Some Things Bear Repeating

21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” – Mark 4:21-25 ESV

It’s easy to assume that because Jesus was the Son of God, every time He spoke, the words that came out of His mouth were totally new and unique. In other words, He never said the same thing twice. He never repeated Himself. But the Old Testament is filled with evidence that even God the Father had a habit of repeating Himself. Just look at how many times God warned His people about making and worshiping false gods.

“You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.” – Exodus 20:23 BSB

“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.” – Exodus 34:17 ESV

“Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.” – Leviticus 19:4 ESV

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” – Deuteronomy 5:8 NLT

God repeated Himself because His people kept disregarding His commands. So, He habitually reminded them of His expectation of faithfulness by repeating His prohibition against idolatry.

But what does this have to do with today’s passage? As the Son of God, Jesus also said the same thing many times on different occasions because His audience kept changing. But ultimately, His tendency to repeat Himself was for the benefit of His disciples. He wanted them to hear some messages again and again so they could fully grasp His intended meaning and the lesson He was trying to convey.

In these five verses, Jesus conveys a series of short lessons that appear elsewhere in the gospels, but in different venues and on separate occasions. But rather than view these as possible discrepancies or contradictions in the gospel accounts, it makes more sense to understand them as examples of Jesus’ use of repetition for emphasis and clarity.

For example, in his record of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Matthew has Jesus stating something very similar to what Mark records in verse 21.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.” – Matthew 5:14-15 ESV

In the same way, Luke includes another example of Jesus utilizing this imagery of the hidden light or lamp.

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” – Luke 11:33-36 ESV

Jesus used the same basic imagery, but here He tried to convey a different lesson. Now, consider verse 22.

“For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.” – Mark 4:22 ESV

Here, Jesus communicates another short, parable-like message that appears elsewhere in the gospels. Matthew records a similar statement that Jesus made.

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” – Matthew 10:26-27 ESV

Luke also reports another instance of Jesus using this very same language, but in a completely different context and, in this case, Jesus ties it to a warning concerning the Pharisees.

“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.” – Luke 12:1-3 ESV

This pattern continues throughout this passage. In verse 24, Jesus states, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you”(Mark 4:24 ESV).

Once again, Jesus used the same basic language in His Sermon on the Mount, but with a different point in mind.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” – Matthew 7:1-2 ESV

Luke has Jesus saying the same message but at another time and place.

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” – Luke 6:37-38 ESV

Finally, in verse 25, Mark reports that Jesus said, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Matthew has Jesus saying the same thing on two different occasions.

“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” – Matthew 13:11-12 ESV

Toward the end of his gospel, Matthew includes another instance of Jesus using the same language, but in His parable of the talents. In this case, Jesus put the words in the mouth of one of the characters in His story.

“So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” – Matthew 25:28-29 ESV

Luke includes a similar parable that Jesus told, which also contained the same basic language.

“And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’  And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’  ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” – Luke 19:24-26 ESV

So, what’s the point? It seems that Jesus understood and fully utilized the power of repetition as a teaching tool. He also emphasized the need to hear what He was saying.

“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear… ” – vs 23

“Pay attention to what you hear…” – vs 24

It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Don’t miss this!” He kept repeating these truths until His disciples began to grasp what He was trying to convey. These men were struggling to understand what was going on around them. They were becoming increasingly convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, but much of what He said made no sense to them. His actions and cryptic-sounding messages did not match their expectations of the Messiah.

By using the imagery of the lamp, Jesus let them know they were being enlightened by the “true light” (John 1:9) and the “light of the world” (John 8:12). They were being exposed to the truth of God as revealed in the life of His Son. That message, though still unclear to them at this point, was to be declared to all around them. The day was coming when they would be expected to carry the light of the gospel to the ends of the earth. It was not to be hidden or secreted away like a precious jewel, but to be revealed to all those living in the darkness of sin.

In an encounter Jesus had with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, He told this learned religious leader, “God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants” (John 3:19-21 ESV).

Jesus was that light, and He wanted His disciples to understand the illuminating nature of His ministry and mission. Light not only exposes darkness, but it also expels it. Darkness cannot remain where light exists. Paul understood the illuminating and sin-eradicating nature of “the light of life” (John 8:12).

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. – Ephesians 5:11-14 ESV

Jesus was preparing His disciples for the inevitable. He had come to do the will of His Father, and that included His death on the cross. But that reality remained hidden from the disciples at this point. Even when Jesus began to reveal the truth about His pending death and burial, they struggled to understand and accept it.

But Jesus would keep telling them the truth. Slowly but surely, He would make them aware of the true nature of His mission. In time, they would understand that the Light had come to expel the darkness by sacrificing His life for the sins of mankind. But God the Father would restore His Son to life, rekindling the Light of life and exalting Him to glory by restoring Him to His rightful place at His side.

In the Book of Revelation, the apostle John records a vision that revealed Jesus returning to earth as the Light of the world. In the vision Jesus gave him, John saw the future: Jesus will become the literal and eternal Light of the world, having dispelled all darkness and eliminated the last vestige of night.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. – Revelation 21:22-25 ESV

Some things bear repeating and, in this case, Jesus’ use of the light metaphor was more than appropriate. He had come into the world to expel the darkness of sin, but for that to happen, the Light of Life had to be snuffed out; the Son of God had to die. And when He did, Mark records, “At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock” (Mark 15:33 NLT). Then, a few moments later, as the land was plunged into darkness, “Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last” (Mark 15:37 NLT). The Light of Life died. But with His death, “the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38 NLT); the barrier between sinful men and a holy God was removed. Jesus, the Light of the World, sacrificed His life so that sinful humanity could be restored to a right relationship with God. And just days later, the Light would be restored and walk out of the grave as proof that He had accomplished His Father’s will and that His sacrifice had been acceptable. And today, the Light still shines in the darkness; a message that bears repeating and should cause rejoicing.

Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Jesus, the Light of the world;
join the triumph of the skies,
Jesus, the Light of the world. 

Christ, by highest heav'n adored,
Jesus, the Light of the world;
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Jesus, the Light of the world. [Refrain]

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of peace!
Jesus, the Light of the world.
hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Jesus, the Light of the world.

We’ll walk in the light, beautiful light;
come where the dewdrops of mercy are bright,
shine all around us by day and by night,
Jesus, the Light of the world. – Charles Wesley

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Family of Faith

31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” – Mark 3:31-35 ESV

An examination of the gospel accounts in Matthew and Luke reveals that Mark took some liberties with the timeline of this event. Both of the other two gospel writers indicate that Jesus had other things to say after His response to the accusation that He was demon-possessed. According to Matthew, Jesus had some very direct and condemning words for the scribes who had been so quick to dismiss His miracles as the work of Satan. Jesus used the metaphor of a tree. If a tree is good, it will produce good fruit. If it is bad, it will produce bad fruit. So, you can know the state of the tree by examining its fruit. Then, Jesus drove home His point.

“You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” – Matthew 12:34-37 NLT

 Matthew adds that these very same scribes, accompanied by some Pharisees, would later approach Jesus and demand, “Show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority” (Matthew 12:38 NLT). These are the same men who accused Jesus of being demon-possessed. They had flatly stated, “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons” (Mark 3:22 ESV). Now, they demand that He perform a sign to validate His authority. But Jesus called them out, exposing the true nature of their hearts.

“Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign…” – Matthew 12:39 NLT

Nothing Jesus could do would convince these men of His God-given authority. He even alludes to His pending death and resurrection by recounting the familiar story of Jonah.  

“…as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.” – Matthew 12:40 NLT

Even His death, burial, and resurrection would not convince these men. They would never accept His claim to be the Son of God.

“…you refuse to repent.” – Matthew 12:41 NLT

“…you refuse to listen.” – Matthew 12:42 NLT

And Matthew records that Jesus wrapped up His condemnation of the religious leaders by comparing them to someone who had been freed of a demon. With the coming of Jesus, they had been exposed to the truth and offered freedom from their captivity to sin and death. But even after hearing the truth, they refused to accept it. So, Jesus indicates that their rejection of Him will have dire consequences. Their “demon” will return, bringing his companions with him, and leaving them in a worse state than before.

“…the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.” – Matthew 12:45 NLT

In his gospel account, Luke includes a series of parables that Jesus told the crowds. One was the parable of the soils, in which He explained, “The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity” (Luke 8:14 NLT). And Luke adds another insightful message from Jesus.

“So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.” – Luke 8:18 NLT

So, what does all this have to do with today’s passage? Everything, because it provides context. The way Mark describes the arrival of Jesus’ family could leave the impression that they just showed up right after His confrontation with the scribes. But as we have seen, Jesus had delivered a few other salient messages before their arrival. What He had to say is crucial to understanding His response to the news that His mother and brothers wanted to see Him.

John reveals that Jesus’ own family members struggled to accept that He was the Son of God. John flatly states, “…not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:5 ESV). According to Mark, their disbelief led them to conclude that Jesus had lost His mind (Mark 3:21).

None of the gospel writers tell us why Mary and her other sons showed up. According to Matthew, Jesus was given the message: “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak to you” (Matthew 12:47 NLT). Mark indicates that they stood outside the place where Jesus was teaching and “called him.”

Had Jesus’ brothers convinced Mary that her oldest son was crazy? Had they come to take Jesus away? Even though Mary had been given divine insight into her Son’s identity and mission, she likely struggled with His strange behavior. His actions would not have validated the message the angel Gabriel had given her more than 30 years earlier.

“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” – Luke 1:31-33 NLT

Since leaving their home in Nazareth, Jesus had traveled throughout Judea and Galilee, preaching, teaching, and performing miracles. Mary had kept up with His whereabouts and heard the rumors about Him healing and casting out demons. But she had also heard about the episode in Jerusalem when He had thrown out the money changers and overturned the merchants’ tables in the temple. She knew the religious leaders had made Him a target. And it is likely that she had heard all the rumors about her Son, including that He was demon-possessed. So she showed up with her other sons to talk to Jesus. As a loving and concerned mother, she wanted to see how He was doing. But when He heard that His mother and brothers were outside, Jesus responded, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” (Mark 3:33 ESV).

At first blush, this statement seems surprisingly harsh and uncaring, but we must consider the context. Jesus had been speaking about hearing and believing, and emphasized the tendency for some to reject His ministry and message. Luke records that Jesus quoted from the prophet Isaiah.

“When they look, they won’t really see.
    When they hear, they won’t understand.” – Luke 8:10 NLT

John reports that Jesus “came to his own people, and even they rejected him” (John 1:11 NLT).

Jesus had been teaching, preaching, and healing. He called the people of Israel to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4;17 ESV). Yet some still refused to believe, including His own brothers. So when Jesus asked, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” He pointed to a relationship far more critical than mother to son or brother to brother. Being born into the same family as Jesus had not helped His brothers believe. Having a sibling relationship with Jesus was not enough to secure a faith relationship with Him. Even Mary and her sons had to believe who Jesus claimed to be.

This brings to mind a statement John the Baptist made to the Pharisees and Sadducees who had come to the Judean wilderness to watch him baptize. When John saw them, he called them a “brood of snakes” (Matthew 3:7 NLT). Then he exposed the fallacy behind their assumption that, because they were blood descendants of Abraham, they were guaranteed a right relationship with God.

“Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.” – Matthew 3:9-10 NLT

Notice his emphasis on the bad tree that produces bad fruit. He tells these men that being a blood-born relative of Abraham does not guarantee acceptance by God. John demanded that they repent and turn to God.

That was the very same message Jesus preached, and it applied to all, including His own family. They too would have to hear, receive, and believe. And Jesus turned and motioned to His disciples, saying, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:34-35 NLT).

According to John’s gospel, Jesus gave the only “work,” or requirement, God has placed on mankind.

“This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” – John 6:29 NLT

Everyone, regardless of their social status, religious affiliation, economic standing, or educational achievements, was required to believe in Him as the one sent from God. Being born a half-brother of Jesus did not provide you with immunity or absolve you from having to believe in His identity as the Son of God. The disciples were struggling, but continued to express their belief in Jesus. Mary and her sons were likely wrestling with the disconnect between Jesus’ behavior and their expectations. He wasn’t acting like a king and, if He was the long-awaited Messiah, His behavior wasn’t what they expected. The religious leaders flatly denied that Jesus was who He claimed to be.

But Jesus made it clear. To have a relationship with Him, everyone had to believe that He was the Son of God and the Savior of the world. As Jesus told Martha at the graveside of her brother Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 ESV).

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Great Physician

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:13-17 ESV

Jesus had just displayed His power and authority over the physical realm by healing the paralyzed man. But more importantly, His astonishing ability to restore the man’s health demonstrated His God-given authority to forgive sin. As the Son of God, Jesus came to earth to set men free from slavery to sin and the death sentence that accompanied it. The formerly paralyzed man, while now physically whole and forgiven, would still commit sins and face the ultimate penalty for doing so: physical death and eternal separation from God.

But Jesus became a man so He could serve as the substitutionary atonement, the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of mankind. His death on behalf of sinful humanity would satisfy the just and righteous wrath of God, and provide all those who placed their faith in His atoning work with a way to be restored to a right relationship with His Father. As a result of Jesus’ selfless sacrifice, they would enjoy forgiveness of all their sins, past, present, and future. The author of Hebrews describes it this way:

…he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. – Hebrews 9:26 ESV

The psalmist gives a powerful reminder of the Son of God's sin-forgiving power.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
 – Psalm 103:12 BSB

Mark transitions his narrative from the crowded confines of Simon and Andrew’s home to the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. But he maintains his emphasis on Jesus’ power and authority to forgive sin, and continues to reveal the growing divide between Jesus and the religious authorities.

While walking along the seashore, Jesus taught the crowds that continued to follow Him wherever He went. As they made their way along the roadway from Capernaum to Damascus and onto the shore of the Sea of Galilee, they came across the tax booth of a man named Levi. This was not some chance encounter but a divinely scheduled appointment. When Levi woke up that morning, he had no idea that his day would include a one-on-one meeting with the Messiah of Israel. Matthew’s account of the same scene reveals that he was the man whom Jesus called.

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. – Matthew 9:9 ESV

Luke describes Levi (Matthew) as a “tax collector” (Luke 5:27), whose chosen profession made him highly unpopular with his fellow Jews. As an employee of Herod Antipas, the Roman-appointed puppet king of Israel, Levi’s job was to collect all taxes related to trade and customs. Because Capernaum sat on a major trade route from Damascus, Levi would have collected export and import fees, sales and customs taxes, and tolls. But what made men like Levi particularly unpopular was their tendency to extort additional fees and surcharges from the fellow Jews. People saw tax collectors as social pariahs who worked for the enemy and took advantage of their own people to line their pockets.

So, when Jesus issued Levi an invitation to follow Him, the Jews would have been shocked and appalled. In their minds, Levi was a traitor to his people and the epitome of a godless sinner. To make matters worse, Mark reveals that Jesus chose to share a meal with this social outcast. Luke records that Levi threw a party in Jesus’ honor and invited many guests.

Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. – Luke 5:29 ESV

Mark clarifies that the “others” reclining at the table were sinners.

…many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. – Mark 2:15 ESV

It seems Levi invited his friends, who, like him, were considered the dregs of the community. Yet, Jesus accepted Levi’s invitation to dine at his house and willingly chose to associate with those whom the Jews considered as unclean and unacceptable. And Jesus’ actions did not go unnoticed.

But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” – Mark 2:16 NLT

They were shocked and disgusted by this shameless display of poor judgment on Jesus’ part; He should have known better. By entering Levi’s home and sharing a meal with this motley collection of sinners, Jesus and His disciples contaminated themselves and became ceremonially unclean. 

A clear us-versus-them vibe is at play. The Pharisees viewed themselves as righteous because of their meticulous adherence to both the written and oral laws of the Jews. They were the law-keepers and the law-enforcers, and, as far as they were concerned, Jesus had chosen to associate with the scum of the earth. By entering Levi’s home, Jesus had done the unthinkable and unforgivable.

The Pharisees had no compassion for people like Levi and no desire to reach out to those whom they considered sinners. They felt no responsibility for the spiritual well-being of the less fortunate, whom they considered unworthy of mercy. In the minds of the Pharisees, the sin-prone common people held back the nation of Israel and kept it from enjoying the full favor of God. To the self-righteous Pharisees, it was the sorry likes of Levi and his friends that kept Israel from being all that it could be. These “sinners” were a blight on the nation. Yet Jesus revealed His love for the undeserving and irredeemable.

Jesus was fully aware of the disgust and distaste His actions had caused, and He chose to address the issue head-on.

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:17 ESV

With this simple statement, Jesus exposed the glaring difference between Himself and His accusers. They considered themselves spiritually healthy and whole and had no need of a Savior. But what they failed to understand was that their good deeds were of no value to God. As the prophet Isaiah wrote hundreds of years earlier: “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT).

Jesus was not impressed by the Pharisees and their outward displays of righteousness. He would later call them out for their hypocrisy and lack of compassion.

“…they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.” – Matthew 23:3-4 NLT

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.” – Matthew 23:13 NLT

These men considered themselves to be the cream of the crop, the religious elite of Israel whose unblemished behavior guaranteed them a place in God’s kingdom. But Jesus let them know that their self-confidence was misplaced and mistaken. He had come to minister to the sick, those who recognized their spiritual malady and sought help. Like the paralyzed man, the tax collectors and sinners gathered in Levi’s home needed assistance. They knew they were sinners and were fully aware that they lacked what was necessary to “heal” themselves.

The apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV). The sinners reclining around the table with Jesus were just the kind of people Jesus came to save. They were sinners who needed a Savior, and if they would only confess their sin, they would know the joy of having their sins forgiven and their spiritual illness healed.

But the Pharisees, riddled with pride and a misplaced sense of self-righteousness, could not see their need and were unwilling to confess their sins. But their self-confidence would ultimately result in their own self-destruction. Their stubborn insistence that they were spiritually whole would be their downfall. The apostle Paul describes the dangerous path they had chosen and its deadly destination.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. – Romans 1:21-22 NLT

They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. – Romans 1:30-32 NLT

Paul also seemed to have men like the Pharisees in mind when he warned Timothy to avoid those who “act religious” but whose lives are marked by lovelessness, cruelty, slander, pride, and a love of pleasure.

For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! – 2 Timothy 3:2-5 NLT

While the Pharisees were well-respected, even revered, by the common people, Jesus was unrelenting in His criticism of them. At one point, He accused them of using their religious authority to do harm, rather than good.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!” – Matthew 23:15 NLT

Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). His mission was to reach those in need of spiritual healing, and He was willing to risk “contamination” to see the sick made whole. When Jesus encountered the leper in need of healing, “he stretched out his hand and touched him…and immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean” (Mark 1:41-42 ESV). The Pharisees would have avoided this man like the plague. They would have banned him from entering the temple or synagogue. But in their arrogant display of self-righteousness, they were the unclean ones, passing their impurity on to everyone around them. This led Jesus to say of them, “You are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on” (Luke 11:44 NLT).

They were sick and in need of healing, but their pride blinded them to their true spiritual condition and Jesus’ role as the Great Physician. He came to offer hope and healing to the spiritually sick, so He took his message of restoration and reconciliation to those desperate enough to hear and receive it. Levi knew he was an outcast and a sinner, condemned and unclean. But he followed the doctor’s orders that day and received healing and forgiveness. And his admission of need led to a lifetime of service to the Son of God and the hope of eternal life.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Holy One of God

21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

29 And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. – Mark 1:21-34 ESV

In his gospel account, Luke reports that after Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, He “returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone” (Luke 4:14-15 ESV). And Mark provides a glimpse into one such occasion.

After calling Andrew, Simon, James, and John to be His disciples, Jesus and His new recruits made their way to the town of Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. On the Sabbath, Jesus and His disciples visited the local synagogue. The synagogue was the building in each community where the Jews gathered for worship, prayer, and instruction. The Hebrew word is beit k’nesset (literally, “House of Assembly”). Jews typically referred to this building as a synagogue, the Greek translation of beit k’nesset.

The synagogue emerged during Israel’s Babylonian captivity. After the Babylonians defeated Judah in 597 B.C., they took tens of thousands of Israelites captive and transported them to Babylon. With no access to the temple, the Jews were forced to come up with an alternative place of worship. Even after the Jews returned to Judah and rebuilt the temple the Babylonians had destroyed, they continued to build synagogues in their local communities.

The synagogue was a place of prayer and instruction. When the Jews gathered on the Sabbath, they read from the Torah, the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). After the Torah reading, there was a time of teaching or instruction.

Mark indicates that Jesus was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Because Jesus was recognized as a Rabbi, it would have been normal for the synagogue leadership to extend Him this honor. Mark emphasizes the people’s reaction to what Jesus taught, but provides no details concerning the content of His message. He simply states, “they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22 ESV). The Greek word Mark uses conveys that they were “blown away” by the force of Jesus’ words. But they were amazed, not so much by what Jesus said as by how He said it. Jesus spoke with authority. Mark chose the Greek word exousia to describe the “power, right, and authority” behind Jesus’ words. Those in the synagogue that day had never heard anything like it before. It was as if Jesus spoke like He knew what He was talking about.

Mark deliberately contrasts Jesus' instruction with that of the scribes. These men were considered experts in the Law of Moses. Their job was to study the Law, transcribe it, and write commentaries on it. But Mark infers that these well-educated men lacked the authority and power that Jesus possessed. This is the first of many contrasts Mark establishes between Jesus and Israel's religious leaders.

As if to show that Jesus didn’t just have a way with words, Mark describes an encounter between Jesus and a man with an “unclean spirit.” Mark indicates that when Jesus had finished speaking, this demon-possessed man interrupted the service, crying out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24 ESV).

Evidently, this man had been in the room the entire time. But Jesus’ authoritative teaching caused the demon(s) within the man to react in fear and anger. They had literally been struck by the power of Jesus’ words. The demon’s use of the plural pronoun “us” may indicate that the man had more than one demon or that other demons were present in the synagogue that day. Either way, the demon immediately recognized Jesus, calling Him “the Holy One of God.” This demonic being clearly knew who Jesus was and why He had come. He even asked if Jesus planned to destroy him and his fellow demons.

Through this description of the encounter, Mark establishes another point of conflict that will characterize Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus will not only find Himself at odds with the Jewish religious leaders, but also engage in a battle with what Paul describes as “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

But these spiritual forces were not relegated to the invisible world; they had infiltrated the realm of men and were wreaking havoc among God’s chosen people. This will not be the last of Jesus’ encounters with demons. However, these otherworldly invaders would prove no match for the Holy One of God.

Jesus refused to answer or even acknowledge the demon’s question, choosing instead to silence it by casting it out. The Greek word translated as “rebuke” can actually mean “to censure or silence.” Rather than verbally castigate the demon, Jesus simply removed his ability to speak by forcing him to vacate the man’s body. Jesus spoke with authority, commanding the demon, “Be silent, and come out of him!” (Mark 1:25 ESV), and the demon immediately obeyed.

And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. – Mark 1;26 ESV

With no host to occupy, the demon lost its means of communication. This strange and disturbing scene left those who witnessed it even more astonished. But they quickly connected what they saw to Jesus' authority.

“What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!” – Mark 1:27 NLT

Jesus’ words carried power. He could not be accused of being “all talk, no action.” The scribes could probably give a lecture about the Scriptural existence of demons, but Jesus could control them because He had power over them. His words had authority, and this distinction did not go unnoticed. Mark indicates that “the news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee” (Mark 1:28 NLT). Soon, news of what Jesus had done reached the religious leaders in Jerusalem. As Jesus’ fame spread, so did His infamy. Before long, Jesus found Himself fighting on multiple fronts.

But Jesus was not done demonstrating His power. After exorcising the demon in the synagogue, Jesus made His way to the home of Andrew and Simon. Mark indicates that Simon’s mother-in-law was ill. Simon (Peter) likely told this story to Mark, which is why it appears in his gospel account. When Jesus learned of the woman’s illness, He visited her home, took her by the hand, and she was immediately healed. At a touch from Jesus, she went from suffering to serving.

The order of these events is vital. In the synagogue scene, the emphasis was on Jesus’ words; He spoke with authority. But on this occasion, Jesus said nothing. He took the woman by the hand, and her body was made whole. Jesus demonstrated His power and authority, but without words.

This latest episode increased Jesus’ notoriety and further inflamed the people's curiosity. Mark reveals that by the end of the day, the crowds had gathered outside the home of Simon and Andrew. News spread, and soon “all who were sick or oppressed by demons” came to Jesus. Mark indicates that “the whole city was gathered together at the door” (Mark 1:33 ESV).

Jesus’ demonstrations of power and authority drew a crowd, but rather than lock the doors and seek refuge, He “healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons” (Mark 1:34 ESV). He continued to exercise His power and authority over disease and demons, proving that what the demon had said was true. He was truly the Holy One of God, and His authority and power were divine, not human. He could do what He did because of who He was; His identity gave Him His authority.

But while the people were impressed by what they saw, they were not yet convinced of His divinity. He clearly possessed authority and power and could perform supernatural miracles, but His identity remained a mystery. Who was this man? How could this unknown Rabbi from Nazareth do what He did? Curiosity and the hope of healing drove many to seek out this miracle-working Rabbi, but they remained ignorant of His identity. And Jesus chose to keep it that way. Mark records. “Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak” (Mark 1:34 NLT). The first demon that Jesus cast out had identified Him as “the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24 NLT). But Jesus was not yet ready for the crowds to know who He was. If they discovered He was the long-awaited Messiah, they would try to force Him to serve as their King. John records in his gospel how another group of Jews responded when they saw Jesus perform a miracle.

When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself. – John 6:14-15 NLT

So, at this stage in His earthly ministry, Jesus left the people guessing because His time had not yet come. He continued to speak and act with authority, performing miracles and teaching new truths to all who would listen. But for the time being, His divinity remained a mystery. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Baptism By Fire

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:9-15 ESV

Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark dedicates no part of his gospel to Jesus' birth. Instead, he opens with very brief descriptions of Jesus’ baptism and His testing by Satan in the wilderness. Even when covering these two significant events, Mark provides few details. He uses them as further proof of Jesus’ identity as the Messiah, but then moves quickly past them to focus on Jesus' ministry.

Almost in passing, Mark mentions that Jesus was from Nazareth. Since Mark does not cover the birth of Jesus, there is no mention of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. For the purpose of Mark’s gospel, the most important details concerning Jesus began with His adult life. He is not negating the importance of the incarnation but is simply focusing his gospel on the launch of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus had spent His life growing up in Nazareth, a nondescript village in Galilee. Even among the Jews, Nazareth mattered little and was held in low esteem. In fact, when Philip first met Jesus, he told his friend Nathanael, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45 ESV). Upon hearing the name of Jesus’ hometown, Nathanael sarcastically responded, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46 ESV). Yet from this unlikely and unimpressive locale came the Savior of the world.

Luke reveals that Jesus was 30 years old when He left Nazareth and arrived in the wilderness of Judea, where John was baptizing (Luke 3:23). Jesus chose to inaugurate His ministry by being baptized. Mark makes it clear that John’s baptism was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4 ESV), and was meant to be a public expression of an individual’s admission of sin and need for forgiveness. By submitting to baptism, they indicated their willingness to repent and be cleansed of their sins in preparation for the Messiah and His coming Kingdom. 

But why was Jesus baptized when Scripture makes it clear that He was sinless. The author of Hebrews states that Jesus “was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 BSB). Paul adds that “God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT).

The author of Hebrews provides insight into the motivation behind Jesus’ decision to be baptized by John.

…it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. – Hebrews 2:17 NLT

Not only did Jesus take on human flesh and become one of us, but He willingly underwent the same ritual of baptism in order to associate Himself with sinful humanity. Though He was sinless, He submitted to John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It is the same reason Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified. Despite His sinlessness, He willingly died a sinner’s death on the cross, serving as the sacrificial substitute for sinful humanity.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. – 1 Peter 2:24 BSB

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. – 1 Peter 3:18 ESV

Paul succinctly states that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3 NLT). Jesus became one of us in every way so He could give His life on our behalf. By being baptized by John, Jesus fulfilled the will of His Father. Matthew records that when Jesus arrived at the Jordan River and asked John to baptize him, John was reticent.

John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” – Matthew 3:14 NLT

But Jesus insisted, telling John, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires” (Matthew 3:15 NLT). Everything Jesus did obeyed His Father’s will. He would later claim, “I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will” (John 6:38 NLT). He compared His faithful adherence to His Father’s will to nourishment and sustenance.

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” – John 4:34 BSB

Another reason for His baptism was that it foreshadowed another kind of baptism He would undergo as part of God’s sovereign will. Later in his gospel, Mark records a difficult exchange between Jesus and two of His disciples. It happened immediately after Jesus told all His disciples what would take place in Jerusalem.

“The Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.” – Mark 10:34-35 NLT

At least two of His disciples failed to hear what Jesus said. His blunt admission about His pending treatment by the Jewish religious leaders went in one ear and out the other. Their minds were fixated on Jesus’ earlier statements about His coming Kingdom.

“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” – Mark 13:23 ESV

“Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” – Mark 13:24-25 ESV

“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” – Mark 13:29-30 ESV

 His disciples heard what they wanted to hear and interpreted Jesus’ comments as a guarantee of a place of prominence in His Kingdom. This led the two brothers, James and John, to ask Jesus for a favor.

“When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” – Mark 10:37 NLT

Their bold and self-centered request infuriated the other disciples, but Jesus soberly responded: “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” (Mark 10:38 NLT). 

Jesus was going to be “immersed” in an overwhelming form of suffering that no one else could have endured, and it was God's will for Him to do so. Jesus later described the unbearable nature of His future baptism by fire.

“I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished.” – Luke 12:50 NLT

Despite the terrible nature of His pending death, it was His Father’s will, so Jesus was determined to carry it out. It was also the Father’s will that the people of Israel come to John in the wilderness and submit to the “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John had clearly called them to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2 ESV), and they were expected to obey God’s will. So, by submitting to baptism, Jesus gave them an example of faithful obedience, even though He had no sins to repent of and no need for forgiveness. 

After Jesus fulfilled His Father’s by being baptized, Mark records that something incredible happened.

…when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” – Mark 1:10-11 ESV

A supernatural sign appeared from heaven, accompanied by God’s voice declaring His pleasure for His Son. This scene provided a divine seal of approval: God the Father validated Jesus’ identity as His Son and declared His complete satisfaction with all that was about to happen. The next three-and-a-half years of Jesus’ life would have God's full blessing and approval.

But this fantastic scene is followed by the rather strange statement: “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12 ESV). Mark is indicating that what follows in his narrative is also to be understood as God’s will for Jesus’ life. Jesus, the Son of God, was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness to fulfill the will of God. His destination was the wilderness where, for 40 days, He would undergo a series of temptations by Satan. Mark doesn’t mention it, but Jesus would go without food and water during this grueling ordeal. As a result, He would be weak and famished. His physical condition would have deteriorated. But as Jesus told His disciples, His nourishment came from doing the will of His Father.

The author of Hebrews declared, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15 NLT). His suffering allowed Him to fully understand and empathize with those whom He came to save.

Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. – Hebrews 2:18 NLT

Jesus survived His baptism by fire. He overcame the enemy's temptations and emerged from the wilderness 40 days later, completely sinless and fully obedient to His Father’s will. Untarnished by Satan’s attacks and affirmed of His Father’s pleasure, His real earthly ministry could begin.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Change Is Coming

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”

4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” – Mark 1:1-8 ESV

Although the author never refers to himself by name anywhere in his gospel account, early church fathers strongly agreed that John Mark provided this chronicle of the life and ministry of Jesus.

One of the earliest references to John Mark as the book’s author is found in The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus. Written in the 4th century, this landmark work provides a chronological history of early Christianity that spans centuries. In it, Eusebius records that John Mark, while not a disciple of Jesus, based his gospel on eyewitness accounts, including those of the Apostle Peter.

Additional records from the early church fathers also mention John Mark as the book’s author. These include the mid-1st-Century to early-2nd-Century writings of Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen. One of the earliest prologues to the Gospel of Mark, written between 160-180 A.D., describes John Mark as the author and states that he wrote his gospel account while in Italy. In his classic work, Against Heresies, Irenaeus adds that John Mark completed his work sometime after Peter's death.

John Mark is mentioned repeatedly in the book of Acts, where his relationship with the apostle Paul is described in great detail. John Mark was a disciple of Paul and accompanied him and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. Years later, he proved a great help and comfort to Paul during his imprisonment in Rome as he awaited trial before Emperor Nero. Because of his close relationship with Paul, John Mark had access to the original disciples and other eyewitnesses to Jesus’ earthly ministry.

The book of Acts records one of the first encounters between Peter and John Mark. Herod, the king the Romans had placed on the throne of Israel, was under intense pressure from the Jewish religious leaders. Ever since the crucifixion of Jesus, news of His resurrection had spread, and His disciples found that receptivity to their gospel message was increasing. So, to appease the Sanhedrin, Herod began to round up Jesus' disciples. He had already killed James the brother of John and had Peter thrown in prison. But God miraculously rescued Peter from his imprisonment and, upon his release, Peter “went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying” (Acts 12:12 ESV).

Luke, the author of Acts, also records that John Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, but left them when they arrived in Pamphylia. He returned to Jerusalem and later traveled to Cyprus with his cousin, Barnabas. So, John Mark was very involved in those early days of the church as the apostles took the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. He traveled with and sat under the teaching of luminaries of the faith such as Paul, Peter, and Barnabas.

Scholars still debate the dating of Mark’s gospel. If it was written after the deaths of Paul and Peter, that would place its publication somewhere between 67 and 68 A.D. Since the book makes no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70, it seems likely that it was written before that date.

From the content of the gospel, it appears that Mark had a Gentile audience in mind. If he wrote it from Italy, as many early church fathers believed, the Gentile-oriented focus of his gospel makes more sense. He takes great pains to explain certain Jewish customs and rituals that would have been unfamiliar and strange to Gentile readers. He incorporates Latin words and phrases that appear aimed at a Roman audience, but his emphasis was on Gentile believers living under persecution in a predominantly Roman world. The early church found itself facing attack from the Jews as well as the pagan world. Mark would have experienced firsthand the persecution that Paul encountered from the dispersed Jewish community and the pagan cultures of the cities they visited on their first missionary journey.

Yet, despite Mark’s emphasis on a predominantly Gentile audience and his effort to communicate in language and terms they would recognize, he opens his gospel with a quote from the Hebrew scriptures.

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight.’” – Mark 1:2-3 ESV

This is actually a combination of three separate passages: Exodus 23:20, Malachi 3:1, and Isaiah 40:3. He blends the words of three Old Testament prophets: Moses, Malachi, and Isaiah, but attributes the quote to the latter. For Mark, a proper understanding of Jesus’ life and ministry began with the words of the ancient prophets. Each of these three prophetic passages spoke of Israel's coming Messiah. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these men predicted the coming of the Anointed One of God, but they also foretold the one who would “prepare the way” for His coming. Before the Messiah appeared, a messenger would precede Him and warn the people of His imminent arrival.

Like the other gospel writers, Mark wanted to establish from the outset Jesus' identity as the Son of God. He was Jesus the Christ, or Messiah (the word “Christ” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word “Messiah”). Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. He was Jesus, a man who was born in the city of Bethlehem, but He was also the Christ, the Son of God. This means He was fully divine.

According to Mark, God had sent a messenger to prepare the way for the Messiah. He uses the Greek word, angelos, to describe this messenger, which can be translated as “angel.” But this “angel” was not a heavenly being; he was a man named John who appeared in the wilderness of Judea, preaching a baptism of repentance. Mark states that “all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5 ESV). John had become quite a sensation and earned the nickname “John the Baptizer.” He called people to be baptized, but it was a baptism characterized by repentance. The word “repentance” is metanoia in Greek, and it means “to change the mind.” He was calling the Jews to change their minds concerning a wide range of issues, including their concept of what it means to be righteous, their expectations concerning the Messiah, their understanding of their relationship with God, and their need for forgiveness.

We know the basic content of John’s message from Matthew's gospel.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 3:2 ESV

And when He arrived, Jesus picked up this same message.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:15 ESV

The basic gist of their message was that the long-awaited Messiah had finally appeared and was bringing His Kingdom with Him. Mark indicates that John’s message of the arrival of God’s Kingdom was met with an enthusiastic response.

All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. – Mark 1:5 NLT

For the Jews, the coming of the Kingdom of God would be accompanied by the Messiah's arrival. For them, the coming Messiah would be a king, just like the great warrior-king, David. He would be a deliverer and a military leader who would restore Israel’s fortunes. For centuries, the people of Israel had suffered under a litany of foreign powers who had subjugated and persecuted them. The Romans were the most recent manifestation of Gentile domination over the people of God. The land of Judah was occupied by Roman soldiers who enforced the laws of the empire, protected the interests of the emperor, and ensured that the Jews remained docile and compliant.

So, the people of Israel longed for the Messiah’s arrival because they believed He would restore them to power and prominence, just as David had done. It had been centuries since the nation of Judah fell to the Babylonians. And while a remnant of the people taken captive to Babylon had returned to the land and rebuilt the city of Jerusalem and the temple of God, the only king they knew was their current one: Herod, the puppet king Rome had placed on the throne. Herod was actually an Edomite, a descendant of Esau, and while the Roman Senate had declared him to be “King of the Jews,” the Jews never accepted his reign. They considered him to be a usurper to the throne who tried to gain their favor through a series of ambitious building projects, including the expansion and improvement of the temple.

But as a Roman pawn, and because of his love of power, Herod put his own needs ahead of the nation. So, when John the Baptist appeared on the scene preaching the need for repentance because the kingdom of God was near, the people immediately assumed something great was about to happen. Their hopes were raised that Messiah was near and their days of oppression and subjugation would soon be over.

This wild-eyed, strangely dressed preacher made an impression on his audience.

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. – Mark 1:6 ESV

His bizarre attire gave him the demeanor of an Old Testament prophet, and his message of repentance echoed those of his predecessors. But when he spoke of the One to come, he added a new twist to the description of the Messiah.

“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” – Mark 1:7-8 ESV

John’s sudden appearance had caught the people’s attention because it had been over 400 years since they had heard from God. For four centuries, no prophets had spoken on behalf of God. He had gone silent. But now, with John's arrival, it was as if God was speaking again. However, John wanted his audience to know something even more amazing was about to take place. His arrival would pale in comparison to the coming of the Messiah. He would be greater, more glorious, and have a ministry that was far more significant than anything John had done.

John could offer a physical baptism that illustrated cleansing from sin, but the Messiah would offer a different form of baptism that would actually remove all sin in preparation for the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God.

“I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!” – Mark 1:8 NLT

In their gospel accounts, both Matthew and John add “and fire.”

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” – Matthew 3:11 ESV

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” – Luke 3:16 ESV

John wanted his audience to know that his baptism was temporary and could not remove the presence or penalty of sin from their lives. However, the King was coming, and He would offer a far more permanent, life-altering baptism that would purge and purify them for entrance into His Kingdom. 

“The Baptist evidently meant that the great coming One would not merely cleanse with water but would bring to bear, like a deluge, the purging, purifying, judging presence of God himself.” – Moule, C. F. D. The Gospel According to Mark. The Cambridge Bible Commentary series

The Messiah had come, the Kingdom was near, and the time for repentance had arrived. The Son of God had come to earth and was about to begin His mission to rescue and reconcile humanity to His Heavenly Father. But His Kingdom would not be what the people of Israel expected. His reign would not be marked by military might, majestic splendor, or a resounding victory over the Romans. No, He came to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15 ESV). 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Redemptive Revolution

5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. – Ephesians 6:5-9 ESV

As Paul continues to discuss the application of what it means to walk as children of light, in love and in submission to one another, he brings up a relationship that is particularly difficult for contemporary believers to understand. He has already addressed the relationships between husbands and wives and between children and their parents. Now he takes on the relationship between slaves and their masters.

There are those who have labeled Paul as a proponent of the institution of slavery because he does not speak out against it. But Paul, like Christ, was not out to revolutionize civil institutions or bring about social upheaval. He was interested in redeeming the lives of those who comprised the existing society. So, while it is true that Paul does not speak out against or condemn the socially accepted practice of slavery in his day, this does not mean he was a supporter of it. In fact, in the letter he wrote to Philemon, Paul appeals to his brother in Christ regarding one of his slaves, a man called Onesimus. Evidently, Onesimus had run away from Philemon, somehow met Paul, and became a believer. This runaway slave ended up ministering to Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome. Paul had encouraged Onesimus to do the right thing and return to his master, Philemon. Slavery was legal in Paul’s day, and Onesimus was obligated to return to Philemon or face severe punishment.

But Paul wrote his letter to Philemon to explain the change that had taken place in Onesimus's life and to ask Philemon to view his former slave as a brother in Christ.

For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. – Philemon 1:15-16 NLT

This is exactly the kind of context Paul has been addressing in his letter to the Ephesians. Slavery was a socially accepted and legally sanctioned part of the culture of the day. Yet Paul was calling slaves and masters who came to faith in Christ to radically change their perspective regarding this institution. It has been estimated that in the 1st century AD, roughly 10 to 20 percent of the entire Roman Empire's population were slaves. In Rome, the estimate jumps to as high as 33 percent. Anyone could become a slave. It was common for prisoners of war to be sold as slaves, yet Roman citizens could also become enslaved if they were unable to pay back a debt. 

It was into this complex cultural milieu that the gospel began to spread. As a result, slaves, who were viewed as property and considered sub-human in many ways, were coming to faith in Christ. Not only that, they were becoming members of local congregations. It was not uncommon for a 1st-century church to include slaves and their masters among its members, and within the church there was a unity and equality unheard of elsewhere in the culture of that day. Which is why Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia: “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28 NLT).

In the context of the body of Christ, everyone was considered equal and to be treated with dignity and honor. But while coming to faith in Christ freed someone like Onesimus from sin, it did not free him from slavery. In fact, Paul wrote to the Corinthians and told them, “Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you. Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it. And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ” (1 Corinthians 7:20-22 NLT).

Paul was primarily concerned with seeing a change in believers' behavior, not in their social status. He was focused on their walk, the daily living out of their faith within the context of their existing social relationships. He wrote to the church in Ephesus, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ” (Ephesians 6:5 NLT). Once again, Paul insists that their motivation be Christ-centered, as if they were serving Christ. Jesus had become a slave, a servant on their behalf, even dying in their place so that they might be freed from slavery to sin. Now, Paul was calling them to serve their earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Rather than forced subservience, Paul was calling them to willing submission. He even gives them very specific instructions on how their faith should manifest in their relationship with their masters.

Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. – Ephesians 6:6-7 NLT

Notice that Paul encourages them to do God's will with all their heart. What would God's will be in their particular situation? To walk as children of light. To walk in love. To walk in a manner worthy of their calling. Yes, even within their context as slaves because, in reality, they were slaves of Christ. Their earthly situation was temporary. So they could work with enthusiasm, performing their earthly responsibilities as if they were doing it for the Lord, knowing that “the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free” (Ephesians 6:8 NLT).

But Paul is not done. He also addresses those individuals in the Ephesian church who were masters. He tells them, “Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites” (Ephesians 6:9 NLT). Paul does not castigate them for their role as masters or demand the immediate emancipation of their slaves; he calls them to apply their newfound faith to their cultural context. Their faith in Christ was to have a relationship-altering impact on their lives. Masters were to view their slaves as brothers, not property. And, in their role as masters, they were to do everything as unto the Lord. This was a game-changing, life-altering moment for these individuals. Can you imagine what kinds of renewal of the mind and shifts in their paradigm were taking place as they wrestled with the newfound faith in Christ and the reality of the social construct in which they found themselves? This particular relationship between slaves and masters would put the daily application of faith in Christ to the test like no other. 

Jesus did not come to revolutionize the structures of society; He came to transform the lives of the people who make up that society. He did not come to radically alter institutions, but to redeem individuals. Political change and legal sanctions do nothing to remedy the condition of the heart. Overthrowing a society's evil social structures through rebellion or civil disobedience may bring about external change, but it will never fix the problem of sin. Believers, living as children of light in the midst of darkness, loving unconditionally, submitting to one another willingly, and obeying Christ joyfully, are the true change-agents in the world.

Father, we like to fix things. We are wired to right all wrongs and set the record straight on all injustices and inquities. But we live in a fallen world where man’s inhumanity to man is on constant display and unrighteousness seems to be the factory default setting. When Your Son entered the world, He did so at the zenith of Rome’s power. Yet He didn’t rail against the injustices of Roman rule or demand the overthrow of the emperor. He didn’t lead an insurrection or call for a grassroots uprising against the status quo. No, Your Son preached repentance and the need for salvation from sin. He called for heart change, not regime change. And Paul continued to preach Jesus’ message of freedom from slavery to sin and death because he knew that was the key to impacting society. Only changed hearts and lives will produce lasting change in a society. The gospel alone can turn masters into brothers, slaves into servants of Christ, oppressors into encouragers, and persecutors into proponents of the gospel. Jesus’ disciples had hoped He was the Messiah who had come to overthrow the Roman government, but He had come to conquer sin and death. Help me to understand that changing the culture is an inside job that begins within the hearts of people. The gospel is the key to changing the culture, one individual at a time. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

No One Saw That Coming

1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.. – Ephesians 3:1-6 ESV

Something once hidden, but now revealed; that is what Paul means when he speaks of the mystery of Christ. In the Old Testament, the Jews knew of and longed for the coming Messiah, but they believed He would be the Savior of Israel alone. He was to be their king and redeemer, much like King David had been, leading them to great victories over their enemies and back into prominence as a nation.

Any relationship between their Messiah and the Gentile nations would come in the form of military victories over them and nothing more. The thought of the Messiah coming as the Savior of all mankind never crossed their minds. The only way a Gentile could partake of the blessings of Israel was through conversion to Judaism, including circumcision and the rigorous keeping of the Mosaic Law.

The book of Exodus records the instructions that God gave the people of Israel regarding the “strangers” or non-Jews who had left Egypt with them.

“If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” – Exodus 12:48-49 ESV

While Gentiles could and did convert to Judaism in the Old Testament, such conversions were relatively rare. The requirements for conversion were rigorous and kept many Gentiles from becoming fully functioning members of the household of Israel.

That’s where the mystery comes in. Paul was commissioned by Jesus Himself to reveal to the Gentiles that they now had access to God. They could worship Yahweh, the God of the Jews, but it would not require conversion or circumcision. Any requirement to keep the Mosaic law had been eliminated. Paul, a former Pharisee and zealous defender of the law, had strong feelings about its inability to produce the righteousness God demands.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. 22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. – Galatians 3:21-22 NLT

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul was not preaching or promoting conversion to Judaism, but entrance into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He was sharing the good news of salvation made available to both Jews and Gentiles because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In his letter to the Romans, Paul described the gospel as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV).

With the coming of Christ, access to God was made available to all men through one means: Faith. It is not that faith was a new concept, nor that, prior to Christ, men had to gain access to God through works or by keeping the law. The author of Hebrews makes this clear in Chapter 11. There, he describes the Old Testament saints who “by faith” believed God's promises and were declared righteous.

For by it [faith] the people of old received their commendation. – Hebrews 11:2 ESV

He goes on to state that “without faith it is impossible to please him [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Ephesians 11:6 ESV). Faith has always been God’s means by which men draw near to Him, and He sent His Son to make the life of faith available to Jews and Gentiles alike.

Paul writes, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6 ESV). From the day of Pentecost forward, the church became the home of God’s people; those who had placed their faith in His Son. The church of God became His holy temple, containing people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT

As Paul expressed this same idea to the believers in Ephesus.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. – Ephesians 2:19-22 NLT.

The church of Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of God and contains those who worship Him as a result of the access provided to them by the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. It is their common faith in Christ’s atoning death on their behalf that provides them with the righteousness they need to come into God’s presence. No one earns their way into God’s throne room. No one merits God’s favor or escapes His judgment due to their own efforts. Paul has supported that promise throughout his letter to the Ephesians.

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. – Ephesians 2:18 NLT

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence. – Ephesians 3:12 NLT

None of this implies that God is done with the Jews or that the church has somehow replaced the people of Israel as God’s chosen people. We live in the church age, and this is part of God’s plan for this period of redemptive history. But the day is coming when God will fulfill all His promises to Israel. He is faithful and has not forgotten them. He will keep every promise He has made to them. But at the current time, we are experiencing the mystery of the church age, when Jews and Gentiles live together as the body of Christ, sharing a common faith in our crucified and resurrected Savior. We are all the beneficiaries of God’s amazing grace and mercy. He has made a way for us to be restored to a right relationship with Him, based solely on His grace as revealed in His Son and made possible by faith.

Father, Paul referred to the church as “the household of faith” (Glatians 6:10 ESV). Regardless of our ethnicity, social standing, former religious affiliation, or record of sinfulness, we all share the common bond of faith in Christ. None of us earned our way into Your good graces. There is no one who deserved Your favor and forgiveness. Even Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrew people, was not declared righteous because he kept the law. Paul reminds us, “Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith’” (Romans 4:1-3 NLT). You declared him to be righteous long before You gave Moses the law at Mount Sinai. And his righteousness was based on faith, not works. That is the pathway for all who desire to be restored to a right relationship with You; faith alone in Christ alone. And Your marvelous, mysterious plan for mankind’s redemption was made available to all through the same pathway of faith. As Paul reminded the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Man On A Mission

22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. – Romans 15:22-33 ESV

Paul had just said, “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation” (Romans 15:20 ESV). Now he tells them that he hopes to see them, but only in passing as he makes his way to Spain.

Paul was a starter, not a builder. He saw himself as a planter, not a harvester. Yet his many letters, which comprise most of the New Testament canon, prove that he cared deeply about the ongoing maturity of the churches he helped to start. He longed to see believers grow but, more than anything else, he wanted to see the lost come to faith in Christ. So he was always looking for fertile fields in which to sow the seeds of the gospel.

Paul took the words of Jesus seriously.

“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” – Luke 10:2 NLT

Paul knew that there were those who would sow and those who would reap the harvest, and his job was to plant so that others might come along and water the new seeds of faith, allowing them to grow to full maturity. That is exactly what he told the Corinthian believers when he heard that they were dividing themselves between those who claimed to be his followers and those who claimed to follow Apollos.

After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. – 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 NLT

Paul wasn’t looking for glory or trying to establish a name for himself. He simply wanted to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to as many people in as many places as possible. But he also cared deeply about the discipleship of those who came to faith in Christ. He had a passion for the reputation of the body of Christ and the spiritual well-being of the congregations he helped to plant. He was concerned about the unity of the church and the acceptance of his Gentile brothers and sisters in Christ by the leadership in Jerusalem.

When he discovered the division taking place in Corinth, he wrote, “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose” (1 Corinthians 1:10 NLT). Paul wanted to see the body of Christ prove its love by ministering to itself selflessly and lovingly, regardless of location.

Paul had been commissioned by his sending church in Antioch to take up a collection for the believers in Judea.

During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.) So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem. – Acts 11:27-30 NLT

The famine had severely impacted that region of the world and left the church in Jerusalem in dire straits. Not only were its members being persecuted for their faith in Christ, but they were struggling to feed themselves. So, on his missionary journeys, Paul collected offerings from the predominantly Gentile congregations to take to the believers in Judea. He told the believers in Rome that he would come to them as soon as he delivered the funds he had collected from all the churches to “the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” He reminded his Gentile readers that since they “have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings” (Romans 15:27 NLT). The Jewish believers in Jerusalem were suffering and Paul wanted to see the Gentile believers play a part in ministering to them. Paul’s goal was unity and impartiality.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.” – 2 Corinthians 8:13-15 NLT

Paul's mission was not just to make converts, but to establish a strong and vibrant church, made up of those who understood the grace of God and were willing to extend that grace to others. For Paul, salvation was not the end-all; he wanted those who claimed to have faith in Christ to demonstrate the life-changing nature of their salvation through their actions. They were to be new creations, exhibiting the characteristics of Christ, living in submission to the Spirit, and expressing the love of God to all those around them.

As verse 31 indicates, he was under constant attack for his unfailing commitment to the cause of Christ. His mission was not an easy one, and his ministry was far from trouble-free. He traveled far, suffered much, failed often, but never lost sight of his mission “to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard” (Romans 15:20 NLT). He even had his eyes set on Spain, which, in those days, was believed to be the literal end of the world. For Paul, Rome was an important destination, but it would not be his final stop along the way. He had ambitious goals to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, just as Jesus had said. And while there is no biblical evidence that Paul ever made it to Spain, the gospel did. Paul’s zeal and determination influenced others to take up the baton and finish the race on his behalf. 

Paul lived out the truth found in Isaiah 40:31.

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.

Father, had Paul not taken his commission seriously, the gospel would never have made it beyond the walls of Jerusalem. He was the first to fulfill Jesus’ command to take the gospel “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NLT). When Jesus charged Paul “to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15 NLT), Paul took His words seriously. Paul obeyed and spent the rest of his life fulfilling his Christ-ordained call, and he let nothing stand in his way. Rejection, imprisonments, constant character assassination, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, and physical ailments could not diminish his zeal or deter him from accomplishing his mission. His faithfulness produced untold fruitfulness, transforming the lives of countless Gentiles and Jews and helping to create a richly diversified family of Christ-followers whose mutual love and affection gave evidence of the gospel’s power to transform lives from the inside out. And the gospel is still making a difference in the world today as Your church continues to carry out the Great Commission. But may we have the same zeal and determination that motivated Paul, so that the gospel will spread and the church will expand until Your Son returans. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Our Ready, Willing, and Able God

25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.” – Romans 11:25-27 ESV

Paul has been establishing the fact that God is not yet done with Israel. While the majority of Jews have rejected Jesus as their Messiah, a remnant has been shown mercy by God and placed their faith in His Son as their Savior. Paul was living proof of that reality, and there were other believing Jews in the church in Rome.

The Gentile believers had much for which to be grateful to the Hebrew nation. It was through the Jews that their Savior had come. Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and born into the line of King David, all in keeping with the promises made to both men. And while those Jews who refused to accept Jesus as their Savior were “broken off because of their unbelief” (Romans 11:20 ESV) and the Gentiles were grafted in, that did not mean that God had turned His back on His chosen people. If He was able to mercifully take Gentiles and graciously graft them into the root of Abraham, could He not do so with the Jews? Paul poses that very question.

And even they [the Jews], if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. – Romans 11:23 ESV

The important word here is “belief.” Faith in Christ is required for anyone, whether Jew or Gentile, to be grafted into the root of Abraham. Paul wrote the Gentile believers in Galatia, reminding them of their status as children of Abraham because of their faith in Jesus, the descendant of Abraham.

The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. – Galatians 3:7-9 NLT

He went on to clarify, “Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14 NLT).

It is through faith, our belief in the saving power of Jesus Christ, that we inherit the promises made to Abraham. We become part of God’s family through belief in His Son, and the same thing is true for God’s chosen people, the Jews. But Paul indicates that a “partial hardening has come upon Israel” (Romans 11:25 ESV). The term Paul used is interesting. It is pōrōsis, and it means “obtrusiveness of mental discernment, dulled perception” (Outline of Biblical Usage). The root word means “to grow hard, callous, become dull, lose the power of understanding.”

For the time being, the Jews, individually and collectively, are experiencing a callousness to the gospel message, but this was all part of God’s divine plan. As Paul wrote earlier, “their rejection means the reconciliation of the world” (Romans 11:15 ESV). It was their rejection of Christ that led to the gospel being taken to the rest of the nations of the world. But Paul indicates that there will be a point when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25 ESV). Thomas L. Constable explains what this phrase means:

“When all the Gentiles whom God has chosen for salvation during the present age of Jewish rejection (setting aside) have experienced salvation, God will precipitate a revival of faith among the Jews. Even though some Jews trust Christ now, God is not presently working through them as Israel as He will in the future (i.e., in the Millennium), after multitudes of them turn to faith in Christ. He is now working through the church.” – Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Romans, 2009 Edition.

Paul writes, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27 ESV). He is quoting the writings of the prophet Isaiah.

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.” – Isaiah 59:20 ESV

Paul understood this passage as a prophecy concerning the Messiah, which was partially fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. But upon His arrival, Jesus was met with opposition from His own people. The apostle John described the less-than-warm welcome Jesus received from His fellow Jews.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:10-12 NLT

The Jews didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet when Jesus appeared the first time. But God is far from done with them. He will still accomplish His will among the Jewish people and fulfill the promises He made to them, but it will not take place until He has completed His work among the Gentiles. There is a day coming when the number of Gentiles to be saved will be complete. Paul is not inferring that ALL Gentiles will be saved; he is indicating that there is a limited number of those who will place their faith in Christ, and when that number has been reached, God’s work among the Gentiles will have been fulfilled. He will then turn His attention to the Jews.

But when Paul says that “all Israel will be saved,” he does not mean that every single Israelite who has ever lived will become a believer in Jesus Christ. In the same way that not all Gentiles will come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, neither will all Jews. But when compared to the relatively small believing remnant of Jews that currently exists, the number that will come to faith in the future will be large, and there will be representatives from every tribe of Israel.

The prophet Zechariah predicted a future day when God would do a mighty work among the people of Israel. He quotes God’s promise to complete His divine plan for His chosen people.

“I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.” – Zechariah 12:10 NLT

The day will come when the people of Israel will grieve over their mistreatment and rejection of their Messiah. But their sorrow will be turned to joy. 

“On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.

“And on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them.” – Zechariah 13:1-2 NLT

But not all Israel will be saved. The prophecy is very specific in indicating that God will redeem and restore a remnant of His chosen people.

“Two-thirds of the people in the land
    will be cut off and die,” says the Lord.
    “But one-third will be left in the land.
I will bring that group through the fire
    and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
    and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” – Zechariah 13:8-9 NLT

God is ready, willing, and able to redeem Israel. He is not yet done with His chosen people, nor has He fully rejected them. He is simply waiting until the full number of Gentiles has come to faith in Christ, then He will turn His attention to the Jews. His plan is perfect, and His timeline is right on schedule. We don’t know when these things will take place, but we are to trust that they will, because our God is faithful, just, righteous, powerful, and fully capable of completing what He has started and fulfilling all that He has promised to the people of Israel and to us.

Father, as Paul has so persistently illustrated, You are a promise-keeping God. Your Word is filled with promises You made to the nation of Israel and You will fulfill every one of them. As Balaam said, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Numbers 23:19 NLT). You are good for Your word. You don’t renege on Your promises and You never change Your mind. You are faithful, true, and totally trustworthy. And the fact that You will keep Your promises to Israel is a powerful reminder that You will keep the promises You have made to me and every other Gentile believer. You are more reliable than the sun coming up in the morning or the changing of the seasons. I am reminded of the words Paul wrote to Titus, reminding him of Your faithfulness.

I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began. – Titus 1:1-2 NLT

Your plan is far from finished. Your will concerning the people of Israel is not yet complete. They remain hardhearted and incapable of accepting the truth concerning Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. But the day is coming when You will give them new hearts and a new capacity to see the error of their ways and return to a right relationship with You through faith alone in Christ alone, because You are faithful. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Faithfulness of God

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. – Romans 11:17-24 ESV

Paul has been discussing dough, firstfruits, olive trees, roots, and broken branches. But what’s his point? What is he trying to tell us? We must remember that he has been addressing Israel's current and future fate. God had chosen them as His special possession, but they had rejected Jesus as their Messiah. As a result, they were passed over by God, and His message of salvation was taken to the Gentiles. Yet, God had ordained for some Jews to believe in Jesus as their Messiah and form a remnant, a sort of firstfruits or offering that would consecrate the rest of the nation.

Paul referenced the command God had given to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the land of promise.

“When you arrive in the land where I am taking you, and you eat the crops that grow there, you must set some aside as a sacred offering to the Lord. Present a cake from the first of the flour you grind, and set it aside as a sacred offering, as you do with the first grain from the threshing floor. Throughout the generations to come, you are to present a sacred offering to the Lord each year from the first of your ground flour.” – Numbers 15:18-21 NLT

In his commentary on Romans, Donald Grey Barnhouse explains:

“In order to understand this we must first realize that throughout the Old Testament the word ‘holy’ has a special meaning. In the Old Testament ‘holy’ means ‘separated from profane uses, consecrated to God.’ In the use of the allusion as found in our text, Paul is saying that if the whole nation of Israel was originally set apart for God by the call of Abraham and the giving of the covenant promises to him, then the individuals of the race of Abraham also have a special relationship to God. This does not mean that they are personally holy, for some of them are even accursed; but it does mean that the members of the ancient race have been chosen by God and they will be brought to fulfill His purposes.” – Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans

The nation of Israel was holy to God. He had set them apart, not because of anything they had done, but simply out of His sovereign will. Moses made this perfectly clear to them.

“For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors.” – Deuteronomy 7:6-8 NLT

In Paul’s day, God was bringing some Jews to faith, and they served as evidence of God’s continuing favor upon the nation of Israel. He had not completely abandoned them. In fact, Paul goes on to stress the non-debatable necessity of the nation of Israel in the grand scheme of God.

He switches analogies and begins to talk about trees, roots, and branches. He specifically refers to the olive tree, which, in the Old Testament, represented the nation of Israel.

The Lord says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
    my love will know no bounds,
    for my anger will be gone forever.
I will be to Israel
    like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
    it will send roots deep into the soil
    like the cedars in Lebanon.
Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
    as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.” – Hosea 14:4-6 NLT

“I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive tree,
    beautiful to see and full of good fruit.
But now I have sent the fury of their enemies
    to burn them with fire,
    leaving them charred and broken.

“I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed. For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, arousing my anger by burning incense to Baal.” – Jeremiah 11:16-17 NLT

The root to which Paul refers most likely represents Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel. He had been hand-picked by God and ordained to be the father of the nation of Israel and the means by which God would bless the nations of the world. From Abraham, the root, came the trunk and the branches of Israel. And because Abraham was holy and set apart for God, so was the rest of the tree. But some of the branches of that tree had been broken off by God, and the branches from “wild” or uncultivated olive trees were grafted in.

Gentiles were made a part of God’s family, not because they deserved it, but out of His mercy and kindness. And Paul reminds the Gentiles, “remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you” (Romans 11:18 ESV). Our faith as believing Gentiles depends on the promises of God made to Abraham. We are not better than or superior to the Jews, and we are not to look down our noses in pride at those Jews who remain in unbelief. In fact, Paul would have us see ourselves as unified with God’s chosen people.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. – Ephesians 2:19 NLT

God is not done with Israel; He has not abandoned them. If He can graft into the root of Abraham branches from “wild” olive trees, He can certainly graft back in those branches that were broken off. In fact, Paul states, “And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again” (Romans 11:23 ESV).

God’s promises to Israel still stand, and He will fulfill them all, in His time and according to His perfect will. God’s unwavering faithfulness to Israel is meant to encourage us, reminding us of His love, faithfulness, and trustworthiness.  What He says, He will do. His promises will be fulfilled.

His decision to take the gospel to the Gentiles was not Plan B. It was not done because the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah; it was all part of God’s sovereign will from the very beginning. Everything is taking place according to His divine plan. He is blessing all the nations of the earth through the offspring of Abraham, and one day He is going to bless the nation of Israel by sending His Son again and setting up His Kingdom on earth in Jerusalem and restoring His chosen people to their rightful place.

Father, Your plan is perfect and undeterable. Nothing can prevent Your will from taking place just as You have ordained it. You are never surprised or caught off guard. At no point, do You have to change plans or knee-jerk react to what You see happening in the world. You are all-knowing and all-powerful, and You are in control at all times. Your plan for Your chosen people is unfolding just as You set it out before You laid the foundations of the earth. You have a timeline and it is unfolding precisely as You have planned, and it includes the restoration of a remnant of the people of Israel. You will keep Your covenant promises. and fulfill every commitment Your have made to them. And we, the wild olive branches ,get to enjoy the benefiits of having been grafted into the tree that You planted and that will one day produce fruit for eternity in Your Kingdom. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Blind Eyes and Deaf Ears

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”

9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and bend their backs forever.” – Romans 11:7-10 ESV

Blind eyes and deaf ears. According to Paul, that was the current status of the majority of Jews “down to this very day” (Romans 11:8 ESV). They were unable to see Jesus for who He really was – their long-awaited Messiah, and they were incapable of hearing and comprehending the message of the gospel. As Paul had already stated,

They have stumbled over the stumbling stone. – Romans 9:32 ESV

Rather than accepting Jesus, the Son of God, as their Savior, they rejected Him because He had not met their preconceptions regarding the coming Messiah. He didn't look like what they expected, and he didn't do the things they hoped the Messiah would do. They believed the Messiah would come in the form of a conquering king, not a suffering servant. They were intrigued by Jesus’ miracles, but His message of repentance left them disappointed and disillusioned.

Paul has been pointing out the futility of pursuing a right relationship with God by attempting to keep His law. Paul has said that the Jewish people had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2). In other words, they wanted to do the right thing, but they were going about it in the wrong way. They had misunderstood the kind of righteousness God required of them; it could not be self-produced or earned.

For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. – Romans 10:3 ESV

They had refused to place their faith in Jesus, who was God's chosen means for providing righteousness for all men, including the Jews.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. – Romans 10:4 ESV

With the coming of Christ, the misconception that men could be justified before God through human effort was brought to an end. And there had been some Jews who had heard and accepted this message of salvation through Christ. That is why Paul states, “The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:7 ESV). There was a believing remnant among the Jews who had embraced the gospel message, and Paul had been among them. However, many were hardened. Paul used the Greek word pōroō to refer to the condition of the majority of the Jews in his day. That word means “to grow hard, callous, become dull, lose the power of understanding” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

While many had heard the message of the gospel, only a few believed. The rest made a conscious decision to reject it and were left in a state of spiritual stupor, “which renders their souls torpid so insensible that they are not affected at all by the offer made them of salvation through the Messiah” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

Paul was very familiar with this condition because he encountered it virtually everywhere he went on his missionary journeys. One of his first objectives upon arriving in a new town was to visit the local synagogue, where he would share the gospel with his fellow Jews.

Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” – Acts 17:1-3 NLT

But the usual reception Paul received was less than welcoming.

But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.” – Acts 17:5-7 ESV

While Paul was ministering in Lystra, a group of Jews arrived and “stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town” (Acts 14:19-20 NLT). Paul was well acquainted with the hardened hearts of the Jews to whom he sought to share the gospel. He had experienced firsthand just how stubborn and opposed to the message of salvation they could be.

And this condition was not new for the Jews. Throughout their history, the Jews had exhibited a pattern of rebellion and resistance to God’s will.  God had repeatedly offered them messages of repentance and watched as they rejected His messengers and their message. The prophets had faithfully called the people of God to repentance, promising them salvation if they would repent. But they had refused. Instead, they turned down God's offer of restoration and redemption. And they had continued to do so even when Jesus appeared on the scene.

Not long after beginning His earthly ministry, Jesus chastised the Jewish religious leaders for their obstinacy and accused them of following the lead of their rebellious ancestors.

“You testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.” – Matthew 23:31-34 NLT

Jesus mourned over the stubborn resistance of His own people and declared His desire that they would open their eyes and see Him as who He was: Their long-awaited Messiah.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” – Matthew 23:37-39 NLT

Paul, like Jesus, had a deep affection for the people of Israel and desired to see them come to faith in Christ. He longed to see them repent and return to the Lord. But he knew that most would refuse to accept Jesus as their Messiah and reject His offer of salvation. But that didn't stop Paul from sharing. He continued to share the good news of Jesus Christ with every Jew he met.

Paul had no idea just how big or small God's believing remnant would be; he refused to worry about that. Instead, he continued to faithfully proclaim the gospel, boldly, unapologetically, and fearlessly. He knew that the Jews could only be awakened from their spiritual stupor by the Spirit of God. So, he simply shared and left the rest up to God.

Father, like the prophets before him, there must have been days when Paul became discouraged and defeated by his lack of success among his own people. He shared the gospel repeatedly, but the Jews returned the favor by rejecting his message, running him out of town, and even stoning him and leaving him for dead. Yet, he never threw in the towel or gave up his quest to see his fellow Jews come to faith in Christ. He was committed to his commission to share the gospel with Jews and Gentiles alike. He even said, “preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!” (1 Corinthians 9:16 NLT). Paul never compromised his message, but he did make concessions, saying, “With those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law” (1 Corinthians 9:20 NLT), “doing everything I can to save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22 NLT). 

I want to have that kind of determination and dedication to Your will. I want to exhibit that kind of faith and sold-out commitment to Christ’s call to make disciples of all the nations. But too often, I allow the fear of man and the thought of failure keep me from fulfilling my role as an ambassador of Christ. Give me the boldness and love that permeated Paul’s life so that I might do everything I can to save some. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Our Promise-Keeping God

1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. – Romans 11:1-6 ESV

Is God done with Israel? Has their rejection of His Son as their Messiah put them on His permanent “naughty” list and denied them any opportunity to be restored to a right relationship with Him? Paul would say confidently and emphatically, “No!” and he used himself as living proof.

If God was done with Israel, Paul would never have come to know Christ as His Savior. After all, he was a Jew himself.

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today.” – Acts 22:3 NLT

“I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.” – Philippians 3:5 NLT

Paul argued that he and the other believing Jews in his audience were not the last of their kind. He used the story of the prophet, Elijah, to drive home his point. Elijah had defeated the prophets of Baal and, as a result, came under the wrath of the wicked queen, Jezebel. She put a bounty on his head, and Elijah was forced to run for his life. When God confronted Elijah and asked him why he was running from the queen, Elijah responded: “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10 ESV).

Elijah and God had this conversation two times in the narrative. Then God informed him, “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18 ESV). In other words, God knew something Elijah didn’t know; he was not the last man standing. Despite his feelings of isolation and intimidation, Elijah was not alone. There were others who, like Elijah, had refused to abandon God.  

And Paul’s conclusion was, “It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them.” (Romans 11:5 NLT). While the majority of Israel had rejected Jesus as their Messiah, there were some who had chosen not only to recognize Him, but to accept Him as their Savior. And Paul couldn’t resist the urge to remphasize that their salvation was the result of grace, not works.

The very existence of this faithful remnant in Paul’s day was proof that God had not abandoned His people; He was not done with them yet. And, later in this chapter, Paul explains what God has planned for His people in the future. Chapters 9-11 form a cohesive unit in which Paul focuses on Israel, the chosen people of God. In chapter nine, Paul reveals God’s past grace in His sovereign selection of Israel as His people. In chapter ten, Paul addresses the present reality of Israel’s refusal to respond to God’s provision of grace, as revealed in His Son’s death. And finally, in chapter eleven, Paul outlines God’s future plans for Israel.

Paul paints a compelling picture of God’s matchless grace. While the people of Israel never deserved God’s favor, He had repeatedly displayed it — despite their ongoing rebellion and refusal to repent. Over the centuries, they had proved to be unfaithful and disobedient time and time again, but God never fully abandoned them. Even after sending them into exile for their rebellion, He graciously and mercifully restored them to the land. He kept a remnant alive and returned them to Jerusalem so that He might one day fulfill His promise to produce a descendant of David who would sit on the throne of Israel.

Even today, there are future plans concerning Israel that have yet to be fulfilled. At present, they are experiencing a temporary rejection by God. But as Paul will explain later in this chapter, that condition will one day be radically altered. Their rejection of Christ as their Messiah opened up a door for the gospel to be shared with non-Jews, “those who are not a nation” (Romans 10:19 ESV). God made the good news regarding salvation available to “those who did not seek me” (Romans 10:20 ESV). And those of us who have discovered the grace of God made possible through the death of Christ have much to be grateful for. We were totally undeserving of God’s favor, and yet He provided a way for us to be made right with Him.

When he wrote to the Gentile believers in Ephesus, Paul emphasized the incredible nature of their conversion.

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. – Ephesians 2:11-13 NLT

Paul wrote something similar to the believers in Colossae.

You who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. – Colossians 1:21-22 NLT

As Gentiles or non-Jews, we have much to be grateful for. We must never forget that if God had not chosen Abraham and given him Isaac as his son, if He had not chosen Jacob over Esau, if He had not chosen David over Saul, and if He had not chosen to send His Son through the nation of Israel, we would never have heard the good news concerning Jesus. But our God is good and gracious, and He is sovereign over all. He knows what He is doing, and He is not yet done with Israel. Their rejection of Him has not resulted in their rejection by Him, because He is faithful, loving, and true. He will accomplish all that He has promised for them, in His time and according to His plan.

Father, Your grace truly is amazing. That You would deem to save any should astound and confound us. As David wrote in his Psalm, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one” (Psalm 14:2-3 NLT). And Paul echoed those words when he wrote, “No one is righteous— not even one” (Romans 3:10 NLT). And yet, You poured out Your mercy and grace on Jews and Gentiles alike. You have redeemed a remnant of Your chosen people and You are far from done. You have made Your grace available to all humanity, but You have not turned Your back on the seed of Abraham. You will one day fulfill every promise You made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You will redeem and restore a righteous remnant from among the 12 tribes of Israel. And this fact reminds me that You are faithful and fully worthy of my trust because You are not a man, so You do not lie. You are not human, so You do not change Your mind. You have never spoken and failed to act. You have never promised and not carried it through (Numbers 23:19 NLT). You are the promise-keeping God. 
Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

A Blessing to the Nations

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
    with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
    I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” – Romans 10:18-21 ESV

So, did the Jews never hear the good news regarding Jesus Christ? Was their failure to accept Him as Messiah because they had not heard of His arrival? Paul would answer those questions with a resounding and confident, “No!”

He would argue that the Jews were without excuse. Quoting from Psalm 19, he holds them accountable to the same standard he established in the opening chapter of his letter. 

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world. – Psalm 19:1-4 NLT

Nature itself declares God’s glory. Paul began his letter to the Romans by restating the psalmist’s assertion. 

For what can be known about God is plain to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world...so they are without excuse. – Romans 1:19-20 ESV

In Paul’s estimation, Israel was doubly guilty because they had received God’s general revelation in nature and had the privilege of receiving His special revelation, spoken through His prophets who had declared the promise of the coming Messiah. But when Jesus came, they rejected Him.

So, if they had heard about the coming Messiah through the prophets, was their rejection of Him a case of misunderstanding? Again, Paul is emphatic in his answer. He declares that they fully understood, and he uses the Old Testament Scriptures to prove it. Quoting from the book of Deuteronomy, Paul writes, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry” (Romans 10:19 ESV).

The context in the book of Deuteronomy is that God had become fed up with Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness.

“They have made me jealous with that is no god, they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” – Deuteronomy 32:21 ESV

Paul takes this Old Testament prophetic passage and applies it to the current circumstances of his day. Centuries after Moses wrote the words found in Deuteronomy, the people of Israel were still worshiping false gods. Their view of God was skewed by their own faulty perceptions. They put more faith in their own abilities to keep the law than they did in God’s ability to save them. They rejected Jesus as Savior because they didn’t think they needed one. They worshiped the law more than they did the Law-Giver. They worshiped the Temple more than the One who occupied it. So Paul says that God took the good news about His Son to another nation; He made it available to the Gentiles. God opened the doors to a people who, at one time, were not a people.

“…for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. ‘Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.’” – 1 Peter 2:9-10 NLT

Quoting the words of God found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, Paul writes, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name” (Isaiah 65:1 NLT).

God had warned Israel that this day would come. Their stubbornness and rebellion would one day result in their rejection by God and His blessing of the Gentiles. In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul emphasized how foolish all this appeared. God was taking His message of salvation to a people who had no relationship with Him.

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. – 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 NLT

The rejection of Jesus by His own people did not surprise God or catch Him off guard. This had been His plan from the very beginning. It was in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham that through him and his “offspring” all the nations of the earth would be blessed. It was through Christ, the descendant of Abraham, that God had chosen to bless the nations of the world by offering salvation from sin and death – “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14 ESV).

As a result, the Church represents a new nation and a new people, made up of individuals from all walks of life and every conceivable ethnic background. Paul told the Gentile believers in Galatia that they were now joint-heirs with the Jews and were the beneficiaries of all the promises God had made to Abraham.

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. – Galatians 3:26-29 NLT

Paul wraps up this chapter with another quote from the book of Isaiah. “All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes” (Isaiah 65:2 NLT). The rejection of Jesus by His own people was part of God’s divine plan. But as Paul will clarify in the very next chapter, God is not done with Israel. He has not abandoned them or given up on them. Because He is a faithful, promise-keeping God, He will faithfully fulfill every promise He has made to them.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? – Numbers 23:19 ESV

Father, You are forever faithful and committed to keeping the promises You have made. You told Abraham that his offspring would bless the nations, and that is exactly what happened. Jesus was a descendant, the seed of Abraham, and His sacrificial, substitutionary death made salvation available to all people, both Jews and Gentiles. When the Jews failed to be a blessing to the nations by living exemplary lives based on Your holy law, You sent Your Son to fulfill the law — perfectly and completely. He lived a sinless life, which made Him the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind. And it was all part of Your plan. Through Jesus, You used the Jews to bless the nations of the earth. Now You are using the redeemed of the nations to produce a holy jealousy among Your chosen people. While they rejected Your Son as their Messiah and Savior, You have promised to redeem, renew, and restore them.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” – Ezekiel 36:25-27 NLT

 And You will do what You have promised to do because You are not a man that You should lie. You are faithful, loving, and true to Your Word — all the time. Thank You! Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Free For All

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:5-13 ESV

In addressing the issue of how sinful man is justified or made right with God, Paul continues to contrast the difference between man-produced righteousness and righteousness based on faith. Because he was addressing some in the church in Rome who were Jewish believers, he draws on many Old Testament references to prove his point. In verse 5, he references the book of Leviticus, where Moses records the following words from God:

“I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 18:2-5 ESV

In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul clarified the meaning behind this passage.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” – Galatians 3:10-12 ESV

When God spoke of living by them (the laws), He was not simply talking about life, but about right standing before God, or righteousness. Keeping God’s law completely was required for anyone to be justified or viewed as sinless before God. But God made it clear that if anyone wanted to be justified before Him according to the law, they would have to obey every single requirement. And Paul confirmed this by warning that failure to comply with all the law brought a curse, quoting from another Old Testament passage.

“Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.” – Deuteronomy 27:26 NLT

But Paul also provides the good news regarding this curse.

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. – Galatians 3:13 NLT

Attempting to earn your way into God’s good graces through the stringent keeping of His law was a dead-end street that led nowhere. But God sent His Son to pay for man’s sins with His death on the cross.

Paul stresses that man’s salvation is to be based on faith in Christ, not on self-effort. It is not what man does that saves him, but belief in what Christ has done on his behalf. Paul summed up his belief with the following statement:

…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9 ESV

Nothing more was required for men to be saved. Again, using Old Testament Scriptures to prove his point, Paul quotes and paraphrases Deuteronomy 30:11-14.

“Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” – Romans 10:6-7 NLT

In other words, nobody has to earn their way into God’s presence and invite Jesus to come down. He came of his own volition and in compliance with the will of His Heavenly Father. He descended from heaven because no one could work their way there. And, secondly, nobody has to try to bring the crucified Christ back to life because He has already risen and sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Paul’s point is that human effort is unnecessary for salvation; it is based solely on belief.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. – Romans 10:10 NLT

And Paul stresses that this believing faith is open to all.

Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:12-13 NLT

To call on the name of the Lord is to place your hope in Him rather than yourself. It is to recognize that your name or character is not enough to save you. Calling on the name of the Lord is an act of submission and dependence; it is an admission of need and a cry of help because we cannot save ourselves.

In Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the newly constructed Temple, he said, “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,  then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors” (1 Kings 8:33-34 NLT).

Solomon stresses the need for repentance, a turning away from their sin and a returning to the Lord. Acknowledging His name was the same as acknowledging His holiness and righteousness. It was to admit that His power alone can save. It is our word of faith, our confession of Jesus Christ as our Savior, that brings about our justification or right standing before God. When we turn from trusting in ourselves and place all our hope in Him, He rescues and redeems us.

Father, we seemed to be wired to work our way into Your good graces. We are used to doing everything in our own strength and enjoy getting credit for our hard work. But when it comes to salvation, we are helpless and hopeless. We can’t work our way into Your favor. As Isaiah said, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT). And Paul echoed those wods when he wrote, “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2;9 NLT). Your plan for our redemption and restoration was never based on our ability to live up to Your righteous standards. Even Your law, through righteous and holy, was intended to show man His sinfulness and need for a Savior. “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:20 NLT).

Our inability to earn our way back into Your favor left us condemned and unclean before You. We deserved the penalty of death, but You provided a way for us to receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life by sending Your Son as our sin substitute, and as the prophet Joel said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32 NLT). No more curse or condemnation. No more fear of death or threat of eternal separation from You. And all it requires is faith. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Solid Rock of Salvation

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  – Romans 9:30-33 ESV

Righteousness can only be attained by faith. That has been and continues to be the crux of Paul’s argument in these verses. Paul’s Jewish brothers and sisters were having a difficult time letting go of their strong belief that getting right with God was based on their Hebrew ancestry and their ability to keep the Law given to them by God through Moses. But Paul presents a completely different set of facts.

He insists that the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have actually received it by faith. They did not know the Mosaic Law and wasted no time trying to keep it, and yet, they had been made right with God by placing their faith in His Son as their sin substitute. In contrast, the Jews, who were busy seeking righteousness through adherence to the law, never attained that righteousness. Why? Because they could not live up to God’s exacting standards, and He never expected them to.

The law was given to reveal their sin and expose their helplessness. It had been intended to wake them up to their need for a Savior. They could not make themselves right with God, so He sent someone who could do it for them: Jesus Christ, the Messiah. But they had to believe and repent. All along, they had been placing their faith in their own capacity to keep the law. When Jesus came onto the scene, He told them to repent or turn away from their false views of sin, God, and salvation, and accept Him as their Savior. However, as Paul states, “they stumbled over the stumbling stone” (Romans 9:32 ESV).

Paul was quoting from Isaiah 8, where God warns the northern kingdom of Israel of the coming invasion by the Assyrians. The people of Israel had a long history of unfaithfulness to God. They worshiped their man-made idols in temples they had erected in Dan and Bethel. But God was fed up and was bringing punishment on them in the form of the Assyrian army. But Isaiah warned them, “The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does” (Isaiah 8:11 NLT). He told them to stop fearing the Assyrians and to start fearing God, showing Him the reverence and respect He deserves.

“Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe. ” – Isaiah 8:13-14a NLT

They needed to see God as their only hope of salvation, not some foreign ally or themselves. But Isaiah went on to give them the bad news.

“…to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall.” – Isaiah 8:14b NLT

The God of Israel and Judah had seen enough and was prepared to pour out judgment against His ungrateful and unrepentant people. As the day of Israel’s destruction drew closer, the equally rebellious residents of the southern kingdom of Judah remained stubbornly resistant to Isaiah’s calls to repent, forcing him to deliver a stern warning from the Lord.

Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord,
    you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.
You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death
    and have made a deal to dodge the grave.
The coming destruction can never touch us,
    for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.” – Isaiah 28:14-15 NLT

“I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death,
    and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave.
When the terrible enemy sweeps through,
    you will be trampled into the ground.” – Isaiah 28:18 NLT

They were putting their faith and hope in something other than God, but He warned them:

Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem,
    a firm and tested stone.
It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.
    Whoever believes need never be shaken.
I will test you with the measuring line of justice
    and the plumb line of righteousness.” – Isaiah 28:16-17 NLT

Like their ancestors before them, the Jews of Paul’s day were stumbling over the stumbling stone. Rather than seeing Jesus as a precious cornerstone, they were seeing Him as a rock of offense. They could not accept the fact that righteousness was based on faith, not works. They refused to believe that faith in Jesus was God’s intended path to righteousness. As a result, what the psalmist predicted became a reality. 

The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see. – Psalm 118:22-23 NLT

Centuries later, outside the walls of Jerusalem, the Son of God would be put to death as payment for the sins of mankind. He would become the sacrifice to satisfy the just demands of a holy God, and whoever believed in Him would not be put to shame.

It is that promise that caused Paul’s Jewish brothers and sisters to stumble, and it still presents a problem for both Jews and Gentiles today. The whole concept of sin and the need for a Savior comes across as ridiculous to most who hear it. It sounds far-fetched or too good to be true, which is why it requires faith.

Yet, when we believe that salvation is the Lord’s doing, it is wonderful to see, even though it makes no sense and seems illogical and unreasonable. Over the centuries, the message of salvation through faith in Christ has caused many to stumble. But there have been countless millions who have placed their faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ and enjoyed salvation from sin and death and a restored relationship with the God of the universe.

This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. Jesus Christ, the stumbling stone and the rock of offense, has become the chief cornerstone on which our faith rests. 

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand. 

–  Edward Mote, “My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less,” Worship and Rejoice (2003)

Father, as You well know, the problem with sin is that it refuses to acknowledge its own existence. The enemy promotes sin as acceptable and even preferable to a life lived in obedience to Your will. His temptation of Eve in the garden began with the innocent-sounding question: “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1 NLT). He tempted her to doubt Your word and to fulfill the desires of her heart. He appealed to her sense of autonomy and portrayed sin as the stepping stone to self-fulfillment. Yet, You had a much better plan for she and Adam. Your will for them was perfect, but it required obedience and submission. And with one bite of the forbidden fruit, they altered the course of their lives and that of humanity — for eternity. Yet, You weren’t surprised by their actions or forced to come up with a Plan B. Your decision to send Your Son had been made long before You created the universe or formed the first two humans (Ephesians 1:3-5). You gave the first couple one law to obey and they failed, and we have been following their lead for generations. But You sent the “stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” to save us from ourselves, and “anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” You provided a way where there was no way. You made redemption and restoration possible for the unrepentant and unrighteous, and that included me. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Chosen

18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” – Romans 9:18-26 ESV

In this section of Chapter 9, Paul continues to defend God’s sovereign prerogative to show mercy based on His will, not on any merits or worthiness of men. Paul has already declared that all men are under God’s divine wrath and subject to His holy judgment, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV) and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 NLT).

Sinful humanity is deserving of God’s righteous judgment of death, and yet, Paul reminds us that God continues to show mercy to some. Again, not because they deserve it, but simply because God, in His mercy and grace, decides to do so. And Paul knew that this merciful and gracious action of God would be misconstrued and misunderstood by some as unjust and unfair. Paul was fully aware of those in his audience who would question why God refuses to show mercy to everyone. Paul knew how their minds worked because he had probably struggled with the same question. He had likely pondered how God could find fault with Esau if God chose Jacob over Esau based on nothing more than His own will. As infants in Rebekah’s womb, neither son had done anything to earn God’s mercy and grace.

God chose Jacob, “though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls” (Romans 9:11 ESV).

But at this point in his relationship with God, Paul knew better than to question the sovereign will of God, which is why he warned his readers, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” (Romans 9:20 ESV). Paul used the Old Testament Scriptures to argue his point, quoting the prophet Isaiah.

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.
    Does a clay pot argue with its maker?
Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying,
    ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’
Does the pot exclaim,
    ‘How clumsy can you be?’ – Isaiah 45:9 NLT

This is all about God’s sovereign will. Yet, we have made man the center of our universe with everything revolving around us. We see ourselves as the pinnacle of creation and focus all our attention on our ability to accomplish great good, while always recognizing our capacity to commit all kinds of evil. We live in a merit-based society where the good we do gets rewarded, while the bad we do gets punished. And we expect God to judge us in the same way. But, thus far, Paul’s whole point has been to stress that salvation is based on faith alone. His thesis statement for his letter is found in the opening chapter.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” –Romans 1:16-17 ESV

From God’s divine perspective, all men are guilty and stand before Him worthy of His judgment and wrath. And yet, He chooses to show mercy on some. While we may see this as somehow unfair, Paul would have us consider God’s divine prerogative as the Creator of the universe. 

When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. – Romans 9:21-22 NLT

Can God, the Creator, not do what He wants to do with what He has made? Is He not free to show mercy on whomever He wants to show mercy? Paul is inviting us to see things from a different perspective. He is asking us to remove man from the center of our universe and put God back where He belongs. The fact is, all mankind is deserving of God’s judgment. Even Israel, God’s chosen nation, could not live in obedience to His law or remain faithful to Him. And while God would have been fully just in destroying them for their rebellion and unfaithfulness, He poured out His mercy on them. He could have exhibited His wrath and revealed His power in destructive judgment, but instead He repeatedly displayed patience. 

…he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. – Romans 9:22-23 NLT

God had a plan, and He had promised Abraham that He would keep it. He would send His Son as the Messiah of the Jews and the Savior of the Gentiles. God was going to show mercy, allowing some to come to a saving knowledge of His Son, not on the basis of their own righteousness or human merit, but on their faith in His mercy as expressed in His Son’s sacrificial death on the cross.

God sent His Son to the Jews first, but most of them refused Him. And yet, there were some among the Jews who did believe. And there were Gentiles who placed their faith in Christ as their Savior. God showed His mercy on some, even though all deserved His wrath. He chose to forgive some, all in fulfillment of the prophecy found in the book of Hosea.

“I will show love
    to those I called ‘Not loved.’
And to those I called ‘Not my people,’
    I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’
And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’” – Hosea 2:23 NLT

Our problem is that we focus on God’s wrath and miss the unbelievable nature of His mercy. The fact that God shows mercy to anyone should amaze and astound us. None of us deserves His unmerited favor. As the prophet Isaiah puts it, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT).

It is only when we come to fully comprehend our guiltiness and the fact that we deserved God’s wrath, and yet, we were shown His mercy, that we can fully appreciate the magnitude of the gift we have received.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
yonder on Calvary's mount out-poured,
there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin.

– “Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord,” Julia H. Johnston (1910)

Father, Your grace is greater than all our sin, and, without it, we would have no hope. Yet, in Your love and mercy, You have chosen to extend Your unmerited favor to some. None deserved it, yet some received it, due to nothing more than Your goodness and grace. In our finite form, we have a difficult time understanding how all this works. It comes across as arbitrary and unjust. But Your ways are not our ways and, because You are righteous, holy, and without sin, everything You do is right and just. You make no mistakes and are never guilty of doing anything that is contrary to Your righteous character. We may not understand it. We may even question it. But we can never accuse You of doing evil. As Moses wrote in his song of praise to You, You are the Rock; Your deeds are perfect. Everything You do is just and fair. You are a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright You are (Deuteronomy 32:4 NLT). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Offspring of God

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” – Romans 9:6-13 ESV

Yes, God did choose Abraham and, through him, created the nation of Israel. They were God’s chosen people. And as Paul has said, “To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises” (Romans 9:4 ESV).

God even ordained that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would be born an Israelite. Yet, earlier in his letter, Paul wrote, “For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people” (Romans 2:28-29 NLT).

So what is Paul saying? Better yet, what is God doing? Have His promises to Israel failed? Was all that He promised to Abraham a lie?

The point Paul seems to be making concerns the sovereign grace of God. The Jews believed they had a right relationship with God simply because they were Abraham's descendants. Their faith was in their heritage and their unique place as God’s chosen people. But Paul argues that simply claiming Abraham as your father is not enough. To prove his point, Paul reminds his Jewish audience that Abraham fathered a number of sons, and yet only one of them, Isaac, was chosen as the line through which the promise of God would flow.

For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. – Romans 9:7-8 NLT

Also, Isaac had two sons, but only Jacob was chosen as the conduit for God’s promise.

This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” – Romans 9:10-12 NLT

Paul points out that this sovereign decision by God had nothing to do with the behavior or merits of the two sons. So what does all this mean? Paul provides the answer.

This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. – Romans 9:8 NLT

Many of the Jews living in Rome, who had not yet placed their faith in Christ, were under the delusion that their Hebrew heritage was their guarantee of a right relationship with God. But Paul wants them to understand that having the blood of Abraham coursing through their veins was no substitute for having the blood of Christ cover their sins.

Faith in Christ trumped anything and everything, including a pure bloodline. To experience the fulfillment of God’s promises always required faith; a fact the author of Hebrews drives home.

It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” – Hebrews 11:17-18 NLT

It was his faith in God's promise that set Abraham apart and was counted to him as righteousness. And it is our faith in the promise of salvation through His Son that makes us right with God.

Ultimately, salvation is based on faith, not works. It requires a trust in God, not a false hope in our heritage or religious upbringing. Being born into the right family or worshiping in a particular faith system has no bearing on our worthiness and carries no weight with God.

Paul has already made his main point regarding the gospel – the good news regarding Jesus Christ.

It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” – Romans 1:16-17 NLT

God chose Abraham. He chose Isaac. He chose Jacob. He made a conscious and sovereign decision to bring about salvation through the nation of Israel, but our hope is in the promised One. No one deserves salvation based on their background or their behavior. Man’s salvation and restoration to a right relationship with God requires faith alone in Christ alone; it can’t be earned or deserved, and isn’t the guaranteed right of a privileged few. 

God’s chosen people were the conduit through which His promised Messiah came, but this did not guarantee their salvation. They would still have to place their faith in the One who had come to be their Savior. Yet, they refused to do so. When John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing in the Judean wilderness, in preparation for the Messiah’s appearance, he had a few choice words for the Jewish religious leaders. 

…when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.” – Matthew 3: 7-9 NLT

He assailed their flawed faith in their Hebrew heritage. They were self-assured and confident in their standing as God’s chosen people. As descendants of Abraham, they considered themselves to be the rightful heirs to all of God’s promises, including the one concerning the coming of their long-awaited Messiah. Yet, when Jesus appeared on the scene, they refused to accept Him. They rejected John the Baptist’s call for repentance and dismissed Jesus’ claims to be their Savior. Their overconfidence in their status as God’s chosen people led Jesus to rebuke them.  

“…you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved. John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.” – John 5:33-40 NLT

The Israelites were the children of God and had the Word of God, which contained all His promises.  Yet, they refused to recognize the Messiah when He showed up. When offered the gift of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone, they blatantly rejected it. Self-confident in their own self-righteousness as God’s chosen people, they denied their need for God’s Son and the salvation He offered. 

Father, it is amazing how self-assured we humans can be. We somehow believe we are Your gift to the world. In our arrogance and pride, we place far to high a value on our own worthiness. We falsely boast in our own self-importance and wrongly believe we deserve Your approval. But Paul reminds us that even Abraham”s descendants, the rightful heirs of God’s promises, were required to place their faith in Your Son, not their status as Your chosen people. Paul made the need for faith alone in Christ alone perfectly clear when he wrote, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life’” (Romans 1:16-17 NLT). And I am so grateful that You made this offer available to me. I certainly did not earn or deserve it. But You graciously offered it and I humbly accepted it, and now I am Your child. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Grace Is Getting What You Don’t Deserve

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” – Romans 4:1-8 ESV

God does not owe us anything. Our well-intentioned acts of self-produced righteousness do not score brownie points with God or put Him in our debt. Paul has made it perfectly clear that God's declaration of our righteousness is based solely on faith in His gospel concerning His Son.

No man or woman can earn or merit favor from God. And yet, because of their sin and the death penalty it carries, they find themselves desperately needing to make things right with God. That explains man's ongoing attempt to serve and satisfy the god of his choosing. Man is always attempting to gratify whatever god he has chosen to worship by sacrificing his time, talents, and treasures to that god. It could be the god of religion or recreation.

Every day, countless men and women sacrifice themselves to the gods of entertainment, work, pleasure, popularity, wealth, beauty, and power. They give everything they have to get whatever it is they are expecting their “god” to deliver. But there is only one God, and all stand before Him in the same condition. Despite their best efforts, they have failed to meet His righteous standards and have fallen short of the glory He demands. It doesn't matter how religious or morally-minded you are. It doesn't matter if you worship the right God or the wrong god. It matters if you worship the right God in the right way, and Paul says that way is by faith.

In his gospel, John describes the redemptive plan accessible only through faith in Jesus.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:9-13 ESV

When Jesus came, most Gentiles didn't recognize or accept Him, and even though He was a Jew and fulfilled all the prophecies concerning their coming Messiah, the Jews rejected Him. In doing so, they rejected the gospel of God, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV).

Paul has already shown that it was not enough to be a Jew. Their privileged position as God's chosen people gave them access to God's law and insight into His holy standards, but it did not equip them to live up to those standards. Despite their standing as God’s treasured possession, they were just as guilty as the Gentiles, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV).

Knowing that any Jews in his audience would automatically appeal to their unique status as descendants of Abraham and attempt to use the patriarch as an example of works-based righteousness, Paul cuts the legs out from under their argument. He states, “if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” (Romans 4:2 ESV).

Abraham could have bragged about his righteous accomplishments before men, but not before God. His most fervent attempts at righteousness would have scored him no points with God. But Paul, quoting from the Old Testament book of Genesis, writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3, Genesis 16:6 ESV).

God reminds any Jews reading his letter that God had promised to make of Abraham a mighty nation, and yet, Abraham was old, and his wife was barren. Both Abraham and Sarah began to question God's promise. How could Abraham father a mighty nation if he couldn't have a son? Already advanced in years and with a barren wife, Abraham assumed his heir would have to be one of his household servants. But God told Abraham, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” (Genesis 15:4-5 NLT).

After this divine disclosure, God repeated His original promise to Abraham, and the Genesis account records, “he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 ESV).

It was Abraham's faith in God's promise that led to God's declaration of his righteous standing before Him; it had nothing to do with Abraham's works or efforts. In fact, Paul insists that when someone does labor, they deserve their wages as payment. Their wages are not a gift; they were earned. Then Paul points out the difference works worthy of remuneration and the gift of righteousness.

But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. – Romans 4:5 NLT

Again, Paul turns to the Hebrew Scriptures to prove his point. Quoting Psalm 32:1-2, he writes, “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin” (Romans 4:7-8 NLT).

Our forgiveness from God is a gift, unearned and undeserved. Our salvation is made possible by His Son's death, not by our good works. As Paul makes clear in Chapter Six, the only thing God owes man is death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23 NLT

Our sins have earned us nothing but God's wrath, and yet He chose to provide a way of escape, a solution to our sin problem. He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins and, in so doing, Jesus satisfied the wrath of God. When anyone places their faith in God's sole provision for salvation, the death and resurrection of His Son, they receive the gift of His righteousness. Their disobedience is forgiven, their sins are put out of sight, and their record of rebellion against God is cleared once and for all.

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. – Romans 5:10-11 NLT

Father, what an incredible thought that we are now Your friends. Because of Jesus, we are no longer Your enemies, condemned by our sinfulness and incapable of doing anything to win back Your favor. Instead, we have placed our faith in Your Son’s death on our behalf and received the marvelous gift of salvation and restoration. We who were at one time deserving of death have been forgiven and offered the gift of eternal life. You owed us nothing but have given us everything. We deserved justice and judgment but received love, mercy, and grace instead. My prayer is the same as that of Paul. That we may have the power to understand, as all Your people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. And that we may experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then we will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You (Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

A Message Worth Dying For

29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. – 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 ESV

In verse 29, Paul takes a rather interesting but confusing diversion from his primary topic. He is simply trying to emphasize his point regarding the reality of the resurrection. To do so, he brings up another practice that was evidently common in Corinth. It involved proxy baptism or baptism for the dead. It’s likely that this practice was common in the pagan community, and some recent converts to Christianity retained their belief in it. Over the years, this verse has received as many as 40 different interpretations. 

“They included that Christians in Corinth were being “baptized into the ranks of the dead” by martyrdom (thinking of “baptism” in the light of Mark 10:38; Luke 12:50), that this was ordinary Christian baptism that took place “over” the grave of the dead, or that new Christians were baptized to “replace” Christians who had died. Though interesting, these proposals lack credibility. The most plausible interpretation is that some in Corinth were getting baptized vicariously for the dead. Several factors, however, put this into perspective. Although Paul does not explicitly condemn the practice, neither does he endorse it.” – Christianity Today, August 10 1998, Vol. 42, No. 9

The most likely explanation is that Paul was referring to a practice common among the mystery religions in and around Corinth. These pagan religions encouraged their followers to be baptized on behalf of and in place of their deceased relatives in order to assure their “salvation.” It is the same belief held today by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). But Paul is not endorsing this practice. Notice that he says, “What do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf (1 Corinthians 15:29 ESV)?”

He is pointing out what others, outside the church, were doing. This was a practice familiar to the Corinthian believers, and Paul uses it to demonstrate that even pagan mystery religions held to the resurrection of the dead. Otherwise, their practice of proxy baptism would have been pointless. Paul was using this bizarre pagan practice to assert his belief in the resurrection of the dead. He is not condoning proxy baptism, but simply illustrating that even false religions embrace the concept of the resurrection. For Paul, the real danger was that a Christ follower would reject or refuse to believe in it, because that would be to reject the gospel.

Paul insists that his preaching of the resurrection of Christ had caused him great difficulty. On his missionary journeys, he had repeatedly put his life on the line to preach the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In almost every city he entered, Paul would make a beeline for the synagogue, where he would deliver his message about Jesus as the Messiah.   

As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” – Acts 17:2-3 NLT

When he had first come to Corinth, he preached the same message.

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. – 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

In Thessalonica, Paul and Silas had to run for their lives because the Jews had reacted to his “resurrection” message by stirring up a riot among the citizens. In Athens, “when they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt” (Acts 17:32 NLT). In Corinth, when he “testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah…they opposed and insulted him” (Acts 18:5-6 NLT). 

When Paul met with the elders of the church in Ephesus, he reminded them, “I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:19-21 NLT). That message was built upon the reality of the resurrection. Jesus had died and been raised back to life, as proof that He was the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah.

Paul had suffered greatly as a result of his belief in the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus was a major cause of persecution of the disciples in the early church. When Paul asked, “Why are we in danger every hour?” (1 Corinthians 15:30 ESV), it was a rhetorical question. The answer was clear: the message of the resurrection was the cause of their suffering.

In Acts chapter 4, Luke records that Peter and John, after sharing the gospel in Solomon’s Portico in Jerusalem, were arrested.

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. – Acts 4:1-4 ESV

They were arrested for proclaiming that Jesus had risen from the dead. It was this message that riled the Jewish religious leaders. The next day, as they stood before the high priest and his religious cohorts, Peter and John were asked to explain by what power or authority they had healed a crippled man the day before. And Peter responded, “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well” (Acts 4:10 ESV).

It is the resurrection of Jesus that gave the gospel its power and made possible the coming of the Holy Spirit. To reject the resurrection simply because you can’t explain it would be absurd. That is why Paul asks the Corinthians, “And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, ‘Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!’” (1 Corinthians 15:32 NLT).

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus was not raised from the dead, and we have no hope of future resurrection. This life is all there is. If that’s the case, let us enjoy our lives while we can and stop worrying about eternity. But Paul rejects that logic. In fact, he tells the Corinthians, “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 ESV). It was as if their senses had been numbed by too much alcohol, affecting their ability to think clearly. So, Paul demanded that they “sober up” and start listening to God rather than their pagan friends and neighbors. The resurrection of Jesus was just as much a part of God's plan as His death. When the women had come to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, they were met by two angels, who said to them:

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. – Luke 24:5-9 ESV

We need to wake up and recognize the reality of the resurrection. It is the resurrection of Jesus that gives us hope and assures us of our future resurrection. It is because Jesus rose again that we can believe He will one day come again. In the meantime, as we wait for that day, Paul would have us remember, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you” (Romans 8:11 NLT).

Father, the very fact that Paul had to spend so much time defending the reality of Christ's resurrection proves that it was under attack. And the same thing is true today. The world can’t fathom the concept of a man dying for the sins of humanity and then rising back to life. It sounds far-fetched and more like a fairy tale. But for those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, we see the resurrection as not only a reality, but a necessity. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then our hope in eternal life is vain. Without the resurrection, there is no salvation, sanctification, or future glorification. But thank You, Father, that Your redemptive plan not included Your Son’s sacrificial death but also His supernatural resurrection. He is alive and seated by Your side in heaven and, one day, He is coming back. His mission is not yet complete, but He will finish what He began because You are a promise-keeping God. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.