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Tag: John

  • for it was not the season for figs – 5

    for it was not the season for figs – 5

    The Lord vs. Kings

    We began this series examining an incident of the Lord Jesus cursing a fig tree. 

It seemed so unlike the Son of Man who would a few days later sacrifice His own blood as perfect Passover sacrifice for the sins of man.

    In the Beginning:

    It is in Eden where we first hear of the leaves of the fig tree made to cover sin.

    Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

    Recall that in the beginning, after the Lord created the heavens and the earth, He walked with man {adam} and the woman {Eve} He had created. He walked with them personally.

    The Lord then gave the Law to Moses and appeared to Moses and the Elders of Israel personally

    THEY FEARED His awesome Presence!

    The Law was then administered by judges, not Kings.

    Later the Lord would relent and grant a king to Israel in Saul.

    Yet prior to Saul’s anointing we hear a parable preached against the people who wanted to replace their seventy judges with a king.

    In the previous episode we briefly looked at the story of the hero Gideon, after which this story is told.

    Judges 9:

    Parable of the Trees
    The Olive Tree
    the olive tree is the national tree of Israel

    8 The trees once went out to anoint a king over them,

    and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’

    9 But the olive tree said to them,

    ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’

    Olive oil was used for lamps, grain offerings and anointing Kings of Israel.

    The Fig Tree

    10 And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’

    11 But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’

    The fig tree was a common metaphor for Israel as a nation. It often symbolized the health of the nation both spiritually and physically.

    The Grape Vine

    12 And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’

    13 But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’

    “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

    1 Corinthians 11:25
     Brambles [Thornbush]

    14 Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’

    15 And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, 

    of course, a bramble bush cannot offer shade

    … but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

    For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. – Deuteronomy 4:24

    And you have asked for a King?

    Christ Crowned with Thorns

    So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him,

    “Are you the King of the Jews?”

    John 18:33

    To be continued…

  • for it was not the season for figs – 4

    for it was not the season for figs – 4

    Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

    John 6:15

    יַמּא דטבריא; גִּנֵּיסַר
    Lake Tiberias – Rome’s name for Kinneret [Sea of Galilee]

    Conspiracy to force Jesus to be King

    Returning to Galilee, held by Rome..

    Jesus faced crowds with different motivations than the Lord God on occasions other than His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

    The Prophet Jeremiah had warned:

    The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:

    who can know it?

    – Jeremiah 17:9 KJV

    Jesus knew the motivations of the crowds.

    John 6: ESV

    After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick…

    9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number…

    14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

    15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

    The Messiah who cursed the fig tree knew the hearts of men who would be led by a King rather than follow the Lord God.

    Returning to a time after the Judges, let us recall briefly the appointment of Israel’s first King. The Elders of Israel have conspired against the Lord.

    1 Samuel 8:

    4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “… Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

    7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

    Jesus knew the hearts of the crowds, of the leaders of Israel, parties of religious officials of the Temple. Their hearts deceived them and their wickedness chose any course other than obeying the Lord.

    Rule Over Us

    Returning now to Judges and Gideon, mighty man of God after the Lord’s great victory:

    JUDGES 8:

    22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon,

    “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” 

    … 33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

    King Saul of Israel before David;

    kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord warned by the Prophets;

    King Herod, puppet kings to Rome motivated by men —

    Kings, Presidents, Premiers, Prime Ministers, Princes —

    Prophets (who are as false as gods carved from stone) — all men of the people!

    Jesus would be like none of them.

    Jesus could only be the One King obedient to the LORD God.

    But that was not what the crowds desired.

    It never was and never will be.

    To Be Continued…

  • (Go into all the world and) SHARE the Gospel – 2

    (Go into all the world and) SHARE the Gospel – 2

    The Great Commission

    Preach the gospel (KJV & others); proclaim the gospel (ESV & others); share the good news: kēryssō  euaggelion – publish good tidings to every creature.

    “You share everything else on social media, why not share the good news of Jesus Christ”

    Jesus, the Messiah of God died for our sins and is risen: therefore you may have eternal life in Him! Good News, a gospel we should long to share.

    Mark 16:14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

    What an amazing end to a Son of Man crucified on the cross! Jesus appears many times to many followers; He IS alive in body and spirit. Jesus tells not only the eleven to share the gospel, our Lord commands more followers who witnessed his resurrection and by His command those who will follow.

    20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

    More to Come

    You could say the the Gospel began in Genesis. It the the privilege and duty of Israel to share the truth of the One Lord with everyone. John’s gospel reveals to us that in spite of the fall of adam, the Word was present not only from before Abraham, as Jesus claims, but from before the beginning.

    John 1:1-5

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

    Jesus IS the Word and the Light. Even after a fallen Kingdom of David, Jesus claims the eternal Throne to which He anointed Kings and Prophets by the Authority of the LORD. And the Good News gets even better.

    The Resurrection of Christ

    1 Corinthians 15:1-6A

    Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

    For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time…

    20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

    Mystery and Victory

    Paul encourages believers with words oft’ repeated when mourning the death of a loved one.

    50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

    “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
    55 “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”
    56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

    58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

    How do we share the Gospel now?

    Since Moses, after Abraham, in the Kingdom of David and for centuries witness of the Lord seemed local. It still is, for our neighbors see Christ in our daily lives better than anyone. (Or at least, they should.)

    Israel and the nations were built on the foundations of family, grown in the love of communities. Yet empires fall by the dividing hand of evil and conquered in disobedience to the Lord. I will repay, says the Lord, the God of Israel.

    Sharing good news was easy and local, just tell your family and friends who are so much like you. Now that the world is connected, yet disjointed, our families are broken. Our values are lost in a world of competing idolatries and waring followers of false prophets. These listen and look for light and hope, which is distant yet connected through social media.