Third-Party Verification ...

We use E-Verify to help others be certain we are who we say we are; and we are eligible to work in our United States.  We have documentation like our driver’s licenses, our birth certificates, our social security cards to provide further evidence.  Our systems are built to trust paperwork.  Our systems nearly always require the word of a witness to that same paperwork.  But just the “word” of someone else, is rarely enough.  Even when that person claims to be our best friend, having known us our entire life.  A parent’s “word” is also rarely effective.  Mom and Dad can rarely help establish who we are, and our right to work in this country must require something beyond the words of those who know us.  Our identities hinge on documents like passports and birth certificates to make us solid.  In a digital age this trend will only continue.  The “person” of who we are gives way to the digital footprint of who we are.  And while the means have changed, this method was no less effective in the days of Jesus.

Matthew is determined to illuminate the Old through the life of the New in Jesus Christ.  From His ancestry to His birth Matthew begins to tie the prophetic of the Old, with the reality of the New.  Matthew does not just do this through a first-person account of what he himself has witnessed and been told; but he does this through a careful comparison of scripture and its fulfillment in Jesus.  The documentation trail is set in motion.  The audience Matthew is determined to witness to through his Gospel, will be quick to argue with only the words or opinions of Matthew.  But that same audience will be slow to discount the prophecies of Isaiah, or of David.  When the prophets of Old, the prophets of ancient days begin to speak: the penitent become reverent and listening becomes an art.  The documentation of scripture begins to validate the circumstances of the life of Jesus Christ.

But the gospel of Old is not constricted to the land of Judea and the city of Jerusalem.  As much as a proud Jewish nation might have wished it to be so; the disobedience of the past planted seeds of a Messiah in lands of captivity.  Yet before the Babylonian captivity would spread the gospel of a Messiah to every nation in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar; King David would pray for his son Solomon, and without realizing it, would prophecy of the coming Messiah.  The reference can be found in the book of Psalms in chapter 72.  David begins by asking for blessings, and then transitions into what the coming of Messiah will be like.  Verse 4 speaks of the salvation of the “needy” and of breaking in pieces the oppressor (arguably Satan, not Rome as the Jews would misinterpret).  Verse 10 however is what Matthew is intent upon focusing on now.  Verse 10 speaks of the … “the kings of Tarshish, and of the isles, shall bring Him presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.”  It follows in verse 11 … “Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him”. 

So, years after David sleeps with his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, captivity does what an informed people would not; it spreads the gospel.  Nebuchadnezzar and Darius both make proclamations that the God of Daniel shall be worshipped throughout the land.  The scriptures would be copied in pristine form and sent to the far corners of the earth.  Every nation would be exposed to the Jewish faith.  Every nation would hear the prophecies of the coming Messiah.  And some of them, would be led by the Holy Spirit to know the truth of the mission of the coming King; a mission of redemption from our slavery to sin.  There would be converts in the East who were not looking for a solution to the Roman problem.  Those converts only awaited the longed-for hope of the ages, the promise handed down since Adam and Eve, soon to arrive in the land promised to those who first sought our God. 

The people of the east were not distracted by the religious power brokers in Jerusalem.  They did not need to submit to a central religious authority.  Their wisdom was given of the Holy Spirit, and their own interpretation of scripture and of the prophecies was correct.  In addition, they were given a sign in the heavens to reward their faith.  This symbol would lead them to the baby they had so long waited for, and so long hoped for.  It was a sign that they would follow, coming out of all the major lands of the East, where the hope of the Messiah had not been given over to misinterpretation.  Each night the star would lead them West.  As they traveled their company grew.  More and more of the wisest men would join, bringing gifts fit for the Giver of all Things.  This story was a reality of the New that was foretold by David in the Old, and Matthew was determined to share it.  Only Matthew would ever reveal these facts.

In chapter two of the Gospel of the Hebrews, Matthew writes beginning in verse 1 saying … “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, [verse 2] Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”  Imagine the disconnect.  The company of kings from the east, the wise and noble men who had journeyed so far, have finally arrived at the city of Jerusalem.  They expected to find it a-buzz with excitement and delight as the time of the Savior’s birth had arrived.  The star in the heavens had led them here, after hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of miles, they were here at the center of it all.  They had arrived at the city center of where the worship of the Messiah was to take place.  And the only ones excited about it, were them.  Everyone else was completely unaware.  Everyone else was oblivious.  Even the priests were dead to the idea.  This day was like every other for the people of the Messiah.  No one knew, no one seemed to care.

How could this be possible?  How could people not born to this, actually care about it more than people who were raised with it from birth?  Perhaps the better question is, are we repeating the very same behavior today?  People raised in an Advent movement, a movement spanning many protestant churches and generations; that the time of His second returning was near at hand, have grown tired and asleep at the wheel.  New converts seem more excited about this than we do.  New converts seem to experience Jesus in a way us long-timers seem to have never experienced.  And we, like our Jewish forefathers, who claim to worship in the right churches, doing it the right way, have lost all passion for the soon coming of His return.  We have collectively decided that “soon” is a relative term, and frankly does not elicit much response in us.  Just like the deadbeats the Magi found in Jerusalem; people who have a real relationship with Jesus find in us.  The same responses, the same apathy.  This day is just like the last one, just like the next one.

The effects of a centrally controlled religion seem to have chilled the passion for God, then and now.  It takes an uproar to finally elicit a response.  Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. [verse 4] And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.”  The Magi were determined, excited, and not going home, or giving up.  They made such a commotion.  They awoke an apathetic people from their malaise.  Even the King heard about this, and demanded to know an answer.  Ironically, he demanded to know something, from the source who should have known it, should have cared about it, but were keeping largely silent.  No one can imagine why, at least the group of nobles from the East could not imagine.

Matthew continues in verse 5 saying … “And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, [verse 6] And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”  Think of the context of this for a minute.  The same star that guides the kings of the east to Jesus is visible to anyone else who looks up at night.  The star had to be low enough to earth to provide guidance, and bright enough from earth to outshine other objects.  It moved slow enough and settled where it needed to.  Jews could have seen this.  Jews might have been just a bit curious.  But even in the face of an astronomical miracle, the leadership of the church seems totally unconcerned.

Then think about the context of preparation.  The Magi have traveled great distances in time to witness a miraculous birth.  They have prepared extensively.  They were not planning on just picking up some trinket at the last minute at the airport and giving that to Jesus.  They brought great wealth a great distance, guarding it, hiding it, and carrying it with them.  They were prepared as they could be.  The priests, who knew this answer, and could see this star, made ZERO preparations.  No one was looking for Jesus.  Literally NO ONE, except a group of kings from the east, representing nearly every nation outside of Israel touched by the message of the Messiah.  No preparation at all by those who claim His name.  The people of Jerusalem were actually “troubled” by what these kings were saying.  Imagine the new guys were aggravating the old guys with their incessant excitement and anticipation.  And it is not as if anyone started preparations late, still nothing got done.

But Herod had his own ideas on this topic.  Matthew continues in verse 7 saying … “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. [verse 8] And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”  Here is where the crafty old king gets lazy.  Instead of sending his own guy with this delegation to report back, Herod decides to trust these kings will report back as ordered.  And in fairness, they would have done just that without the interference of God to redirect them to another path home.  Herod, it would appear though, is the only one making preparations.  He is preparing to kill the competition for his own throne.  It does not matter that a child born then would take long enough to grow up that Herod was not really threatened at all.  Despite the star, despite the kings from the east, despite scripture and prophecy; Herod is intent on killing Jesus at the get go.

Matthew continues in verse 9 saying … “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. [verse 10] When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”  Witness the disconnect once again.  The kings continue to follow the star, which incidentally goes to Bethlehem as predicted in scripture.  The kings of the east are again elated at these events.  The star moving forward again coming to rest over the new baby and His mother; are earth shattering events of joy for this delegation from the nations of the East.  And yet Matthew records not a single Jew joining the delegation, or sharing in the great joy of the arrival of the Messiah.  The eastern kings entered Jerusalem, stirred up quite the commotion with their questions and their implications and news, and yet once they leave, all the deadbeats go right back to their lives without the slightest change.  Are we any different?

Then must come the fulfillment of the documentation, the witness to it, the third-party verification of the authenticity of who Jesus is.  Matthew concludes this section in verse 11 saying … “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”  David said the kings of the East would fall before Him, and bring Him presents.  And the fulfillment of scripture is retold by Matthew in his Gospel.  Years before the captivity, the servant of God prays for his son, and prophecies of events that would take years further to come to pass.  Babylonian and Persian edicts, copies of scriptures, the leading of the Holy Spirit, a journey of great distances following a star of miracles, and a virgin who has recently given birth to the Messiah.  The culmination of these things provide a testimony, a verification of who Jesus is.

E-Verify is not this accurate.  No documentation we have in place today can coordinate itself over centuries, generations, and thousands of miles on foot and camelback, with timing accurate to a week.  As far as third party verification systems go, this one was in a category of its own.  In modern Christianity, we assume it was only three wise men, because there were only three gifts cataloged by Matthew.  But earlier studies suggest it may have been as many as 12 representatives from just as many countries who made up the final delegation who sought to witness the birth of the Messiah.  But these men we call Magi returned to their native homelands and their faith did not die on this journey.  It was affirmed.  The good news of the gospel was spread far and wide in the East long before disciples could carry it there.  It has been suggested that even as far as the Mongol empire where Genghis and Kublai Khan would emerge that Christianity held roots with no benefit of missionaries beyond the descendants of the Magi who sought the baby Jesus so long ago. 

Uncorrupted from a set of religious leaders who sought only control, the Magi would return home spreading only the good news that the Messiah had come.  God was with man.  The salvation of our souls, of the “needy” as David had identified was upon us.  The Magi had the benefit of the prophecy of David, combined with the witness of their own eyes.  Their passion could not be squelched.  Ask yourself, are you the passionate convert troubling the hearts of the established believers; or are you troubled by the questions you hear today by those who seem to seek only the love of Jesus …

 

A Son of Abraham ...

The Messiah must be a Jew.  This was the promise given to Abraham 2000 years before it would be fulfilled.  Abram (the Canaanite) not many years after the flood (Noah was still living), would search for the true God, and would find Him.  He would have his name changed to Abraham.  He would become the father of a nation, in point of fact, of several.  But through the nation of Israel would come the hope of this world, the Messiah.  So the Messiah must be a Jew.  He must trace His bloodline back through David all the way to Abraham.  His lineage must be preserved (or the records of it anyway) through the captivity in Babylon, and the days of slavery in Egypt.  This would require meticulous record keeping.  It would take a forensic accountant to uncover it, to reveal it, to prove it to those who might bring up a question about it.  This is where the skills of a former tax collector for Rome might now come in useful for something far more important.  And so Matthew enters the scene, and he offers a proof to those he will minister to.

In chapter one, verse 1 states … “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”  Matthew begins with what Jews will want to know most; is He one of us?  Is His bloodline pure?  For upstanding Jews to accept Jesus they must insure He was not part of the Samaritan ilk.  Jesus must share no gentile blood, no mix of Egypt, or Babylon.  He must be of pure blood, like themselves.  This was important to Jews.  But why?  The location of the land given to the Jewish people was central to the largest population base after the flood.  Only small numbers of native peoples migrated to the far ends of the world.  The bulk of peoples migrated much nearer and grew up as neighbors with each other.  To reach the most of them, the location of the people of Israel would play a central role.  The entire pick was designed not to seal the gospel or good news of a God who loves mankind, behind the walls of a pure bloodline religion.  It was picked in order to make sure every traveler from every land could know it.  Purity of blood was not supposed to equate with hoarding the good news of God.

But it did.  And in our day, we erect similar walls of purity for our church to hide behind.  Some erect the walls of doctrinal differences, and claim all those on the outside of what we believe, are simply not right with God.  To maintain purity, we must hide behind our walls, never venturing out to touch our brother, lest the purity of our ideas be tarnished.  In our day, some elect the walls of socio-economic status.  We fellowship only with those of like income, like interests, and like health.  We do not wish to be seen with the sick, the imprisoned or guilty, and those who cannot afford the lifestyles we have been blessed to receive.  We like our Jewish forefathers believe that poverty is a sign of God’s displeasure.  So mankind erects barriers for the gospel to hide behind, to keep it pure.

Matthew continues in verse 2 saying … “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;”  This was the holy beginnings of the Jewish people.  Isaac and Jacob are nearly always mentioned in the same breath as Abraham himself.  And Judah would be one of only two tribes who remained pure after the other ten separated past Solomon the son of David’s rule.  The other ten would become Samaritans.  Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; [verse 4] And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; [verse 5] And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;”  From Judah, the generations are tracked through the slavery of Egypt, the Exodus, and the time of the Judges down to David’s father Jesse.  But alas, the bloodline now includes a few women of significantly less pure blood.  The harlot Rachab from the wall of Jericho is listed.  The daughter Ruth a Moabite is also included in the list.  Proof that our God includes those who seek His face, not just those who were supposed to be born to it.  Proof that starting life as a prostitute does mean one must end their life in the same condition.

 Matthew continues in verse 6 saying … “And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; [verse 7] And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; [verse 8] And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; [verse 9] And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; [verse 10] And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; [verse 11] And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:”  Matthew calls out again for us that the wife of Urias is included in the bloodline of Jesus.  Great sin does not end our life, if great redemption is sought.  He carries through the names until the time of the captivity in Babylon is reached.

Matthew continues in verse 12 stating … “And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; [verse 13] And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; [verse 14] And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; [verse 15] And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; [verse 16] And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”  It is here where the fallacy in Jewish logic is revealed.  The bloodline of Joseph is traced and recorded, but Joseph will have no participation in the bloodline of Jesus, only Mary will do that.  Mary too, was from the house of David, and to be perfectly accurate it is her ancestry that should have been tracked.  But Jews will not accept the dominance of a female in the lineage.  So they accept Jesus based on the lineage of Joseph the husband of Mary, the adopted father.

Matthew then notices the symmetry of the numbers recounting the generations in verse 17 saying … “ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”  14 times 3 or 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus.  42 generations to span around 2000 years of our history.  The work of the forensic account was complete.  The purity of the bloodline of Jesus was enumerated, not just to apply a list of names of father to son; but to fulfill the promises made to Abraham, to Ruth, to David, to Solomon.  Many of the generations that precede the birth of Jesus have been promised to participate in it through their descendants.  This is not just a single generation affair, it spans the millennia.  Fulfillment has already begun.

The Messiah must be a Jew.  The Messiah is.  For any who had a question about His lineage, Matthew has singlehandedly put their fears or doubts to rest.  But why?  Does the fact that I descend from someone great make me great?  We would all like to think so.  But the deeds of David belong to David, not to his son, or to me.  The faith of Abraham belongs to Abraham not to me.  I did not offer my firstborn as a sacrifice to our Lord at His command.  I can barely get out of bed to honor the Lord I serve.  Hardly seems like the faith of Abraham in comparison.  But the comparisons hardly end there.  How many of us look back to our church fathers, the founders of our faith, at the great deeds they have done and take some sort of pride in them, as if we participated in those acts as well?  We didn’t. 

The church founders who accomplished so great deeds of faith and study belong to them not me.  Just because I subscribe to the same set of doctrines they discovered does not make me some sort of pioneer.  At best it makes me a plagiarist.  Because I hold similar beliefs does mean I have had to tread the road of faith and personal discovery with Jesus that they did.  My road is my own.  What I do, what I will be remembered for (if I am remembered at all) will be what I have offered to the world.  The purity of my heritage means nothing without an execution of greatness from me as well.  Our Jewish forefathers, who held to the right religion before we did, who held the right scriptures we still read and base our thinking upon; they had an advantage of birthright, but without action decay into history without so much as an afterthought.

We can call ourselves a son or daughter of God because of what Jesus Christ did for us.  But in so referring to ourselves, do we rightly represent the Father we claim lineage to?  Do we too, burn with a passion for loving others?  Not just the easy folks to love, like family, church members, and co-workers (and I understand easy is relative), but to love strangers, and enemies, and people with different political beliefs that horrifically conflict with our own.  Loving others gets tricky sometimes.  Am I willing to give up everything I have for someone I hardly know, or hardly like, or can’t stand?  Jesus did.  Jesus did not think twice about it.  It is not the bloodline that distinguishes the life of Christ, it is what He did with His own while He was here.  It is that He loved people who called themselves His enemies.  He loved the guy who spit in His face.  He loved the guy who put a nail through His hands and feet.  He loved the religious leader who had ALL the doctrine completely wrong and lived like a complete hypocrite.  And He loves me, even with all the crap that makes up my life.  His life is remembered, because when you think of Him, you cannot hardly stop talking about how much He loved.

When we think of ourselves as a son or daughter of God, is the first description of what that means, a passionate way of loving that takes over how we live.  If so, you are destined to be remembered.  It may be the only measurement of a life worth taking.  Matthew had a lot more to say about that …

 

A Preview of His Kingdom and Power ...

A preview is not the same thing as the main event.  In our world, we use “warm up” acts in live musical concerts, or stand-up comedian acts to get the audience in the mood for what will come next.  In boxing, there is such a thing as the “under-card” which is usually a series of fights that take place before the main event bout.  Obviously these previews are not what we paid to see or were most looking forward to, but there have been a fair number of musicians, comedians, and fighters who transitioned from being the warm-up act to being the main act because of the exposure they got during their entertainment previews.  And the previews themselves do serve to get the audience properly prepared for what comes next, in order to heighten the experience of the main event.  No one knows how far back this practice dates, but given that Jesus had one, we can say at least 2,000 years.

Peter records how it all started as he recited it to John Mark to transcribe beginning in the gospel of Mark chapter nine, and verse 1 saying … “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”  In these words, Jesus is talking to His disciples.  He has just given them a sort-of salvation tutorial in the previous verses.  That was a detailed explanation of what it means to be able to be like Christ is, to follow Jesus where He was going.  Now Jesus is taking that idea a bit further, He is telling them, that at least some of them will not die until they have seen Him as God, and His Kingdom coming here with power.  Of course our human minds, which live nearly 2,000 years since those words were spoken, immediately “wants” to interpret them as being a promise of a quick second return by Christ to take us all home.  But as 2,000 years has passed since then, we know that is not the case.  Further, since the laws of aging were not suspended for the disciples (allowing them to live until now without getting old), we can further conclude that the “main event” of His return was also NOT what He was talking about.

So what was Jesus referring to?  The answer can be found in the texts immediately following these remarks and continuing this story.  Mark continues writing in verse 2 saying … “And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.”  Note this is the very next verse following the lead-in written above.  You don’t need to search through scriptures to find an event that may somehow fulfill the words of Christ, it is the very next thought.  What happens in only six days, is that Jesus takes Himself, Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain in order to be alone with them (out of the reach of the crowds).  He then “transfigures” Himself before them, or in other words, He reveals the “God” portion of who He is.  He takes the mask of humanity off for a few moments and reveals the God side, the infinite side, of who He really is.  Up to now, this has never happened.  Up to now, and since His birth, there have only been a few incidents where God the Father’s voice was heard acknowledging Jesus as His son.  Even when Jesus performs miracles for us, it is always with Jesus cloaked in humanity, never showing anyone what is under the veil.

Imagine the brilliant light that emerges from Jesus when Peter sees more God than man standing before him.  Imagine the purity of Christ’s love and brilliance of the Creator now shining through in this lonely place high on a remote mountain top.  I can imagine that even here, Jesus must hold back the fullness of who He is, or the disciples would perish at the sight.  But I can also imagine that for these 3 men, who will ever be only human, the plain sight of His divinity would have overwhelmed them.  They may well have prostrated themselves on the ground at His first revealing.  This was no small event, and it was not one that would be repeated often or with casual regard.  This was an epic event.  This was the true revelation of God underneath the human form.  The power that emanated from that purity was beyond our words to relate.  But yet here it was.  None of us could ever do this.  No other wanna-be Messiah could come close to doing such a thing.  This distinction between man and God was forevermore marked here.

Peter tries to describe what he saw to John Mark in verse 3 saying … “And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.”  Perhaps doing his best to look at Jesus once the God identity has been unveiled, Peter can only see his robe which up to now, has been a home spun garment, full of the dirt and sweat that comes from climbing a high mountain.  Up to now, the robe of Jesus was not especially different from Peter, or James, or John.  But look at it now.  It is a brilliant white, a white more white than anything Peter has ever seen.  It shines.  The robe now gives off a light Peter cannot explain.  This brilliance is not something mankind is possible of duplicating or making.  Peter takes special note to call out that no “fuller” (a profession of clothing cleaner) could ever make a robe as white as this one is.  Indeed the beginnings of the Kingdom of God are being revealed, for this is clearly a picture of God being revealed to His three disciples.

Then comes the fullness of a kingdom’s description as John Mark continues in verse 4 saying … “And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.”  And thus the remainder of the kingdom appeared: mankind with God.  That is what the Kingdom of God was all about, reconciling mankind with God.  Here were both groups of mankind represented in this first preview of the coming of Christ in His second return to earth.  Elias or Elijah had never died but was fully transformed in character before his earthly death and taken to heaven by angels pleased to carry out that job.  Moses had died, and was raised from the earth fully transformed in character, ready to greet his Lord in the air, carried to heaven by angels glad to have been assigned that task.  Mankind was here now, in the form of both of these saved groups, talking plainly with Jesus.  These were not ghosts, or disembodied spirits, they were men like you and I.  They were there right now, united with their Savior.  This was the first preview of the Kingdom of God, beheld in power as was promised by Christ only six days earlier.

As usual Peter is not quite sure what to do, or say, but as usual Peter has to say something.  That boisterous personality cannot just keep still at the sight of something that overwhelms the others.  So he recalls to John Mark his best efforts at the time picking up in verse 5 saying … “And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. [verse 6] For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.”  No human had ever experienced what was going on at this moment, nobody, ever.  There was no basis in scripture to have studied.  There were no stories handed down from father to son.  In the 4,000+ years of earth’s history, nothing like this had ever occurred.  So Peter tries to make conversation by offering to build 3 tabernacles on that ground one for Jesus, Moses, and Elias.  A normally flattering offer, but none of them are interested in the attempted flattery of Peter.  There are no ego’s here to stroke, only a continued united mission to redeem mankind from itself.  But there was still one thing missing from the definition of His Kingdom, a unity between God and man.

John Mark continues transcribing in verse 7 saying … “And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. [verse 8] And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.”  God the Father had come, He masked Himself in a cloud, for even here in this preview event, He could not reveal His glory to those who were still marked by sin lest He destroy the object of His love.  But God the Father had a message for those three disciples, that Jesus was indeed His only Son, and that they should hear Him.  Almost as quickly as these events began, they were ended.  As the disciples looked around they saw only themselves, and Jesus as He had been before.  His robe was as dirty and sweaty as theirs.  No Moses, or Elias, just the four of them.  At this point, each disciple must have wondered if they were hallucinating.  But then how could all 3 of them have seen exactly the same thing at the same time in their respective hallucinations.  No, it had to have been real.  It was after all the preview event Jesus had promised that some of them would see.

In the aftermath of this event Jesus charges them with a familiar charge.  John Mark records in verse 9 saying … “And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. [verse 10] And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.”  Jesus again asks for secrecy, but this time only until He is risen from the dead.  This is a new condition, and the disciples have no idea what it means.  They still cling to a false idea of the role of the Messiah.  Having seen Him transfigure and get the support of Elijah and Moses, only deepens the false idea they cling to.  If Jesus has access to all this power in heaven, surely He will use it to accomplish creating His kingdom here on earth.  The preview they just got, must be a prelude to an anti-Roman paradise, what else could it be?  So they decide to change the subject slightly and see if they can get more information out of Him.  They ask a different question.

John Mark continues writing in verse 11 saying … “And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? [verse 12] And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. [verse 13] But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.”  The disciples ask why the Pharisee leadership and scribes think that Elijah must come before the Messiah fulfills His role.  Jesus answers that again they have a mistaken interpretation (how like us), but if you examine it … Elias just did come in the flesh, and in the message of John the Baptist.  Both in person and in truth has Elias come ahead of the fulfillment of the Messiah’s role, albeit, not the role the disciples wanted Jesus to fulfill. 

When we read scripture, we do what the disciples did.  We read it from a preconceived set of traditions, and personal hopes.  We read the scriptures that support our ideas, and ignore the texts that do not fit them well.  We, like the disciples, cling to our ideas and views of the role of Christ, despite what He directly tells us that we simply do not understand.  This is all because like our Pharisee forefathers, we do not seek Christ to lead us to truth, we instead attempt to tell Jesus what our truth is and expect Him to conform to it.  If we are even to read rightly, we must learn to submit ALL our ideas to Jesus first.  We must read through the lens of Jesus where loving others is the primary concern.  Only after full submission, and being led by Christ, can we begin to understand what was written, and what it means to each of us.  To distinguish between previews and main events, and to understand what Jesus asks of us, we must read through the lens of Jesus Christ and after submitting our will to His.  And there will be far more Peter has to say to us …

 

Peter : First Letter to the Church : the Preamble ...

After having reviewed the perspective of the relatives of Christ, and then His most beloved disciple John, our next perspective of Jesus would come from perhaps His most outspoken and boisterous advocate, a former fisherman named Peter.  By all indications, Peter was a distinctly Jewish man, proud of the heritage and traditions of the Jewish faith.  While Peter was never a part of the rabbinical schools, or leadership of the faith, he was ever cognizant of the hope of the Messiah.  He longed for it.  But like many of us, he reasoned that he must work to provide for himself and his family until that day arrived.  Let Andrew, his brother, have the luxury of being a dreamer, and spending all of his days at the river listening to the words of John the Baptist.  Andrew could afford to be the idealist, because the pragmatist Peter would catch the fish, and keep the family fed.  Peter may have thought to himself that God knew where he was, maybe God should take the time to come find him if He ever arrived.  Imagine what he thought when that very thing happened.

Later in life, Peter after having been so close to Jesus, did things a formerly illiterate man could never have accomplished.  He preached the gospel with power and conviction, in allowing the Holy Spirit to work through him, great numbers of people were convinced of the truth.  He stood alone before the Sanhedrin at least twice, to defend his beliefs.  He spoke to civil leaders, kings, and Roman authorities.  And likely with the assistance of John Mark, often called simply Mark, his observations became part of the book called the Gospel of Mark which we will examine in the course of this study.  Peter retained his fishing skills throughout his life.  Jesus invited him to become a fisher of men.  In addition, with that loud and booming persona, Peter would have made a good choral director.  The integration of music and lyrical themes to help the disciples understand the messages of Christ as they sang and moved along dusty roads would have been a great assistance in retaining these words long after the Messiah had returned to His Father.  After having so many experiences, and working so hard to see the hope of the gospel reach the waiting world, Peter thought it was time to convey by pen, what he might not be able to say in person. 

So he begins in his first letter and verse 1 writing … “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,”  The self-identification of Peter is defined in only one phrase, “an apostle of Jesus Christ”.  He no longer associates himself as being a fisherman.  He accepts the forgiveness of having denied his Lord three times at the most critical point in His ministry.  He does not claim to be the bishop of any particular church, nor of the church at large.  This letter is not meant to be coming from a person who has formal leadership responsibilities of any hierarchical structure, but only, from an apostle of Christ.  He addresses it, to the “strangers” throughout Asia Minor.  From Peter’s very traditional and Jewish centric point of view, the gentiles who he will now address are “strangers” to the Jewish faith and traditions.  They do not have 1600 years of bloodlines that trace back to Abraham and affirm the great hope of the Messiah.  This will be new to them.  Jesus will be a new idea to them.

So he continues in verse 2 saying … “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”  Peter identifies his audience as “elect”, despite their lack of history, tradition, and knowledge of the Messiah, they remain “faithful”, or “upright”, or “in good standing before God”.  Peter then gives the reason for this condition; it is because of the “foreknowledge of God the Father”.  In this way, Peter expresses to them that God the Father Himself, wished for these readers to be saved.  He loved them.  He was not unaware of their lives or their value, instead He treasured them so highly, He planned for their personal salvation, as He does for our own.  Peter tells them the method of coming to this condition is … “through the sanctification of the Spirit”.  Notice Peter has now joined Jude and John who we have previously examined and in perfect consistency shows salvation to occur as a GIFT brought about by the Holy Spirit.  The transformation of our hearts and desires is NOT something we do for ourselves by our will and our choices.  Our will, and our choices, and our actions are brought into obedience by the sanctification work of the Holy Spirit as we permit Him to do so.

Notice the very next words expressed by Peter, the results of the work of sanctification is … “unto obedience”.  Sanctification is not some mental exercise where a proclamation of belief is the end of the story in our lives.  It is the beginning of that story.  When once embraced, it leads us to obedience, a desire to obey rather than to sin, a way of living that avoids the pain of sin and disobedience that was our former and natural state.  Sanctification is real.  It has an impact.  It can be evidenced by the results it brings to our thinking, our motives, our choices, and our actions.  The blood of Christ is not reserved only for the Jewish people; it will be sprinkled all over the world.  It will be sufficient for those who have never before heard His name.  It will be enough to save those who formerly called themselves His enemy.  There is no limit to the blood of Christ, in either its power to save, reclaim, or transform, any who would submit their hearts unto Him and His Spirit.  

Peter then offers his greeting, or perhaps his blessing, and intentions to his reading audience throughout that region of the world.  He begins with “Grace”.  It is the “Grace” of our Lord, that has the patience to transform us, in spite of our stubborn refusal to be transformed.  It is His Grace that has patience to forgive us after again we find ourselves refusing His victories, and engaging in the sins we have repeated from our youth.  His Grace is sufficient to save in spite of ourselves, and forgive the damage we do to His work in our lack of love reflected to others.  He follows Grace, with “Peace”.  “Peace” is pronounced to cover our dissention, our paranoia, our quest for power and control over each other, and over the church itself.  To have unity within the church, we must have “Peace” with each other. 

Peace with the world is not the goal, or the intent.  Satan will not permit that kind of peace.  But Peace with each other is something that SHOULD already be in place, and so often it is not.  We foster our differences and allow our own perspectives to become so rigid, they cannot bend to accommodate the view of another, until we would prefer dissention within the church to the humility required for unity.  Peter knows this.  He has seen it happen within the ranks of the disciples themselves.  So he reminds his readers that Grace, followed by Peace, are needed even now within the ranks of those that call themselves believers.

He continues in verse 3 … “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”  Peter now offers his gratitude directly to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For those to whom Jewish traditions will be unfamiliar, those who do not know the story of Abraham being tested in offering up his son on the altar of faith.  This is what God the Father has done with His only Son.  Jesus Christ does indeed have a Father God.  But unlike Zeus and Apollo, or the similar mythical stories upon which Greek and Roman religions are built, this Father God has “abundant mercy”.  Every other deity requires worship and sacrifice or bad things will happen, caused by the anger of a god ignored or disobeyed.  Our God, instead offers MERCY to those who call themselves His enemy, and wishes ONLY to have their pain removed forever.  It is through His mercy (not His demands or threats of punishment), that He offers to us a rebirth, a “lively hope” – that is, a hope that our existence, our lives, are intended to be beyond just this world of pain.  We can take that hope, because He has already raised and resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead.

The readers of the gospel of Peter may face threats of persecution and death from those around them who cling to Greek, Roman, or even traditional Jewish religious beliefs.  These threats are real.  And many will have seen them come to pass in the pain and death of those who they love.  Yet despite this seeming reality, Peter says that our Father God, through His mercy, offers us Hope, in a life beyond the grave, as evidenced by what He has already done in resurrecting Jesus Christ from the dead.  Our God is a God of mercy.  He delights in the removal of our pain, not in the infliction of pain.  He delights in our redemption, not in our punishment.  He delights in our acceptance of His mercy, love, and forgiveness.  He does not resent us for obtaining a “get out of jail free” card.  Instead He hopes that every single one of us, would take advantage of His forgiveness, and learn through submission what it is like to be saved from ourselves, the pain WE cause ourselves by what WE do, and how we love.  Zeus could care less about that.  Frankly, the Pharisees who have now rejected Christ, the cornerstone of their faith, could care less about that.  Has it come to the point where modern Christianity could care less about that as well?  It is a stark contrast, Peter calls our attention to.

He continues in verse 4 … “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”  This is the existence you can take your hope in.  It is an eternal life that does not decay, in a city built for you to live next to our God.  He continues in verse 5 … “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  Peter here identifies his audience as maintaining or keeping their salvation by “the power of God”.  Again our salvation is not left in our own hands.  It is begun in us by the power of God.  Here Peter reminds us it is preserved in us by the power of God, not us.  It is through “faith unto salvation”.  It is our submission of our own will to the Holy Spirit, that results in our transformation from love of self, to love of others.  It is this new condition that is to be revealed in the last time.

Peter continues in verse 6 … “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: [verse 7] That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”.  Peter reminds his readers and us, that our process unto salvation is something we can greatly rejoice in.  If however, because of the hatred of others, we find our hearts heavy with the manifold temptations the world seeks to throw our way.  The trial of our faith will be more important to us than all the wealth of this world which is subject to theft and decay.  The perfecting of our faith within us is something that cannot be taken away.  It is the evidence of the power and glory of God in our lives; what He does FOR us.  And in this, it will be finally and fully revealed at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Peter continues in verse 8 … “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: [verse 9] Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”  This is the part that actually amazes Peter.  Peter was a firsthand witness.  He believes because he has seen it himself.  He spoke with Christ.  He watched him be tortured and die.  And he talked with Him after His resurrection, and saw Jesus ascend into heaven.  The people Peter is writing to have never seen these things.  Yet they believe.  He sees the joy alive in the lives of these people.  He sees them being transformed by the power of a Christ, they have never met.  He sees salvation alive and well in a group of “strangers” to the Jewish faith.  He sees real results, and frankly Peter is astounded by it.  It proves that God is real.  It proves that Jesus Christ is real and died for everyone, not just those who saw it, or those of the bloodline of Abraham.

Peter continues in verse 10 of his preamble saying … “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: [verse 11] Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.”  Peter now points out to his readers, that these things they are experiencing were foretold long ago by prophets who had the Spirit of the Living God reflected in their words and predictions recorded in scripture.  Those prophets of past searched for the time when the Messiah might come, suffer, and die.  They longed to know when these things would take place.  They died without seeing them come to pass, but their faith remained by the power of God.  Peter points out to his readers, that they are blessed to see these long held hopes come to reality.  They are experiencing the very salvation that was foretold centuries before their own birth.  The analogy is well placed, as these reader who have hope in the second coming, will die before that event takes place.  The process of salvation however, was alive in the days of the prophets of the past, and is alive in the days of the readers, and is alive in our own day.  For salvation is alive by the power of a God who does not fail, and He will deliver upon His promises as He has already done, and continues to do.

Peter continues in verse 12 … “Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.”  Peter concludes his preamble to this letter by calling the attention of his readers to the sacrifices made of the prophets of the past.  The messages they received were intended for this audience, for his readers.  They were to be blessings to the people of his day.  Yet in their own, they were hopes that would accompany them into the graves.  The second coming would be a hope these believers would also take with them into the grave.  But the difference is that Jesus had already come once.  The prophecies made long ago were indeed fulfilled.  God had done what He said He would do, to those who prophesied before.  Peter reminds us all that it is the same Holy Spirit who was alive in the Jewish faith before Christ, in the words of the prophets.  He is alive now, and at work since the coming of the Messiah as well.

And salvation itself, is something even the angels long to see.  It is an expression of the love of God, they will never fully understand what it feels like to receive.  For angels have never required forgiveness, nor did they need to be remade from the evil choices we have made.  Our transformation, and the forgiveness we have experienced, are a unique experience between us and God.  The angels see it taking place, they know it is real, but they have not experienced it for themselves.  Only we will ever truly know the depths of God’s love, as what He did to redeem us, is a definition of love the entire universe will forever marvel at.  Perhaps even we will never fully understand it. 

Peter concludes his opening remarks, and now begins his exhortation to his readers …

 

He Must Increase ...

Verse 22 of the Gospel of John chapter three, begins with Christ traveling to Judea with His disciples and staying for a while to baptize in the waters there.  This act in itself is unusual, as outside of John the Baptist, the Bible does not record many baptisms taking place conducted by the religious leadership of the day.  The entire temple based worship system makes no mention of baptism, from what we can tell.  Yet in the desert emerges John, calling for repentance, and conducting this ritual.  And Christ does not begin His own important ministry until His own baptism is completed.  Christ who needed no repentance, yet thought it important enough to do anyway.  Now having been some time since His own baptism, He and His disciples while traveling to Judea begin baptizing others.

While baptism itself may have been a novel concept among the Jewish religious leadership of the day, purification was not.  Ritual washing of hands and feet were done for ceremonial purification, and while doing this, they took occasion to question John the Baptist about his apparent competition with one of his recent clients.  In verse 26 they begin … “Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.”  This may well have been an attempt at getting John to declare himself the Messiah, and this young upstart just another faker.  Or perhaps failing that, this may have been an attempt at making John jealous over the idea that now Christ and His disciples were now doing the baptism ritual even more than John was.  Imagine the reaction of a modern day Christian pastor, who learns that a former colleague is now “stealing” his flock.  Would you predict joy or jealousy in such an occasion?  What no-one might imagine was the rather elegant sermon John would respond to this query.

John begins in verse 27 … “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.”  Never were more true words spoken.  This single idea flies in the face of self-determination, and self-reliance.  American idealism is rebuffed by John.  He does not say, you earn what you get.  He does not say, you should pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.  He does not say, if you are poor or unemployed, it is your own fault for laziness.  And he does not say, you should take pride in your wealth and success having earned it with all your hard work.  Instead he says, you get NOTHING, except it be GIVEN you from heaven.  Literally everything in your life, is a gift of God.  Nothing you own, is truly yours by your own hand, but by the grace of heaven.  Your intellect, your looks, your physique, your possessions, and your spiritual gifts and enlightenment – are NOT your own by luck, or hard work, or genetics – you have what you have from a source outside of yourself.  To take pride in those gifts then, is to assert ownership and attempt to take credit for something that you could never really deserve or earn.  This is a humbling concept.  This lets the wind out of the sails, of both rich and poor alike.  No matter what your state in life, there is always someone richer, and someone poorer.  Where you find yourself, is not by the power of your own hand, but by the gift of heaven.

We do not like John’s counsel.  Even within the Christian faith, there is an idea that by reading more, praying more, and doing more for the less fortunate, that somehow we can earn a higher position than our spiritual peers.  We like to teach that the answer to purity comes from our deeds, not necessarily our motives, and definitely not from gifts born within us by a power we can no more control than the wind.  Here John opens his sermon by declaring that everything you own, or he owns, or would like to ever receive comes from an act of mercy and love, not power or control.  This idea should have hinted to his audience where this sermon was going to go.  For if the intent was to make him jealous, he open by admitting he can earn nothing, not fame, not popularity, not even spiritual superiority.

In verse 28 he continues … “Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.”  Here John declares again to his rather stiff necked audience, that if they intend for him to declare himself as the Messiah, he will remind them he is clearly not.  At this point, his listeners might have even preferred to have John declare himself rather than face that Christ character who for all their efforts, seemed to defeat their intentions with love.  But no such luck.  John again points them back to Christ as the only Messiah.  He will offer Christ no competition where it comes to this role.

In verse 29 he uses an analogy to describe how he feels about what they have just told him … “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”  John is not jealous about this news; he is rather completed by it.  To once again receive an assurance from others, that the mission of Christ is real.  Christ has picked up the mantle and is now baptizing as well.  John knew too, that the baptism Christ offered was not merely of water, but of the Holy Spirit as he had foretold.  John knew the results of the baptism of Christ was more than an admission of the need to repent, but the beginning of a life renewed by the Spirit.  A life reborn with a fire within that only the Holy Spirit could bring.  John could not offer his hearers this gift, Christ alone could.  And to the delight of John, he is now hearing that is exactly what is happening.  The unrepentant hearts of those around him might not have been able to perceive it, but to John there was no greater joy.  John compares himself to the best man, at a wedding, honored to stand next to the groom, and happy to see the groom so happy.  An occasion of joy, shared by those who love someone else; John does not wish to be the groom, instead he is happy to be near the wedding.

But to the delight of John, the fulfillment of the deeper meaning of baptism has begun.  More than a ceremonial ritual of purity, more than an admission for the need of repentance, but a new beginning founded in the one true God.  This new beginning would start because of the fire of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, a gift, from outside of ourselves.  It is not a power we control, it is a power that controls us.  It is a power to free us from the slavery of serving self.  It is a power that enlightens our minds to finally see truth for what it is.  Through the aide and control of the Holy Spirit, we can decipher deeper meaning in the same scriptures we have read many times.  We can see Christ for what He is, the truth.  We can see love for what it is, everything.  These truths are revealed to John, even if who he speaks to at the moment cannot understand his joy.

Then in verse 30, John summarizes the entire process of salvation … “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  To be saved, is to die to self, and be reborn in Christ.  Christ must increase, not just in fame with the locals of His day, but within me.  It is not just about sharing my life with Christ, but rather letting Christ have all of it.  It is about holding nothing back from the change Christ brings.  It is about having no regrets in doing so.  Nothing He will take away, was ever something I really needed.  And everything He brings, is everything I would have desperately wanted if I ever knew the end from the beginning.  There is no risk of unhappiness, in the full surrender to Christ.  There is only joy.  The only risk in this equation, is that I will attempt to hold on to control, and overrule what Christ wants, and thereby chain myself to the pain of my own stubborn stupidity.  John said it right.  He MUST increase. And I MUST decrease.  I must decrease to the point where “I” am gone altogether, and all you can see left in me is Christ.  This was a summary of the gospel of salvation, even if all his hearers understood, was that John recognized his own fame must yield to that of the true Messiah.  But his words meant so much more, and they still do.

In verse 32 and 33 John goes a step further, he offers that the testimony the Christ brings is one of first-person experience with what happens in heaven.  But many are reluctant to accept it.  For those who are willing to accept it, they embark on the journey of salvation, the gift that comes from outside of ourselves.  John’s exact words in verse 33 are … “He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.”  Those who believe the testimony of Christ, are accepting the idea that God will keep His promise to save us from the world of sin we have embraced within ourselves.  God, through the person of Jesus Christ, is truth.  His promise to save is true.  His promise to do for us, what we cannot do for ourselves, is true.  He can redeem us from our past, but more than that, He can change our present, and free us from the bondage to sin we cannot break.

John likely truly disappoints his listeners now as he offers these words … “[verse 34] For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. [verse 35] The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”  John makes a distinction to how the role of Holy Spirit works with us, and with Christ.  We are given a measure of the Holy Spirit.  We could not probably take, a full outpouring, as we are just too fragile a creature.  But we are given what we need, and what we allow.  Christ on the other hand, is not a contemporary of ours, He is a contemporary of God’s; God’s son to be precise.  In this Christ is given ALL things.  Christ embodies the entire Spirit of God, not just a portion of it.  You might as well try to defy gravity, as to defy the idea that Christ is the Messiah and the literal Son of God.  John is publicly stating again, that Christ is no mere mortal, no mere Rabbi, no mere contemporary of his – instead He is God on earth, in human form.

In verse 36 John the Baptist echoes the words of Christ to Nicodemus, and the theme of the entire New Testament … “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”  A belief that Christ will fulfill His promise to save you; a belief that translates to a request; to a submission; and to a rebirth.  In this is everlasting life found.  We are powerless to save ourselves from ourselves, but Christ can.  To believe that God can do, what you cannot do, is the belief that will transform your life.  It is not a mere recognition that God exists, the devil will tell you that.  It is a belief that salvation can come from God as a gift.  It is a belief that you will not save you, but that Christ will as you allow Him to.  When you lack this belief, or when you trust yourself, and your own wisdom and will power to save you; it is then that you find yourself unable to “see life”.  Self is the enemy of God.  It is the service of self that brings with it the “wrath” of God.  There is no alternative.  There is no alternate method of salvation, or escape from the pain of service to self.  Christ alone is the way.  Christ alone is the truth.  Christ alone can save you from you.

The beginning of chapter four of John, records an epilogue to this sermon.  When the Pharisees caught wind of how many Christ (or rather His disciples) had baptized in Judea, Jesus thought it a good idea to travel away to a well of Jacob, in a place the Pharisees would likely never find themselves, in a region known as Samaria …