Monthly Archives: March 2021

The King Has Come, March 29, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Palm Sunday has slipped behind us. Passion week stands before us. As we look at the events that will happen to Jesus over the next few days, I think it will help us to understand why both the religious and political leaders want so desperately to do away with him. Everything culminated with the actions he took on the first day of the week, Palm Sunday. But without fully understanding the historical background behind the events that took place that day, we cannot understand why the chief priest and representatives of Rome were so anxious to be rid of Jesus. We fail to miss why the radical shift from crown him to crucify him.

We see Palm Sunday as Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and picture people waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” In our western thought, we have turned the actions into not much more than a nice children’s activity for them to make construction paper palm leaves and wave them in the air as they walk down the aisles of the church. We smile and comment on how cute they look as one of the boys chosen to play Jesus comes riding through the middle of the group on a stick horse.

The events of Jesus’ triumphal entry have significantly more to say to us than just a nice parade on a sunny Sunday morning, though. The depth of the covenant promises between God and Abraham, David, and the Israelites made the events that happened that day extraordinary. Until we put some of the background of Jewish thought and hope into Jesus’ actions, we miss the significance of Palm Sunday. Let’s start with Mark’s rapid-fire description of the entry from his gospel in chapter 11.

Now, as they were approaching Jerusalem, they arrived at the place of the stables near Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead and said to them, “As soon as you enter the village ahead, you will find a donkey’s colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it to me. And if anyone asks, ‘Why are you taking it?’ tell them, ‘The master needs it and will send it back to you soon.’ ”

So they went and found the colt outside in the street, tied to a gate. When they started to untie it, some people standing there said to them, “Why are you untying that colt?”

They answered just as Jesus had told them: “The master needs it, and he will send it back to you soon.” So the bystanders let them go.

The disciples brought the colt to Jesus and piled their cloaks and prayer shawls on the young donkey, and Jesus rode upon it. Many people carpeted the road in front of him with their cloaks and prayer shawls, while others gathered palm branches and spread them before him. Jesus rode in the center of the procession, with crowds going before him and behind him. They all shouted in celebration, “Bring the victory! We welcome the one coming with blessings sent from the Lord Yahweh! Blessings rest on this kingdom he ushers in—the kingdom of our father David! Bring us the victory in the highest realms of heaven!”

Jesus rode through the gates of Jerusalem and up to the temple. After looking around at everything, he left for Bethany with the Twelve to spend the night, for it was already late in the day. (Mark 11:1-11 TPT)

Let’s start with the geography, and the place Mark records the beginning of Jesus’ triumphant ride. He and his disciples have come to the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha in Bethphage near Bethany, Bethphage means the house of stables in Aramaic. These two small villages are nestled on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. Jesus came here often, it seems. Whether to visit his friends Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, to deliver the sermon we call the Olivet Discourse Matthew records in chapters 24 and 25 of his gospel, or in his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane after his last Passover meal with his disciples this place is familiar. Jesus will ascend from the Mount of Olives forty days after his resurrection.

A most fascinating aspect of the geography, however, comes from Ezekiel’s prophecy. In chapter eleven, God gives the prophet a vision in which he sees the shekinah, the visible glory of God, depart the city of Jerusalem, and stop above the mountain east of it. The mountain east of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. Jesus, the embodiment of God, returns to the Mount of Olives to begin his triumphant return into the city of Jerusalem on the first day of the week that will mark the beginning of his reign over the new Kingdom of God.

We next see Jesus’ foreknowledge of certain events as he tells two of his disciples to go ahead of him and get a colt they will find in the village tied to a house. Perhaps we can assume Jesus planned with the owner earlier for the colt to be available at a certain time and place, but would Jesus know about the bystanders who would question his disciples, and the answer that would placate their curiosity if they thought any thievery were in progress? It makes one wonder.

Then we see Jesus’ act of riding an unridden donkey at all. First, donkeys are well known for their stubborn streak, their unwillingness to obey their owners, much less strangers who want to put them to work. Second, this was an animal not yet tamed. Ask those who tame horses, mules, and donkeys how quickly they would hop on an unridden colt and take it into a crowd. Not one in a thousand would think you were sane to attempt such actions. But Jesus did without a second thought. He knew the animal would obey his every command. If the wind and waves obey him, so would an untamed donkey.

Riding a donkey into Jerusalem meant something special to the Jews, though. It looked unlike the victory procession of most kings. They would enter gates on stallions with their conquered kings and slaves behind them. Jesus rode a lowly donkey, and the colt of a donkey at that. But those who looked for their Messiah King saw Jesus as their rescuer from Roman oppression. Zechariah had written:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech 9:9 NIV)

Jesus, this miracle worker who dared challenge the authority of the Pharisees, and gave new interpretations to the law that spoke of love, peace, and God’s kingdom near at hand road through the gates of God’s city just as Zechariah described the Messiah. Their victor had arrived. Israel’s King came through the gates that day. Herod met his match. Caesar and his government would no longer bully God’s people. God had sent his Messiah to rescue them and bring justice back to Israel. The people on that first day of the week saw victory in its many forms – return from exile; freedom from Roman oppression; true justice reigning; God’s new kingdom beginning; the Age to Come had arrived; the Messiah, King of all nations would reign.

What they didn’t see was how that victory would take place. They didn’t understand the Messiah was a suffering servant. They didn’t think the Messiah could die on a cross, the most shameful means of execution. And they didn’t see the connection in the geography. Jesus, the embodiment of God, began his triumphal entry on the Mount of Olives, where Ezekiel last saw God’s glory revealed. Jesus rode the foal of a donkey through the narrow road to Jerusalem to the Hosannas of the crowd, and through streets of the city to the Temple. Jesus, the embodiment of God, went into the Temple, and no one recognized him for who he was. He looked around, and just as in Ezekiel’s vision, Jesus departed and rested at the Mount of Olives in the home of Lazarus.

The rest of the week will unfold with the religious leaders understanding the revolt that simmers because of Jesus’ actions on that first day of the week. The crowd sees a potential revolutionary hero rising. This Jesus came through gate of the city using prophecy to declare himself King, Messiah. Barabbas already awaited execution for inciting a revolt. Crosses lined the countryside filled with those who dared challenge Roman rule. Now Jesus rides in as if he were King of the Jews. Herod is not a friend, but at least he is not a foe of the Temple. He’s better than Caesar and has served as a buffer for Israel. Now, the authority Herod gives the priests in governing, the nation itself stands in jeopardy because Jesus’ followers declared him Messiah, King of kings. If Jesus is Messiah, Herod is not king, Caesar is not lord. The country, the Jewish faith is in trouble. Something must be done.

If the religious political leaders knew what they were about to do, they would never have killed Jesus! By their actions, they are about to usher in the Age to Come, the new creation, heaven joining earth in a way they could not imagine. A revolution is about to begin that will encompass the world – revolution of love.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scriptures are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

The Hour Has Come, March 22, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

The scripture under consideration this week gives us some interesting points to explore as we approach Good Friday and Easter. It comes from the gospel of John, chapter 12.

Now there were a number of foreigners from among the nations who were worshipers at the feast.They went to Philip (who came from the village of Bethsaida in Galilee) and they asked him, “Would you take us to see Jesus? We want to see him.”So Philip went to find Andrew, and then they both went to inform Jesus.He replied to them, “Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified.Let me make this clear: A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops into the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces a great harvest of wheat—all because one grain died.”The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life! But the one who detaches his life from this world and abandons himself to me, will find true life and enjoy it forever!If you want to be my disciple, follow me and you will go where I am going. And if you truly follow me as my disciple, the Father will shower his favor upon your life.

“Even though I am torn within, and my soul is in turmoil, I will not ask the Father to rescue me from this hour of trial. For I have come to fulfill my purpose—to offer myself to God.So, Father, bring glory to your name!” Then suddenly a booming voice was heard from the sky,

“I have glorified my name! And I will glorify it through you again!”The audible voice of God startled the crowd standing nearby. Some thought it was only thunder, yet others said, “An angel just spoke to him!”Then Jesus told them, “The voice you heard was not for my benefit, but for yours—to help you believe.From this moment on, everything in this world is about to change, for the ruler of this dark world will be overthrown.And I will do this when I am lifted up off the ground and when I draw the hearts of people to gather them to me.” He said this to indicate that he would die by being lifted up on the cross. (John 12:20-33 TPT)

Some translations say Greeks came to Phillip, but to the Jews, all foreigners were Greeks or Gentiles; the terms were synonymous to them. It’s like our phrase when hearing a foreign language or explanations that are intellectually challenging and exclaiming, “It’s all Greek to me.” These men may have been proselytes to the Jewish faith, or they may just have heard about Jesus’ miracles and wanted healing, food, or answers. Maybe they believed he could forgive and longed for freedom from sin or perhaps just curious about this man who raised so many questions among the people.

Phillip went to Andrew, and the two took the request to Jesus. We might have thought Jesus would say yes or no to the request or would have gone to the foreigners to give them an answer to the quest. Instead, we get what seems a rather peculiar response.

“The time has come. I’m about to be glorified. Unless a grain of wheat is buried and dies, it is alone. But if it dies, it will produce a harvest. If you love your life, you will lose it. If you hate your life in this world, you will keep it for life in the age to come. If anyone serves me, they must follow me. Where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor them.

Now I’m troubled, but I came for this hour. Father, glorify your name. Now, this world’s ruler will be thrown out when I am lifted up from the earth. And when I’ve been lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.”

What a strange answer to give Phillip and Andrew when the Greeks came to see Jesus! Throughout the gospels to this point, Jesus had continually told those around him, “My time has not yet come.” At the wedding in Cana, in conflict with demons, when Jesus told some he healed not to tell who healed them, and so many other instances. After his first confrontation with the Pharisees in Jerusalem, Jesus kept his ministry outside Jerusalem to avoid both the religious and political leaders there because ‘his time had not yet come.’

Jesus knew his death would coincide with Passover. It seemed he looked to a particular Passover. We might think he would aim to go to the cross on the day of atonement to look at the somber ceremony the Jews held for the forgiveness of sins each year, but he did not. He marched toward the Passover for a reason. In the Protestant church, we miss the meaning because we don’t understand the long, rich history of the Jews and why Passover held such a powerful meaning.

We know it marked the Exodus from Egypt, but the celebration meant so much more to the Jews, and we forget the early Christians, including Jesus, were Jews steeped in that history. Passover marked freedom from slavery. Freedom from the power of an evil King, Pharaoh. It marked the passage from death to life with the crossing of the Red Sea. It also brought the remembrance of their sin and death in the wilderness. Their sin wasn’t because of bad behavior but because of idolatry.

The word sin means missing the mark. Their failure to worship God. Their failure to be the image-bearers of God he gave them as their vocation in his covenant relationship with them. They missed the mark in their vocation. Their sin of idolatry kept them from the promised land until they cleaned up their act in the wilderness and learned to worship God in the tabernacle as he directed in the tablets of the law. Then they crossed the Jordan and began the conquest of the promised land.

But again, they missed the mark of the covenant, and God finally sent them into exile into Syria and Babylon, not because of bad behavior, but because of their idolatry. They failed in their worship. They gave power to idols rather than keeping the authority God gave to humans in having dominion over the world. Gods of wood and stone, crafted by men’s hands, were given power they did not earn but were given to them as men worshiped them. Idolatry polluted humanity, including the Jews, finally driving God’s people into exile.

The tabernacle, the ark, the mercy seat was the place God would come to meet with man. The lifeblood of the animal sacrifice cleansed and purified the altar and the mercy seat. It wasn’t the killing of the animal God wanted. It was the access to the purifying blood to place on the mercy seat. We know from medicine today that it is our blood that purifies our bodies. It carries the toxins and impurities to our liver and kidneys, which act as filters to flush them out of our system. Without blood filtering the cells throughout the body, the toxins we produce would kill us in minutes. Blood from the sacrificial animal cleansed the mercy seat where God met unclean humans, a picture of a future time when God would meet man at the cross with his life’s blood cleansing that sacred spot to bring us out of exile.

The blood was never for the forgiveness of sins. In the atonement sacrifice, the priest symbolically placed the people’s sins on the scapegoat’s head, and another priest led the animal out of the camp into the wilderness. The sin offering individuals might make throughout the year atoned for wrongs committed unwittingly or unwillingly, wrongs they didn’t know they committed. Committing a behavioral wrong knowingly meant harsh punishment, often death by stoning with the accuser casting the first stone.

Jesus and those around him knew all this. They lived it every day as part of the burden carried by the corrupted Jewish covenant. But when Jesus answered, he saw the cross. He knew the evil powers would soon break. The cross would overcome sin. He was the light of the world; he had almost completed his vocation as God intended for humanity. Jesus was about to take back the power of those idols through his death on the cross. His innocent death would usher in a new Passover; the power of forgiveness would find victory over the power of evil and the curse of death.

Jesus’ hour has come. The world is invited. The cross will bring victory, freedom, forgiveness, and power through God’s spirit. His vocation will find completion in the cross. Jesus knew more suffering would come, both to him and his followers, but that is the way of the cross. That is the way of love and forgiveness. The powers of evil, of idolatry, will not give up easily. They will fight. But Jesus moves steadily toward the cross because he also knows what lies on the other side.

The cross is in front of him. But so is Easter.

You can find me at richardagee.com. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Love Wins, March 15, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

I’d like to share with you the lectionary from John. I comes from chapter 3:14-21.

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.

But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (John 3:14-21 NIV)

We draw closer to Easter. Our meditations focus more on the cross, and the day Jesus ushered in the beginning of the end and new creation, the restoration of heaven on earth as at the beginning of God’s beautiful creation. This week’s lectionary included one of the most recognized verses in all the New Testament, John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life.”

We use the verse in evangelistic services to win others to the love of Christ. We use it to comfort people in times of crisis. John 3:16 demonstrates the all-inclusive nature of a loving God. He leaves no one out of his love. The verse gives us hope amid overwhelming despair, knowing life exists beyond the few years we spend in these frail fleshly vessels. The promise of eternity for those who believe in Jesus as Messiah, Savior, Lord, and follow him gets us through the difficulties of life in ways that are hard to explain at times. John 3:16 stands as a monumental verse in scripture.

However, we often disassociate the verse from the two that come before it, even though intricately tied together. The preceding verses introduce a story from Numbers that Jesus recalls, and the New Testament writers record only this one time. The story does much to explain the role of the cross as Jesus marches toward his death.

The Israelites grumbled about the steady diet of the manna God gave them as a source of food in the wilderness. God had enough and sent poisonous snakes into the camp that began biting and killing some people. The people approached Moses, admitted their wrong, and asked him to intervene to God on their behalf. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and erect it on a pole in the camp center. Anyone who looked at the serpent would live.

To you and me, that sounds like a pretty silly cure for snakebite. It did to many of them, too, I’m sure. But if you believed God and looked at the pole, you lived. If you didn’t, you died. The difference became so apparent among the people that the serpent became an implement of worship in the Temple that later King Hezekiah destroyed, grinding it into dust, finally ending the practice,

Soon, the political and spiritual leaders prompted by evil forces, unbeknownst to them, would lift Jesus up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Not to cure snakebites, but to cure the sins of those who believed in him once and for all. But it requires believing, just as it required believing for the Israelites in the wilderness. The cross was the culmination of Jesus’ vocation – death, the final task completed. Jesus taking his last breath. A picture of evil winning at six o’clock Friday evening. But that was only the end of the beginning. New creation happened next. The Kingdom came. Heaven and earth met. Jesus, the resurrected King came alive from the tomb and defeated the enemy of humanity. He won.

What we need to understand about John 3:16, then, is God didn’t punish Jesus for our sins as some might think. God gave Jesus as the only one who could live humanity as he intended it. Jesus lived out the vocation God gave Adam, but Adam failed. He gave the vocation to Noah, but Noah failed. Abraham failed. Moses and the Israelites failed. The Israelites looked for a Messiah who would bring them out of exile and looked for God to return to the Temple to dwell there. They never recognized Jesus as the embodiment of God in human form. The Messiah, God, the suffering servant who would fulfill the prophecies in ways unexpected by the political and spiritual leaders corrupted by a broken world.

God gave himself in perfect humanity, in perfect love, to live out the vocation he gave to humans who could not carry out his plan, so he did it himself. He lived a life of love and suffering and sacrifice, bringing heaven to earth in unexpected ways to dwell with us. The interesting word used is not dwell or live with us, but he tabernacled with us, temple words, God coming to meet man words. On earth as in heaven words.

The passage we shared shows us God loves the world like he loves the Israelites. The world lifted his son like Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, but rather than living a few years by viewing the serpent, we can live eternally by believing in the son. God so loved the world he came in the form of humanity to save it.

In the wilderness, believers lived, non-believers died. Both had the same opportunity. Both could look at the serpent if they chose to do so. Believers chose to look at the serpent lifted up on the pole because they believed it could cure them. Non-believers never made an effort and died in their tent. Only one group found life.

The light came into the world. Believers in the light found life. Non-believers remained in darkness and death. Both have the same opportunity. Both can have life, but only one group will receive it. Only those who come out into the light and have their deeds exposed can find forgiveness for their deeds. Only those who believe can find life. Those who do not believe are condemned already because they refuse to come out of their darkness, and like the Israelites who failed to believe in the wilderness and stayed huddled in their tents, the poison will kill them.

Does God desire that we suffer and die in our sins? No. It’s why he came in the first place. He so loved us that he came. He took the world’s sins upon himself. But covenants have two sides. He did the hard part; he died on a Roman cross for us. He asks us to lift up our eyes to the cross and believe in him. Meditate on this short passage this week. What does it mean to you? Let it soak into your soul as you understand what Jesus did for you on the cross that day 2000 years ago.

The Heavens Speak, March 8, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Some scholars have built an entire vocation around Apologetics, the discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics) It’s not just Christian Apologetics in religious debates today, either. You will find it in Buddhism, Judaism, Muslim, cults; almost anywhere you locate a religious gathering, you’ll discover apologists for their belief system.

In the early Christian church, apologists debated attempting to stem the growing persecution against the believers. Trumped up charges against Christians put them in grave danger by the state and their neighbors. Nero accused Christians of burning down Rome. Others charged them with cannibalism by misinterpreting the Eucharist. Still others accused the Christians of incest since they called each other brother and sister when greeting each other. So, the early apologists’ debate shared the gospel’s truth and the Christian practices that helped support those truths.

Later, apologists focused on the existence of a unique and personal God. Some, like Tertullian, formulated and described the trinitarian nature of the godhead in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – one God existing in three personifications. Others explained the means of atonement through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus; how the Eucharist acts as a remembrance of his covenant with believers; and other doctrinal issues within the church.

Today, apologists often work to share what early Christians believed. We have allowed doctrines and theology to stray so far to the right or left of what the early church held as truth; we have a hard time knowing what to believe anymore. Apologists debate the finer points of doctrine, often confusing the situation more than they should. Sometimes I think they hurt the faith as much as they help when debates internally get as rabid as debates external to the church.

But however heated debates might get, it’s necessary sometimes to stop and look at scripture, think about what it says to us, meditate on its meaning, and understand what God wants us to do because of its message. Such is the case with many of the Psalms, the Jewish nation’s songs, filled with emotion, but also filled with truth. We can see it in Psalms 19, one of the scriptures from this week’s lectionary readings.

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;

yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,

which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. (Psalms 19:1-6 NIV)

In these verses, we recognize nature will declare the creator God’s majesty and power if we won’t. When we consider the universe’s mechanics, we should stand in awe of God’s creative power. Some today scoff at his existence, but how can there exist such an intricate balance between the galaxies and stars and planets without a great designer. If only by chance, I would submit that takes a great deal more faith than believers exhibit. Producing the universe by chance would be like putting the parts of a watch in a bag and shaking it until a watch comes out. But indefinitely shaking that bag of parts doesn’t produce a watch, only dust in the end.

All we need do is look around us, and we see the evidence of God. The sun, moon, and stars do not need to speak for us to know God exists. We see his handiwork by their very existence and their precision movement in the sky. We hear creation around us in the voice of the animals, the babbling brook, the sound of raindrops falling, the breeze rustling the leaves in the trees, and myriad others surrounding us. We feel the heat of the sun, the cool of the night, the salt spray of the sea against our face. We innately know God is real because of our physical experiences every day.

Our observations of the natural world tell us something or someone set it in motion. Everything around us cannot be an accident. Things reproduce too perfectly, yet too uniquely to come from chance alone. Something or someone put all the laws in place to make this spot in the universe the perfect place for us to live and grow and multiply. Scripture tells us that someone is God. The apologists use scripture to argue and debate their logic. The non-apologists just look up to the sky and look around them and see the glory of God in all his creation.

When Jesus made his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, the Pharisees and rulers told him to hush the crowds as they cried out, “Hosanna to the King.” The Pharisees feared what the Romans would do because of the praises lifted for this itinerate preacher and teacher. You probably remember Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees and rulers. “If these don’t praise me, the rocks and hills will cry out their praise.”

The psalmist saw creation crying out God’s praises whenever and wherever he took time to look. He could not escape the awe-inspiring visage of what God had done. But he also purposed to voice his declaration of God’s glory and majesty in the form of a psalm. It is time we, too, declare the glory of God as we look around and see what God has done. Nature will continue to speak on God’s behalf, but I don’t want nature to speak for me. I want to speak for myself as I share the goodness, the majesty, the incredible power, the glory of the creator God, who rescued us from this dark world and promised to one day restore earth and heaven to their former glory for those who believe in his son for salvation.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

God’s Covenants, March 1, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

The season of Lent includes several important points for us to consider as we journey through those 40 days leading up to Easter. Initially, baptismal candidates used the time to go through a rigorous catechism to ensure they knew what it meant to take on the title Christian in a pagan world. Church membership didn’t mean just putting your name on a roll and attending every once in a while or giving a few dollars to keep the lights burning. Becoming a member of this band of Jesus followers meant the possibility of giving up everything, including your life. You might lose your job, your possessions, family and friends, everything. As Jesus told his disciples, the world would hate them because of the message they lived before others. Lent, then, allowed these new converts to make sure they believed what they believed and knew what it meant.

Over time, we transferred Lent as a preparation for baptism and church membership to prepare for Easter, something the early church never did because every Sunday they celebrated Easter. That’s why the early Christians celebrated and worshiped on Sunday, the first day of the week when the resurrected Jesus appeared to Mary and his disciples after his crucifixion for the first time. We seem to have forgotten much of what the early church meant by their early baptism practices, Lent, even the meaning of Easter and Sunday. But Lent is in every respect a time of preparation, a time for self-examination and meditation on what God did for us on the cross.

The cross fulfilled his last great covenant with humanity. God made covenants with many throughout the Old Testament. They begin with Adam. He placed him in the garden and gave him dominion over his creation, granting him life for as long as he obeyed a straightforward command. Don’t eat from the tree in the center of the garden. Adam failed the test, and the curse of death fell upon all creation. God gave Noah a covenant and sealed it with a rainbow. He gave Abraham and David and Solomon covenants. Throughout the Old Testament, we read repeatedly covenants God made with individuals and with his chosen people.

God’s covenants have some interesting characteristics, however. His covenants are extraordinarily one-sided. God does most of the work. Covenants today would be called contracts in which each party commits to providing some service to the other party. But in God’s covenants, invariably, God commits himself to do everything except one small item. He calls the other party to obey him. Usually, that’s the sum total of what he asks. That was all he asked of Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon, Moses, Israel, and the list goes on. His covenants ask for obedience. Just listen and do what he asks. And usually, his rules are not hard. Don’t murder – not so hard. Don’t steal – we can do that. Don’t commit adultery – it seems like our culture leaves that out a lot, but if we control our appetites, we can do that without much effort. Don’t lie – it’s a lot easier to tell the truth, so you don’t have to remember who you told what lie. Don’t covet – there’s that appetite again, but it’s really about being okay with what someone else has. If we do those, it’s easier to have no other God’s before Yahweh, or not to have any images, things we’ve created to take his place, or to take his name in vain, or to set aside time to worship him. When we do all that, honoring parents is easy. And Jesus put it together in two simple commands: Love God; Love others.

So, to sum up God’s covenants, he does everything for us to succeed in his economy. He takes care of our needs, not necessarily our wants. He adopts us into his royal family and makes us part of his kingdom. God renews our humanity as he designed it. And all we need to do is love him and love others. He takes care of everything else. That should sell better than the Gansu knife. But it doesn’t because we think we know more than God. Take a look at God’s covenant with Abraham, for example.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.

God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.” (Genesis 17:1-7;15-16 WEB)

How do we get around our obstinance and worldly attractions? Lent is a good start. Paul tells us in Philippians to think about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV) The covenant of the cross surely meets that criteria and should be in our thoughts consistently during Lent. Think about what comes from Jesus’ sacrifice – forgiveness, fellowship, adoption, inner peace, eternal life. Meditate on these things and let God’s peace wash over you during Lent.

Jesus did it all for us. He gave his flesh and blood. He endured the agony of the cross, the ridicule, and humiliation from the crowd, even death at the hands of an angry mob. He did it all. And our part of the covenant he instituted on that last night with his disciples? Obey two commands. Love God and love others.

Lent – a time of preparation, self-examination, meditation. Think back to the early church and what it meant to new believers. True believers may not be far from going underground again in this country as Christians are in many countries around the world. It’s time we stop and contemplate what it means to follow Christ. Will you follow him if it means your job, your property, your possessions, your family, your life? Will you pay the price in suffering when you walk in the footsteps of the suffering servant? Those were questions the early church faced. Will we see them in this country? Maybe. Spiritual warfare continues in realms we do not understand. Lent offers a time to reflect. Take the time as another glorious Easter celebration approaches.

Scriptures marked WEB are taken from the THE WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB): WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE, public domain.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan