November 9 - Truly

When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54 ESV)

For everyone who comes to belief in Christ, there is a defining moment, there is the moment that each recognizes Jesus as the unique Son of God. For many it is a change in posture. Where once they were anyagonistic toward faith, they now embrace it openly. For some it is just a moment of clarity where they see it as something they always knew they were looking for and just weren't sure where to find it.

Truly, Jesus was the Son of God. It is the same revelation that changed the face of the Middle Eastern world nearly 2000 years ago. He lived and died a poor traveling teacher and preacher. But he was, and is, the Son of God.

He died at the hands of jealous men. He was murdered unjustly to satisfy justice for all. Truly, he was the Son of God.

July 22 - More Than A Prophet

Matthew 21:1-11

And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11 ESV)

Finally the time had come for Jesus to enter Jerusalem. It was to be the beginning of the end of his public ministry. The disciples acquired a donkey for him to ride. As he entered people worshipped him. They spread out their cloaks before him and trimmed branches to wave and lay on the ground. They received him into their city with fanfare and excitement.

Even today some people have the wrong idea about Jesus. They look at him as a mere prophet. He was certainly a prophet, but he was so much more.

The foundational truth of orthodox (historically traditional) Christianity is that Jesus was God made flesh. He died for our sins. He was raised back to life after three days. And his death and resurrection was a sacrifice meant to atone for our evil actions.

It takes more than a prophet to forgive sins. It takes more than a prophet to be a perfect sacrifice. It takes more than a prophet to sovereignly rule and reign across the span of eternity. It takes Jesus, the only begotten Son of God.

March 4 - Rabbi, Son, & King

Read: John 1:46-51

Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:49 ESV)

Jesus' prophetic display convinced Nathan to follow him. He exclaimed his astonishment by attributing three very Jewish titles to Jesus. He called him a rabbi, the Son of God, and King of the Jews.

Rabbi was a title. It was and still is a Jewish word for teacher. It was used frequently when speaking of Jesus. For good reason too. He was teaching the people of his day the truth of the kingdom of God in a way that baffled, angered, and shamed the religious elite, while encouraging and empowering the destitute and ignored. Jesus taught about a lot of things, but he demonstrated all of his instruction very pointedly by becoming the sacrifice to fulfill all of his earthly promises.

Son of God seems to be a really straight forward thing to call someone, and basically it is. It is a figure of speech that goes all the way back to the creation story when Adam is called the son of God. It is a theme that runs through the entire Old Testament, spinning out of the promise God made to Abraham that he would be an exalted father. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of those three words. He is the Son of God. He is God the Son. Essentially, all Old Testament themes speaking of sonship and family point ahead to Jesus. He is the fulfillment of that and so much more. And you and I can also be sons of God as we are adopted into the family of God through Jesus' sacrifice.

King of Israel was a curious thing to call Jesus. After all, the nation already had a king. This title declares two things. First, the man who sat on the throne at the time of Jesus was not the true king of Israel. He was not a descendant of David. No, Herod was a puppet king put in place by the Romans. Second, the title attributed to Jesus recognition of his lawful right to the throne, something he did not pursue at that time, as well as his role as an eternal king of God's people.

Ultimately Jesus is the supreme teacher, son, and ruler. In him we have revealed to us absolute truth. In him we find restoration into the original family. In him we gain citizenship to a sovereign eternal kingdom.

February 12 - The Test

Read: Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." (Matthew 4:7 ESV)

Testing day was always a day that I dreaded in school. It wasn't because I didn't do well, it was because of the underlying question that always accompanied those tests...Are you good enough? I always wrestled with that question growing up and for an insecure kid academic testing always seemed to throw it in my face in the bluntest of ways.

During Jesus' confrontation with Satan in the wilderness he came face to face to with those same questions of worth, identity, and purpose. Not only did the devil seek to undermine who he was, but he threw out the possibility that God might not actually be powerful or good enough to come to the aid of His son.

I've met many people during my years in ministry that often ask the same questions about God and in turn themselves. When faced with difficulty and adversity they begin to wonder if God really is powerful or good enough. I've also met those who outright doubt and in turn strive to willfully countermand God's will for their life in a way to gauge whether or not He might intervene with their free will.

God's sovereignty and man's will are not mutually exclusive things. In fact, we have our free will precisely because of His sovereignty. When the test comes its not because God is not good, or God is not powerful. It's not even because He is trying to determine if we are good enough for Him. God made that decision when He sent His son to die in our place. No, when the test comes it is so that we will do just what Jesus did in the wilderness. We must lean into God, His truth, His Word, His sovereignty, His love, and His will. That is home. That is where we belong.

February 11 - Bread and Stones

Read: Luke 4:1-13

The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." (Luke 4:3 ESV)

Jesus was tired and hungry when Satan came to tempt him. He had been fasting for forty days after being led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. Physically he was probably weakened. But Jesus showed us through his actions that physical strength can never account for spiritual strength.

It really is just like the enemy of our souls to come at us when we're already weak. He is sneaky like that. However, like Jesus we can stand on the reality of whose we are. Jesus is the Son of God, and the devil was trying to cast doubt on that. You are a son or daughter of God too, and the devil will no doubt attempt to cast doubt on that. Still, it is the truth of God's Word and our identity in Him that thwarts the enemy's plans for our lives.

Sometimes he sneaks in and tries to make something that's really bad for us look good. Kind of like trying to turn a stone into bread. Jesus could have done that, but he didn't need to. We probably couldn't turn a stone into bread, but if we're not careful in guarding our hearts we may let the devil trick us into thinking we need to.

The simple truth is that we don't need stones to become bread. We don't need whatever distraction the enemy offers us, now matter how enticing. All we need is to know who's son we are.