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Tag: John

  • HOLY | separated

    Leviticus 11:45 & John 6:69  Roger@talkofJesus.com reading today's devotional scriptures

    Isolation

    What does a pandemic have to do with holiness?

    Observe how some react to isolation (as in #StayatHome #Pandemic etc.) and you might just wonder how any wall of separation can exist between mankind. Human beings made in the inage of God are social. We must live and work together as families, as neighbors and as citizens of nations, even the world.

    So how does separation from those crucial to our lives work?

    And who makes the rules?

    In fact we currently see several struggles between many authorities of this world, nations, states, media, social and professional organizations, international corporations, wealthy philanthropists and more.

    Of course few in this world will first ask,

    ‘What is the will of the LORD for our interactions with others?‘

    Festivals of the LORD

    Now Jews and Christians alike must ask additional relational questions of gathering to worship the Lord God. Add to the urgency of questions in the year of our Lord 2020:

    • How will I celebrate Passover?
    • How will I celebrate Easter?

    We enter a HOLY WEEK in A.D. 2020 without possibility of practical obedience to traditional scriptural worship of the Lord God.

    Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com
    1. We must realize that obedient worship of the Lord has changed at times. Congregational worship began with a traveling Tabernacle, pointed to an established Temple, reinstituted in a rebuilt Temple, then dispersed into an unclean world.
    2. The Messiah of Israel, the Son of Man and Son of God offered a New Covenant of worship between God our Father and the world through the Holy Spirit of God given to those who believe in Jesus the Son.
    3. Regardless of which tradition of Judaism or Christianity you came to know you likely do not completely grasp the holiness of the Lord God and without the Lord’s mercy your sin before God fails to keep you appropriately distanced from the Very Holiness of the LORD GOD.

    We might easily become sidetracked in religious discussions about festivals and traditions, but more germain to our relationship to the Lord God is a brief look at holiness.

    Holy

    קֹדֶשׁ

    Outline of Biblical Usage

    1. apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness
      1. apartness, sacredness, holiness
        1. of God
        2. of places
        3. of things
      2. set-apartness, separateness

    You likly know the first use of this word Holy from when Moses approached the LORD in a burning bush. It’s used more than a hunded times in just Exodus and Leviticus to describe detail concerning worship.

    It is used many times in reference to celebration of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread.

    ‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you.

    Exodus 12:16 NASB

    Holy

    קָדַשׁ

    sanctify (108x), hallow (25x), dedicate (10x), holy (7x), prepare (7x), consecrate (5x), appointed (1x), bid (1x), purified (1x), miscellaneous (7x).

    Outline of Biblical Usage
    to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate

    קָדַשׁ qâdash, kaw-dash’; a primitive root; to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally):—appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy(-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify(-ied one, self), wholly.

    Then Moses said to Aaron,

    “It is what the LORD spoke, saying,
    ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated H6942 as holy, H6942
    And before all the people I will be honored.’”
    So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

    Leviticus 10:3 NASB

    Do you recall from Scripture what had just taken place?

    10 וַיִּקְח֣וּ בְנֵֽי־אַ֠הֲרֹן נָדָ֨ב וַאֲבִיה֜וּא אִ֣ישׁ מַחְתָּת֗וֹ וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ בָהֵן֙ אֵ֔שׁ וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ עָלֶ֖יהָ קְטֹ֑רֶת וַיַּקְרִ֜בוּ לִפְנֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ אֵ֣שׁ זָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם׃

    2 וַתֵּ֥צֵא אֵ֛שׁ מִלִּפְנֵ֥י יְהוָ֖ה וַתֹּ֣אכַל אוֹתָ֑ם וַיָּמֻ֖תוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃

    3 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן הוּא֩ אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֨ר יְהוָ֤ה׀ לֵאמֹר֙ בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָעָ֖ם אֶכָּבֵ֑ד וַיִּדֹּ֖ם אַהֲרֹֽן׃

    4 וַיִּקְרָ֣א מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֶל־מִֽישָׁאֵל֙ וְאֶ֣ל אֶלְצָפָ֔ן בְּנֵ֥י עֻזִּיאֵ֖ל דֹּ֣ד אַהֲרֹ֑ן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם קִ֠רְב֞וּ שְׂא֤וּ אֶת־אֲחֵיכֶם֙ מֵאֵ֣ת פְּנֵי־הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ אֶל־מִח֖וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃

    5 וַֽיִּקְרְב֗וּ וַיִּשָּׂאֻם֙ בְּכֻתֳּנֹתָ֔ם אֶל־מִח֖וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּ֥ר מֹשֶֽׁה׃

    




    Before the Lord our God you must: consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate — precisely as the LORD instructs. Even Priest and prophet, pastor and teacher (these perhaps moreso) — all must be Holy, because the Lord our God is Holy.
    




    Holy
    




    ἅγιος
    




    Strong’s Definitions 
    ἅγιος hágios, hag’-ee-os; from ἅγος hágos (an awful thing) (compare G53, G2282); sacred 
    




    • (physically, pure, morally blameless or 
    • religious, ceremonially, consecrated):—(most) holy (one, thing),
    • saint.
    




    “BUT THE LORD SAID TO HIM, ‘TAKE OFF THE SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY G40 GROUND.
    Acts 7:33 Stephen, quoting Moses before the Sanhedrin
    




    Holiness does not change from the Old Testament to the New – different word, same meaning. Stephen also uses it as Jesus did to describe the Holy Spirit of the Lord God.
    




    “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy G40 Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. – Acts 7:51
    




    Outline of Biblical Usage
    




    1. most holy thing, a saint
    




    Saints & Sinners
    




    Are you Holy to the Lord — separated to the Most High from the commonness of worldly sin?
    




    Dare you enter the Holy of Holies into the Presence of Almighty God?
    




    IF NOT, hear just a bit more about the Messiah Jesus to understand about the Holiness of Holy Week.
    




    Lord Jesus
    




    Christ our Passover is Sacrificed for us.
    




    Hebrews 10:
    




    

    For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, 
    




    holy, innocent, undefiled, 
    




    separated 
    




    from sinners 
    




    and 
    




    exalted above the heavens; 
    




    who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, 
    




    first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, 
    




    because this He [the Messiah] did once for all when He offered up Himself.
    




    For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, 
    




    but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, 
    




    appoints a Son, made perfect forever.
    

    




    Therefore let us keep the feast
    




    אֶרְחַץ בְּנִקָּיֹון כַּפָּי וַאֲסֹבְבָה אֶת־מִזְבַּחֲךָ יְהוָֽה׃
    




    For dogs have surrounded me;
    A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
    They pierced my hands and my feet… – Psalm 22:16
    




    

    I can count all my bones.
    




    They look, they stare at me;
    




    They divide my garments among them,
    




    And for my clothing they cast lots.
    




    the amen
    




    “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
    For You alone are holy;
    For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU,
    FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”
    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 15:4 NASB
    

    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
  • 
		
		
    
			
    12 Men Texting as their Messiah approaches – Part 2
    
			
    12 Men Texting as their Messiah approaches – Part 2
    
			
    

    A Context to Texting
    




    You may find the photo headline of this post somewhat whimsical, but my incongruous placement of 21st century communications devices into first century Jewish hands comes with a purpose. Just imagine yourself in this scene of controversy.
    




    The very irony of our recent look back at the seriousness of what Daniel had to say about the future coming of the Messiah of Israel adds to divisions of thought by first century Jews. 
    




    Any anachronistic imagery of the last days by Prophets like Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah and many more must have met with diverse interpretation. 
    




    texting group - and you can be part of one to Talk of JESUS Christ in social media - 3-part series.
    

    Suppose the twelve Apostles and religious rulers of Jerusalem had communication tools such we do. 
    




    Would they have been texting ahead as the Messiah Jesus approached?
    

    




    Of course these historical events did take place in the first century, but what if Jesus approached our city now? 
    




    What do you think would happen? 
    




    Consider the motivations of those in John’s Gospel as if they could communicate as quickly as we do in this 21st century A.D.
    




    




    The Jerusalem Jesus approached
    




    Jerusalem is a city under Roman imposed rules suppressing their world through might and mitigated right imposed by compromising captive national and local leaders. Their religious leaders convened as the Sanhedrin.
    




    The Sanhedrin‘s beginning is to be placed at the period in which Asia was convulsed by Alexander the Great and his successors. The Hellenistic kings conceded a great amount of internal freedom to municipal communities, and Palestine was then practically under home rule, and was governed by an aristocratic council of Elders
    




    John 12:
    




    google earth image of hills between Bethany and Jerusalem and Ephraim to the north
    

    You may recall the context of these parting paths from Jesus – Traveling to and from Bethany. 
    




    The Twelve Apostles and many other Jews have just witnessed the Lord Jesus raise Lazarus from the grave!
    




    After returning to Bethany from Ephraim in the hills far-removed from Jerusalem’s public eye, they return to the home of Lazarus.
    

    




    Mary, sister to lazarus pours expensive oil on Jesus’ feet and one of the Twelve objects.
    




    5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
    




    We then followed the separate path of the Messiah and His Apostles away from the amazed public eyewitness of this great sign in Bethany.
    




    Good News / Bad News?
    




    Just image the Good News of the texts between those traveling with Jesus and the mourners of Bethany! 
    




    Who did they tell of this confirmation of Israel’s Messiah?
    




    Last time we followed the storyline of the Good News (as Jesus retreated to the hills one last time). But now we will return to Bethany and follow the thread of bad news (no doubt texted ahead to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem). Now we turn to a divergent path headed in a different direction.
    




    Path of the Betrayer
    




    6 Now he [ Judas Iscariot ] said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it. 
    




    7 So Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep [the rest of] it for the day of My burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
    




    The impulse of betrayal
    




    What does a zealous follower of a powerful man do when spurned by his idolized leader who fails to take the path he had expected?
    




    (Perhaps this is not so irrelevant to these times and leaders as well.)
    




    

    Judas would have texted other zealots he knew in the capital, those in the palaces of power.
    
Roger Harned- talkofJesus.com
    




    John 13:
    




    Once more, jumping ahead to follow Judas after the Messiah’s triumphal entry to the gates of Judah’s capital:
    




    2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him…
    




    To Peter the Lord said:
    




    … You are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
    




    Judas’ Betrayal Predicted
    




    You’ve entered the Holy gathering at the Table with the Lord. 
    




    HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR CELL PHONES?  
    




    You just can’t wait to tell your friends back home and waiting in the public square what has just happened. But just for a moment you allow Jesus to lead the events in the room.
    




    “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
    




    22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.
    




    After a murmuring among those present John tells us that after the urging of Peter he asks the unspoken question on everyone’s mind.
    




    6 Jesus then answered, 
    




    “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” 
    




    So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
    




    A devil revealed reacts
    




    John has already witnessed in his Gospel that Judas is a devil of a disciple who will betray Jesus. He has also witnessed that Jesus called the leaders of Jerusalem by the same.
    




    So what will these devils of conspiracy against all righteousness do?
    




    What would they do in this day?
    




    Communicate! — “TXT ME“
    




    

    After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
    
John 13:27 NASB – Judas Iscariot and the command of Jesus
    




    IF you were the betrayer, wouldn’t you immediately go for your communication device? 
    




    We have to post an ‘update‘ to our ‘friend‘ network in the world we love?
    




    So did Judas!
    




    30 So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.
    




    Returning to Jerusalem
    




    Judas has left the Lord Jesus on a different path. (I pray that you have not left the presence of the Lord as well, claimer of Christ your savior for this brief life.)
    




    The Messiah Jesus called Judas a devil – διάβολος diábolos
    




      

    • prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely
      • 




    • metaph. applied to a man who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him
      • 

    




    Do you follow anyone like that? 
    




    (Better not text them or pay much attention to their media campaigns pointed at you and their ‘followers.’)
    




    Do you believe that men and women like Judas claim authority as “followers of the Lord?“
    




    You will always have the poor and you will always have those who do evil in the eyes of the Lord!
    




    False leaders must ultimately promote a lie of their own false traditions and compromised purity. John uncovers the motives of these ‘leaders.’ 
    




    Judas had hoped Jesus would overthrow Jerusalem’s autocratic, aristocratic religious leaders and their Roman allies violently, but the Messiah chose a sacrificial path.
    




    Now we return to the capital of the land in an earlier visit.
    




    John 8:
    




    We have examined this defendant of the devil before in Before Abraham was, I AM! Jesus had called these same leaders with false interpretation of Scripture and devious leadership to their own cultural ends, ‘devils!’
    




    37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
    




    42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God…
    




    “You are of your father the devil, G1228 and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks [fn]a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of [fn]lies.
    




    45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.
    




    

    Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” 
    




    The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon.
    
John 8:51-52a NASB
    




    What do you think?
    




    What BREAKING NEWS will you TXT ahead?
    




      

    • Will you remain with the Messiah, essentially following obediently as commanded as did the eleven?
      • 




    • Or will you betray your only Hope of cleansing of your sin (and text ahead to the world that the Messiah isn’t what you thought?)
      • 

    




    Perhaps you’ve been listening to distorted news of the powers you seek from principalities you cannot touch. You need to identify with these ‘leaders’ of the world and in the world.
    




    What is your reaction to the Messiah Jesus approaching in these last days?
    






    To be continued...
    



    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Jesus – Traveling to and from Bethany
    
			
    Jesus – Traveling to and from Bethany
    
			
    

    Departing Bethany
    




    Jesus the Messiah has just given the Jews of Judea a sign proving that He IS the Son of God. For after traveling some distance on foot to Bethany the Lord arrived to find his friend Lazarus dead. Then to the amazement of all, Jesus calls Lazarus from the tomb. 
    




    The Messiah gives back to a man dead in the grave life itself!
    




    We pause once more in the chronological events in Jesus’ journey to the Cross and His own resurrection to look back briefly at Bethany, the town of this miracle, from Luke’s Gospel.
    




    Luke 10:
    




    Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come… 
    




    “Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
    




    This was Jesus’ caution to seventy disciples following Him. Do not be so innocent as to think that because God will save you that God’s enemies of this world will not harm you.
    




    “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
    Luke 10:16 – Commission of the Messiah Jesus to followers
    




    topical map of Israel from sea of Galilee, valley of the Jordan
    

    Jesus travels these roads between Galilee, Samaria and Judea. The Lord’s disciples know the dangers of travel in these places.
    




    “Who is my neighbor?”
    




    Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan to listeners familiar with a distrust of other travelers. The villains, however, turn out to be just the type of religious officials we look up to at church!
    

    




    Luke makes his point from Jesus’ parable most likely told to crowds coming to Jerusalem, then proceeds to introduce us to the family of Lazarus in Bethany.
    




    photo of Bethany
    Bethany
    




    38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.
    




    But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, 
    




    “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”
    




    But the Lord answered and said to her, 
    




    “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
    




    Luke then moves on with another time and place without providing detail about their brother Lazarus, who presumably is at work somewhere away from this scene.
    




    Returning now to the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha on the Lord’s later journey witnessed by John.
    




    John 11:
    




    … Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
    




    45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 
    




    map from Bethany ascent to city of Jerusalem
    

    The Apostle John proceeds to witness the motives of the Jews who sought to kill their Messiah.
    

    




    Two paths leaving Bethany
    




    (God-willing, we will return to this while considering Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem, completing that for which He was sent by God the Father.)
    




    A road through Bethany to the Cross
    




    Now let’s depart Bethany with Jesus as the Lord left after healing Lazarus from death itself.
    




    google earth image of hills between Bethany and Jerusalem and Ephraim to the north
    

    54 Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, 
    

    




    but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.
    




    Returning to Bethany
    




    Then as the Passover approaches many leave for Jerusalem with other pilgrims traveling to the Temple to purify themselves.
    




    John 12:
    




    Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
    




    2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 
    




    Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. 
    




    

    And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
    

    




    The Apostle John adds further description of the fragrance, adding the reaction of Judas with witness of his motives: 
    




    “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
    




    “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
    




    Dining with dear friends
    




    Jesus and the Twelve have returned to Bethany from the small city of Ephraim in the hills to the north full-well knowing of the plot of Jerusalem’s religious leaders to kill them all.
    




    Yet for a brief evening, they share precious mortal time together. No man knows the value of this more than Lazarus, their host and the Son of Man who must soon depart for Jerusalem one last time.
    




    Lazarus come forth - photo of sunrise and Bible
    

    How they must have discussed the experience of DEATH.. and of RESURRECTION…