S-Word Evangelical Free Church

Posture of Matt 1-28: Proving to the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah.

[Chapter 3]

What credentials for ministry do you have? A certificate, a degree, a diploma, a Ph.D, 50 years of experience, secret knowledge from a ShiFu (master) somewhere far away?

None of us have as many credentials as John the Baptist (Matt 3:1-12):-

1. his birth was announced by ANGELS (Luke 1:5-25, a LONG scriptural account);

2. his rejocing over Jesus started EARLY, when he was still in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:44, “the baby in my womb leaped for joy”);

3. his ministry was FORETOLD by Isa 40:3;

4. his lifestyle was PROPHETIC (Matt 3:4);

5. his preaching was ATTRACTIVE & EFFECTIVE (3:5-6);

6. his message was UNCOMPROMISING & POWERFUL (3:7-10).

YET, John the Baptist found himself “UNWORTHY” (Matt 3:11, “…But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am NOT FIT TO CARRY.”)

Therefore,

a. the “vipers” must repent (Matt 3:7);

b. the proud must be humble (Matt 3:9, “…we have ABRAHAM as our father” – so what?), because “out of these stones “God can raise up children for Abraham” (Matt 3:9).

GET RID of pride. May all of us be like the good John, totally humble. Won’t we?

============= OR ==============

1. Chapter 1′s genealogy points to Jesus as the Messiah;

2. Chapter 2: stars, prophets, gifts point to Jesus as the Messiah;

3. Chapter 3: SPIRIT OF GOD points to Jesus, “he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him” (Matt 3:16)

4. Chapter 3: HEAVENLY FATHER points to Jesus, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17).

Bro/Sis, what else or who else is there that does not point to Jesus?

Perhaps, Satan, and all who follow him and his lifestyle, knowingly or unknowingly, behind the scene as well as in front.

Serve the wonderful God.

Posture of Matt 1-28: Proving to the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah.

[Chapter 2] The genealogy of Chapter 1, which sets out the direction in which Abraham and David were POINTING TO, was that of Jesus Christ! Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and David.

Chapter 2 continues to point the Jews to Jesus.

(1) the heavenly bodies – the stars mentioned in 2:2 and 2:10 POINT TO Jesus. Even the physical universe (e.g. a star) was aligned to direct people to Jesus. Shouldn’t you too, with your lives, brothers and sisters made in the image of God?

(2) The Prophets POINT TO Jesus (a) Matt 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14 (b) Matt 2:6 quotes Micah 5:2 (3) Matt 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1 (4) Matt 2:18 quotes Jeremiah 31:15 & (5) Matt 2:23 “Nazarene” sound similar to Isaiah 11:1′s “branch” (Nezer)? Jesus is the Branch (Nezer) of David.

Brothers and sisters, if Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, Jeremiah all point to Jesus Christ as the annointed one from God who is going to restore the lost kingdom of David (the Davidic covenant, see Matt 1:1), and the blessing of all nations (the Abrahamic Covenant, see Matt 1:1), who are you relying on for the restoration of your soul – the soul of ONE person? You should accept Jesus as the One who is going to right all wrongs & restore all ruins.

(3) the gifts brought by the Magi (wisemen) in Matt 2:11 also POINT TO Jesus: (a) “gold” was suitable for Jesus the king, the one worthy of approaching the “Most Holy Place”/”Holy Place” where the items therein were made of gold or gold covered (b) “incense”, used in the Temple rituals by priests, was suitable as a gift for Jesus, who is our High Priest and mediates for us before God (c) “myrrh”, an ingredient for embalming the dead, was suitable for Jesus too, who was to die for us on the cross.

Bro/Sis, how can the Magi from the east (most probably Mesopotamians, Assyrians? Babylonians? Persians?), former enemies/captors of the Jews, understand so much about the status, function and destiny about this Messiah Jesus Christ and rejoices but the Jews, the people of God, the same race as Jesus, those with the same lineage as Jesus UNDERSTAND SO LITTLE and love/rejoices over Him SO LITTLE? Do you belong to that category?

How can the PAGAN Magi without the New Testament, can PUT ASIDE their daily routines, can MAKE THE LONG JOURNEY (most probably > 1,000 km over DESERT, about the distance from here to Ipoh, to Genting, to KL and back to Singapore), can SELECT SUCH SUITABLE gifts, can BOW DOWN before a CHILD (Matt 2:11), can WORSHIP Jesus? Yet, perhaps, you struggle to make that 10 km, 30 min journey (most probably AIR-CONed transportation) to T21 on a Sunday to worship God?

Why do pagans rejoice over Jesus’ birth (Matt 2:10) but the supposedly God’s people – the Jews (“all Jerusalem”, Matt 2:3) become “disturbed” when the “king of the JEWS” is born (Matt 2:2)?

Why the PAGAN Magi can obey God (Matt 2:12) rather than man (Herod in Matt 2:8), but many of us who are purchased by the blood of Jesus cannot and would not?

Hence, adjust your lives for Jesus the annointed one (Messiah), worship and serve him! Don’t follow the Jews who rejected Jesus, Matthew says.

Align your life’s goals with Jesus’ goals, align your all towards Jesus, just as the stars, the Prophets and the Pagan gifts point Matthew’s first readers to Jesus.

Posture of Matt 1-28: Proving to the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah.

Chapter 1: God, I see that you are the one who keeps your promises. The promises that you made to Abraham and David. That ALL nations would be blessed through Abraham (Gen 12:3). That David will ALWAYS have a king sitting on his throne.

Whose positive influence for the nations is as great as Abraham’s? Whose kingdom will last forever (2Sam 7:12-13)? David’s?

Matt 1:1 gives us the answer: Jesus – SON of David, SON of Abraham. He is the one! Thank God. God had to work through frail humans (Matt 1:1-17). But Jesus’ birth is supernatural (1:18-25), not hindered by cultural taboos (virgin birth).

Jesus is the one they and you have been waiting for, the annointed one (messiah), worship and serve him!

[Matthew Chapter 5 Devotion Guide]

Hi S-Word, are you all getting the momentum now to Go Deep into QT yourselves for 2012? Got It?, Press On, Shine Forth, Step Out, No One is Out, whatever… ACT on it. For those who have not started, please start now.

I hope that you all would have seen that in Matthew chp 4, Jesus’ IMMACULATE BEHAVIOUR on obeying the Deuteronomy commands (3 times) and the angels’ SPECIAL ATTENTION to Jesus (4:11b) POINT TO HIM AGAIN.

For Matthew 5, HOW does it POINT TO JESUS as the Messiah again?

==== CLUE ============
In Exo 19:3-6 Moses went up the mountain to RECEIVE the law that God gave.

Exo 19:3 ” Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are TO SAY to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’  ’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are TO SPEAK to the Israelites.â€?

BUT in Matt chapters 5, 6 & 7 up to 7:27, Jesus went up the mountain AND GAVE the law.

Matt 5:1 “Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

While Moses was told “to say” and “to speak”, Jesus SAID the law, and TAUGHT them personally. Wow!

=== END OF CLUE ==============

Q1. How does this POINT TO JESUS again? ________

Q2. Chapter 5 points to Jesus as _______________?

Q3. Does any part of Matt 5 speak to you personally?

Send us your replies and reflections for Q1, Q2 & Q3.

[Matthew Chapter 4 Devotion Guide]

The “Old Israel” of the Exodus generation was tested by God on obedience to God’s law: “There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he TESTED them” (Exo 15:25). The Old Israel FAILED (e.g. Exo 16:3, 25, 27).

The 2nd generation who entered into the Deuteronomic Covenant with the LORD was also warned against TESTING God (Deut 6:16) when they were crossing the River Jordan into the promised land: “Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah”.

The 40 years test was also designed by God “to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” (Deut 8:2). The purpose of these tests is “so that in the end it might go well with you” (Deut 8:16).

But “If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.” (Deut 8:16).

The concept of “testing” occurs again in Deut 13:3, “you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD you God is TESTING you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul (Deut 13:3).

CONCLUSION FOR ISRAEL: they lost the land and was exiled (Deut 29:25-28).
—————
HOWEVER, Jesus IS QUALIFIED to be the New Israel because He succeeded where the Old Israel failed:

1. the Old Israel came out of the Red Sea and was tested for 40 years (they FAILED);

2. Jesus came out of the River Jordan (Matt 3:16) and was tested for 40 days. He SUCCEEDED (Matt 4:17) and TAKES OVER John the Baptist’s lingo in Matt 3:2 – “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (repeated by Jesus in Matt 4:17). Whoever takes over John the Baptist must have at least John the Baptist’s credentials – see devotion on Matt 3);

3. the Old Israel failed the food/water tests (see Exo 16, Numbers etc);

4. Jesus succeeded in the food tests (Matt 4:4, Jesus quotes Deut 8:3), refusing to turn stone into bread but rather rely on God.

5. the Old Israel tested God in the wilderness and was punished for her failure;

6. Jesus was tested in the desert (Matt 4:1) but refused to test God and therefore SUCCEEDS (Matt 4:7, Jesus quotes Deut 6:16);

7. the Old Israel bowed down to the golden calf (Exo 32:4) – FAILED;

8. Jesus refused to bow down to Satan (Matt 4:10, Jesus quotes Deut 6:13), not even for “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor”. Jesus is king, but REFUSED to accept the kingdom from anyone else except God.

Brothers ans sisters at S-Word, did you notice that ALL the 3 quotes that Jesus used were from Deuteronomy? Matthew says – Jesus is THE ONE who kept the Deuteronomic Covenant terms. Believe in Him.

Brothers and sisters at S-Word, do you belong to the kind like the Old Israel Exodus generation OR the New Israel in Jesus Christ?

The old Adam also failed in the food test, obeying test, worshipping God test (Gen 3). How about you today, testing God day after day? Bowing down to other gods, splendor of the world day after day?

REMINDER: Posture of Matt 1-28: Proving to the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah.
Note: John the Baptist’s birth was ANNCOUNCED by angels – BUT “angels came and ATTENDED” Jesus (Matt 4:11). Should you be convinced by now, that Jesus is your Messiah?