As His Name “Jesus” (Jesus –> Joshua, “YHWH saves” / “The LORD saves”) suggests, Matthew makes it clear that the prophesied Messiah who was to be a son of David has arrived for the salvation of His people. But not in the way the Jews expected – not salvation from political oppression, but from our spiritual transgressions. Not freedom from Caesar, but freedom from sin.
John the Baptist serves as a transitional bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. His purpose is to prepare the way for the Lord, to prepare God’s people for God’s Presence. My brothers and sisters, are we ready for Christmas? Are we prepared for the Lord? Are we ready to follow the Way or are we still going our own way? We may have prepared our homes for company, but have we prepared our hearts for Christ? Let’s not merely celebrate the presents under the tree, but the Presence of the Lord. Who came and dwelled among us.
We Americans love to be independent. Our Declaration of Independence tells us we have the divine right of “the pursuit of happiness”. But we really have the divine requirement of the pursuit of holiness. True happiness entails rejecting the ways of the wicked and accepting the way of the Waymaker — not living life according to our own selections, but according to God’s directions.
Ultimately, there are two ways to live life. We can live in a way contrary to God’s character or in a way conforming to God’s character. We can live life as directed, or live life as selected – according to God’s directions or according to our selections.
The Two Ways have two different destinations. The self-directed way of the wicked leads to instability and destruction. The divinely-directed way of the righteous leads to true bliss and (godly) prosperity.
Let’s allow the Lord to use us as His vessels to reap the spiritual harvest (i.e., those who believe in Jesus Christ and receive eternal life). Though some might plant the seed and some might harvest the crops, we’re all on the same team — the sole winning team. God’s soul-winning team.
When we haven’t eaten spiritually in a while, many of us become spiritually hangry. And when we hunger spiritually, we often seek to feed our souls food that is not healthy. We need to crave the spiritual food Jesus speaks of in John 4:34 — doing the will of Him who sent us.
Jesus came not to merely patch up the old clothes of the old covenant, but to purchase the new clothes of the new covenant. The cost was the cross.
When someone asks Jesus why His disciples do not fast, He essentially says: “This ain’t a wake; it’s a wedding! How can the groomsmen fast when the bridegroom is here?” The disciples are in the wedding party with the bridegroom and are enjoying the appetizers of the everlasting wedding banquet. It’s not time to fast; it’s time to feast.
When some were doubting the resurrection of the dead, Paul reminds the members of the church in Corinth that he founded about the facts. Paul uses both subjective and objective evidence to address their doubts. And after considering the objective historical evidence that modern scholars of all stripes agree upon, the best explanation of the “minimal facts” is that Christ indeed was raised from the dead.
The religious leaders present consider Christ’s claim to forgive sin as blasphemy. But Jesus provides eye-opening evidence of His divine authority and of the prophesied Kingdom of God He inaugurated.
Just as Jesus healed the man from His physical paralysis and freed him from his mat, He can heal us from our spiritual paralysis and free us from our sin.
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