Tag: Son of man
Preparing the way!
Scripture reading for March 13th: Luke 1:1-25, Psalm 56:1-13, Proverbs 11:8
Luke was a Greek doctor who became a follower of Jesus Christ. He wrote a detailed account of the life of Jesus that we now know as the Gospel of Luke. He followed this with Acts, a history of the early church from Pentecost through the spread of the Gospel to Rome by the Apostle Paul. Luke’s theme in his Gospel was: “Jesus the Son of Man”. (Luke 3:23-37) Luke knew mans physical needs from his life work. He wrote about the One who could heal not only bodies, but broken souls as well!
Luke begins his account with the supernatural announcement of a coming pregnancy and birth to a couple who had been barren but prayed for a child. Zechariah was a Levite who served in the temple and his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. They had served faithfully and were getting older. Zechariah was chosen by lot to offer incense before the Lord at the Altar of Incense in the temple. As he was performing this duty, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and spoke. “Do not be afraid, Zechariah: you prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous–to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Repentance prepares the way for Christ’s grace and rule! Without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sin. At that time, the world was filled with broken families, dead religion, and disobedience to the Lord. The first step back to God was awakening the people’s hearts to their desperate need to turn back to God. There is the same need today. Jesus is coming soon! Are you ready to see Him?
Silent before accusers!
Scripture reading for March 10th: Mark 14:53-72, Psalms 53:1-6, Proverbs 11:4
Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane by Judas with a kiss. The soldiers and religious leaders took Him off to bring Him before the high priest and elders of the Sanhedrin. They were looking for evidence against Jesus to put Him to death. It was not that they had evidence already, because all their attempts to catch Him had failed. Their law said that for offenses leading to the death penalty, two or three witnesses must testify and agree. They found false witnesses but their testimony did not agree! (Mark 14:55-59)
“Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.” (Mark 14:60-61) Jesus knew the high priest’s tactic was to get Him to incriminate Himself. He also knew the Scripture which told that Messiah would remain silent before His accusers. (Isaiah 53:7)
Peter later remembered this incident as well when he wrote, “When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” (1st Peter 2:23) Peter used this to encourage those in the church who were suffering for their faith. He knew that God was their defender as He had vindicated Jesus by resurrection from the dead!
“Again the high priest asked Him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”” (Mark 14:61b-62) Jesus could not tell a lie. He answered truthfully and gave a powerful revelation of His authority and coming glory! This should have caused those who were questioning Him to stop and ponder this. They had seen and heard about His miracles. He had fed thousands, healed countless sick people, cast out demons, and even raised the dead. His teaching was like no other!
But this statement was the one that these religious leaders jumped on to condemn Him! They chose to reject the truth and believe a lie for their own murderous plan to succeed. (2nd Thessalonians 2:10-12) In doing so, God would work His plan to show mercy to all who would believe the truth!
Who can forgive sins?
Scripture reading for October 13th: Mark 1-3
Mark’s Gospel is concise and active. It is alive with the Good News of God here with us and in love with us. This revelation is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man! Mark wastes little time with preliminaries of the Jewish history of the Christ and prophesies of His birth. He gets right down to the action of Jesus living among His people and loving them by teaching, healing, and casting out devils. He ate with the people and told them stories that opened up for them the kingdom of heaven and their own need for a relationship with the Father.
In Capernaum, a crowd gathered around a house where Jesus was preaching. A group of men brought a friend who was paralyzed to Jesus for healing. Because of the crowd there was no way to get him inside so they carried him up on the roof. They opened a hole big enough to let the man down and lowered him into the room.
When Jesus saw the faith of the friends, He immediately responded to the man by saying: “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5) This caused some religious leaders who were present to begin to think about how wrong this statement was to come from a mere man. After all, only God could forgive sins! (Mark 2:7)
Jesus immediately understood their thoughts and sought to help them believe. He asked them why they were thinking these things and asked them which was easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven” or “Get up, take up your bed and walk”? In order to remove their objection, he told the man to get up, take up his bed, and walk. This the man did to the amazement of the crowd!
This story should motivate us to seek Jesus for answers to whatever problems we face. Jesus honors faith and no problem is too hard for Him. We may not have faith ourselves, but believing friends can bring us to Jesus. What friend do you know that needs help today to get to Jesus? Take a few minutes of your day to pray for him. As the Lord leads, get another friend or two and go and lift him to Jesus together! Miracles are waiting for those who break through! He truly is God!
Who Can Forgive Sins?
Scripture reading for October 15th: Mark 1-3
Mark’s Gospel is concise and active. It is alive with the Good News of God here with us and in love with us. This revelation is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man! Mark wastes little time with preliminaries of the Jewish history of the Christ and prophesies of His birth. He gets right down to the action of Jesus living among His people and loving and serving them by teaching, healing, and casting out devils. He ate with the people and told them stories that opened up for them the kingdom of heaven and their own need for a relationship with the Father. One story of a healing is the subject of our study today.
As a result of a spectacular healing of a man with leprosy, people were coming from everywhere to find the man who could bring these miraculous results. Crowds gathered wherever Jesus went. He returned to Capernaum where he had done miracles and a crowd quickly gathered. There were so many that people were crowded around the house to hear Him preach the word. A group of men brought a friend who was paralyzed to Jesus for healing. Because of the crowd, there was no way to get him inside, so they carried him up on the roof. They opened a hole big enough to let the man down and lowered him into the room.
When Jesus saw the faith of the friends, He immediately responded to the man by saying: “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5) This caused some religious leaders who were present to begin to think about how wrong this statement was to come from a mere man. After all, only God could forgive sins! (Mark 2:7)
Jesus had immediate understanding of their thoughts and sought to help them believe. He asked them why they were thinking these things and asked them which was easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven” or “Get up, take up your bed and walk”? In order to remove their objection, he told the man to get up, take up his bed, and walk. This the man did to the amazement of the crowd!
This story should help us to see how faith should motivate us to seek Jesus for answers to whatever problems we face. Jesus honors faith and no problem is too hard for Him. We may not have faith ourselves, but believing friends can also be a great blessing by taking us to Jesus. The obstacles must be pushed or broken through so we are not discouraged or denied! What friend do you know that needs help today to get to Jesus? Take a few minutes of your day to pray for him. As the Lord leads, get another friend or two and go and lift him to Jesus together! What a joy to delight Jesus with your faith! What a blessing faith-filled friends are! Miracles are waiting for those who break through! He truly is God!
The likeness of the Glory of God!
Scripture reading for August 19th: Ezekiel 1-6s
When a priest turned 30, he began his full time ministry. Ezekiel had just turned 30 years of age and he was a priest. He had been taken into captivity and was in Babylon with a group of exiles which included Daniel and his friends. They evidently met by the Kebar River to have their Sabbath observances and feast days and while they were meeting, God by His grace opened the heavens and gave Ezekiel a vision of God that changed his life and gave him direction and focus. He was called by God to go to his people and give them God’s word. He was warned by the Lord that God’s people were rebellious, obstinate and stubborn. (Ezekiel 2:1-4) His responsibility was to give them the word of God.
The vision that Ezekiel saw of the throne of God was spectacular. It began with a windstorm coming from the north with a towering thundercloud and flashing lightning and fire in the center. As it got closer, Ezekiel could see four living creatures. (Ezekiel 1:4-9) These creatures had the form of a man but they had four faces and feet like a calf and four wings with hands underneath. They glowed like bronze and the faces were that of an eagle, ox, lion and man. Below on the ground, there was a wheel that sparkled and had another intersecting wheel. These wheels were full of eyes on the rim and enabled the creatures to move in all directions as the Spirit moved them. When these creatures with the wheels moved, there was a sound like that of roaring waters, like the voice of God.
As Ezekiel looked he noticed a glowing throne of sapphire above the creatures and on the throne was a figure like that of a man. He was glowing with fire and brilliant light surrounded Him. This light looked like a rainbow and glowed with radiance! (Ezekiel 1:26-28) This figure had the “likeness of the Glory of God”! When Ezekiel saw it he evidently fell to the ground in awe, for the Lord later stood him up to talk with him. He was overcome by the likeness of God’s glory!
No man has seen God and lived. The Scripture states that sinful man would die if he could see the full radiance of His Glory. God grants some men grace to see a glimpse of His glory. Remember Moses was hidden by God in the cleft of the rock and was allowed to see His backside. (Exodus 33:18-20) Now God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to show mankind the Glory of God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The gift of the Holy Spirit enables us to have the Glory of God revealed to us by the Spirit. We are being transformed by that grace gift with ever increasing glory! (2nd Corinthians 3:18) When Jesus Christ appears and the trumpet blows, we will be instantly transformed into a glorious body, like His glorious body! (1st Thessalonians 4:16-18) We now carry the “likeness of the Glory of God”! Think about that and rejoice!