Tag: exhortation

  • An Invitation to Exhortation

    An Invitation to Exhortation

    NOTE: Reading time of this post is longer than average due to extended passages of Scripture usually excerpted and linked being included in full. - RH

    Exhortation paraklēsis – is probably not what you think it is. After Barnabas and Saul reach Pisidian Antioch we will look closer at its role in preaching AND I will provide a complete definition at the bottom of this post. – RH

    preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and teaching.

    Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 4:2

    Barnabas had sent his cousin John Mark back to Jerusalem then he and Saul began their 110 mile hike to Pisidian Antioch.

    Most hikers plan for a journey like that into the mountains to take anywhere from five days to two weeks, hoping for an average daily distance of about ten to fifteen miles.

    Some commentators speculate that Paul may have contracted malaria common to travelers journeying along the low marshlands near Perga. Barnabas and Saul would have been exhausted on whatever day of the week they arrived in Antioch and certainly would be encouraged by a sabbath rest.

    But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch. And on the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down.

    Acts of the Apostles 13:14 LSB

    The Sabbath in Pisidian Antioch

    31:16  וְשָׁמְרוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּת לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּת לְדֹרֹתָם בְּרִית עוֹלָֽם׃

    ‘So the sons of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.’

    Exodus 31:16 Legacy Standard Bible (Mosaic text noted above)
    in the synagogue

    15 לאחר קריאת פרשת השבוע מן התורה, וההפטרה מהנביאים, שלחו אליהם ראשי בית-הכנסת הודעה: “אחים, אם יש לכם דבר עידוד והדרכה בשבילנו, אתם מוזמנים לדבר!”

    15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

    16 Then Paul stood up..

    ACTS 13:16-23 – in Greek, Hebrew, English & Latin

    - Does a Hebrew glance at ACTS 13:15 [above] prompt you to think about how Jews in the Synagogue viewed Scripture?

    Preaching for an audience you know

    Before we move on to Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel in the synagogue of Antioch (near Pisidia), let’s take a look at the context of worship for these first century Jews in a Greco-Roman culture of Asia (as it was called) in the Roman capitol of Galatia (as Pisidian Antioch functioned politically).

    Without digressing too far, let’s just say that Rome conquered towns, cultures and strategic places (like Antioch). Then once subdued by their Legions, Rome allowed these Greeks or Hellenists to include their social, cultural and religious practices as part of a tolerant peace with their Roman government. (There’s no puppet-king or elected Greek governor.) The rule of law is now and will remain ROMAN.

    Jews who proclaimed that THEIR GOD IS ONE would eventually relent and add their Yahweh to acceptable social worship of a pantheon of Greco-Roman gods.

    BUT some Jews insisted that they would not participate in any of the important holidays of the gods of their cities.

    Greek is the language of the Empire. 
    Hebrew a Jewish language in worship even here in the capitol of the Roman province of Galatia.
    Latin is the Roman language of the Legions and the language of government carved into the columns and walls of the distinctly ornate public buildings of Rome which have replaced the Greek places of the past.

    I am neither historian, archeologist or sociologist, but my guess is that in the Synagogue of Antioch that the Torah and Prophets were read in Hebrew, while the teaching and discourse of the day with both Jews and proselytes from throughout the Empire present was conducted in their common Greek.

    I’ll also speculate that prominent men of the Roman government (like the Proconsul Sergius Paulus whom they had just met) converse with those governed in Greek, even though some of their official duties required the Latin of Rome.

    Saulos is a well-know Jew of Tarsus well-studied under Gamaliel of Jerusalem. And iōsēph the kyprios (Cyprian) Levite may offer additional priestly insight little known to these Hellenist Jews.

    Tradition of Worship

    Luke’s account from the year of our Lord 47 or 48 of Saul and Barnabas in the synagogue of Pisidian Antioch provides readers (whether his first Christian audience of the AD 60’s and 70’s or 21st c. Christians) with some details of worship in the synagogue less familiar than the well-documented worship, festivals and gatherings of the Temple in Jerusalem.

    Acts 13 – an order of worship

    • And on the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down. – v.14b
      • Saturday worship: Jews go to the synagogue and sit to hear Scripture.
    • And after the reading of the Law – v.15a
      • The Law [nomos] a systematic, pre-determined reading of Genesis – Deuteronomy (the Pentateuch) is prominently read first by a synagogue official in the pulpit (or on the platform).
    • And [after the reading of] the Prophets – v.15a
      • Again, a systematic, pre-determined reading from a book of a major Prophet (like Isaiah) or reading of a minor Prophet (perhaps even their entire scroll).
    • (Luke’s account here makes no attempt to cover other parts of the weekly worship at the synagogue, such as the singing of Psalms or the offering or prayers.)
      • i.e. Psalm 2, referenced here by context of Saul’s sermon, may have been sung as part of the appointed hymns from the prior weeks or later after his sermon.
    • the synagogue officials [of the archisynagōgos] sent to them [apostellō prosa autos] v.15b
      • ruler of the synagogue. It was his duty to select the readers or teachers in the synagogue, to examine the discourses of the public speakers, and to see that all things were done with decency and in accordance with ancestral usage.
    • the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brothers,
      • (Although Saul and Joseph of Cypress visit from other congregations of Jews, the Arch-Synagogos leading worship WELCOMES them ‘as brothers’ and invites them to PREACH.)
    • “Brothers, if you have any word [logos]v.15b
      • Did a messenger of the archisynagōgos greet them on arrival with this specific invitation from the head pastor of the synagogue requesting them to say a word if they would like?
      • Or perhaps the leader of the synagogue greeted these distinguished brothers personally?
      • Or maybe, seeing them in the congregation he gestured to the renowned Saul of Tarsus to at least say something?
    • have any word of exhortation for the people,
      • [WE will address the expectation of a word of exhortation after the reading of the Law and the Prophets.)
    • say it. – Acts 13:15b

    The following readings are intended to give us a sense of the regular Saturday worship in the synagogue to set the stage for the important exhortation of Paul which will follow from Acts of the Apostles in our next post. 
    
    Paul MAY HAVE drawn from these Scriptures which COULD HAVE been part of the first century Jewish lectionary schedule. Even if these specific Scriptures were not those read, the congregation would have been familiar with them.- RH
    
    Perhaps one of you theologians could share a comment to inform if our ears to hear would have been tuned to the Hebrew original or the local Greek. 
    
    Today for our international audience of this 21st century I will use English from the Legacy Standard Bible.

    A reading from Bereshis [Genesis] 46,

    when Israel came down from Beersheba to Egypt, beginning in verse 28.

    Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time. Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

    And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ “And it will be when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth and until now, both we and our fathers,’ that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

    Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” And he took five men from among his brothers and set them before Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is heavy in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

    Genesis 47:

    Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. “The land of Egypt is at your disposal; have your father and your brothers settle in the best of the land, let them settle in the land of Goshen; and if you know any excellent men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

    Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and stood him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.”

    And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to their little ones.

    Now there was no food in all the land because the famine was very heavy, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. And Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. Then the money came to an end in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan. So all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.”

    Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone.” So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. Then that year came to an end.

    And they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money has come to an end, and the livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our land. “Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

    So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s. As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they ate off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land.

    Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. “And it will be, at the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

    So they said, “You have kept us alive! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

    Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they took possession of property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous.

    And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

    A reading from Bereshis.
    Do you recall this compelling story from Genesis which tells how the Hebrew descendants of Jacob became slaves which Moses would redeem later?
    
    Without exposition, the readings would continue from the Books of the Prophets.
    

    The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet beheld.

    How long, O Yahweh, will I call for help,
    And You will not hear?
    
    I cry out to You, “Violence!”
    Yet You do not save.
    
    Why do You make me see wickedness
    And cause me to look on trouble?
    
    Indeed, devastation and violence are before me;
    And there is strife, and contention is lifted up.
    
    Therefore the law is ignored,
    
    And justice never comes forth.
    
    For the wicked surround the righteous;
    
    Therefore justice comes forth perverted.
    

    1:5 רְאוּ בַגּוֹיִם וְֽהַבִּיטוּ וְהִֽתַּמְּהוּ תְּמָהוּ כִּי־ פֹעַל פֹּעֵל בִּֽימֵיכֶם לֹא תַאֲמִינוּ כִּי יְסֻפָּֽר׃

    “See among the nations! And look!

    Be also astonished! Be astounded!

    Because I am doing something in your days—

    You would not believe if it was recounted to you.

    “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
    
    That bitter and hasty nation
    Who walks on the breadth of the land
    To possess dwelling places which are not theirs.
    
    “They are dreaded and feared;
    
    Their justice and exaltation come forth from themselves.
    
    “Their horses are swifter than leopards
    And sharper than wolves in the evening.
    
    Their horsemen come galloping;
    
    Their horsemen come from afar;
    
    They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.
    
    “All of them come for violence.
    
    Their horde of faces moves forward.
    
    And they gather captives like sand.
    “And they mock at kings,
    
    And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
    
    They laugh at every fortress
    And heap up dirt and capture it.
    
    
    “Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on.
    
    But they will be held guilty,
    
    They whose power is their god.”
    

    1:12 הֲלוֹא אַתָּה מִקֶּדֶם יְהוָה אֱלֹהַי קְדֹשִׁי לֹא נָמוּת יְהוָה לְמִשְׁפָּט שַׂמְתּוֹ וְצוּר לְהוֹכִיחַ יְסַדְתּֽוֹ׃

    Are You not from everlasting,

    O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One?

    We will not die.

    You, O Yahweh, have placed them to judge;

    And You, O Rock, have established them to reprove.

    Habakkuk 1:12
    Your eyes are too pure to see evil,
    
    And You cannot look on trouble.
    
    Why do You look
    On those who deal treacherously?
    
    Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up
    
    Those more righteous than they?
    
    And You have made men like the fish of the sea,
    
    Like creeping things without a ruler over them.
    
    The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,
    
    Drag them away with their net,
    
    And gather them together in their fishing net.
    
    Therefore they are glad and rejoice.
    
    Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
    And burn incense to their fishing net
    Because through these things their portion is rich
    And their food is fat.
    
    Will they therefore empty their net
    And continually kill nations without sparing?
    
    Habakkuk 2: RSV [incl. 3]

    I will take my stand to watch,
    and station myself on the tower,
    and look forth to see what he will say to me,
        and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

    And the Lord answered me:

    “Write the vision;
        make it plain upon tablets,
        so he may run who reads it.
    
     For still the vision awaits its time;
        it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
    
    If it seem slow, wait for it;
        it will surely come, it will not delay.
     Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail,
        but the righteous shall live by his faith.
    
     Moreover, wine is treacherous;
        the arrogant man shall not abide.
    His greed is as wide as Sheol;
        like death he has never enough.
    He gathers for himself all nations,
        and collects as his own all peoples.”

    Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, in scoffing derision of him, and say,

    “Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—
        for how long?—
        and loads himself with pledges!”
    Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
        and those awake who will make you tremble?
        Then you will be booty for them.
    Because you have plundered many nations,
        all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
    for the blood of men and violence to the earth,
        to cities and all who dwell therein.
    
    Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
        to set his nest on high,
        to be safe from the reach of harm!
    You have devised shame to your house
        by cutting off many peoples;
        you have forfeited your life.
    For the stone will cry out from the wall,
        and the beam from the woodwork respond.
    
    Woe to him who builds a town with blood,
        and founds a city on iniquity!
    Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
        that peoples labor only for fire,
        and nations weary themselves for nought?
    For the earth will be filled
        with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
        as the waters cover the sea.
    
    Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink
        of the cup of his wrath, and makes them drunk,
        to gaze on their shame!
    You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
        Drink, yourself, and stagger!
    The cup in the Lord’s right hand
        will come around to you,
        and shame will come upon your glory!
    The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
        the destruction of the beasts will terrify you,
    for the blood of men and violence to the earth,
        to cities and all who dwell therein.
    
    What profit is an idol
        when its maker has shaped it,
        a metal image, a teacher of lies?
    For the workman trusts in his own creation
        when he makes dumb idols!
    Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
        to a dumb stone, Arise!
        Can this give revelation?
    Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
        and there is no breath at all in it.
    

    But the Lord is in his holy temple;

        let all the earth keep silence before him.

    Habakkuk 2:20 Revised Standard Version

    Exhortation

    2:20 וַֽיהוָה בְּהֵיכַל קָדְשׁוֹ הַס מִפָּנָיו כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ פ

    The End of the Oracle of Habakkuk, before his prayer.

    After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying,

    “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

    Acts of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas in Pisidian Antioch 13:15 RSV

    They were invited to give a word of exhortation. Paul didn’t just show up at church expecting to preach the Gospel.

    So what is this “word of exhortation?”

    [ logos paraklēsis ]

    • a calling near, summons, (especially for help)
      • The leader of the synagogue summons them asking help for the people of his flock.
    παράκλησις paráklēsis, par-ak'-lay-sis; from G3870; imploration, hortation, solace:—comfort, consolation, exhortation, intreaty.
    
    • thus of the Messianic salvation (so the Rabbis call the Messiah the consoler, the comforter)

    And Saul of Tarsus, who is known to the Jews to have had a personal encounter with the risen Messiah Jesus, is about to give those people of the LORD God gathered together as brothers on the Sabbath the Word and exhortation.

    • persuasive discourse, stirring address
      • instructive, admonitory, conciliatory, powerful hortatory discourse

    ACTS of the Apostles 13: To be continued with the EXHORTATION of the Apostle Paul…

  • God’s Personal Love -4- from Him who is to come

    God’s Personal Love -4- from Him who is to come

    A Letter from Him who is to come

    Whatever does that mean: a letter from Him who is to come?

    We receive a letter (email or text, if you will) from a person about to visit us here in the certain place where we live. They are a friend or family member who will return here some time in the future.

    Our first question may be when, but our reaction is likely, what must I do in preparation for their return to be with me in person?

    What must you do?

    It’s an ordinary communication delivered in the usual manner by a messenger (a mail delivery person in a vehicle or on a horse) or even by a direct ‘message’ as is now possible (without an angel of heaven).

    How will you react? For this is sudden unexpected NEWS; perhaps Good News OR possibly the message contains some not so good news.

    What must you do prior to this inevitable return visit?

    Challenges to Scriptural Faith

    Two thousand (2000) years ago we could have witnessed events in the life of the young Son of Man, Jesus. In a few years He would be introduced to the world in the opening lines of the Gospels.

    Jesus, James, Jude and others in Nazareth must have seemed like any other Jewish young men who worshiped the LORD God and attended festivals in Jerusalem.

    a little history of 1st c. letters

    The Epistles or Letters address various churches and Christians with exhortations of scriptural constancy to comfort and encourage our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

    A.D. 1st century history of the Gospels & letters (Epistles) to the Church + Note the timeline of communication below:
    Between Jesus’ ascension ~AD30’s & Revelation ~AD90’s the Church grew in faith

    As I mentioned last time:

    • James, brother of Jesus was called to become the pastor of the Jerusalem church and was martyred around A.D. 62.
    • Jesus’ brother Jude also wrote to fellow Jewish believers in Jesus (Yeshua) sometime after A.D. 65.
    Jude called the church to fight, in the midst of intense spiritual warfare, for the truth. – John Macarthur
    • After Jerusalem’s destruction by Rome in A.D. 70 many false teachers leavened Christ’s Church.

    Jude 1:3 NASB

    Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints.

    Christianity was under severe political attack from Rome and aggressive spiritual infiltration from gnostic-like apostates and libertines who sowed abundant seed for a gigantic harvest of doctrinal error. It could be that this was the forerunner to full blown Gnosticism which the Apostle John would confront..

    John Macarthur from commentary on Jude
    • By the AD 90’s John is the only remaining Apostle alive (exiled on Patmos). The others had been martyred for their faith in Christ.

    Christians under construction – the saints of seven churches

    Suppose that your church received a letter from one of the Lord’s brothers, James or Jude AND that Jesus also sent an appeal for the faith of scripture.

    • How would you receive the Lord’s exhortation urging your church to contend for Him against false teaching?
    • Would you even act on a letter sent by a messenger from heaven?

    Jesus’ message sent by revelation to John is specific exhortation for the ‘saints’ of His ‘Church.’

    Then and now the message is for:

    • Followers of the Lord
    • Souls called, beloved and kept to eternal life through Jesus
    • Servants who will proclaim Christ
    • Obedient ‘saints [small ‘s’] who must respond to Him who is to come

    Exhortation

    παρακαλέω – parakaleō

    1. to call to one’s side, call for, summon
    2. to address, speak to, (call to, call upon), which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.
    apokalypsis the Gospel of Jesus Christ unsealed

    In His Book of Revelation, Jesus summons John UP to His side – a summons to the Throne!

    Jesus’ general and sometimes specific exhortations challenge every saint of the church to contend for our original faith through scripture.

    Revelation 1-3:

    By the hand of John, only remaining Apostle of Jesus – a decade after Jude’s letter (A.D. 94–96)

    This took place from Patmos some decades after the Lord’s ascension.

    map of the seven churches of revelation

    ‘JOHN, WRITE to these churches and tell them.. this.’

    That is, I have a few exhortations – instructions for you, beloved, who I have called and will keep in the Church for eternal life.

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John is also exhortation for the saints of the church in every age.

    Roger@talkofJesus.com

    Our Lord called John UP to Him!

    Jesus appeals to each church and every believer through a Revelation to the Apostle John.

    EXHORTATION means to:

    • admonish, exhort
    • beg, entreat, beseech
    • strive to appease by entreaty
    • console,
    • encourage and strengthen by consolation,
    • comfort
    • receive consolation, be comforted
    • instruct, teach

    The risen Christ consoles John and instructs this last Apostle to take His message to seven churches.

    Dear (BELOVED),

    We hear a similar loving greeting to the church as that of Jude (before).

    John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

    Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come,

    and from the seven spirits who are before His throne,

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 1:4

    Exhortation from Him who is to come

    For those ‘christians’ with rail in eye, Christ’s exhortation is NOT meant for any who refuse to bow down to the Lord God until the Day of their Judgment. Jesus writes to those with ears to hear.

    Forget for a moment that these letters to certain saints of different churches are meant to refine their faith in a first century context.

    Christ’s exhortations are for you, my fellow saint — the Church. (And Jesus sends these through John to me for my own refinement.)

    Now, beloved brother or sister in Christ Jesus,

    Perhaps an encouragement will pierce your own heart.

    Roman soldier spears the body of Jesus on the cross

    Which exhortation to one of the seven churches of Revelation does Jesus write to pierce your heart and purge your sin?

    BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

    the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 1:7 NASB20
    To be continued...
  • God’s Personal Love -3 Brothers Beloved & more

    God’s Personal Love -3 Brothers Beloved & more

    Father, Sons & Brothers – a more Personal love

    We have begun this series about God’s love for us and see a MOST PERSONAL love between Jesus the Son and the Father God! Here we will glance at the personal love of Jesus’ brother Jude, a personal love of brothers, of sisters — family connections we do not choose. Yet as saints chosen by God in Christ, Jesus’ brothers grow in the Father’s love and nurture the faith of His church family.

    Remembering my Brother

    “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. - john 5:24

    A few years ago one of my brothers died. Pictured here is the lake he loved near our childhood home. My sister and youngest brother also shared in many moments of life, some with our departed brother near this beautiful place on earth.

    I give thanks to God that my mother and father raised a family which included my younger sister and two younger brothers. And like yours and the siblings of every family, we did not choose this relationship; never-the-less God made me their brother.

    Brothers of Jesus

    Imagine what life must have been like for James and Jude, the brothers of Jesus. Their brother Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross far from the Sea of Galilee near home. And He died beyond the gates of Jerusalem as they celebrated a feast of the Passover with the blood of lambs.

    The Lord’s own brothers had not been disciples of the Messiah Jesus. But then, Jesus rose from the tomb!

    Now, for a few weeks after His resurrection they could expect something new and different. What must it have been like for James and Jude to again walk with their brother Jesus after His resurrection near Jerusalem.

    Can you imagine your risen brother walking with you in the hills overlooking Lake Galilee?

    Years later their memories of Jesus would return to His glorious ascension into heaven.

    After Jesus’ other return to Heaven

    Along with the Eleven, Jesus’ brothers James and Jude had discovered to their belated joy that Jesus IS the risen Messiah and had also personally witnessed in awe their brother ascending into the clouds!

    The Lord’s brothers both encouraged the church from this time until their own deaths years later. I have written series from each of their letters previously.

    James and Jesus would have been known as Galileans, Nazarenes and familial brothers, not Judeans or leaders of Jerusalem. But now he is one of more than five hundred witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. James accepts the difficult call to lead the church in Jerusalem.
    Come now, —the Lord is compassionate and merciful. Count it all joy when the world tries your patience.

    Jesus’ brother James was later martyred, even as most Apostles had died for their faith in the Messiah Jesus. James had led the church in Jerusalem for some 30 years until he was killed around A.D. 62.

    Letters to a First Century Church

    The first century Church grew rapidly and the Good News of Jesus Christ is now shared by believers in much of Asia.

    The Lord’s other brother Judas, who now preferred to be known as Jude, also wrote a brief letter to fellow Jewish believers in Jesus (Yeshua). Like any letter Jude sent it to the saints by messenger sometime around A.D. 65-80, decades after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.

    ‘Christians,’ as the Jews and pagens denounced them at every opportunity, continued to see the world’s hatred for them increase. In fact, the world seems to decay into hatred’s destruction of fires and wars of the Roman Empire in Jerusalem, Asia, Egypt and even Rome itself.

    Faithful followers of Christ Jesus refuse to conform to worldly standards and consequently suffer in an environment of sociatal sin.

    Jesus’ biological brothers, the same ones who once urged the Lord to refrain from such radical teaching now write to the saints of many churches — Christians who now also suffer for His Name.

    What Jesus said about his brothers

    One time when Jude, James and Mary went to see Jesus among the crowds the Lord had claimed only those who followed Him as family.

    “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers G80?”

    And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers G80!

    Matthew 12:48b-49 NASB20 – Strongs G80 – adelphos

    Now in the many years after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension Jude humbly claims Jesus as His bond-servant. Jude does not take advantage of his biological connection to this first Son of Man, also a son of Mary.

    The Letter of Jude

    It's very short. (Read it above on a secure link.)
    OR
    Read & Comment on my previous 3-part series on Jude (linked below).
    The brother of James could have begun his letter to the church as a ‘brother of the King and Messiah,’ implying his authority of position via his family..
    Jude will exhort believers to keep in Jesus’ love, abide in His love or live as Jesus taught us by His example..
    apostasia
    Definition from the Greek: defection from truth (properly, the state) (“apostasy”):—falling away, forsake.
    מְשׁוּבָה
    Definition from the Hebrew mĕshuwbah : turning away, turning back, apostasy, backsliding

    Jude greets faithful saints:

    Hear a tenderness of Jude’s greeting to the church, the very same personal love Jesus exemplified throughout His thirty mortal years:

    Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,

    To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:

    May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.


    Oh mercy, how by grace we all need it.

    Peace – εἰρήνη, that is: eirēnē, Christians know best from benedictions at closings of church gatherings and departure from each another.

    “Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.

    John 14:27 NASB20 – Jesus’ encouragement to the Disciples prior to His crucifixion

    And ‘love‘ of which we have just spoken.

    agapē love (as Jude uses in his greeting)

    ‘āhaḇ in Hebrew [i.e. thou shalt love H157 thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.] – אָהַב

    AND also phileō love defined for the church — That’s right, same as a city church to which the Apostle John will write — Φιλαδέλφεια.

    Known for its “brotherly love,” philadelphos – philos or ‘friend’ and ἀδελφός adelphos literally ‘a brother from the womb.’

    Jude, a brother of Jesus who had not believed his brother IS the Messiah, now urges the Church through a letter to keep to their true faith.

    Christians: Called, Beloved and Kept

    Jude.. To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:

    Called, because the Lord chose you to receive His grace
    Beloved, because God loves those who accept His immeasurable love &
    Kept, for eternal life and the glory of Christ's holiness.

    Christians to whom Jude now writes may hear his message as Good News. It is the same Gospel James and Jude had heard before straight from their very own brother, Jesus.

    Yet like Jesus’ brothers before, not all will receive the Gospel written for the saints to whom Jude writes.

    Then and now some so-called ‘christians’ gather in the guise of worship without mention of Jesus our Lord and only Savior. And some pulpits bring rise to power as well as false teachers (just like now), Jude’s central concern for the church.

    How do we know who to believe?

    Jude now humbly preaches Christ crucified and risen in the flesh as he has witnessed personally in the Person of his own brother Jesus. He addresses his letter and his preaching to those attentive to the Spirit with ears to hear.

    Who are the true saints and followers of Jesus Christ? They are those whom Jude exhorts to faith.

    Christians who receive this word of Scripture are: Called invited by God or divinely selected ; Beloved agapaō (You recognize this love from our previous post) and Kept for Jesus Christ.

    Jude 1:3 NASB

    Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints.

    Jude has just written to the Church greeting Christians who are ‘called,’

    (‘I know that,’ you will witness and claim your calling.)

    ..beloved (Not only important to us as Christians, but what attracts others to Jesus)

    and kept (A rather quaint concept. What does Jude mean in calling us kept?) .

    Kept in Christ’s Holiness

    Let’s define this refining of faith that keeps Christians in Christ as exhortation. It’s a sort of ‘religious word’ which points to the loving fatherly discipline of the ‘One who will come again.’

    • I urge you to consider our relationship of being ‘kept’ by Christ Jesus.
      • Can you answer this:
    • Who keeps Christians ‘in Christ?’

    In our NEXT message of this series on GOD’S PERSONAL LOVE, we will look to the Lord’s exhortations for seven churches.

    Jesus’ message sent by revelation to John is specific exhortation for the ‘saints’ of His ‘Church.’

    And just as the Lord’s brother Jude exhorts the church in his letter, Jesus will warn followers of the Lord — servants who claim Christ — that we must respond to Him who is to come.

    Exhortation

    παρακαλέω – parakaleō

    1. to call to one’s side, call for, summon
    2. to address, speak to, (call to, call upon), which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.

    Suppose that your church received a letter from one of the Lord’s brothers AND that Jesus also sent an appeal for the faith of scripture.

    How would you respond?

    Will you comment below, beloved brother or sister in Christ?
    
    To be continued, God-willing...

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