Christology – Page 8 – What Does This Mean?

Baptism of Jesus

[Fifty-seventh in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: On the First Sunday after Epiphany, the Church celebrates the day that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.(Matthew 3:13-17) The baptism that John performed was for the forgiveness of sins, so it puzzled John. Why would the sinless Son of God need to be baptized? Jesus told him it was “fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) Like the scapegoat and the Passover Lamb of the Old Testament, John called him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. “(John 1:29)

So, when we go into the waters of Holy Baptism, Jesus washes away our sins (Ephesians 5:26-27). These sins he took upon himself at his baptism and carried them to the cross. When he died, we died to our old life. When he rose, we rose with him to new life. Our sins were forgiven, and we need sin no more. (Romans 6:3-11)

When Jesus came out of the water, God the Father spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) The Holy Spirit also appeared in the form of a dove that landed on Jesus. An appearance of God in this world is called a theophany. At the Baptism of Jesus, all three persons of the Trinity appear in our world. In the readings for the Church Year, the season of Epiphany begins with this theophany and concludes by celebrating another — the Transfiguration.

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 Holy Family Moves to Egypt

[Fifty-Third in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: King Herod the Great is a figure that the Jews have mixed feelings about. He was not Jewish, although his family converted to Judaism and he was raised in that faith. He ruled because the Romans appointed him King of the Jews. He adopted a Graeco-Roman lifestyle. In many ways, he represented everything they hated.

Yet Herod built many things that improved the lives of the Jews greatly, including its only Mediterranean port — Caesarea Maritima. His most important project was the rebuilding of the temple into its most glorious form. He was also ruthless. He killed anyone he even imagined threatened his throne, including his sons and his favorite wife. A joke going around Rome at the time was that it was better to be Herod’s pig than his son. It takes little imagination to believe that he killed all the young males in Bethlehem.

It is no wonder, then, that the arrival of the wise men from Persia upset Jerusalem, asking for the newborn King of the Jews. The talk of the Messiah was a real problem for him. This kind of thing could provide a focus for those who would rebel against him and Rome. His offer to worship the young child rings hollow to anyone who knew him.

Matthew tells us that the wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. Ancient wisdom valued dreams, and so they paid attention to them. For Joseph, a man named after the most famous interpreter of dreams in the Bible, the appearance of an angel in a dream for a second time moved him to act. He quickly took his family to Egypt.

A Jewish family moving to Egypt was not unusual. For centuries, the Greek rulers of Egypt were patrons of the Jewish people. Legend tells us that the second such king had commissioned the Septuagint — the Greek translation of the Bible used by Jesus and his disciples. A larger Jewish population lived in Alexandria at that time than in Jerusalem. As it turned out, they didn’t have to stay long. Herod died just a few months after he killed the innocent boys of Bethlehem. Matthew tells us the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt fulfilled the prophecy that Jesus’ life would repeat the history of the people of Israel in one person.

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

Luke’s Musical

[Fifty-Second in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: St. Luke wrote his Gospel and the Book of Acts in polished, carefully constructed Greek. The introductions to both books are written in well-balanced, formal language, reminiscent of the best of ancient classical history. But when he begins the story of Jesus, he writes in the Greek of the Septuagint — the translation of the Old Testament read in the synagogues where Jesus and his disciples grew up. It would be like reading a novel that starts in New York, written with a Brooklyn accent, and, when the scene changes to Dallas, it speaks with a Texas twang and vocabulary.

As Luke weaves the story, he recalls several canticles — New Testament psalms, really — sung by various persons in it. The result is much like a modern musical. The Church picked up on this. We sing them in worship and have done so for over 1,600 years.

Called by the first few words of these songs in Latin, they are:

Mary’s song, the Magnificat. We sing it during Vespers.

Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus, is sung in morning services.

The Christmas Angel’s song, the Gloria, is sung in the Divine Service when the Lord’s Supper is served.

And Simeon’s Song, the Nunc Dimittis, is also sung during Divine Service.

These songs of joy, celebrating the births of the Messiah and the prophet who announced him, are now our songs, too, not just at Christmas, but the whole year.

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 Presentation of our Lord

[Fiftieth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Childbirth was an exciting and frightening event at the time of Jesus. Many children and their mothers died soon after birth. When both mother and child survived the ordeal, God’s law required male children to be circumcised on the eighth day following their birth. After forty days, when the greatest danger to the life of the mother and the child had passed, they were to present themselves at the temple to make a sacrifice. For the woman, this sacrifice made her clean again and allowed her to return to worship God.

During the time of Jesus, rabbis gathered in the temple in the court of the women, the closest to the Holy of Holies, a woman was allowed to go. They would take each child in their arms and bless them. It was thus that the Holy Spirit directed Simeon to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. The Spirit revealed to Simeon that Jesus was the coming Messiah. By the prophecy given to him, Simeon pointed to Jesus’ mission to save both Jews and Gentiles, as well as to the cross. Simeon’s song of joy is still sung by the church in worship.

Anna was a prophetess, like Miriam and Deborah, one of the very few women God used to speak to His people. She likely served in the temple to assist with various tasks. In her devotion to God, she also saw Jesus and had the privilege of telling everyone that the Messiah had come.

On February 2, the Church celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the temple and the singing of Simeon’s song, known as the Nunc Dimittis. We also sing this song every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

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

Mary and the Angel

[Forty-Seventh in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: In the small town of Nazareth, not far from the Sea of Galilee, the Angel Gabriel appeared a second time. He visited a young girl, likely about twelve to fourteen years old. Mary of Nazareth was preparing for her marriage. Her parents and Joseph’s parents had likely arranged their wedding years before.

Like all the Jewish families in the area, her ancestors had settled there when God’s people won their independence from the Greek rulers of Syria about one hundred and fifty years before. They were from David’s town of Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, and were descended from King David. She was related to Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah, to whom Gabriel had appeared just six months earlier.

Just as startled as Zechariah was, Mary responded very differently. The elderly priest had doubted God’s word sent by his messenger. If anything, the message she received was even harder to believe. She was a virgin, and she knew what everyone knew — it takes a man and a woman to conceive a baby. However, she did not doubt the word of God’s angel. She didn’t even ask why. She asked how. When told the Holy Spirit would cast his shadow over her, as he did in the beginning, over the face of the deep, she consented. “I am God’s slave,” she said. “Let it be.” And it was. The eternal Son, God of God, Light of Light, became a baby in her womb.

She would treasure this visit in her heart. She would need that strength. Hard days lay ahead. Her Joseph would doubt. Wouldn’t you if your beloved said, “Good news! We will have a baby. No, obviously, he’s not yours. He’s God’s son. An angel told me!” He would plan to divorce her until an angel appeared to him. A Jewish man named Joseph knew better than to doubt dreams!

Yet it meant the first-century equivalent of a shotgun wedding, whispered gossip in the shadows, a quick visit to cousin Elizabeth until everything calmed down, and long, uncomfortable walks while very pregnant. Yet, God’s word was enough for her. She was blessed to bear and raise God’s Son. He would suffer and die while she watched. Yet she knew what his name meant: he would save his people from their sins. She would indeed be blessed — and honored by God’s people as the Mother of God himself.

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

Angel in the Temple

[Forty-Sixth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Four hundred years had passed since the prophet Malachi spoke to God’s people. God had been silent all those years, but had not been idle. Now, an elderly priest named Zechariah was chosen to burn incense in the Holy Place of the temple, right outside the Holy of Holies. The angel Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God himself, appeared to Zechariah to announce the miraculous birth of a son. He was to be named John (God’s gift) and would fulfill Malachi’s last prophecy to send a herald to prepare the way of the Messiah. The last time this angel appeared, he brought dreams to Daniel.

You’d think Zechariah, who should have known better, would accept the news that he would have a son with joy. Yet that, like Abraham, he would have a child in his old age, when he was barren, was too much. Gabriel punished him by taking his voice until the day his son was to be circumcised.

When John was born, his relatives asked Zechariah what name to give his son. Zechariah wrote on a Roman wax tablet, “His name is John.” Then the silence of God was broken. Zechariah prophesied about the coming salvation and the role his son would play in it. We sing this prophecy in the liturgy of morning prayer. It is called the Benedictus. This old priest was, therefore, the second-to-last prophet of the Old Testament. His son, who we know as John the Baptist, would be the last and greatest.

John the Baptist had almost all the credentials to be the Messiah. His father was a priest, descended from Aaron. His mother was related to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and so descended from King David. Gabriel the Archangel announced his birth in the temple, while his father was offering prayers on behalf of the people to God. Both of his parents were very old, like Abraham and Sarah, and barren, like Hannah, the mother of Samuel. God named him in the same way he named Isaac and changed Jacob’s name to Israel. The angel announced he would come in the spirit and power of Elijah, one of the greatest prophets. Yet from the very start, he and his parents understood John was not the Messiah, but the one who would reveal him to the world and prepare the way for him.

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

Zeus in the Holy of Holies

Encore Post: The Jewish people prospered under the rule of Ptolemy and his descendants in Egypt. For a while, they ruled Palestine and more or less allowed the Jews to govern themselves. However, the Ptolemies lost Palestine in a war with the Seleucids — descendants of the Greek ruler of Syria, Babylon, and Persia. At first, the Seleucids continued the policy of the Ptolemies. However, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes decided to unify his empire under Greek culture.

Antiochus intervened in a civil war between Hellenizing Jews (those who favored adopting Greek culture) and traditional Jews, who favored obedience to the law of God. He outlawed Judaism and enforced it with severe persecution. He executed women who allowed their sons to be circumcised, forced Jews to sacrifice to Greek gods and take part in their festivals, and forced the eating of unclean foods. The last straw for the Jews, however, was when he erected an altar to Zeus in the Holy of Holies in the temple, sacrificed pigs to it, and brought temple prostitution into it.

The Jews rebelled under the direction of the priest Matthias and his sons, Judas and Simon. They became known by the nickname Maccabees (“hammer”), and the story of the war of independence they fought is told in the apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees. The festival of Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the temple after it had been cleansed of the pagan altars and sacrifices by the Maccabees.

For one hundred years, more or less, the Jews ruled themselves under the descendants of Matthias, known as the Hasmoneans. They gained neighboring territories, including the Galilee. Jews from Judea, including towns like Bethlehem, resettled these areas. Likely, the great-grandparents and grandparents of Mary and Joseph were among them.

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

Note: This series of blog posts is available as a Kindle book and eventually as a print booklet at: Amazon.com: Preparation for the Gospel. Please note the author makes a small profit on the sale of this book.

Prophets Told of Jesus Coming

[Forty-Fourth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: A prophet is someone who speaks for God. In the Old Testament, God called many individuals to serve as His voice among the people of Israel. While we think of a prophet as someone who predicts the future, a prophet mostly preached to God’s people, calling them to repentance and bringing a word of comfort to them. Occasionally, a few prophets would see into the future and tell God’s people what God was going to do.

Just as God raised up prophets to speak His Word to Israel, so He now calls pastors to proclaim that same Word to His Church. The pastoral office doesn’t deal in visions or predictions, but in the faithful preaching of Christ crucified, the administering of His sacraments, and the shepherding of souls through Law and Gospel. Like the prophets, the pastor is sent—not to offer his own insights, but to speak what God has already spoken in his word. His task is to call sinners to repentance, to comfort the weary with the promises of Christ, and to point always to the One who is both the message and the Messenger. In this way, the pulpit becomes a kind of prophetic post—not by new revelation, but by the Spirit’s ongoing work through the Word of God.

According to the prophets, the Messiah would be a descendant of Eve, whom Satan would kill, but who would defeat Satan. (Genesis 3:15) He would be born of a virgin. (Isaiah 7:14) In Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), the Messiah would be a descendant of David and would be called God (Isaiah 9:6). He would be crucified as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53:4-12)

As important as the prophets were, Jesus is greater than all of them. He was a prophet like Moses. (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) The writer of Hebrews tells us that “in many and various ways, God spoke in ancient times through the prophets, but now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.” Prophets spoke the word of God, but Jesus was the Word of God. When we hear Jesus, we hear the Father; when we see Jesus, we see the Father. When we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus.

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

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Three Men in the Furnace — or is it Four?

[Thirty-ninth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Ancient peoples looked upon their leaders as lesser gods, worthy of worship. They built statues to honor themselves and required all people to worship them. This practice continued even in Roman times, to the pagan Caesars. It was seen as a patriotic act, similar to reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and saluting the flag. From time to time, kings would enforce public worship of their statues or the statues of their gods to test the loyalty of their subjects.

For Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, loyalty to God was more important than their own lives. They trusted God could deliver them and placed full trust in Him. Yet they were prepared for God to take them to His side instead. God sent his Son as the Angel of the Lord to protect his servants in the fire. The writer of the book of Hebrews included these men in the great chapter on faith. (Hebrews 11:32-34) Christian martyrs throughout the centuries looked up to these men for inspiration when called to choose between God and country.

Faith is trusting God to keep his promises. It holds on to the fact that God kept the most important of his promises to his people in the Old Testament. In the person of the Son of God, he became a man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect life for us, suffered and died at the hands of a pagan government, rose again from the grave, and ascended to heaven. Because he has done these things, we are certain that he will keep the rest of his promises — to bring us to be with him forever when we die and raise us from the grave on the last day. It is that faith that sustained Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, their friend Daniel, and all the martyrs for the faith who obeyed God rather than man. With them numbered may we be, here and in eternity.

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

King Hezekiah Celebrates Passover

[Thirty-Fifth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Every year, Jewish people celebrate Passover. This festival remembers the time when God freed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and led them through the Red Sea to safety. It recalls the night when God commanded their ancestors to sacrifice a lamb, place its blood on their doorposts, roast and eat the lamb with unleavened bread, and prepare to leave Egypt. That evening, God sent the Angel of Death through the land to kill the firstborn son of every Egyptian, from the Pharaoh to the lowest slave. When the angel saw the blood on the doorpost, he passed over the home.

When the father of King Hezekiah died and he became king of Judah, he resolved to restore the worship of God according to the traditions of his ancestors, David and Solomon. (2 Chronicles 29-30) His father had neglected the worship of God and allowed the people to worship the gods of other nations. King Hezekiah ordered the priests and Levites to perform the rituals commanded by Moses to make themselves holy, to cleanse the temple, and to make it holy according to the rules set down by Moses, Solomon, and David. He ordered a large-scale sacrifice to atone for the people’s sins and to restore regular prayers and sacrifices. Because the priests were caught by surprise by this, not enough of them were ready.

Eager to celebrate Passover again, Hezekiah and the people celebrated it late, in the second month, rather than the first (April into May). He invited everyone in Israel, including the survivors of the Assyrian invasion of the northern kingdom of Israel that had been conquered. The people celebrated so joyfully that they extended the festivities into a second week.

For Christians, Jesus is the Passover Lamb, whose blood saves us from eternal death. In the Lord’s Supper, He gives us His body in the bread and His blood in the wine. In it, we receive the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. So we celebrate it with joy, because God set us free.

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