Honoring the Sabbath

January 5, 2014 Background Scripture: Luke 6:1 – 11 Lesson Passage: Luke 6:1 – 11 They were angry because of Jesus. They conspired as to what they might do to harm Jesus. These two statements summarize the last verse of today’s lesson. For Christians, it is considered blasphemous for anyone to be angry enough at Jesus to consider wanting to harm him; yet this is what took place during the events of this lesson. Why would someone want to harm Jesus? According to his accusers, Jesus violated the Sabbath Law—on more than one occasion! On one occasion, he led his disciples through a grain field and they plucked some of the grain from the stalks and ate it. On another occasion, he was teaching in a synagogue and someone with a withered hand was there. Jesus healed the man’s hand. On both occasions, there were religious leaders present who witnessed the incidents. How dare he break the Sabbath Law in the presence of those who believed it was their responsibility to both interpret the Law as well as enforce it? It seems bad enough that he violated the Sabbath Law. But, to add insult to injury, he did it right in their presence which offended them even more. They interpreted Jesus’ actions as totally disrespectful towards them and therefore they needed to avenge themselves. On the other hand, Jesus interpreted his actions during both Sabbath Days but they were not open to receive what he had to say. Jesus’ actions did not violate the spirit of the Law. His accusers were angry because Jesus’ actions were violating their (mis)interpretation of the letter of the Law. Jesus never violated any of the sacred Law which had been passed down through the Jewish generations from Moses. So how do we reconcile Jesus’ actions with the harsh treatment some of the people of Israel received for what appeared to be similar acts under Moses’ leadership? Moses taught Israel to obey the letter of the Law before they understood the spirit of it. Honoring the Sabbath under Moses’ leadership accomplished two things for Israel. First, they remembered that God had given them the Sabbath Day as a sign between Him and them to be remembered throughout their generations. Secondly, the observance taught the former slaves the importance of having a one-day rest every week for the body to rest and be refreshed. Over the years, or down through the generations, Israel continually violated both intentions. During Jesus’ ministry, the recorded actions of the Jewish religious leaders showed hypocrisy and an emphasis on outer appearance and actions rather than on inner spirituality and maturity. Jesus often pointed out the discrepancy between their talk and their walk to them. They had become experts(?) at interpreting the letter of the Law while living in violation of the spirit of it. Jesus’ actions continuously demonstrated the spirit of the Law. Perhaps, this more than anything else kept the religious leaders at odds with Jesus. Even on the Sabbath day, they were angry enough to do him harm. Jesus stated to them that he is Lord of the Sabbath. Therefore, what he chooses to do would always be in honor of the Sabbath. Robert C. Hudson December 30, 2013

Jesus is Presented in the Temple

December 29, 2013 Background Scripture: Luke 2:21 – 40 Lesson Passage: Luke 2:21, 22, 25 – 38 No account of the Gospel narrative gives more details about the events surrounding the birth and early years of Jesus than that written by Luke. In many passages of the Gospel according to Luke, the writer provides a lot of detail that can only be gleaned by carefully interviewing persons involved in the events recorded. Today’s lesson contains three Jewish rituals that took place within the first two months of the birth of Jesus. The first ritual takes place on the eighth day for male babies. The boy is circumcised and given a name on the eighth day. The circumcision makes him a part of the Abrahamic covenant and therefore brings him into right relationship with God. Additionally, it had become a custom in Israel to name the child on the day of circumcision. The second ritual took place on the forty-second day. This ritual was for the religious purification of the mother. Since Mary presented an offering of two turtle doves or two pigeons, then we deduce from Leviticus 12 that Mary was unable to present the preferred offering of a lamb. It is presumed that poverty prevented Mary from offering a lamb rather than the inconvenience of being too far from their home in Nazareth. New mothers were considered ritually unclean until they were religiously purified. Therefore, they were not allowed to touch anything considered holy or to come into the sanctuary. Thus this second ritual delayed the third one. The third ritual was the presentation of the firstborn male child to the Lord. This ritual served as a reminder that God killed all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt except for the Jews who had the blood upon the door posts and lintel of their homes in Goshen. Those who stayed under the blood were spared and therefore God claimed all of Israel’s firstborn to be holy unto Him because he spared them in Egypt. Therefore, every firstborn male had to be presented to God through the priest in the tabernacle (or temple). This was delayed, necessarily, because Mary could not come to the temple until the days of her purification were completed. The third ritual is the central theme of today’s text: Jesus is presented in the temple. He was the firstborn child and a male so it followed that he should be presented to the Lord according to the Law of Moses. The sight of two poor people presenting a son before the Lord at the Temple was nothing strange. Ordinarily, this would have hardly been noticed by anyone except the priest. The Holy Ghost led Simeon into the Temple at the same time and revealed to him that this baby was the promised Messiah or Christ-child of Israel. Simeon took the baby Jesus into his arms and gave thanks unto God for this gift He had given to the world—both Jews and Gentiles. This baby was God’s plan of salvation. Simeon prophesied to Mary concerning Jesus’ ministry and her suffering. There was also an aged prophetess by the name of Anna. As with Simeon, it was revealed to Anna also that this baby was the Redeemer of God’s people. She told others about him although it is not clear if this was done while he was yet in Jerusalem or after the family had left and returned to Nazareth. When Jesus was presented in the temple, the Holy Ghost ensured that his presence did not go unnoticed. Robert C. Hudson December 18, 2013

Jesus is Born

December 22, 2013 Background Scripture: Luke 2:1 – 20 Lesson Passage: Luke 2:1 – 17 The world is filled with sin because the people of the world are exceedingly sinful. The sins of the people have destined them to eternal torment and destruction. The one Judge of the universe who decides these matters is holy and hates sin. The Judge looks upon the people with pity because without sin, they reflect His image and likeness. The only thing that separates the people from the Judge is sin. Sin entered the world because the first person chose to embrace sin rather than the relationship he had with the Judge. After that, sin had been a part of all people born into the world. People had continuously yearned for His presence and a relationship with the Judge. Sin had prevented that embrace because sin is filth to the Holy One and therefore it makes people contemptible. With all of the attempts that people made to cleanse themselves of the filth, they all failed. There remained the yearning of the people for the Divine embrace and the Holy One yearned to see the perfect reflection of Himself fill the world. Sin is the only thing that prevents both from being satisfied. There is a plan: start over. Begin anew with a man who is without sin. Give him the responsibility to cleanse the world of sin and to teach the world how to live in expectancy of being sinless. If He begins again with the dust of the ground, He will make a perfect man. But can He begin with sinful flesh and bring perfection out of it? It can be done if man has nothing to do with it. If man has anything to do with it, this accomplishment would cause a sinful man to be filled with pride and bask in his own glory before the holy Judge. Yet, the Judge has already declared that no flesh will glory in His presence. Therefore, God must do a new thing. A Holy Seed must be placed in the womb of a virgin who has known no man. Although she is sinful, the Seed will not be. God must become the Seed and live nine months in the womb of the virgin. When He is born as a baby, He must place Himself in the hands of earthly parents who will fear Him as much as they love Him. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made. All they could give Him would be some of what already belongs to Him. Therefore, His earthly parents must be too poor to boast about giving Him anything. They must feed and protect Him—and even leave their homeland if that becomes necessary for His safety. Such a miraculous occurrence would be too great to escape the praise of the Heavenly Host or the earthly wise. Therefore angels will sing praises of His birth and wise men will seek Him when he is a child. Demons will tremble at His name and nature will humbly submit to His voice. God’s personal messenger, Gabriel, will deliver the prenatal announcement. When the fullness of time came, the young virgin entered labor and the Heavenly Host paced the Delivery Ward. The announcement came: It’s a boy! The Angelic Choir had an impromptu concert and stars became cross-country tour guides. Tell the good news: Jesus is born! Robert C. Hudson December 14, 2013

Zacharias Prophesies about His Son, John

December 15, 2013 Background Scripture: Luke 1:57 – 80 Lesson Passage: Luke 1:57, 58, 67 – 79 Zacharias was unable to speak for nine months. During those months, he was anticipating the arrival of his first born—a son! His condition was a daily reminder of his unbelief when the angel, Gabriel, brought him the good news that the Lord was going to bless him and his wife with a child. One could hardly blame him for being somewhat skeptical seeing that they were both well-stricken in years and she was barren up to that point. Nevertheless, he asked for a sign that would be proof that the angel was telling the truth. Being dumb and unable to speak was the sign that was given to him. (Be careful what you ask for!) Now, nine months later, the time had come and his wife, Elisabeth gave birth to their son, John. John? Obviously being well stricken in years has many effects on a person because this name doesn’t make sense according to the customs of the family. He should be named Zacharias to honor his daddy (That’s “ZJ” for you post-millennial people.). No. Elizabeth was sure that his name should be John. Perhaps someone should figure out how to communicate with Zacharias so that he can help keep his wife straight about protocol. One of their guests made signs or gestures to Zacharias to try to get through to him—that’s strange since he was unable to speak and not unable to hear! They could have just told him what they wanted or asked him any question because he could hear. However, Zacharias made signs back and asked for a writing tablet. With it he wrote a very simple sentence: His name is John. The argument was settled and his tongue was loosed at the same time. With his restored speech, Zacharias praised God to the amazement of his guests. If one child can cause all of this, then what type of person is this child going to be? The Judean rumor mill was ablaze with conversation about this. Zacharias went from praising to prophesying. He knew exactly what type of person this child would become. He might have doubted in the beginning but there was no doubt in his mind now. In fact the Holy Ghost filled him so any doubt would have been pushed out for the moment so that he was free to honor God through a word of prophecy. The Messiah of Israel was on the way and Zacharias’ son, John, would be the one to herald the good news of his arrival. John would become God’s prophet and a very special one at that. He would be the prophet that other prophets had foretold would come. He would deliver a convicting and convincing word that would turn the hearts of Israel towards God in repentance. If they were going to receive the Messiah, their hearts had to be right. John’s ministry was that of spiritual heart fixer. His message of repentance would prepare people to receive the long awaited promised Messiah. John would boldly declare to the people that salvation of God was now available when the Messiah was unveiled to Israel. Through this, God would honor his centuries old promise He made to Abraham about his descendants. The Messiah would make things right between God and His people and John would be the one to introduce the Messiah to Israel. This is the manner of person this baby would become and Zacharias proclaimed it to Israel by way of prophecy. Robert C. Hudson December 4, 2013

Mary Sings Her Praise

December 8, 2013 Background Scripture: Luke 1:46 – 56 Lesson Passage: Luke 1:46 – 56 Sometimes our emotions are too much to express in a conversation. When we attempt to speak, the words spontaneously flow out in a song. This will often happen at the extremes of sorrow and joy. Every child of God should have a song in their heart. It may be a well known song of reflection such as “Amazing Grace” or “Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee” might come to mind during times of distress. All Christians have experienced divine deliverance and that should elicit an unusual praise from our hearts—whether it is a song of joy or contrition. In our lesson today, joy is the motivation for singing. Mary has just received the greatest news of her life. How could she hold her peace? Still, how could she properly express the joy that was growing in her heart? She decided to sing it in praise to the one who is the source of such joy, the Lord. She sang praises to God with all that was within her. She offered the Lord the sacrifice of praise—that is the fruit of her lips. Out of a sincere heart of gratitude, she praised God for blessing her even in her poverty. Mary understood the ongoing notoriety this blessing would bring her. There was nothing she had done to earn the right to such popularity. This was clearly the grace of God; nothing more and nothing less. Mary basked in her exaltation from a low estate to one of high esteem. She had witnessed God overlooking the proud and bringing down the high and mighty. God had given to those who had nothing and bankrupted those who once had it all. All of this was in character for God. He had demonstrated these actions before. The patriarchs of Israel all testified of these divine acts in the past. God was just being God. Mary’s joy came in that God chose to use her for this divine act. She was not seeking this notoriety for there is no record that she requested it of God. The very news of it was a complete shock to her. There is something special about being used by God. When God calls a preacher with no seminary training to lead his people, we are reminded that He often chooses shepherds and fishermen over doctors and lawyers. This is not to suggest that He doesn’t use doctors and lawyers. Paul put it best when he said “For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:”. We sing praises unto God when He chooses to use us although we realize that we are not qualified for the work or deserving of the honor. God places us in position so that all of the glory goes to Him. And why should this not be the case? He does the work. He merely allows us to be seen and heard by others as agents of His. We should praise Him. I don’t know if I have ever met anyone who appeared to be fully qualified at the time of their calling. There is no wonder many of us spend a great deal of time trying to convince God that He has made a mistake in choosing us. I believe Mary’s response may be the only proper response to a calling of God on one’s life. Knowing that we are not qualified, we should just sing praises unto God. Mary accepted God’s plan for her life and she sang her praise unto Him. Robert C. Hudson November 21, 2013