Category Archives: Jesus

Last and First – Matthew 17 to 21

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Matthew 17 to 21 is what I call the Forth Block of Kingdom Teaching, and we will focus on the “first to last, leaders to servants, greatest to the humble” teachings Jesus gave His disciples. These chapters start with the Transfiguration and go to Jesus delivering His first sermon from the Two Mounts. I have used mentions of John the Baptist to frame the blocks of teachings about the Kingdom. Yes, there are other thoughts and teachings in this period. Three standout examples are: Jesus was questioned twice on divorce, He uses children several times in His teachings, and foretells His death twice. If I extend the block into His Sermons on the Two Mounts (the fifth block), He tells two parables about weddings. Jesus’ changes in physical locations are also worth noting.

This Last to First series of studies has already challenged some long-held paradigms. That is never comfortable; it is necessary but not pleasant. There are many first/last ideas in these chapters. After playing the tour guide of Jesus’ travels I will focus on three related kingdom thoughts.

His Final Pilgrimage – I will not go into great detail here, as I have done some of that in other studies. Even His movements have a “least to great” lesson in them.

  • He is on the mount where He is transfigured and meets with Moses and Elijah. (John the Baptist is mentioned here.)
  • Capernaum, for the last time.  
  • Jesus leaves the land of Naphtali and Zebulun (Galilee). He “goes over” the Jordan and to the area across from Jericho.
  • If you check with the other Gospels, He does several trips to the west bank.
  • He begins His final trip to Jerusalem by crossing the Jordan and going to Jericho. He is busy here and possibly was there for several days.
  • He travels to the Mount of Olives where He sends for a donkey.
  • Jesus does a “victory ride” into Jerusalem and inspects the Temple. (John the Baptist is mentioned in His first of two sermons on Tuesday of Holy Week.)

I know that I have a tendency to single out a story or thought. It seems that the Holy Spirit has grouped several separate lessons together to highlight a theme. In this block, the timespan is probably several weeks and completely different locations. The audience however is the Twelve Disciples and the others in His camp.

Children – Chapter 18 opens with the disciples wanting to know who was going to be the greatest (megas) in the kingdom of heaven. There is no doubt, in my mind, that they were asking about an earthy kingdom. I believe that Jesus planted the seed for this question when He asked about the Temple tax. The Master Teacher did a show and tell by using a little (mikros) child to focus on being humble (tapeinoō). The test for this teaching unit came in 19:13-15. The disciples did not make an “A” so Jesus did a quick reteach.

The Father then supplied an object lesson of a rich young ruler who did not want to become humble. This “righteous” child of Abraham, this megas, knew something was missing. Jesus quizzed him on Commandments 5-9, and he was good. I always find it interesting that Commandments 1- 4 were not mentioned. (Exodus 20) You may form your own opinion on that. His title and money had not brought him peace and he doubted his salvation. The young man did not like Jesus’ answer, he wanted a spiritual answer and was told to do away with his earthy hinderance. (I have not forgotten the l. Earthy = dust.)

Put a Selah in-between 19:22 and 23. Ignore the French printer’s chapter break and look at 19:23 to 20:16 as one whole, new lesson.

Last/First – The Spirit and Matthew changed terms in this new teaching, but the thought stays true. The “camp of disciples” saw the megas’ first (prōtos) position, and they knew he had salvation, because! Jesus segways from the earthy kingdom and moves to the Heavenly one in 19:28. The word/phrase is “palingenesia” Strong G3824. (All of the Greek is from Mounce.) It means renewal, new birth, or regeneration.

Your heart and vision will determine how you view first (prōtos) and last (eschatos). Your starting position is important. There is an interesting switch in last/first from 19:30 to 20:16, see my first post in this series.

John’s Eema – I have no doubt that John and James’ mother was in the camp that left Capernaum. There is no reason not to think that she had heard all of the teachings and witnessed the miracles that were done by Jericho. Like the young ruler, she asks a kingdom question. Was she talking about the earthy one or the Heavenly one? Jesus’ answer is about the Heavenly one. It is not settled in my mind if the disciples realized that Jesus was talking about a different kingdom than what they thought was coming. In verse 25, He meets them where they are and talks about leaders (megas) and servants (diakonos). See Paul and Slaves. Mom’s question makes you think about the disciples’ question in Chapter 18.

Jesus has told His disciples several times that He is going to Jerusalem to die. Did that sink in before the Garden? The questions and indignant feelings make me want to say no. But they heard and eventually lived the teaching, may we be able to say that also.   

Recap –

Before the Rich Man – In this series of teachings Jesus answers how to be the greatest or first in the kingdom. The lessons had a “least” action: finding lost sheep, forgiving someone, and helping little children come to Jesus. The last or least path is the way to go.

The Kingdom Teaching – Matthew 19:28 and 20:1 give this idea a heavenly setting. In between those verses, it is very heavenly. The parable in chapter 20 lends itself to the Earth. This really does need more study.

After the Teaching – John’s eema is an example of what not to be. Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem is an interesting lesson about the topic. Jesus rode into the city as a “great or first” and carried a cross out of the city as a “servant or last”. Then because of the shame-ridden cross, He became Lord and Master of all.

A Question About Rehoboam

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The question about Rehoboam was really on who his mother was. The problem for the questioner was the fact that she was an Ammonite and not a native Israelite. I have two posts on Naamah. Post #1 and Post #2. I will guess Deuteronomy 23 is the scripture the question stems from. I am not going to wade through the jots and tittles of Hebrew Law about marrying foreigners.

But I had to stop and think about all of the times that Hebrew men married foreign women. Moses, Salmon, Boaz, and probably David, and the men who returned to Jerusalem with Ezra and Nehemiah are the ones I thought of. Moses married a Cushite (Numbers 12), Salmon married Rahab (1 Chronicles 2:13, Matthew 1:5), Boaz married Ruth, David married Bathsheba (possibly a Hittite, 2 Samuel 11), and the men with Nehemiah (13:23) seemed to be marrying who was available. You may argue with God about the first four. I will try to contrast and compare the women of these two groups.

Group 1 – We know very little about the Cushite and Naamah, just that they had yoked themselves to the Israelite community. Rahab hid the spies in Jericho after acknowledging God and the things He had done. Ruth pledged to Naomi that she would follow her and accept Jehovah as her God. Bathsheba was part of the community and I guess David offered sacrifices for her when the first baby died. It seems to me that all of these women chose to follow God when they married into Israel.

Group 2 – These women were from Ashdod (Philistine), Ammon, and Moab, not that different from Group 1. Nehemiah 13: 23 and 24 paint a different picture of how they lived. They married the men but did not choose the God of Israel. To be fair to them their husband may not have been on fire for Jehovah either. They were not even taught to speak Hebrew, which met that they could not read Torah or participate in festivals with the Hebrew community.

A great, well-learned Pharisee wrote a New Testament commentary on this subject in 2 Corinthians 6:14-do not be unequally yoked to unbelievers. I am not sure if any of the women in Group 1 could enter the “temple” and worship God with their husbands. I have read that the Hebrew husband would “cover” the children of these marriages, but that finer point of the Law is above my paygrade. It does seem that these women did yoke themselves to the God of Israel.

Since much of the lineage of Jesus was mentioned in Group 1, I will let you question if Rehoboam should have had an Ammonite for a mother.

Homework-What did the people (men) of Israel yoke themselves to in Numbers?

Firstborn

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Firstborn was conceived from this question-How can the firstborn of creation be the Last Adam or Second Man? After a fruitful study, I am now ready to birth this post about the Firstborn. This study started growing into a very complicated child because of all the aspects related to the topic of the firstborn. Maybe I will get to that plethora of information in a future post.

Some about the Firstborn

This is a title as well as a position on a family tree. Part of being the firstborn son was the inheritance and the blessing that went with that honor. These rights of the firstborn are mentioned in the Five Books of Moses. Each book has a slightly different focus. (I am making some very loose points here as rules and requirements are mentioned in Exodus to Deuteronomy.)

  • Genesis-The focus here is Jacob and how he handles the rights of the firstborn. He buys and steals them from Esau, takes them away from Ruben and gives them to Joseph, and transfers them to Ephraim. 1 Chronicles 5:1, Jeremiah 31:9, with Genesis 49:3,4; 48:5 and 14-20 all refer to the story of Ruben.
  • Exodus’ focus is that Egypt/Pharaoh will not let Israel (God’s firstborn) go, so it will cost them their firstborn.
  • Leviticus has only one mention of firstborn-Chapter 27. It states that they belong to the Lord.
  • Numbers-There are many things written about the firstborn in Numbers. The theme I saw was Egypt being traded for Israel, and now Israel would cover the redeeming of the Levites’ firstborn. Zelophehad’s daughters (Numbers 36:11) do set some rules about all-girl families.
  • Deuteronomy restates the rules and requirements of the firstborn. Chapter 21:15 adds a rule for loved and unloved wives, and whose children get the rights of the firstborn. I want to think this adjusts some things Jacob did so as not to be an excuse for later generations.

Firstborn of Creation

Adam was the prototype, while Jesus is the prototokos (Colossians 1:15). Adam was made/created/assembled by God and he received the breath of life (The first CPR:). Jesus came from that amazing creation when the Holy Spirit surrounded Mary with grace (charitoo) and put in the male half of the DNA to form Jesus. So, He was the first man born from the Spirit. (Luke 2:21-He was circumcised.) This sets the example of our born-again experience with the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the firstborn of Creation (Hebrews 1:6, Colossians 1:15, Romans 8:29). He is also the firstborn of/from the dead (Revelation 1:5, Colossians 1:18). Jesus is the head of the church of the firstborn (Colossians 1:18, Hebrews 12:23).

1 Corinthians 15:45 and 46 is discussing the concepts that are also found in Romans 5:15 and 17 (here it is one man). The first Adam, the first man, allowed death into the world by his transgression. The last Adam (Jesus) is a life-giving Spirit that brought grace to us. In 1 Corinthians 15:46, Jesus is referred to as the second man. I believe, because of the Hebrew for Adam and man, being related has caused this to become the title of Second Adam.

Seven Miracles of Jesus +1, +1, +++++

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Just seven miracles of Jesus!!??  Okay, I have to ask forgiveness – Jesus, I am sorry for putting you in a box and giving any appearances that all you did was seven miracles in the Book of John!  This is in response to a comment on the post of Seven Miracles in John.  The writer pointed out John 2:18 +19 and called it miracle number eight.  His spirit is correct and we call it the Greatest Miracle. 

Why do we only talk about seven?  No idea!  John does point out the first (2:11) and second (4:54) and points out other miraculous signs but he does not number them.  In 20: 30+31, John says Jesus did other miraculous signs so that we will believe and in 21:25 John says – “many other things”.  My best guess on “seven” is that is the number associated with completion (day God rested from creating).  This will seem strange but what else is new!  I use a 1990 copyright NIV Bible, the newer versions and even the KJV is different.  Which is “correct”?  In my Bible, the NIV was much freer in the use of the word “miraculous”.  In other copywrites, they just use the word “signs”.  If you look in the Strong’s the term signs carries the unspoken idea of miraculous.  

John was proving that Jesus was God/had His approval, etc.  I am going to list the use of the miracle or miraculous in between the “seven” miracles, and I did do a post called Plus One which will not be listed because of the wording.

These are the Seven Miracles.  

* Turning water into wine in Cana (2:1-11)

2:18+19 – The greatest miracle

2:23 – people believing in His name because of miracles

3:2 – Nicodemus

*  Healing an official’s son in Capernaum (4:46-54)

4:48 – Jesus on the Jews needing signs

*  Healing an invalid at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (5:1-18)

*  Feeding the 5,000 near the Sea of Galilee (6:5-14)

6:2 – people followed Jesus because of miracles, vs 14 the people talking about Jesus

6:26 and 30 Jesus exposing the crowd for wanting free food and they wanted another sign

*  Walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee (6:16-21)

7:3 – His brothers acknowledge He does miracles and mocking Jesus.

7:21 – Jesus to the crowd about one miracle, 31 – the crowd knowing about the “Christ” showing signs. 

* Healing a blind man in Jerusalem (9:1-7)

9:16 – Pharisees saying how a sinner could not do these miracles.

10:25,31,38 Jesus tells them to believe the miracles because He gave glory to God.

10:41 – John never did miracles

*  Raising dead Lazarus in Bethany (11:1-45)

11:47 – the Pharisees talking about Jesus’ miracles and that He must be stopped

12:18 – refers to Lazarus

12:37 – they would not believe in Jesus

15:24 – the miracles will condemn them

20:30 – other miracles

I think John made his point about Jesus!  For a full picture, we would need to place all of the other miracles from the other Gospels into this list.  To answer a question of how did John know what the Pharisees talked about – many of them did believe and followed the Way (Acts 21: 20) and Nicodemus. 

see – Miracles – Plus One – Seven Miracles in John

Holy Spirit and Four Births

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Brian Houston in his 2019 Christmas message to Hillsong Church spoke on Holy Spirit’s role in the Christmas story.  It is something that is easily overlooked, yet is the very heart of the story as that is how a virgin became pregnant.  This made me think of the other times the Spirit was present at the birth of things.  Now, these births cause the world and secular thinkers’ great displeasure and they often have very unnecessary things to say about each of them!  

Genesis 1: 2 – The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  The Spirit was at Creation – the birth of this Age that tells the story of His people.  The “world” cannot accept that God created the world and oversees His planet.

Luke 1: 35 – The Holy Spirit and the Power of the Highest will come to you and hover over you.  The Holy Spirit supplied the “50%” of the DNA that Mary did not get from a man.  The “world” really has a hard time with this.  Joseph even had a “hard” time with this until God sent an angel to him.  This Story, the Christmas Story, is what sets Christianity apart.  This is no less a story of Creation as the one in Genesis and unless the Holy Spirit opens your heart to it you will not believe.

Acts 2: 2-4 – On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit blew into Jerusalem and hovered over the Upper Room and 120 praying believers and birthed the Church of Jesus Christ.  The “world” does not like this either!  All sorts of attacks have been launched against the Church, but the Holy Spirit has always reserved a believing “120” to pray and carry His message to the harvest fields.

John 3: 3 – Unless you are born again you will not see the Kingdom of God.  The Holy Spirit will hover over you to get you born again.  He will not make you accept Jesus and the Good News of the Kingdom.  But if YOU decide to leave the “world” behind and go the opposite direction from it (repentance); Holy Spirit will birth something in you and fill you with all the power needed to live a righteous life.  See Following Jesus at the top of the page and Happy Birthday!  

Featured pic is from http://www.LumoProject.com.