10 Pentecost

10 Pentecost - Sunday B

First Posted August 9, 2009

Psalm 145 -- The Goodness of the Lord

Exodus 24:3-11 -- The Covenant with God

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16 -- Spiritual Growth

John 6:1-15 -- The Kingdom Meal

God is worthy of our obedient trust and our praise and thanksgiving. Those who have come to know the Lord testify to his goodness, his power and faithfulness. His greatness is greater than we can understand. Those who have come to know and experience the Lord’s acts are to pass that knowledge and experience to the next generation. They can meditate on the Lord’s character and what he has done, and testify of that to others. Those who have experienced the Lord’s character and acts testify that the Lord is gracious (giving unmerited favor) and merciful (forgiving the undeserving).

Only the Lord can satisfy our needs and desires. He alone can answer and help us when we call upon him in faith and truth. Only he can save us from physical (and eternal) death, and only he can give us victory over our worldly and spiritual enemies.

It is God who initiated a covenant between himself and his people. If we will be God’s people, he will be our God (Jeremiah 7:23; Ezekiel 11:20). God is under no obligation to be all that a good and loving God implies, unless we are willing to trust and obey him.

The Lord initiated his first covenant, mediated by Moses, based on obedient trust in the Word of God, his Law, given to Moses. Moses received the Word from God and declared it to God’s people, and they promised to do all that the Lord commanded. The Old Covenant of the Law was sealed by the blood of a sacrifice and a covenant meal (Exodus 24:11b).

God has called us, through Jesus Christ, to a New Covenant of grace (unmerited favor) through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus is the mediator, the “Moses,” of the New Covenant. His blood shed at the Cross is the sacrifice and his Last Supper (Holy Communion; the Eucharist) is the covenant meal by which the New Covenant is sealed. It is appropriated and received individually by us by faith (obedient trust) in his Word.

Jesus promises that those who trust and obey him will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Only Jesus “baptizes (“anoints”) with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God (Romans 8:9).

It is the Holy Spirit which unites and empowers truly “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christians to know and do God’s will. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit which guides and empowers each believer to an area of ministry which works in harmony with other believers to build and strengthen God’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.

The “anointing” with the Holy Spirit isn’t the end but rather the beginning of spiritual growth to maturity. We are to seek the gift of the Holy Spirit and then to be guided and empowered by him to grow to spiritual maturity; to become like Christ. We are to seek the gifts enabled by the Holy Spirit who which lead and empower us to work in unity with other believers to accomplish Christ’s ministry to the world.

Christians are disciples (students) who are to learn God’s Word, recorded in the Bible, and fulfilled, embodied and demonstrated by Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14), so that we won’t be deceived by false “christs,” false teachers, or false doctrine. New believers are to be “discipled” by mature, “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciples, in the Church, until they have received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. They are to learn to follow the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, so that they can work in harmony and unity within the body of Christ, his Church.

The Apostle John tells us that the feeding of the five thousand occurred at the time of the Passover (John 6:4). It is the Passover feast which, in Jesus’ Last Supper, he transformed into the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion; the Eucharist), which is the covenant feast of the New Covenant of Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ. The image of the people having fellowship with the Lord in a communal meal prefigures the feast believers will have in the eternal kingdom of God in Heaven, and which we can experience now in Holy Communion (Luke 22:15, 30; Mark 14:25).

Jesus is the only one who provides the supernatural feast of bread and wine in the wilderness of this world.

The Church is failing to pass on the knowledge and experience of the Lord to the next generation, because in many insances the Church is failing to teach and require discipleship and obedience to God's Word.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

10 Pentecost - Monday B

First Posted August 10, 2009

Psalm 78:23-29 -- Manna from Heaven

This Psalm recites the great acts he has done for his people. In the wilderness wandering, God fed his people with manna, bread from heaven, the food of angels. When the people craved meat, the Lord caused a great windstorm and caused a great flock of birds, as numerous as the sands of the sea, to fall like rain, and their craving was satisfied.

The experience of God’s people in the wilderness was to teach them that God can abundantly provide for them, and to teach them to trust and obey his guidance. They didn’t know where they would get food in the wilderness, but God provided manna, which they had never seen before, for them. It was always just enough in the right time to satisfy them (Exodus 16:18, 19-21). When they craved meat, God miraculously provided birds for meat in such abundance that they were more than satisfied; they no longer wanted to eat meat.

God’s dealing with Israel is also intended to be a parable, a metaphor, for life in this world. Jesus is the “Moses” who leads us out of slavery to sin and death in the “Egypt” of the present worldly society, through the wilderness, through the "River" of physical death and into the eternal “Promised Land” of Heaven. Jesus is also the true “bread of heaven” which comes down from heaven to give spiritual, eternal life to those who are willing to receive it (John 6:27, 30-35, 48-51). It is the true heavenly food, which satisfies our longings. Jesus gave his flesh as the one and only sacrifice, on the Cross, for the forgiveness of our sins (disobedience of God’s Word; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and begin to trust and obey him, he will “baptize” us with the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit within us which gives us spiritual birth and new, eternal life, now and forever (John 3:3, 5-8). Only Jesus gives the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

The bread and meat of this physical world doesn’t satisfy for long; as soon as we’ve eaten we must begin to gather food to prepare for the next meal. Worldly bread won’t keep us from eventually dying. Jesus is the “manna” which satisfies our real spiritual need. He comes to us with just the right nurture at the right times, and through him we begin to experience eternal life and fellowship with the Lord now, in the wilderness. As we feed on his Word and follow him, he will lead us through the river of physical death into God’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.

God has provided everything we need, and all that we have belongs to him, because he is the Creator of the Universe. He knows what we need better than we do. What we think we want often doesn’t satisfy, and may not be our best interest. We need to learn to accept and receive what he provides with thanksgiving. The Israelites thought manna was boring and longed for “meat” (Numbers 11:4-6, 18-20, 31-34). God provided “meat” but the Israelites discovered that it wasn’t as good and necessary as they had remembered and imagined it to be.

10 Pentecost - Tuesday B

First Posted August 11, 2009

Exodus 16:2-15 -- Bread from Heaven

After they had crossed the Red Sea the people came to a oasis at Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees (Exodus 15:27). The people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron there because they were hungry. They were saying that they wished they had died in Egypt, where there was meat and bread to eat, instead of coming into the wilderness to starve to death.

The Lord told Moses that the Lord would rain bread from heaven. The people were to go out daily and gather a day’s portion, so that the Lord could test their faith to see if they would obey his Word. On the sixth day when they prepared what they had gathered it would by twice as much as the daily portion, and it would not spoil overnight, so that they would have their portion on the Sabbath, without having to gather it.

Moses told the congregation of Israel that in the evening they would realize that it was the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt, because the Lord would provide quail for them to eat, and in the morning they would see the glory of the Lord when he would give them bread from heaven. Moses warned them that their grumbling was not really against Moses and Aaron, but against the Lord, and the Lord had heard their grumbling.

Moses told Aaron to assemble the congregation, and as they looked toward the wilderness they beheld the glory of the Lord (as light) in the cloud (the pillar of cloud and fire, which was the manifestation of God’s presence leading his people; Exodus 13:21-22). The Lord told Moses that when they saw the Lord’s providence of meat and bread they would realize that the Lord was their God.

At twilight quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning, after the dew dried up, there was a fine flaky substance like frost on the ground. The people asked Moses what it was, and Moses told them that it was the bread which the Lord had given them to eat. (The people called it “manna,” meaning “what is it?”*)

The history of God’s dealing with Israel is also a parable, a metaphor, for life in this world. We are all slaves to sin and death in the “Egypt” of worldly civilization. Jesus is our “Moses” who leads us through the “Sea” of baptism, through the wilderness of this present life, through the "River" of physical death, and into the eternal “Promised Land” of God’s heavenly kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the “pillar of cloud and fire” (Exodus 13:21-22) who leads us through the wilderness, and who assures us that the Lord our God is with us.

Although the people had been slaves in Egypt, they would have preferred the security they felt they had there, rather than the uncertainty they felt in the wilderness. That’s the way it is for us too. We have to leave what we think is the security of the material world and learn to be guided by the Holy Spirit, and to depend on the Lord to provide for our needs. The Lord calls us into the “wilderness” not to kill us but to give us eternal life; if we stay in “Egypt,” or return to it, we will die eternally.

The Lord wanted his people to learn to trust his Word and rely on him for their daily “bread,” one day at a time (compare “the Lord’s Prayer:” Matthew 6:11). They couldn’t gather more than a daily portion, and it wouldn’t keep until the next day, except on the Sabbath, so that they could have a Sabbath rest. So the people couldn’t grab more than they needed, and couldn’t hoard any.

The Lord wants to manifest himself to us, and he wants us to believe his Word, so that we can learn that he is able and faithful to fulfill his Word. When we begin to trust and obey God’s Word, the Lord will manifest himself to us, by the fulfillment of his Word, and by the indwelling presence of his Holy Spirit within us, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17).

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s Word; he is the living manifestation of God’s Word in human flesh, and he is the example of how to live according to God’s Word (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus is the glory of God made visible (John 1:14). Jesus is God’s only provision for us to receive forgiveness of our sins (disobedience of God’s Word), salvation (from eternal condemnation and eternal destruction), and restoration to personal fellowship with God, now and eternally (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Jesus is the true “bread from heaven (John 6:31-33, 48-51); the bread of (eternal) life (John 6:35)” who sustains us in the “wilderness” of this lifetime and into the “Promised Land” of eternal life. Jesus’ body was sacrificed for us on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins, so that we wouldn’t have to die eternally for our sins ourselves. All we have to do to receive forgiveness and salvation is to accept Jesus as our Lord and begin to trust and obey him.

*The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Exodus 16:15n, p. 88, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.

See also: The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible,#4478 Hebrew Dictionary, pg 67, James Strong, LL.D., STD, Nelson, NY 1984 ISBN 0-8407-5360-8

10 Pentecost - Wednesday B

First Posted August 12, 2009

Ephesians 4:17-24 -- New Life in the Spirit

Christians are to no longer live according to the standards of godless pagans in secular society. Worldly people are living lives that are futile; they are blind in understanding and cut off from the life of God, because of their ignorance which is due to their hardheartedness. Worldly people have become callous and greedy to indulge themselves, lacking any moral or sexual restraint, eager for any uncleanness. That kind of self-indulgent immorality is contrary to Christ’s teaching, assuming that Christians have been taught according to Jesus. Jesus is truth (John 14:6).

Christians are to put aside their old sinful human nature, in which we once lived, and be renewed in spirit and mind. Instead of living according to worldly people, we are to be transformed into a new nature, according to the nature of God, which is true righteousness (doing what is right in God’s judgment) and holiness (dedication to God’s service).

Our society is becoming more and more wicked and depraved. We become desensitized to it because of constant exposure in daily life and in the media. Children are having children, and Children are killing children. Children are being raised by themselves, because parents are working outside the home. Jesus warned that at the end of the age wickedness will be multiplied and most [people’s] love will grow cold (Matthew 24:12).

Christians are to be trained in Jesus’ teachings, and taught to be obedient to Jesus, but this is not happening in many nominal “churches.”

Instead of learning to live according to Jesus’ teaching, in many instances the “church” is adopting worldly teachings, condoning homosexuality even among clergy, or teaching “cheap grace”* (salvation by grace, without requiring obedience and discipleship).

Jesus commanded his disciples, once they had been “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8; Acts 2:1-13), to “make disciples,” teaching them to obey all that Jesus taught. We have to be “born-again” disciples in order to make “born-again” disciples. Only Jesus gives the anointing of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

Anyone who has not been “born-again” is spiritually, eternally dead, and lost to eternal destruction; their “understanding” is not complete, because they don’t know the Lord who is the eternal truth. Their lives are futile, because no matter what they accomplish or accumulate in worldly things, they have missed finding eternal life and fellowship with our Creator. The “unspiritual” person cannot understand and cannot receive the spiritual gifts which God gives, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:12-14).

We can’t carry on the mission of Christ in our own human strength, but only by the guidance and empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We can’t put aside our old human nature and be transformed into our new nature conforming to God’s righteousness and holiness, except by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

*See: The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co., NY 1963 ISBN 0-02-083850-6

10 Pentecost - Thursday B

First Posted August 13, 2009

John 6:24-35 -- The Bread of Life

Jesus had fed five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish (John 6:1-14), and then he withdrew because he perceived the people were going to take him by force to make him their (political and economic) king (John 6:15). When the people couldn’t find Jesus they went by boat to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

When they found him at Capernaum they asked him when he had come to Capernaum. Jesus replied that they had not sought Jesus because they had perceived from the “sign,” the miracle, who Jesus was, but because they were seeking free bread. Jesus warned them not to pursue physical food which spoils and only temporarily satisfies, but instead pursue (spiritual) food which endures to eternal life, which only Jesus can provide, because “on him God has set his seal” (John 6:27d).

They asked Jesus what they must do to be doing “the works of God” (John 6:28). Jesus replied that it is not what “works” we do that “saves” us and gains favor with God; that we have saving faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, whom God sent, God’s anointed King and Savior, is the work God accomplishes in us.

So the people asked Jesus what miracle he would do so that they could see and believe in Jesus. They said that the Jewish Patriarchs (Moses) had given them manna in the wilderness to eat. The Messiah was expected to reproduce the miracle of manna (Exodus 16:4, 15; Numbers 11:8; Psalm 78:24; Psalm 105:40).

Jesus replied that it was not Moses (or the Patriarchs) who gave Israel manna to eat in the wilderness, but God, and manna is not the true bread from heaven; Jesus is. The true bread from heaven comes down from heaven and gives (spiritual) life to the world.

The people asked Jesus to give them that “bread” always. Jesus replied, “I am the bread of (eternal) life; he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

The people were seeking Jesus because they wanted free food. They were focused on their physical needs, and didn’t realize their spiritual needs. When Jesus told them they should seek the spiritual food which could sustain them to eternal life, they asked him what work they should do to “earn” that bread.

We can’t earn eternal life by doing “good works” (“good deeds”). Salvation is entirely God’s work in us (Ephesians 2:8-10); he sent Jesus to be our savior, our “sacrifice” to God to pay, once for all time and people for our sin (disobedience of God’s Word). All we have to do is receive it; to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and trust and obey him. Faith is what God accomplishes in us as we begin to trust and obey Jesus.

The people were expecting the Messiah to reproduce the miracle of manna in the wilderness. Jesus had fed five thousand “in the wilderness” (in both the physical and spiritual sense) with five loaves of bread and a few fish. Jesus had reproduced the miracle of the manna, and yet the people clamored for Jesus to do something to convince them that he was the Messiah, the Son of God. They weren’t looking for spiritual healing and nurture. They just wanted more physical bread. The “signs” were all around them, but they didn’t recognize them, because they must be perceived by faith.

Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). “I am” is the name of God which God revealed to Moses (“in the wilderness” where Moses had taken refuge, when God called Moses to lead the people out of Egypt; Exodus 3:14-15). The bread of life is the bread of the sacrificial meal (the Lord’s Supper; Holy Communion; the Eucharist) of the New Covenant of grace (God’s unmerited favor; free gift) through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9). The flesh and blood of Jesus on the cross became the elements of bread and wine, when Jesus instituted them at the Last Supper (Luke 22:15-20).

God “set his seal” upon Jesus (John 6:27c). Jesus is God’s “anointed” eternal Savior and King. (Both “Messiah” and “Christ”

Mean “anointed” in Hebrew and Greek, respectively.) Jesus is the Son of David (Matthew 1:1; 21:9), and thus heir to the throne of David as king of the people of God. John testified that John’s baptism ministry was to reveal the Messiah, that the sign of the Messiah would be the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Messiah at his baptism by John, and that John had witnessed and testified that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, whom God “anointed” with the Holy Spirit at his baptism, who would baptize (“anoint”) God’s people with the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34).

Only Jesus “anoints” with the Holy Spirit, only his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

There are plenty of “signs” indicating who Jesus is. Are we willing to believe the signs? For those who need “signs” in order to believe, there are none! But to those who trust and obey Jesus there are abundant signs confirming that Jesus is the Christ, God’s only begotten Son, the Savior and eternal king (John 6:68-69).

10 Pentecost - Friday B

First Posted August 14, 2009

Jeremiah 7:1-11 -- The Temple Sermon

The Lord told Jeremiah to go the gate of God’s House and declare God’s Word to those entering, saying “Hear the Word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 7:2). The Lord declared through Jeremiah that God’s people must amend their ways and their doings, if they wanted to remain in God’s favor and continue to dwell in the Promised Land. God gave them a three-fold warning (Jeremiah 2:4; for emphasis) that they were not to presume that because they were in the temple that they were in God’s favor.

God’s continued favor required radical moral change among God’s people. They were to practice justice in their dealings with other members of God’s people and with those outside of the congregation of God’s people. They were not to oppress foreigners, orphans or widows or to commit murder; they must not pursue false gods, because it would cause them great harm. Only if they changed their behavior and attitude could they expect God to continue to allow them to remain in the Promised Land and receive his favor and protection.

The Northern ten tribes of Israel had been conquered by Shalmaneser and the Assyrians in 720 B.C. with the destruction of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom and tribes ceased to exist! Jeremiah was a prophet of the Lord to Judah, the Southern Kingdom of the divided monarchy from about 627 to 580 BC. Judah had not learned from the example of the fall of the Northern Kingdom, and did not heed Jeremiah’s prophetic warning. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in 588/587 B.C. and people of Judah, the two remaining tribes of Israel, were carried off to Babylonian (Chaldean) captivity by Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar) for seventy years, as Jeremiah had prophesied (Jeremiah 25:12).

Judah was the remnant of Israel at the time of the Babylonian exile. Seventy years was a virtual life sentence for all who were adults at the time of the deportation. A remnant of Judah returned from Exile after seventy years, but they weren’t the same people. The people who didn’t heed God’s Word of warning died in exile in Babylon, as their forefathers had in the wilderness during the Exodus (1 Corinthians 10:1-12).

God is unchanging. Disobedience of God’s Word and pursuit of idolatry resulted in God removing his favor and protection from the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and it ceased to exist. Judah didn’t learn from the history of the Northern Kingdom’s destruction, and their failure to heed and obey God’s Word and their pursuit of idolatry led to their conquest and deportation by Nebuchadrezzar.

God is able to fulfill his purpose whether we cooperate with it or not; his purpose cannot be thwarted. The fact that Judah disobeyed and pursued idols didn’t keep God’s purpose from being fulfilled, but the people of Judah suffered the consequences. (Similarly, Judas’ betrayal of Christ didn’t thwart God’s purpose, but Judas suffered the consequence Matthew 27:3-10; Zechariah 11:12-13; Jeremiah 18:1-11.)

The people who returned from Exile were changed people, but they quickly forgot the lessons learned in Exile, and as a result, they were not prepared for the coming of the Messiah, Christ Jesus (both Messiah and Christ mean “anointed,” in Hebrew and Greek, respectively; God’s designated Savior and eternal King). As the result, Jerusalem and the third temple, built by Herod the Great, were destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. The people of Israel were scattered throughout the world. The nation of Israel ceased to exist, until the Jews began to return following World War II. Are we ready for Jesus’ Second Coming?

The temple, the house of God which the Jews thought guaranteed God’s favor, whose sacrificial system they thought would provide their forgiveness, has never been rebuilt. Judaism effectively ended at the crucifixion, when the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51a).

The veil had hung between the Holy of Holies, God’s presence, and the sanctuary and the people of God. Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant of Grace (unmerited favor; Ephesians 2:8-9) through faith (obedient trust) the new and better way to forgiveness and fellowship with God. The veil represented the Old Covenant of the Law of Moses.

The scriptures should be a warning to us today, particularly to America, which is in a sense the New Promised Land, and the Church, particularly in America, which is the New Israel, the New People of God, the New Temple, the New Jerusalem, the New City of God on earth. Do we think that dwelling in the “Promised Land” guarantees and demonstrates God’s approval and favor? Do we think that Church membership guarantees God’s approval and favor? Do we think that material possessions and worldly success are proof of God’s approval and favor?

In many, many ways we are in exactly the same situation as Israel was in the time of Jeremiah, and at the time of Jesus’ first advent (coming). We, particularly in America and the American Church, urgently need to examine and radically amend our ways and our deeds. Disobedience of God’s Word is still physically and spiritually disastrous, and so is idolatry! Idols are any thing or person we love and serve as much as or more than God. Modern examples of idolatry are money, power, status, success, career, family, or home.

Jesus has promised to return on the Day of Judgment, to judge every one who has ever lived on earth (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Jesus will judge the living and the dead, in both the physical and spiritual senses. Are we ready for Jesus’ Second Coming?

10 Pentecost - Saturday B

First Posted August 15, 2009

Luke 19:41-47a -- Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem

Jesus was entering Jerusalem the week before Passover, where he knew he would be crucified (Luke 18:31:33). The crowd had welcomed him enthusiastically, the event we celebrate on Palm Sunday. As he saw the city, Jesus wept over it, and prophesied that the leaders and people of the city (and nation) did not know the things that would give them peace, and now those things would be hidden from them. Jesus’ prophesied that Jerusalem would be besieged, the people struck down, and the city and temple would be destroyed, because they had failed to recognize the coming of the promised and awaited Messiah (Christ) God’s anointed Savior and eternal king.

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out the vendors, who sold animals for sacrifice and exchanged Roman for Jewish coinage required for use in the temple. Jesus declared that according to Scripture God’s house was to be a house of prayer, but they had made it a den of robbers.

Jesus began teaching daily in the Temple, and the chief priests, scribes (teachers of the Law; the Scripture) and civil leaders of the people plotted to destroy Jesus, but they were unable, because Jesus was popular with the people.

Jesus was welcomed as Savior and King by the people of Jerusalem, and they listened eagerly to him, but by the end of the week they were shouting for his crucifixion (Luke 23:20-23). Jesus first act in Jerusalem was to purge the temple. The Jewish Religion had become corrupt; it was no longer a covenant and fellowship between God and Israel.

The Religious leaders and teachers were using religion to promote their own self-interests, rather than seeking God’s will and serving him. They were proud of their new temple, which had built by Herod the Great, the Roman King of Judea as an act of political patronage for Judea, and who had ordered the slaughter of the innocent male children under the age of two in the region of Bethlehem, in an attempt to eliminate the Messiah (Matthew 2:16-18). The Jewish religious leaders were cooperating with the secular Roman governors to further their own interests.

The Jews thought they were preserving their religion by having Jesus killed, but Jesus’ crucifixion brought the opposite; at Jesus’ death on the Cross, the veil of the temple (separating the Holy of Holies and the presence of God from the sanctuary and the people) was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51), signifying that Jesus had opened an new and better way to the presence of God. Jesus’ death on the Cross became the one final sacrifice, for all time and all people, for the forgiveness of sin (disobedience of God’s Word), restoration to fellowship with God and eternal life in his eternal heavenly kingdom.

The temple building was not completed until after Jesus’ crucifixion, in 65 A.D. Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled. The temple and Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D and the temple has never been rebuilt. The Old Covenant of Law on which Judaism was based was dependant on the temple sacrificial system. The Roman destruction of Jerusalem scattered the Jews throughout the world and Israel ceased to exist, until the Jews began returning after World War II.

America is the “New Israel,” the “New Promised Land” and the Church, particularly in America, is the “New Jerusalem,” the “New People of God.” The example of Israel should be a warning to us. We are in a dangerously similar position today. Jesus has promised to return to judge everyone who has ever lived on earth (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29).

Do we know the things that make for peace with God? Is the Church the spirit-filled fellowship with God, or an empty tradition and ritual? Is Ministry a disciple-making activity, or a career choice? Are we truly seeking to know and serve God’s will, or are we just hoping to gain favor with God and our peers? Are we willing to listen to God’s Word and then do it? Are we building the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ, or our own “empire?” Are we making disciples, or are we just building buildings, “temples” that look good, but are devoid of God’s presence? Do we know the Bible and recognize that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s Word; are we looking for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to return? Does Jesus have reason to weep for us for our unpreparedness?