Tag Archives: Bible

Luke 21- Widows Offering

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And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. Luke 21:1-4

What would it take to impress Jesus? Some believe its building a mega Church filled with thousands of people, some would believe its saying many words in a prayer in front of a crowd to impress them, but the New Covenant of Jesus is all about the heart. If you haven’t caught on to that theme, look again over the writings of the gospels in the New Testament. Jesus isn’t impressed by your looks, He’s not impressed with your title or status, he’s not impressed by your income status, Christ examines the hearts and minds of all people!

Here’s a little background for our scripture today, a widow back during the 1rst century couldn’t support themself financially. So it goes to show you just how poor this woman was, she had no fiances coming into her household, she had no husband to support her, so this woman was literally giving God everything she had, this is true worship of the heart. The “mite” was the smallest coin during that time period, so this would be equivalent to giving 2 cents into the offering plate. But this was all this woman had to support herself as Jesus said “This woman gave all she had to live on “ (verse 4)

Now to the world , where we like to track numbers and statistics, this woman gave probably the least amount of money then anyone there, but Jesus said “The poor widow has put more in than all the others” in Christ eyes, the woman gave more than all the rich men that were there that day, why? Because these men didn’t give from their heart, they gave to put on a show for others, they gave out of obligation, they didn’t truly trust in The Lord with all their heart

Even though this woman was poor but worldly standards, she loved God and trusted He was going to provide for her. Do we have that faith to put it all in The Lord’s hands? Or do we hold tight to this world to save us? We trust in our money, we trust in our medicines, we trust in our governments, but how many trust in God? We have a heart issue, and there is only one Great Physician who has the cure, Jesus Christ, Amen

Luke 20- Don’t Be A Legalist

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Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. Luke 20:45-47

You often hear people say the phrase “You are a Pharisee” or “Don’t be a legalist” they are often referring to the religious leaders of the New Testament. These were men who devoted their whole lives to studying scriptures and training to be High Priests, yet they were some of the most wicked people on the planet. How and why did this happen? Because as Jesus said “They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8) They were hypocrites, they never truly loved God they loved the thought of God

Reading your Bible and going to Church are great things, but they mean nothing if your heart is still hardened. This is why Jesus said “Unless you are Born Again, you will not see the Kingdom of Heaven” (John 3:3) You can memorize scripture and do religious practices but do you truly love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? This is why James said “Faith without works is dead” (James 2) you can pretend to be a Christian, but what fruit are you producing? Jesus said “We will be known by our fruit” (Matthew 7) Often times your actions speak louder than your words

The religious leaders didn’t really love God, they loved the power, they loved the money, they loved the prestige that came with being a High Priest. They abused their authority, they preyed on the weak, they were wolves in sheeps clothing. We see this alot today in the Church also, many religious leaders falling into sin and being total hypocrites. Jesus said “Beware of the scribes”, this was a shocking message to his audience, they all respected and honored their authority. However these were the same men who killed the Son of God, so much for being righteous

So what does this all mean? Well first off , don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Just because there were corrupted leaders back then and today doesn’t mean everyone was or is corrupted. We still have Godly leaders in the Church today and there were some good Pharisees during Jesus times also. We just need to make sure what they are doing and saying is Biblical and not contrary to Gods nature and Law

Most important is our own self reflection, make sure that we ourselves are not hypocrites. If you spend any time on social media , you will run into alot of “Pharisees” , don’t be like these people, they are only bringing condemnation on themselves. Everything you do, do it all for the Glory of God and worship Him in Spirit and Truth, Amen

Luke 20- Son of God

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And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David’s son? And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son? Luke 20:41-44

The religious leaders continually challenged Jesus , as they often stated “How can God have a Son”? We still hear these arguments today from Jews and Muslims, how can God have a Son? Well Jesus answers the question, he provides a prophecy foretold by David in the Old Testament (Psalm 110:1) David prophesied “Yahweh said to My Lord” if you look at the original Hebrew of Psalm 110 , The LORD is translated from Yahweh. So in this prophecy God the Father is talking to God the Son

Now one thing to note here, the concept of the Triune God is not unknown to the Orthodox Jews. Here in this prophecy the Triune God interacts with each other. If this concept was completely foreign to the patriarchs of Israel , such as David, then this prophecy would have made no sense. Those who claim the Trinity is a creation of Roman paganism, don’t really know or understand the Old Testament. You only have to look at far as Genesis 1 to see the Triunity of God in creation, “Let US make man in OUR image “ (Genesis 1:26) God is not only the Father, if he were God the Father would be talking to himself.

A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies Psalm 110:1-2

Jesus pointed the religious leaders to Psalm 110 to understand he is the Messiah and the Son of God. As Jesus was pointing out David addresses God as Lord, how then can David be the Messiah or Son of God? Because we know he’s not, David was not talking about himself, but was prophesying about Jesus Christ. And we see the Messiah will come through Israel as Christ accomplished through Mary.

For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:34-36

Apostle Peter also preached about Psalm 110 by the Holy Spirit. He made it clear , David was not the Messiah, because he is dead and buried. Jesus is the Messiah and Lord of Lord, the same one who Israel crucified. None of this is Roman paganism or Greek mythology, this is straight from the Torah

Jesus proved to the religious leaders that He is the Messiah, He is the Lord, He is the Son of God. Yet the self proclaimed legal experts rejected and crucified him. Don’t harden your hearts like this world, let the Holy Spirit reveal to you Jesus is Lord and God , Amen!

Luke 20 – God of The Living

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Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him, Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children. And the second took her to wife, and he died childless. And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife. Luke 20:27-33

Again here we see Jesus being tested by the religious leaders, hoping to trap Christ into misspeaking or saying something that would contradict the Torah. However as they don’t seem to get, Jesus is the Son of God, he has all knowledge and power over everything, human wisdom will never outsmart God. And here we see them use a ridiculous scenario, a woman whose husband dies so she keeps getting remarried to their brothers because they keep dying. Now understand this law was meant to protect the widow, as women in that time period couldn’t work and support themselves. So the law was that the brother of the husband would support the woman as his wife. However the religious leaders took this example to the extreme and killed off 6 of the brothers

Now their trap for Jesus , was whose wife will be this woman when everyone gets resurrected. The interesting part of this is Jesus reveals a little bit about the afterlife. Also to demonstrate how insincere this question was, the Sadducess asked this question even though they didn’t believe in the resurrection. So it shows you they really didn’t care about a truthful answer, they were just looking to trap Jesus with a trick question.

And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. Luke 20:34-38

Jesus gives us some insight to the New Heavens and Earth, those who are resurrected in the afterlife will no longer marry and they are equal with the angels. It kind of gives us perspective on the purpose of marriage in this current world as a foundation of creation. But also shows us the afterlife will be alot different than this current fallen world. I think it shows us why the Bible is so adamant about the covenant of marriage and against sexual immorality

Jesus makes a profound statement here “He is not God of the dead, but of the living” for those who believe in “soul sleep” we don’t worship the God of the dead, we are alive in Christ forever. As the Apostle Paul said “To depart from the body is to be with The Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8) Those who believe they are going to become dust until the resurrection would have to contend with the words of Jesus Christ

Jesus reveals to us that we worship the God of the living and not the dead for those that are Children of God through Christ Amen!

Luke 20- Render to God and Country

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And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? Luke 20:20-22

Again we see the religious leaders trying to test and trap Jesus, but again their ignorance and pride makes them blind enough to think they can trick the Son of God. Not only did they try to trap Jesus with a theological question, but they used a more political subject to get the Jewish people on their side. The used the topic of taxes, as we know the Roman Empire oppressed the Jewish people by making them pay extremely high taxes and leaving mostly all of them in poverty or debt to Caesar

So they asked Jesus “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar”? Now the religious leaders believed they had Jesus trapped, if he answered Yes, then the Jewish people would revolt and turn on him. If he answered No, then the Roman Empire would throw Christ in prison. They believed they had a bullet proof plan to finally eliminate this Jesus of Nazareth

But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s.And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace. Luke 20:23-26

Jesus being the Son of God and Christ, he knew the hearts and minds of these wicked religious leaders, so he responded with a question “Whose image is on the denarius” A denarius was the Roman coin used during this time period typically for a day’s wage. The crowd of course answered Caesar’s image on the coin. Then Jesus responded “ Give to Caesar what is Caesars and give to God what is God’s” basically Jesus was saying “pay your taxes and pay your tithes”

This response was so perfect , nobody could come up with a response. It also shows us Gods sovereignty as he is the one who establishes governments and allows them to operate (Romans 13) We as Christians are to be good citizens, we are to obey laws when they don’t conflict with God’s moral law and pay our taxes. The religious leaders had no response for Jesus, so they held their peace. Again Jesus wins another theological round with the religious leaders.

Render to God and to Country, while we are here on Earth, we are to be the salt of the Earth, we are to live as good citizens. If the salt is no longer good, what use is there for it? (Matthew 5) With that said , we are also to “Obey God and not Man” (Acts 5:29) when it comes to issues that conflict with God’s moral Laws. Give to your country what belongs to your country and give to God what belongs to God Amen!

Luke 20- Parable of The Wicked Tenant

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Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him Luke 20:9-13

Today Jesus teaches us the parable of the wicked tenant, now here’s a spoiler alert, this parable is about Israel. The husbandmen or tenant is Israel, God gave them the land He promised to them and continued to send his servants/ prophets, but time and time again they beat or sometimes killed the prophets of God. This was confirmed by Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 23 “You are descendants of those who murdered the prophets” (Matthew 23:31)

So notice what God decided to finally do, He sent his only beloved Son, because He believed they would receive him. Now Israel claimed to be Children of God, however they didn’t even know the Son of God. As Jesus told them “You honor God with your lips, but your heart is far from him” (Matthew 15:8) Israel didn’t really love God or even know him, if they did , they wouldn’t have kill all God’s prophets and eventually kill the Messiah

But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Luke 20:14-18

We see alot going on here , first Jesus is prophesying about his death again. This is important because first the Messiah had to die to be the ransom for the sins of the world. But secondly , because it appeared nobody including the Apostles understood Jesus had to die for our sins. Even after Christ predicted this over and over again, the message wasn’t getting through to his followers

Next we see the prophecy of the New Covenant, as Jesus said in this parable “We shall give the vineyard to others” The Kingdom of God is now not just for Israel but also the Gentiles through Christ. This is why the cross was so important, by the blood of Christ we can become Children of God

The stone the builders rejected is the Chief corner stone, Jesus is the Chief Corner stone, Israel rejected their own Messiah, but there is no salvation without Jesus Christ, he is our rock and foundation, Amen!

Luke 20 – Jesus Challenged

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And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? Luke 20:1-4

All throughout Jesus’ ministry, he was challenged and tested by the religious leaders. The reality is, if these religious leaders actually knew God and the scriptures, then they would have known who Jesus is. But the truth is , the majority of the religious leaders hated Jesus, because he threatened their religious system and establishment. As Jesus said “You love God with your mouths but not your hearts (Matthew 15:8)

The religious leaders were hypocrites, and when they decided to challenge Jesus, he was going to show them how fake they are. The religious leaders asked Jesus “By what authority do you do these things”, remember the religious leaders accused Jesus of being possessed with a demon, so they were basically implying Jesus was working for Satan (Matthew 12:24)

So Jesus called them out “Was the baptism of John a calling from God or a tradition of men”? Now we know John the Baptist was a prophet, in fact Jesus called him the greatest of all prophets (Matthew 11:11) So again if these religious leaders really know God and the scriptures, then they should know if John is a true prophet

And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. Luke 20:5-8

Now Jesus is challenging the religious leaders, and they painted themselves in a corner. If they believe John the Baptist is a prophet, then why don’t they listen to him that Jesus is the Messiah. However if they deny John is a prophet, then they will be stoned to death by the people. The fact they remained silent leads me to believe they knew John was a prophet and Jesus is the Christ, however they still rejected Him!

Since the religious leaders refused to answer, then Jesus refused to answer the religious leaders any longer. This should be a reflection of our relationship with God also, are we being honest with our search for truth? Do we allow God to answer us or do we just hear what we want to hear?

Be careful who your “religious leaders” are, Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, He is our High Priest, the Living Word of God, no person overrides the authority of Christ Amen!

Luke 19- Cleansing The Temple

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And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him. Luke 19:45-48

Multiple times throughout Jesus’ ministry he “cleansed the temple”, Now again this is an event that has fulfillments of the past, present, and future. Again to understand the significance of this event, you need to understand the importance of the Temple. Before Christ, the Temple was the only place on Earth where God resided. It was a Holy Space filled with the Holy of Holies, it was the only place you could confess and sacrifice for your sin, because it was the only place that God dwelled with the people

However, much like today, the religious establishment corrupted the Temple. As Jesus said “You have made the Temple into a Den of Thieves” they corrupted this Holy Space and made it a marketplace to sell merchandise and make money. This is why during the “cleansing” Jesus flipped over the money tables and chased out all the merchants (John 2:14-17) Jesus wasn’t being rude, He was cleansing The Temple, he was removing sin from the Holy Space. And this is exactly Christ accomplished on the cross, paying the debt for our sins and purifying our temples

This event was prophesied by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:11) so again, Jesus was fulfilling more prophecy , but also Jesus prophesied “I will destroy this temple in 3 days and raise it up” (John 2:19) Now Jesus was actually prophesying about his death on the cross and his resurrection, however the religious leaders believed he was talking about destroying the physical Temple. However Jesus did prophecy about the physical temple being destroyed also, (Matthew 24:2) Jesus said “Not one stone will be left” and when Christ fulfilled his work on the cross, the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and was never rebuilt, even to this day as Jesus predicted.

The Apostle Paul then went on to teach us “You are the Temple of God and the Holy Spirit lives inside of You” (1 Corinthians 3:16-18) If you are Born Again in Christ and baptized by the Holy Spirit, God lives inside of You, and your body is now the Temple of God. It’s important to keep your body cleansed and purified of sin. Don’t allow your temple to become a “Den of Thieves” For through Christ we are a New Creation, Amen!

The Christ Child

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The years of silence are finally broken

The fulfillment of all the words the prophets have spoken

A messenger was first sent to prepare the way

To prepare us for Christ the Lord to be born on this day

When the time arrived the angels filled the sky

Glorifying God and proclaiming the battlecry

A Savior has been born this day to everyone

The shepherds went to Bethlehem to see what God has done

In the manger a baby wrapped in cloth is the sign

The virgin birth to the Christ child who is fully human and fully divine

The shepherds left sharing the good news the Christ has come

While the Gentile Kings journey where their from

Everyone bowed down and worshipped the newborn King

While angels filled the skies and continued to sing

Glory to God in the highest and peace on Earth

Salvation is possible now because of the Christ  child’s birth

The incarnation of a virgin, foretold long ago

This is the sign of  the Christ child, so we will all know

To be fully God and fully human, who can comprehend?

But the Kingdom of Jesus Christ  will never have an end

So on this day remember what has been done for all of us

Jesus became flesh to prepare a place for You in paradise

Christmas-Luke 2- The Sign

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And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. Luke 2:15-17

After the Shepherds received the “good news” from the angel, they immediately went to Bethlehem to see the Messiah. But how would they find the Messiah? Because the angel told them there is a sign, the sign is a baby lying in the manger. This is the same sign foretold to Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

The virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus in the manger is the sign of the Messiah, as foretold 700 years before Christ birth to Isaiah. Imagine how many must have pondered this prophecy for hundreds of years , trying to figure out its fulfillment, here it is the Christ has come!

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luke 2:18-20

How did the shepherds respond when they finally seen Jesus? They went out and told the world, they declared the good news (gospel) to everyone! How do we respond when we finally receive Christ? Do you tell the good news to everyone? The good news that salvation has finally come into the world and we can inherit eternal life and be a child of God? 

Notice it says “Mary pondered these things in her heart” Imagine what must be going through the mind of Mary at this moment. She gave birth to the Son of God in a stable, she has strangers visiting her and glorifying God, and she still has the worries and uncertainty of how they are going to raise Jesus and where to live. 

If the birth of Christ gives you hope and joy, why don’t you tell someone the good news today! These shepherds had no theological training or even any social status, but they know what they saw, they saw the sign from God, the Christ has come! Amen!