Sunday Sermon Notes: December 3, 2017

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Don Merritt

 

Title:  The Word Became Flesh

Text: John 1:10-18

Readers’ Note: I haven’t mentioned this before here, but as of October 22, I’ve been the preaching minister at Morrison Christian Church in Morrison, Illinois. Since I began I’ve intended to start posting sermon notes online and this week I finally got started. You should know that last week I talked about John 1:1-4 and discussed the fact that John brings us a different view of the “Christmas Story”, a heavenly view, as he shows us what it looked like from God’s vantage point. This week, we pick up in verse 10, and in the coming weeks will look at scenes from both Matthew’s account and Luke’s.

 

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 1:10-13

When I was a youth, these verses changed everything for me; this is where I began to comprehend the truth of Jesus Christ. Don’t get me wrong, I believed in Him before that, but simple belief isn’t the same as comprehension, and though my comprehension was not, and for that matter still is not as complete as I might like, this was the turning point for me. Yet again, simple John took a major theological concept and boiled it down to two  simple sentences that anyone can understand; it is clear and simple. This “light” who is also the Word-God, came into this world of darkness, and even though He created the world, the world simply didn’t recognize Him for who He really was. He even came amongst His own covenant people, the ones who had received the message of the prophets concerning Him and His coming, yet they for the most part, didn’t recognize Him any more than they recognized the prophets when they came. Yet, for those who did see Him for who He was, He made it possible for them to be reborn as children of God.

Wow!

What could be simpler?

The interesting thing about a text like this is that while I’d like to go on and on, I’m pretty sure that I would either resort to being redundant, or I would translate simplicity into complexity, and neither of those are very good outcomes. Accordingly, I think I’ll just leave you with…

Wow!

What could be simpler?

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Up to this point, we know that the Word was with God and that the Word was God; the “Word-God.” We have also seen John refer to this Word-God as “he”. Now, for the first time, John identifies “him” as the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Yes, for it was none other than Jesus who became flesh and made His dwelling among us at the incarnation, it is of Jesus that the Hebrews author asserts, “and through whom also he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:2) which is parallel to John 1:3; there can be no doubt about whom it is that John is referring to here. It is Jesus who is the Son, having come to us from the Father.

Now that we are certain of just who John has been talking about, we can look at the attributes John mentions about Him, He was full of “grace and truth.” Notice the balance between those two; how many of us maintain that kind of balance between grace and truth when we are interacting with others? Some of us have a great deal of grace, so much so in fact, that we can overlook almost anything; we might even make the truth hard to find. Others are so strong on truth that we find ourselves pointing fingers at those around us, seldom displaying love or compassion or understanding.

I used to give my students a little chart containing two axes, the north-south axis was labeled “justice” at the top and “mercy” at the bottom, and the east-west was labeled “truth” on the west and “grace” on the east. Then I would ask them to rate themselves by making a little “X” where they think they fall on the chart as I asked them four or five simple questions. After that, I would ask the questions again and have them rate me…

Almost without exception, the students rated themselves right in the middle of the chart, and almost without exception they rated me in the upper left hand quadrant: they were all full of grace and truth, while I was cold, aloof and correct.

I always got a kick out of that and joked that they should just remember who was the one who was correct in the room. Then, springing the trap, I would congratulate them, for they had each placed themselves on a par with none other than Jesus Christ Himself, a position much loftier than anything the Apostle Paul would ever dare to claim!

The preacher who pounds his pulpit while heaping condemnation on the sinners around the room thinks he’s being just like Jesus, but where is the grace? The preacher who is willing to tolerate virtually any behavior also thinks he’s being just like Jesus, but where’s the truth? Oh yes, it is so very hard for us to see ourselves the way that others do, and even harder to see ourselves as God sees us, but since being like Christ is our goal, we need to try.

It might just be that you, me and everyone else should seek His guidance in this through fervent and regular prayer that He, through His Spirit would guide our every action, that all around us would see His love at work in each of us.

John’s text continues as he mentions that John the Baptist testified concerning Jesus in verse 15, and then in 16-18 gives his own testimony about Him.

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John 1:16-18

John’s first statement is about the abundance of grace that we have received through relationship with Christ. Then, John expands on his statement, pointing out that while the Law was “given” grace and truth “came.” I think that’s worthy of a little thought, for as John has structured this, the Law is a rather top-down thing; it is entirely transactional. The Law was handed down by God to Moses, an intermediary, and then from Moses to the people− the people could take it or leave it. They took it, and then for the most part, they left it; there was no relationship with Law, for Law just is. The result was that the very Law became their condemnation, not their salvation.

And then, grace and truth came to them…

Grace and truth came to them in a person; they could talk and laugh and cry and walk together; there is relationship with grace and truth, for grace and truth become a part of who we are as human beings; there is no fear in grace and truth.

In the remainder of this text, John reveals to us that through Jesus, God can be known to Man, for Jesus is Himself God. Through Jesus, therefore, we can have relationship with God, the Creator of everything: Grace and Truth.

Would you like to know God?

Get to know Jesus. Would you like to know Jesus?

Get to know the Word who became flesh and made His dwelling among us.

Honestly, this is really too simple for us to miss! Out of all the knowledge that has come to humanity over the ages, this is all we need to know to receive forgiveness and eternal life; grab onto it and hold on tight, never let it go…

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Random Ramblings: December 2, 2017

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Don Merritt

Well it’s that time of year again; my wife started with the Christmas decorations a week ago. I was supposed to have dragged a bunch of stuff out of the basement over the past several days but I haven’t quite gotten around to it yet. My excuse, at least until yesterday has been that it isn’t even December yet, what’s the big rush?

I think that one is starting to wear a bit thin.

OK fine, I always try to put this off. Back in 2012 our church put on a big Christmas “show” the Saturday before Christmas. It really was quite something because it told the Christmas Story in a unique combination of music, skits and video that was connected together by Ebenezer Scrooge who undergoes a different kind of transformation than the one in the original story.

I was cast as Mr. Scrooge.

No, I wasn’t asked, I was told that I was playing the part, because I wouldn’t have to act!

Bah, humbug!

My wife and I seem to do this little dance every year− I drag my feet about getting the Christmas stuff from the basement until she just starts doing it herself and I grudgingly finish it. Then when Christmas is over, she takes everything down and leaves it in a huge mess in the living room for me to put away at my leisure, which is actually the toughest job of all.

Here we go again!

Well, I guess that’s about it for this little post, now I need to find something else to look busy at…

Bah, humbug!

Oh, and have a great weekend…

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Jesus is Buried

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Don Merritt

Matthew 27:57-61

Matthew blows right through this part, and my original thought was that I would also blow past the burial of Jesus and then through the posting of guards, and concentrate on his account of the resurrection. Yet as I was reading through the text, the thought hit me that the modern reader may miss some rather important points here, that Matthew would not have needed to mention to his original audience.

You see, dear reader, the Romans did not allow bodies to be taken down from crosses as a rule; they were left to rot.

There are two great empires in the history of Man that stand out as the two most successful Empires of all, the Roman Empire of antiquity and the British Empire of modern times. Most historians that I am familiar with say that the British were so successful in building an Empire because they brought British law with them and established about as much justice as one can, while subjugating a people. The Roman Empire worked because the Romans allowed an unusual amount of local autonomy, as we see clearly in the Gospels, and the New Testament writings in general. A provincial outpost such as Judea would have local governance within certain limits, as long as there was no overt rebellion against the Romans. If there was open opposition to the Romans, then their response would be swift, violent and brutal, as those in Judea would discover about 40 years later.

Individuals who didn’t follow the Roman rules were also dealt with merciless brutality, and that is where crucifixion came into play. Let’s be honest, crucifixion was not a very efficient method of execution; if the victim wasn’t roughed up too badly beforehand, it would take days for them to die, and that meant that guards would need to be posted for days to ensure that the victim wasn’t saved. The reason is that there is nothing inherently fatal about being nailed to a cross. By having the victim suffering in agony for days on public display served as a warning to all others not to cross the line.

But wait that’s not all! After the person finally died, their body would be left on the cross to rot and stink and be picked at by scavenger birds or animals until they fell apart in a heap of bones that dogs would chew on. That is why Golgotha (place of skulls) had its name. In Judea, as a concession to Jewish sensibilities, the Romans usually broke the legs of the victims before the Sabbath so they would suffocate… that was a good day to be crucified, as oddly as that may sound, because if you were nailed to a cross on the day after the Sabbath, and hadn’t been scourged first, you would be up there alive for several days.

Joseph was a rich and influential man, and a secret follower of Jesus. He is the kind of person who could get an appointment to see Pilate, and apparently as a favor, Pilate agrees to allow an honorable and decent burial for Jesus, whom he knows to be innocent, possibly as a last shot at the Jewish leaders.

Consider Joseph’s position here; he is, in a sense, “coming out” when he went to Pilate, putting himself in jeopardy by claiming the body. In doing so, he has just put a big target on his own back.

And thus, Jesus is laid to rest in haste on that most fateful of all days.

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God Keeps His Promises

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Don Merritt

Matthew 27:27-56

I doubt that you need me to go through the details of Matthew’s text concerning Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion, for you can probably tell the story yourself, and there is always the link to the text itself. Nor am I inclined to indulge in the gruesome and macabre business of reciting the violent and bloody details so as to encourage a sense of guilt and self loathing among my readers, for to do so is, sadly, to miss the point of the events on that most fateful of days.

On that day, as on all other days, a priest stepped out onto the highest point of the Temple, ready to blow his horn at exactly three o’clock. This was done every day to announce the sacrifices that reminded the people that God was faithful to keep His promise to deliver Israel from their sins. Unbeknownst to the priest blowing the horn, the real action on that day of days was taking place a short distance away at a location known as Golgotha, the place of the skull. For at Golgotha, the Son of God cried out and gave up His Spirit, in the last and final sacrifice of the Old Covenant− at that very moment, God fulfilled His promises to both Moses and Abraham, and completed His act of ultimate redemption. It was the dawn of a whole new age, the last age of this world.

As the hour approached, the skies had begun to darken. The taunts of the Jewish leaders that had begun when Jesus was nailed to cross, had died down; many people had gone home thinking the spectacle was pretty much over; there was a sense of unease among those who had remained. Jesus quoted the 22md Psalm near the end, and again there was a buzz in the crowd that remained; was He calling for Elijah to save Him?

But Jesus did not need saving, He was the Savior!

At the moment of His death, God springs back into action; there is an earthquake, and although the people at Golgotha didn’t know it yet, the veil in the Temple that barred entry into the Most Holy Place, the barrier that had separated all of humanity from God’s presence, had been torn open, for no longer was Mankind to be kept away from God.

In stark contrast to the ridicule of the Jewish leaders who should have known better, pagan Roman soldiers shame them by calling out that Jesus was indeed the Son of God!

The events of that day were of such magnitude, that it would take mere humans quite some time to process them.

Yet there wouldn’t be much time for reflection because God had quite a bit more to do…

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Pilate Bows to Pressure

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Don Merritt

Matthew 27:11-26

Matthew makes one thing very clear above all else; Pilate wanted nothing to do with the Jesus matter. Notice in verses 11-14 that Pilate is trying to engage Jesus in a defense against the charges brought by the Jewish leaders, and Jesus declines to engage: Suffering Servant. Pilate is amazed by this. In 15-21, Pilate tries to free Jesus, as part of his annual custom of pardon, and the people, instigated by the Jewish leaders choose Barabbas instead. Notice verse 18 that tells us he knew Jesus had been handed over to him out of the leaders’ self interest; no, Pilate wanted a way out of this situation, for he knew perfectly well that Jesus had done nothing wrong.

Pilate’s situation is made worse when he receives that famous note from his wife about her dream…

But the Jewish leaders were unrelenting in their demand for His blood. Doesn’t that strike you as the greatest irony of all time?

In verse 21, the pagan governor goes out of his way to shame them, as he washes his hands of the matter in a symbolic act of utter contempt, telling them that Jesus’ blood will be on their hands. He will bow to their pressure, for he, like the Jewish leaders in earlier scenes feared that the crowds would turn ugly, and if there was one thing a Roman official did not want on his record, it was a riot; such things had ruined the careers of many officials before him, so Pilate bows to pressure, and sends Jesus off for a good flogging and execution, simply to appease the mob.

And with this, Satan and his human agents charged headlong into an ambush, for through their great rebellion, their treachery, lies, corruption and pure malice, they brought God’s eternal purpose to fruition, and secured their ultimate doom in the process.

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Judas Has His Own Problems

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Don Merritt

Matthew 27:1-10

Peter is having a bad night, but he isn’t the only one having remorse for his betrayal; Judas is having a worse night. When Jesus was condemned by the Jewish leaders in a classic act of perfidy against God, Judas is suddenly filled with remorse for his actions. He went back to the chief priests and an exchange takes place that is nothing short of incredible:

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” (27:3-4)

The chief priest had what they wanted, they couldn’t care less either for Judas or for the righteousness that they prided themselves on and went out of their way to show off in public. Judas threw the money into the temple and then went out and committed suicide, so great was his remorse. Yet were the chief priests having second thoughts about these events? Well actually, yes they were:

The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. (27:6-7)

Yes sir, the chief priests did have some second thoughts; they couldn’t return the money to the treasury, for that would be unlawful!

Just let this sink in for a moment…

It wouldn’t seem that they had any problem with condemning an innocent man to death; their long awaited Messiah, no less, but they wanted to be sure they handled the returned bribe according to the rules, and they used it to buy real estate.

The sheer magnitude of their perfidy is almost incomprehensible.

What makes this even more incredible is that their action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah (See Zech. 11:12,13; Jer. 19:1-13; 32:6-9). Are not the chief priests the very ones who should have known this?

Yes, of all the people they should have known what they were doing, and in fact, since they agreed it was blood money, I would suggest that they did know what they were doing, but they simply did not care, for on that night, they were on the payroll of Satan.

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Peter has a Rough Night

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Don Merritt

Matthew 26:69-75

Quite a lot has taken place since Jesus told the disciples that they would disown Him. Quite a lot has taken place since Peter objected to that and Jesus told him he would deny Jesus three times that very night.

Jesus has been arrested, tried in a joke of a trial and been found guilty of blasphemy and condemned to die; Peter was outside listening to the proceedings. You might recall that when Jesus was arrested, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the guards, but Jesus had stepped in to stop Peter, replacing the man’s ear. Then Jesus told the crowd off for not doing their foul deeds in public, and Peter, along with the other disciples had fled the scene.

The disciples had learned a great deal over the past few years from Jesus, but in spite of at least three warnings, they hadn’t quite gotten the point of Jesus’ mission as the Messiah; that He had come not to conquer the Romans and restore Israel as a Nation of the earth, but instead had come to conquer sin and death and establish a Kingdom not of this world. Jesus told the group about His real mission three times, each of which ended by Jesus telling them He was going die at the hands of the Jewish leaders, and then rise again from the grave on the third day. Yet in each instance, the disciples reacted to His death prediction and apparently didn’t notice the resurrection prediction.

Peter now knew that Jesus was about to die, but the resurrection part of the story still eluded him. Remembering Jesus’ words of earlier that evening, he now creeps of and weeps bitterly over his own rejection of his Master in front of those in and around the place of His trial. For Peter, relief from his agony was still far off, but he wasn’t the only one having a bad night; Judas, the betrayer was having a worse night.

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Photo of the Week: November 29, 2017

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Don Merritt

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Jesus on Trial

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Don Merritt

Matthew 26:57-68

Let’s all be very clear on one point: This trial was a joke. If you miss this point, then you miss the entire scene.

There really isn’t much left to be said. Notice that they were looking to convict Him of something, anything, based upon false evidence and false witnesses (26:60) and even by cheating, they couldn’t manage the job. Then, they catch a break when two men came forward to say: “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” And the chief priest jumps for his chance: “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” (26:62), Jesus remains silent.

In verse 63, he asks Jesus if He is the Son of God. Jesus, the Suffering Servant breaks His silence and actually helped them out:

You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (26:64)

That did the trick; the trial was over.

It seems that our old friend Peter was lurking in the background; I wonder what he was thinking at that moment as Jesus was found “worthy of death” for telling the truth to the Jewish leadership. We will get some insight into his thinking in the next scene, next time.

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Arrested!

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Don Merritt

Matthew 26:47-56

As Jesus was saying the words of 26:46, the party sent to arrest Him is entering the scene with Judas in the lead. In the events that follow, there are a few actions that have an almost comical quality to them, even though this is serious business. Judas had a sign for the arresting party: ‘Grab the one I kiss.’ So old Judas walks up to Jesus as though everything was completely normal and says, “Greetings Rabbi,” and kisses Him. Now to be quite sure, this was a normal sort of greeting back in the day, but I almost want to laugh at the comic nature of it. Judas came onto the scene at the head of an armed mob, and pretends nothing is amiss, even though Judas Knew that Jesus knew what he was up to− incredible.

Jesus was placed under arrest, and then lo and behold, who should produce a sword and start swinging it? Our pal, Peter! Peter’s action should get high marks for courage, low marks for intelligence, and failing marks for understanding. Yes, it was courageous, maybe even heroic, but if a battle were to follow, Jesus and the Eleven are dead right then and there. But then Jesus, from Peter’s point of view, is a sort of “wild card”; what would He do in the situation?

Jesus stepped in instantly, and put a stop to the whole business of violence, heals the man that Peter had struck, and tells Peter to stand down. Perhaps reading Peter’s mind, Jesus said:

Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? (26:53-54)

If you wonder about such things, 12 legions of angels would produce about 75,000 very unhappy angels, but the cavalry would not be coming to the rescue on that night, for God’s will went in a different direction. Then Jesus addressed the mob that had come to arrest Him:

Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. (26:55-56a)

Actually that He was leading a rebellion was most likely exactly what everyone thought, for they saw Him as the son of David come to reclaim the throne; the Messiah come to conquer and restore Israel to greatness, the King of the Jews. Jesus rubbed their noses in their error by pointing out that they could have grabbed Him at any time, but they had waited until now, under cover of darkness, and with that, Jesus would address the crowds no more; He went away quietly and meekly to do His Father’s will and accomplish the real mission of the Messiah.

That was also when His disciples finally comprehended that His mission was not conquest and the reinstatement of the Nation of Israel among the Pantheon of Nations. Of course, that is not to suggest that they yet comprehended what His mission really was; that would come later. Many scholars have written that they believe this also included Judas, who might well have been shocked that those legions of angels did not come. These scholars believe that Judas betrayed Jesus to force the issue and get Jesus’ messianic mission completed more quickly, a sort of helping push in the right direction.

For me, that’s a bit of a stretch too far, but it is an interesting theory. Whatever motivated Judas, there was no going back now and old Judas was in a very bad state, as the whole of Creation held its breath…

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