from a far country who desired to see and worship the child, God provided a guiding star to lead them over the distance and directly to the house where the child and his mother were (And you thought these new GPS devices were amazing! This technology is at least two thousand years late.) For a nearby king who sought to take the child’s life, God frustrated his plans by rerouting the group he tried to use to gather intelligence as to the child’s exact whereabouts. God went a step further and removed the child from that hostile environment until the fearful king had died. It was years later during his ministry that Jesus talked about the challenges of discipleship. Jesus stated that he did not come to send peace on the earth but instead a sword upon the land. It is a sword that divides families and homes. It is a sword that separates children from their parents. It will divide co-workers and friends. To this day, we still see the partitioning effect of the gospel. The gospel challenges complacency and mediocrity. God demands hot or cold and rejects the lukewarm. Since the announcement of Jesus’ birth, Jesus has always and continues to cause both joy and rage.


Robert C. Hudson
December 11, 2009

Immanuel Is Born

December 20, 2009

Background Scripture: Matthew 1:18 – 25
Lesson Passage: Matthew 1:18 – 25

One of my father’s favorite television shows was a crime drama named Dragnet. The lead character was Los Angeles Police detective Sergeant Joe Friday. It seems as though every show found Joe Friday dedicated to seeking out the facts concerning an investigation. He would even interrupt potential witnesses in mid-sentence to insist that they only give him the facts. How important are facts to people in our society today? I learned a long time ago that the purpose of the judicial system is to seek out the facts and to administer justice according to the law based on those facts. However, all around us we see instances where money trumps everything—including facts. Is justice truly served when a technicality decides the outcome in spite of the facts? If everyone sought the truth and decided to abide by the truth, how different would life be as opposed to how we experience it today? Does it appear that most people you know would rather believe whatever makes them feel better about themselves whether it is truthful or not? In spite of this, we realize that deep down inside we know that facts do matter. We know that reasonable decisions made on the basis of facts are always the right decisions. Deep down we realize this is also true as far as our religious life is concerned as well. Sunday School and Bible Study are healthy choices for Christians to constantly reinforce our decision to accept God’s forgiveness and to invite Christ into our life. The bible is replete with facts and explanations of life that constantly reassure us that salvation is always the best decision. There are no facts greater than those presented in our lesson today. These brief scriptures present the facts surrounding the birth of Jesus.

Here we read that Jesus’ mother, Mary, was an unmarried virgin at the time of her conception. She remained a virgin until after the birth of Jesus. Her husband, Joseph, was a righteous person who decided to end their relationship prior to marriage when he discovered that she was pregnant but God persuaded him in a dream that Mary was with child because of the Holy Ghost and he should not be afraid to marry her. Furthermore, Joseph was also instructed as to what the baby should be named based on his mission of salvation. These events were a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah’s prophecy spoke of the virgin birth and the true nature of the child. Although he would be a human baby with a human nature, the baby would also possess the very nature of God. The child will be God with us. When Joseph awake from his sleep, he obeyed the vision and married Mary. After the baby was born, he named the baby Jesus.

These are the facts recorded by the Apostle Matthew and to quote Joe Friday, “All we want are the facts, ma’am.”


Robert C. Hudson
December 10, 2009

Prophets Foreshadow Messiah’s Birth

December 13, 2009

Background Scripture: Isaiah 7:13 – 17; Luke 1:26 – 38
Lesson Passage: Isaiah 7:13 – 17; Luke 1:30 – 38

The birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is arguably the greatest miracle to ever occur. But then again, what is a miracle? Is it an occurrence that appears to go against the known natural laws of the universe? Is it the occurrence of an unlikely event relative to time and space? The answers to these questions describe what we refer to as the supernatural. But are there naturally occurring events that should be considered miracles such as conception and child birth or a single seed producing a plant which bears many seeds? (Of course those are really the same process.) All actions of God that are manifest in the physical world are miraculous whether we see them as natural or supernatural. The birth of Jesus, which was truly miraculous, was prophesied throughout the Old Testament writings. Some striking details of the miraculous birth was foretold about seven centuries before it occurred by the prophet Isaiah. Jesus’ birth had been described several times across thousands of years beginning in the Garden of Eden. But through the prophet Isaiah, the virgin birth of God’s son was foretold as a sign to an unbelieving king to strengthen his faith. The nature of prophecy, however, is that it comes draped in a shroud of uncertainty. Time is often the most unclear aspect of prophecy. Will it occur today, tomorrow, or at some unspecified time hundreds of years in the future? Regardless of the time, if God says it, it will come to pass. God sent the prophet Isaiah to assure King Ahaz of Judah that he did not have to worry about the confederacy of the northern kingdom of Israel with Syria against Judah. God was aware of their scheme and was going to protect Judah from the harm they intended to do. To further allay the king’s concerns, God instructed the prophet to ask the king to request a sign of God that he might know for certain that these things were so. It was the king’s refusal that prompted both the rebuke from God as well as the sign of the virgin birth. What began as an assurance for the king ended as a warning and reminder that without faith it is impossible to please God. God was willing to strengthen the king’s faith but he did not overlook the absence of it. God was offering the king a choice of whatever he thought would give him the assurance that God had indeed sent a word of encouragement and it was not just the prophet’s wishful thinking. God wanted King Ahaz to be confident and trust him for protection. Rather than heed the word of the prophet, the king chose to display his self-righteous religious integrity by refusing to do what he thought would be seen as putting God to the test or tempting him. The king’s refusal to heed the prophet’s request revealed one of the most unique aspects of the birth of the Messiah, the virgin birth. The fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy was announced by the angel Gabriel as he further explained that with God, nothing is impossible.

Robert C. Hudson
November 27, 2009

The Lineage of David

December 6, 2009

Background Scripture: Ruth 4:13 – 17; Matthew 1:1 – 17
Lesson Passage: Ruth 4:13 – 17; Matthew 1:1 – 6

In 1977, a television miniseries named Roots stirred the emotions and curiosity of millions of Americans from coast to coast. The television series was based on a book by Alex Haley who reportedly had researched the lineage of his family back to pre-slavery on the continent of Africa. It seemed as though we were being allowed to peer into history and actually watch generations of our ancestors from years past struggle with life issues and rise above them. It engendered a sense of hope and emotional stress to see the dramatized dehumanization of a race of people. But in spite of the years of cruelty and setbacks, hope turned to pride in seeing the triumph of spirit over flesh. Many of us didn’t think much about genealogy or family trees before then. It was interesting to listen to parents and grandparents recount their childhood and tell about the childish pranks of their siblings or the strict discipline of their parents and elders but it didn’t seem to inspire a wholesale desire in many to research their family tree like the miniseries did. There is something about knowing our lineage that grounds us and gives us a sense of purpose and it stirs up in us a new determination to become all that we can. Much of Israel’s history is contained in the Old Testament writings of the Bible. The book of Chronicles is an abbreviated family tree that connects various branches to the patriarchs of Israel. The books of Samuel and Kings follow the lineage of Israel’s royalty—the good and the bad. There is one family line in particular that should be of interest to all of Israeli descent. This is the line of royalty that yielded the messiah. The prophets of Israel had foretold of the coming anointed one of Israel for millennia. Before there was an Abraham, the anointed one’s coming had been foretold. He would come to restore God’s rule and kingdom on earth. God’s covenant with Abraham made it clearer that it would be Abraham’s seed that would be the messiah that had been long foretold. This covenant was passed from Abraham to Isaac and then to Jacob (renamed Israel). Jacob’s final blessing of his sons and the two sons of Joseph pinpointed the messiah’s descent through the line of Judah. The messiah would be a prophet, a priest, and a king among Israel. This seemed for a time irreconcilable since Levi was the priestly line and the picture got even murkier when Israel’s first king was chosen from the tribe of Benjamin. At that time Judah was neither the royal line nor the priestly line. The picture began to clear up when God passed the covenant to David. David was of the tribe of Judah although his lineage by human terms seemed impure. It contained Pharez, the son of Judah by his daughter-in-law, Rahab, the prostitute, and Ruth the Moabite. Of course the Moabites descended from Moab, the son of Lot through an incestuous relationship with his daughter. But beyond the view of human eyes or the comprehension of human minds, God had a plan that was laid before the foundation of the world. Furthermore, the messiah’s priesthood would not be of this world and therefore would not follow the Levitical line but his priesthood would be of the order of Melchisedec. On the other hand, the messiah would descend from Judah and come through the line of David where he would be heir to the throne of Israel.

Robert C. Hudson
November 27, 2009