Bible Topics – Page 2 – What Does This Mean?

Jesus Faces Off With His Opponents

Encore Post: From Monday to Wednesday of Holy Week, Jesus taught in the temple. His opponents challenged him several times. He told parables against them and warned people about him. First, the priests asked by what authority he did the things he did. Jesus countered by asking them whether John the Baptist was from God. Because they would not answer, he would not either. (Matthew 21:23-27)

Jesus’ three parables were his last attempt to call his opponents to repentance. They were the Parable of the Two Sons, the Parable of the Wicked Vineyard Tenants and the Parable of the King’s Wedding Feast. The point of all three was that his opponents pretended to serve God but were really disobedient. (Matthew 21:28-22:14)

His opponents responded with several test questions: Should we pay taxes to Caesar? Who will be the husband of a woman in the resurrection who was married to seven brothers without having a child? What is the greatest commandment? His answers were so profound that they did not follow up. (Matthew 22:15-40)

He then posed a question to them: if Christ is David’s son, why does David call Christ Lord? They did not answer.

The majority of what Jesus taught that week, however, was about his second coming and eternity. In this way, he prepared his disciples for his approaching death. One on the evenings of this week in Bethany, Jesus’ friend Mary anointed him with expensive perfume for his coming burial.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Ride on, Ride on in Majesty

Encore Post: “It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish,” prophesied Joseph Caiaphas, the High Priest. (John 11:50) On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus had healed a blind man, performing a sign of the Messiah. A week before the first Palm Sunday, Jesus was at the Bethany home of his friends, Mary and Martha. The week before, in this bedroom community, he raised their brother Lazarus, who had been in the grave for four days.

This unmistakable sign of the Messiah was done before their own eyes and those of their relatives and friends. People flocked to see him and Lazarus. The priests feared Jesus was going to start a rebellion, proclaiming himself the Messiah. Caiaphas knew what would happen. Pilate would destroy the rebels and level the temple and the city. Rather, one man, this man who called himself the Son of God and the Messiah, would die instead of the people. They did not realize that was God’s will — for an entirely different reason.

The Sunday before Passover did not calm these fears but intensified them. Like David had done one thousand years earlier, he rides a donkey into Jerusalem along the road from Bethlehem. It ran through Bethany, Bethphage, through the Mount of Olives, across the Brook Kidron, into the city through a gate into the Temple. The people spread their coats and palm branches on the road before him, sang praises to God, and shouted, “Save now! Son of David” (Hosanna). Jesus not only did not discourage them but also accepted their praise. The leaders of the people united in their plans to kill Jesus. He was, in their minds, a blasphemer and a threat to them and to the nation.

What they missed was that Jesus the Messiah was not intent on earthly revolution, but to die for their sins and the sins of the world and rise again to open the tombs of all believers. He agreed with Caiaphas. For weeks, he had been warning his disciples that he “had to” suffer at their hands, be crucified, die, and on the third day rise. Throughout the week, he would remind them of it. With the hindsight of being on the other side of the resurrection, we remember these events and sing: “Ride on, ride on, in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die. Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain. Then take, O Christ, Thy power and reign.” (Henry H. Milman, Ride on, Ride on, in Majesty, stanza five)

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Holy Week Overview

Encore Post: On Palm Sunday, Jesus deliberately went to his death in Jerusalem. He could have called upon the countless armies of heaven to save Him, but He did not. Knowing full well what was ahead, He went willingly. Down the road used to bring the lambs for the Passover into Jerusalem, the Lamb of God went to the slaughter. Just as King David rode into the city on a donkey 1000 years earlier, Jesus chose a donkey as his mount. When the crowds acclaimed him Messiah, he received their greeting.

On Thursday evening, Jesus gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. They remembered the night when the Angel of Death passed over the doors of the people of Israel, marked by the blood of the lamb. That night, when he gave us the Lord’s Supper, Jesus became our Passover, giving us his body to eat in the bread and his blood to drink in the wine.

Later, he would be led to trial before the Sanhedrin, which met in the Temple of Solomon. Here, the Lamb of God was condemned to die. On the cross, when He said, “It is finished,” God completed the sacrifice for our sins.

What the women found when they arrived at the tomb the next Sunday morning changed everything. The stone was rolled away; the guards had run away, and an angel greeted them. “He is not here! He is risen!” Once it sank in, the disciples went from sadness to joy. For Christians, the day of worship shifted from the Sabbath to the Lord’s Day. The very people who ran away and hid for fear of arrest would face arrest, torture, and eventually death themselves to proclaim the good news of salvation because of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. Today we still proclaim the same good news. Now we were redeemed, forgiven, and restored to fellowship with God.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Lazarus, Come Out!

Encore Post: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, He often stayed with them in their home in Bethany, a little town two miles away. So, when Lazarus fell ill, it was personal, even more so because Jesus knew his friend would die. Jesus had raised some people from the dead. Yet the resurrection of Lazarus would be one of his greatest miracles and would set in motion the events leading to his suffering, death, and resurrection.

So, two weeks before his own resurrection, Jesus went to comfort his friends. He said the words that touch a chord in our hearts even today: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) Still, he grieved for his friend. Then, even though Lazarus had been dead for four days, Jesus ordered the tomb opened and called Lazarus back from the grave.

Previously, Jesus had raised several people from the dead. The resurrection of Lazarus was different because it occurred in close proximity to the priests’ homes. The Sadducees could ignore stories about Jesus as just fairy tales when they happened in Galilee. When their neighbors actually witnessed Lazarus coming back from the dead, they could not dismiss it.

When Caiaphas, the High Priest, heard about this miracle, he said, “It is better that one man die than the people.” He was right, even though he did not know why. From this moment on, the priests and the Pharisees planned to kill Jesus and Lazarus. A week later, Jesus would ride into Jerusalem amid lambs destined for sacrifice. With his death, he destroyed death, its angel passing over us forever.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

If it is God’s Will….

Encore Post:

[Forty-Three in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Why does God want us to pray for his will to be done? After all, God can do anything he wants to do. When he speaks, it is done. He loves us, cares for us, and wants only good for us. He promises to answer our prayer. Yet Jesus tells us to pray, “thy will be done.”

As with other aspects of God’s nature, the limits of our nature make the mystery of God’s will impossible to understand fully. God’s will will be done eventually, but in this world, it is often not done. We can choose to do things our own way. In this world, we often rebel against it. We sometimes do not understand why he allows evil to happen to us. Sometimes we do not even know what God wants us to do.

So, when we ask God for something that he does not promise to do unconditionally, we often pray “if it is your will.” This kind of prayer helps us to accept what God wants for us and trust it will be for our good. We have a good company. Jesus himself prays that way in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:42). Because he made the Father’s will his own, his sacrifice saved us. Now we pray that God will make his will our own will.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

And He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate

Encore Post:

[Twenty-Eighth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

You say it every time you confess the Apostles’ Creed, “And He suffered under Pontius Pilate,” but what does saying it convey?

Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor who had authority over the use of the death penalty. That is a historical fact. And it is important to show that faith in Jesus Christ, as recorded in Holy Scripture, is historical. We can look at the historical record and see a governor named Pilate who served in Judea, and it was this man who gave the Jews the go-ahead to crucify Jesus. This is extremely important to acknowledge, but there are some important theological implications of reciting Pilate’s name as well in the Creed.

We remember from Holy Scripture that Pilate desired to release Jesus because Jesus had done nothing wrong. Certainly, Jesus did nothing that required the judgment of death by crucifixion. Pilate judged rightly that the Jews were bringing Jesus to him because they were jealous of him and how the people chased after him.

However, Jesus was before him, and he had to pass judgment. Because of his position as governor, his judgment was as if God spoke the judgment: “I find no fault in him at all.” And that right there is of great theological importance. Pilate, as governor, goes on record to say that an innocent man dies for the sins of the people. That is the Gospel proclamation. The innocent man receives the punishment of death while the sinner goes free. While Pilate wanted to release Jesus, he was getting nowhere with the people. The priests and scribes had caused a riot to break out. Pilate, being afraid, gave Jesus over to them that they might crucify him.

And in so doing, Pilate allowed the Chief Priests and the Scribes of the Jews to actually fulfill their duties as those who would sacrifice the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Yet, Christ is the Victim and the Priest on this Good Friday at the altar of the Cross.

Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate. He was handed over to the ruthless Priests and Scribes for crucifixion, but facing the cross, Jesus did not blink, nor did he complain. But rather suffered under Pontius Pilate that we might be set free from the punishment of our sins and live with Him in everlasting life.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Jesus Rejected in Nazareth

Encore Post: Synagogues are like churches. They are places where Jews gather on the Sabbath (Saturday) to hear a passage from the Old Testament read, hear a sermon, and pray together. The Old Testament is read from a scroll instead of a book. Someone would help the reader take it out of a storage box called an ark, unwrap it, and roll the text to the place where he should start to read. Often, the people would sing while they did this.

When the reading was finished, it was put away until the next Sabbath. When a boy reached the age of twelve, he got to read it for the first time in an event called Bar Mitzvah, which means “Son of the Covenant.” If the reader were also a teacher, he would sit down and explain the reading.

This is what Jesus was doing when he returned to Nazareth. He read from Isaiah 61. This passage predicts the Messiah’s ministry to preach the Gospel and heal the sick. He announced that he was the Messiah.

The problem was that his neighbors and friends had a hard time believing he was the Messiah. He grew up in such a normal way that there was hardly anything for the Gospels to report for the first thirty years of his life. The contractor down the block is the Messiah — please! They wanted results! What’s in it for them? Nothing! Their lack of faith in Jesus meant he could not perform miracles at home.

On the day they tried to kill him, it failed. But it would not be long before Jesus went to Jerusalem. There he suffered and died for their sins, ours, and the sins of the entire world. When he rose from the dead, he set us all free. When he returns for us, then we will also be healed — not for a little while, but forever.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Two Greatest Commandments

Encore Post:

[Sixth post in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Because God loved us before he made the world (Ephesians 1:3-4), we love God and want to keep his commandments. But where do we start? The rabbis count 613 commandments in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible, written by Moses) alone! While they kept track of each one in great detail and invented traditions to be sure and keep them, they found it helpful to ask each rabbi for his opinion. “Which commandment is the greatest of them all?” became a common question disciples asked their teacher. So it is not a surprise that people discussed this question with Jesus several times. (Matthew 22:36, Mark 12:28, Luke 10:25-28)

Jesus taught that two commandments summarize the whole of God’s Law — “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:45 ESV) and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) In a sense, the second of the two commandments is contained in the first. Every command in the whole of the Scripture will be kept if you love God with your whole heart.

As sinners, we cannot do this perfectly, of course. But we can do some good works because God loved us first, sending Jesus to die so that we might be forgiven. By His Holy Spirit, God has created faith in our hearts, so that we can truly love Him. So, then, because God loves us, we also love our neighbor as ourselves and in the same way that we have been loved by God. (1 John 4:7-12)

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Wisemen, the Star and the Gifts

Encore Post: At Christmas time, we see them everywhere. The crèches — Nativity scenes — appear on lawns, in malls, under Christmas trees and especially in our churches. They are not only great decorations, but they are ways to tell the Christmas story to those who cannot read. In virtually all of them, there are three figures bearing gifts. They stand next to camels. Often they look like kings from the Middle Ages of Europe.

Yet these figures were not yet there on the night Jesus was born. Nor were they kings. They were scholars from Persia or Babylon, skilled in the study of the stars. No wonder the star got their attention. No one knows what the star was, but it appeared two years before they got to Bethlehem. They are in the stable because the Christian Church in the West celebrates their arrival on the twelfth night after Christmas. It makes it easier to explain what is happening on both holidays. You can read their story in Matthew 2.

The day that follows is called Epiphany — appearance. It is the first day of the Epiphany season, when the Church celebrates how Jesus revealed himself through his ministry in ancient Galilee and Judea. The church cherishes the Wisemen because they were the first Gentiles to worship Jesus.

The child Jesus did not remain small, however. Like every one of us, he grew up, learned his lessons, and worked with his father and brothers as a craftsman. Both God and his community were very pleased. Yet this is but the first way that Jesus earned our salvation. This season, watch for the other ways Jesus and his Heavenly Father reveal the rest of the story.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

What’s in a Name?

Encore Post: Our names are important to us. They are kind of shorthand for everything we are and have worked to build. They tell us which family we belong to and how close we are to the people who use it. At important times in our lives, our names change — when we get married, if we are appointed to an office, earn a degree or get married. Parents often take a lot of time deciding on the name to give to each of their children.

In the Hebrew culture of the Bible, names meant even more, if that it possible. They were thought to predict the kind of person the child would be. Often, people would change their names when life changed. Sometimes a name was given, along with the reason for its choice. Some of the most important people in God’s plan were named by God Himself.

On January 1st, the Lutheran Church traditionally celebrates the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. God Himself gave Jesus his name. The name is a form of the name Joshua, which means God saves. (Matthew 1:27) The angel told Joseph, “For he will save his people from their sins.” In one sense, we dedicate each new year in Jesus’ name. In another sense, God dedicates us in the name of Jesus.

In the circumcision of Jesus, God’s son began his suffering for our salvation. He lived a perfect life for our sake, suffered and died on the cross for our sake, rose again from the dead, and ascended into Heaven for our sake. In our baptism, God’s name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is given to us. We are now his children, and we will live with him forever. On the last day, Jesus will return for us. He truly is Jesus because he saves us from our sin.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana