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It's good to be back for a couple of weeks of devotional writing. I've gotten to preach a few places this summer and always love those opportunities. First at my wife's home church in Scottsburg, then at New Hope in Washington, and 2 weeks ago at Crossing Christian Church in Greenville. During this time, I sure appreciate those who have been writing devotionally for us and I hope you've had a chance to be encouraged by their heart and words. I'll be preaching in Brownstown the 17th & in Georgetown the 31st for two great guys who are in my pastor's finishing well group, Mitchell McIntyre and Chris Tanner. The 13 Lead Pastors in that group give me a lot of hope for this next generation of pastors and local churches! I remember all the encouragement that many older pastors would give to me through the years. The "shoe's just on the other foot" now and it's my turn to cheer them on! Let me give you a PREVIEW of these next few weeks. This week we return to a "daily approach" as we begin in the gospels, since we finished the "400 years of silence" between the old and New Testament last week. We'll look at Matthew and Mark in general terms this week, and the book of Luke the next week. After that, my good friend, Dave Colbert, who pastors the Memphis Christian Church will share a devotional on the gospel & writings of John. Then buckle up as "your friend & mine of Finishing Well", Dr. Neal Windham will expound upon 2 of his favorite books, Acts & Romans. Let me reiterate once again that my hope in all of this is "being a supplement to what you're doing in the life of your local church", whatever & wherever that might be. I hope the simple writing I'll try to give allows you to have a glance at a few lists, references & thought to remind you of the greatest story ever told... the redeeming efforts of a loving God who sent His Son to die in our place! So here we go, here we go, HERE WE GO! MONDAY..."a Brief Gospel Overview" If you're like me, sometimes you appreciate being reminded of what you "used to know". You still know it, it just gets covered up once in a while. We know the gospel is simply "the good news of Jesus", but we might need to be reminded there are a few distinctions that help to make it "memorable and accessible". I can't access what I can't recall & I seem to pull things up better that I can "label", if that makes sense. For instance, Matthew's theme is about Jesus being the MESSIAH. The gospel of Mark is all about Him being God's SERVANT. Luke writes about Jesus being the SON of MAN. And John's is about Him being the SON of GOD. I like to say that Matthew's writing was "to the Jews", Mark's was "to the point", Luke's was "to the world", & John's was "from a friend". Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz list in their book, "Knowing the Bible 101", the "condensed highlights" of the gospel as... "a Miracle in a Manager"...Luke 2 "a Sermon on a Hillside"... Matthew 5-7 "A Man of Miracles"... Matthew 8 "Final Words to His Friend... John 14 "In Court & on the Cross"...Mark 15 "Risen from the Dead & Headed Back to Heaven"...Matthew 28 I would've called the last part, "Up, Up and Away"!) So today as we start our week with Matthew & Mark, would you briefly look through your Bible, noticing the "paragraph headings" & familiarize yourself once again with the flow of events in the life of Jesus. Peter tells us that we need to be ready to "give an account of the hope that lies within us" as His followers. It doesn't mean we have to be the "Bible answer man or woman". But it does mean we need to be able to tell people who ask us, WHY we're a believer, HOW we became one, and why we STILL ARE one! Peter seems to imply to have your testimony ready and available, but "RESERVE it for those who REQUEST it". We need to be able to "put our faith into words", not just how we were taught, what we've always heard, or what we recently googled. So we drink daily from the fountain of Scripture that flows from the heart of God, so we might be more familiar and more able to verbalize that hope that lies within us. And the more we "handle" the WORD of God daily, the more the SPIRIT of God will "handle" us! So take a moment and look thru your Bible @those paragraph headings in Matthew & the sequence of these events... How Jesus came… How He lived… How He loved… How He left… He accomplished the most incredible redemptive effort on our behalf to make forgiveness & heaven possibilities for us all! So let's "Review with the Overview" in mind"... Praying it's a great day… Love you guys, gr TUESDAY..."the DISCIPLES..." At our age, relationships are pretty important. For some of us, we've stayed in touch with a few folks we grew up with. I get a kick out of talking with Sara Beth Tracey and Carol Burke in our finishing well fellowship who became close friends since childhood & REMAINED close friends! We all need "friends in the moment & friends through the years"! Jesus picked "followers who became friends". He said, "No longer do I call you servants but now I call you friends ". They became His friends & friends w/ONE ANOTHER, although at times, the latter was a challenge. Having 12 disciples was traditionally common for any Rabbi to choose in that day. The Rabbi always did the choosing, not the other way around. It was the number of men that was believed could listen & learn, model the leader's behavior, & carry the values & vision instilled in them to others. Jesus not only picked the 12 , but also appointed 3 of the 12 to be in an Inner Circle... Peter, James, & John. They got a little "post-game briefing" from time to time as well as a few special experiences, like on the Mount of Transfiguration. And of course, we all remember the disciple who defected, Judas Iscariot. He had a different agenda from Jesus', that appeared to force Jesus to declare a "political messiahship". So let's go ahead and list those 12 disciples who are familiar but sometimes forgettable. And there's always a few that go by an a.k.a. type of a nickname. Let's start with the Inner Circle… SIMON PETER ... probably the most famous and outspoken. Fisherman by trade with a brother named Andrew, who actually told him about Jesus first. Peter walked on water, cut off the ear of a servant during the arrest, denied knowing Jesus 3 times but later repented, and became one of the leaders of the early church. Jesus nicknamed him "the Rock", but not in the style of Dwayne Johnson the wrestler & actor. JAMES … was in the fishing business with his brother John, just as were Peter & Andrew. Nicknamed the "Sons of Thunder" (sounds like a tag team wrestling match). He & his brother had a Mom who was kind of a pushy stage mom. She was hoping Jesus will give both her boys seats in heaven on each side of Him, which apparently appeared to put Peter, Andrew and the other disciples further in the distance. James was rather hot-headed and in Luke 9 asked Jesus to "bring down fire from heaven" to burn down a Samaritan village that disrespected Jesus. James was also the first apostle to be killed in Acts 12. Now make sure to not confuse this James, who was the brother to John, with James, who wrote the short letter towards the end of the New Testament, who was Jesus's half brother. JOHN... while all the other disciples eventually died a martyr's death except Judas, it appears that his life sentence on the Isle of Patmos, delayed his death & prolonged his life so he could receive and record the Book of Revelation directly from Jesus. John was most likely executed in time though. And now we go beyond the inner circle… ANDREW...as Simon Peter's brother, he was kept in the loop, but also in the shadows. First of all he was a "bringer". He invited Peter to come listen to Jesus. It's a humble heart that seeks to help others find their spiritual way without drawing attention to themselves. Andrew also was the only one who could talk a little boy out of his lunch to bring to Jesus in His feeding of the 5000. PHILLIP ... now this guy was an early disciple of John the Baptist, just like Andrew. And Phillip was also a "bringer" type of person. It appears he brought Nathaniel to the Lord and later in John 12, Phillip and Andrew both introduce some curious Greeks to Jesus. An added note for Phillip in the book of Acts chapter 8, where he leads a tremendous revival in same area, remain sensitive to the movement of God's spirit and goes to a desert road to meet and reach Ethiopian before he heads back home, and also Phillip was noted for having four daughters who prophesied (preached) and proclaimed the word of the Lord. Not too shabby for long-term impact! BARTHOLOMEW ... here come the nicknames. He was also known as Nathaniel, and is the one who said the famous phrase about Jesus, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" in John chapter 1. Phillip was a convincing type of person and persuaded "Bart" to come and see for himself about Jesus. MATTHEW... primarily known for being a tax collector, this great apostle who wrote the Jewish-focused / Messiah-oriented Gospel was very sensitivity to the people of his spiritual heritage. His Hebrew name was Levi & he was analytical, skilled at math, & thick-skinned. He had to be since he was a Jew who worked for "the ethnical enemy", the Romans! Can you imagine Jesus choosing and possibly seating Matthew right next to Simon, the Zealot, a militant nationalist who despised "tax collectors" and any other Jew, who worked for the Romans? I think Jesus had to assign seating on occasion, put them next to each other and waited to see how they'd get along! Jesus had a way of helping people who followed Him, "get over themselves" as He turned their values toward heaven! THOMAS... known as a doubter, i've always felt sorry for this guy. He just has a legitimate question in John 14 when Jesus says that his disciples knew where he was going, and they also knew the way to get there. Thomas was uncertain about all of this, "in father's house are many mansions" language, and he knew if we don't know the exact location of where you're going Jesus, how in the world can we GPS it & navigate our way there? Of course he was also known for not being able to sign off on Jesus being raised from the dead w/o seeing the scars for himself. Jesus accommodated Thomas inviting him at a later appearance to touch His side & see His hands and feet, to which Thomas seemingly no longer needed to see or touch, but simply replied, "My Lord and my God". Then Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Thomas because you've seen and believed, but more blessed are those who have NOT seen and YET believe"! (Hey, that's you and me! How about that! Let's don't drop the ball!) JAMES... now this is another James. Very little is said about him except he's called the son of Alpheus.. THADDEUS... and this guy had another name that needed distinction. His name also was Judas, but not the Judas who betrayed Jesus. SIMON, the ZEALOT… as I mentioned earlier, this guy was a purist, wanting to protect Israel politically. So I'm thinking Jesus' words of His kingdom, "being not of this world, would've taken a while to sink in for this "passionate patriot". Most likely "Simon the Z" was packing heat (carrying a sword) which brought a different dynamic to the chemistry of these 12 disciples of a nonconforming Rabbi who soon would have more followers than you could shake a stick at! JUDAS ISCARIOT... what a shame. The Bible says that Satan entered Judas's heart at a final point before the betrayal. I've always tried to make a distinction between Judas's betrayal and Peters's denial. They are two different things. In my language, DENIAL is "letting Jesus down" while BETRAYAL is "setting Jesus up". Judas betrayed Jesus personally, but he also betrayed Him spiritually as he no longer respected the mission of Jesus & His sovereignty as a rabbi. Anytime we try to correct the Lord or improve upon His plan, it will not end well. Our daughter Rachel and I got to go to a Messianic Jewish worship service last Friday night that celebrated the anniversary of the "return of the good spies (Joshua & Caleb) from the promised land". Unfortunately, there were 10 other bad spies who did not trust the word the Lord & were intimidated by the people in the land of Canaan and spread their fear to their fellow Hebrew people, which led to a 40 year delay, letting their generation die off before crossing the Jordan River. It was a great message that reminded us when God says "TAKE THE LAND I'M GIVING YOU", don't be convinced that you need a feasibility study!! That's what happened. In the message, it was implied that Moses shouldn't have listened to the people to see if they could AFFORD to enter into this project or whether it was the most expedient or wisest thing to do. God's agenda is God's agenda and so is the plan and purpose of Jesus! Judas didn't regard that or hold it in high respect. He thought he knew better. He also had some character issues as the Bible says he used to pilfer in the money as he was the treasurer of the group. He also was embarrassed publicly and somewhat shamed when he resented the money, which in his opinion was wasted by the lady who lavishly anointed Jesus's feet. Judas condescended & even pontificated upon the disciples there & particularly Jesus & the lady, that the money "could've been used for the poor". I believe he was trying to "steer the ship", hoping that never would happen again so he could receive the financial benefit and most likely continue to "skim off the top" for himself! So those were the men that Jesus spent three years with. They saw him up close and he saw them up close. All but one went on to do great things for the kingdom of God. That's a pretty good percentage of retention and accomplished mission. Not everybody is gonna make the curve. One of the great quotes towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount is when Jesus said, "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but He who does the will of My Father". May we be His disciples who always remain committed to "His agenda over ours!" "Bless you today... & catch you tomorrow".... when we hone in on the "Messianic focus" of Matthew's gospel! WEDNESDAY..."the Gospel of Matthew...to the Jews" Has Matthew began recording gospel begin in the way that will get the attention of every Jewish person. He uses a genealogy. Long before ancestry.com the Jews had the corner on the market for genealogies. And not just any random lineage. This one went straight from Abraham w/14 generations until David, followed by 14 generations to the exile in Babylon, followed by 14 generations to the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. While Luke approached the account of the genealogy through Mary's family, Matthew approaches it thru Joseph's. I love lists and hopefully some of these will be helpful in referring back to. 1:1-4:25...Genealogy / Birth / Magi / Escape to Egypt / Return / John the Baptist / Baptism / Temptation / Preaching / 1st Disciples Called / Healing the Sick / Casting out Demons 5:1-18:35...Galilean Ministry begins which includes... 5:1-7:29...Sermon on the Mount 8:1-10:42...Ministry thru Miracles 11:1-13:52...Teaching thru Parables 13:53-16:12...Opposition & Withdrawal 16:13-18:35...Jesus as the Son of God 19:1-28:20...the Final Period begins, which includes the following.... 19:1-20:24...Facing Jerusalem 21:1-17...the Triumphal Entry 21:18-25:46...Jesus as the Teacher 26:1-27:66...His Trial, Death & Burial 28:1-20...Resurrection & Ascension Take just a moment before you pray today and look through these topics that are listed just above. Write something down that you can think of for each reference. For example… In the first four chapters, you might say I know there were three temptations Jesus faced. Or you might say I know Jesus's response to John the Baptist when he said it should be the other way around, you baptizing me, was let's fulfill all righteousness for now. Or for the triumphant entry, you may say I remember it was Jesus coming into town riding humbly on a young donkey with people laying down palm branches, and their cloaks and singing hosanna blessed to see who comes in the name of the Lord. For you diligent ones out there, you may say I know that that song was a plea for rescue and to save us. Some of you may recall associated with that account where the Pharisees ask Jesus to calm down the crowd, and he said if they don't shout out for me now, even the rocks will cry out! Test yourself just for a moment without looking at the Bible… Become a little more aware of what you know and what you can remember and perhaps you'll find you know more scripture that you think you do! Take it from here, my brothers and sisters of maturity and vintage perspective… You might wanna call a friend and share what you've recalled or even talk this over together… Love you guys and talk to you tomorrow gr THURSDAY..."Matthew's Messianic Assurance" The Jewish people were waiting for a Messiah… Actually since the Garden of Eden and Genesis 3:15, but certainly all throughout the time of the profits. There were great visuals. God gave them through the years. Experiences and memorable pictures. They had memories like Abraham and Isaac carrying "wood up a hill for a son to be sacrificed". Then there was the putting "blood on the door posts" on the night of the first Passover where a Lamb was killed and the people were saved from slavery. So Matthew makes a point to tie together a few of these affirmations that would assure the people, and their understanding of Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the savior of the world who fulfilled so many prophecies given to them throughout all Jewish history. Here are a few FULFILLED PREDICTIONS… 1... He mentions the Messiah's VIRGIN BIRTH. Matthew mentioned Mary's virginity in chapter 1 tying that fulfillment to the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 which says the virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel… God with us 2...He mentions the Messiah's BIRTHPLACE. In chapter 2 verse one, Matthew also indicates the place of Jesus's birth from Micah 5:2, which says, "Bur you, Oh Bethlehem Ephrathah are only a small village in Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you." 3...He mentions the Messiah's ACCLAMATION. In 2:1-12, the Wiseman enter the story, acknowledging the king ship, and Lord ship of the baby Jesus. 4...He mentions the Messiah's "FORERUNNER". In 3:1-12 John the Baptist lights it up and bills and on-ramp for the soon expected Messiah. He had to clear a rocky road after those 400 years of silence but did an awesome job. I love what Leonard Ravenhill says in his book, "Why Revival Tarries" years ago. He says people love to go listen to John the Baptist preach because "he left blisters on men's souls!" You go, John! Now that's a visual! 5...He mentions the Messiah's HOLINESS. During the temptation of Jesus in 4:1-11, Matthew records how Jesus remained holy though physically weak and vulnerable. Only the Messiah could withstand 40 days of fasting and going one on one with the devil, face-to-face! His response to each temptation was always Scripture. Always Scripture. Always and only Scripture! 6...He mentions the Messiah's WISDOM. With all due respect to Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg address as well as Martin Luther King and his I have a dream speech… The sermon on the mountain is the most incredible collection in three chapters of the heart of God & the wisdom of God so eloquently presented by the Son of God! Every topic you've ever thought it was addressed! Jesus took the crowd into the future by bringing them back to the past, and God's original intent on holy living, unselfish behavior, counter, intuitive values, the most profound… "You've heard it said, don't commit this sin, but I tell you don't even sin within your heart, because that is where it all begins!" "Smokin' Joe from Kokomo!" Jesus nailed every opportunity to confront the Jewish people who had wandered so far from the wisdom of God by substituting their own… Not unlike our culture today! 7...He mentions the Messiah's POWER. In chapters 8 through 10 Matthew relates so many miracles performed by Jesus, which gave credibility to his claims of Messiahship. He cured leprosy, healed, a paralyzed man, & restored site to the blind. Exhibit A, B, C, and all the way through the alphabet of demonstrating the PROOF of who He was, and who sent Him! 8...He mentions the Messiah's REJECTION. Yet people refused to believe in Him. For the religious leaders, their positions of power were threatened by His teaching against hypocrisy. And in Matthew 13, Jesus, quotes Isaiah 6, which says, "you'll hear My words, but you won't understand… You'll see what I do, but you won't perceive it's meaning… For the hearts of these people are hardened and their ears can't hear and they have closed their eyes… So their eyes can't see, their ears can't hear, their hearts can't understand and they can't turn to me and let Me heal them". 9...He mentions the Messiah's SACRIFICIAL DEATH. The description of the arrest in crucifixion contains such detail. All the events aligned with prophecy in the Old Testament, like riding in on a young donkey in Matthew 21 which was predicted in Zachariah chapter 9. The treachery of Judas was from Psalm 41:9 and the 30 pieces of silver for the betrayal correlates with Zachariah 11:12-13, which was accurately identified in Matthew 26. 10...He mentions the Messiah's ULTIMATE PROOF. Matthew's gospel ends in chapter 28, as he records the words of Jesus saying, "All authority in heaven & on earth have been given to Me". With that He gives us what has been affectionally called "the great commission", which is to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the things I have commanded you." Today, I pray you and I can reflect on these simple mentions and affirmations of Jesus as "the way, truth & life" as He is the exclusive narrow road, and only means by which we can be saved. It is Him & Him alone who we must follow, believe in, & entrust ourselves to. May it be a great day as we attempt to live a life of joyful surrender to the One whose whole mission was to come us & all those who might believe to heaven one day! FRIDAY..."the Gospel of Mark…to the Point!" I'm reminded of the retired preacher who went 15 minutes over the allotted time for him to speak on most every sermon in that season of his life. When asked why he couldn't "land the plane on time", he simply said, I would gladly quit talking sooner, but every story I PLANNED to tell from the Bible, reminds me of another one I WANT to tell!" I get that. I fully identify as you can tell in my devotional writing that I'm not sure where to draw the line, which is why I seem to lean towards five day devotionals (Monday through Friday) with a little different focus or approach to the same theme or topic. And that's why I love the gospel of Mark. He gets to the point. He covers what needs to be covered and some of you may or may not know that his gospel was the first one to be recorded. He wasn't one of the 12, but he had access to all those experiences. His first mission trip didn't go so well as Barnabas is relative he caved in when he saw Paul nearly stoned to death and cut his mission trip short. But he bounced back. Not with Paul's help, but with Barnabas's mentoring most likely. Paul did come around and encouraged Mark later in life and acknowledged his great accomplishment. And honestly one of the things "John Mark" did (which was his full name) did turn in his homework in before anyone else! The gospel of Mark is the first recorded gospel. He didn't tell every little detail. But he was writing prompted by the Holy Spirit to get this in print before Matthew focused on the messianic part of Jesus and before Luke focused on the great salvation, offered to all humanity, Jew and Gentile alike in his recording of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark had a great "economy of words". He didn't cover Christmas, he began with the beginning of Jesus's ministry, which had an on-ramp of that beloved "voice of one crying in the wilderness", John the Baptist. Let's take a brief look at the highlights and divisions of his gospel... 1:1-13... His Baptism & Temptation 1:14-8:26...His Healing & Teaching 8:27-10:45...Jesus & His Disciples 10:46-13:37...Jericho & Jerusalem 14:1-16:47...His Passion & Death 16:1-20...His Resurrection & Followers I know we're pretty familiar with the basics of the gospel and the sequence that happens… And Mark keeps it as simple as any other gospels. But here are a few things that he mentions that make his account unique from the other others 1.....He mentioned that Jesus himself was a CARPENTER, while Matthew refers to him as the son of a carpenter. 2.....Mark alone mentions Jesus's SISTERS by name. 3.... He mentions with some Bible teachers call the MECHANIC SECRET, which was not expressed in the other gospels as He asked individuals to keep His identity as the Messiah "under wraps". 4.....In chapter 8 he mentions the healing of a blind man in 2 STAGES, which is a detail left out in the parallel accounts of Matthew and Luke. 5... He uses the phrase, "The SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN, not man for the Sabbath" in 2:27, which is unique to his gospel. 6...Mark appears to explain JEWISH CUSTOMS frequently for the benefit of a largely Gentile audience, which was unlike Matthew and Luke who assumed their list crowd would already be very familiar with those practices. 7... HE uses ARAMAIC WORDS AND PHRASES more frequently than the other gospels and many times without translating them. 8...While Matthew and Luke give more "accounts" of what happened, Mark seems to provide more DETAILS & VIVID DESCRIPTIONS within the individual stories. 9...Mark emphasize DEEDS OVER WORDS, which is consistent with his focus of Jesus being the great Servant God. Matthew and Luke focus on Jesus's teachings and discourses while Mark highlights the actions and miracles of the Lord. Those are just a few things to think about as we reflect on how God used each different person, carried by the Holy Spirit, to record the words from the heart of God that we affectionately call the HOLY SCRIPTURES! May the Lord make me a little more like Mark in getting to the point in my life! I pray it's been a good week focusing on these two initial gospels. I'm looking forward to diving in with Luke's account with you next week. I'm reminded of Romans 1:16, which says, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel, because it's the power of God, for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew and then for the Gentile." May the gospel be in our minds & hearts and on our lips as we live the days God has given us here together! Love you Finishing Well Friends, george
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