JESUS! In Word and Song

WEEK 21

THE EMPTY TOMB

“Christ’s resurrection is one of the central truths of the Christian faith and the only plausible explanation for the empty tomb. Many theories have been sinfully invented over the centuries to explain away the empty tomb, all of them equally futile.”¹

“Though Jesus had predicted His resurrection numerous times, it was more than [His followers] could believe at that point. It would take His showing Himself alive to them by many ‘infallible proofs’ for them to believe.”² (Acts 1:3)

“That the women came to anoint Jesus’ body on the third day after His burial showed that they, like the disciples, were not expecting Him to rise from the dead.”³ But GOD . . .

Jesus rose. His body had not decayed, for it was not possible for that holy thing to see corruption; but still it had been dead. And by the power of God—by His own power, by the Father’s power, by the power of the Spirit, for it is attributed to each of these in turn—before the sun had risen, His dead body was quickened. This is the doctrine that is the keystone of the arch of Christianity.⁴

The guards at the tomb experienced paralyzing fear: “[A]n angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became as dead men”(Matt 28:2-4 ESV).

The angel proclaims the great truth that concerns everyone and will change the universe forever. It is with flight, trembling, astonishment, silence and fear that the women initially receive the angel’s message about God’s action in raising Jesus from the dead.⁵

But instead of paralyzing fear the women’s fear energized them: “So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy”(Matt 28:8 ESV). “[T]rembling and astonishment had seized them”(Mark 16:8 ESV).

“These graphic words indicate dramatically the soul-shocking nature of the truth those women had just learned.”⁶

Fear and great joy is: “A natural state of mingled feeling, in view of what they had seen and heard. Fear at what they had seen, joy at what they had heard, and both mingled because the latter seemed too good to be true.”⁷

“Energizing fear pulled them out of the paralyzed fear of obsession with themselves and into a world of GOD’s surprises.”⁸ “Suddenly they understood they were not the center of their own existence nor wanted to be!”⁹ That energizing fear became an excitement in waiting for what GOD would do next!

ENDNOTES

(21) Energizing Fear

1. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 472.

2. John MacArthur, 471.

3. John MacArthur, 470.

4. Charles Spurgeon, “Resurrection,” Free Grace Broadcaster 235 (Spring 2016) : 3.

5. Gerald O’Collins, “The Empty Tomb—What Does it Mean?” 21 April 2003, America, The Jesuit Review, 12 February 2021 https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2003/04/21/what-does-empty-tomb-jesus-mean-us-today.

6. James Burton Coffman, “Commentary on Mark 16:8,” 1999, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, 12 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/mark/16-8.html#verse-bcc.

7. Philip Schaff, “Commentary on Matthew 28:8,” 1879-90, Schaff’s Popular Commentary on the New Testament, 12 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/matthew/28-8.html#verse-scn.

8. Eugene Peterson, Living the Resurrection (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress 2006) 17.

9. Peterson, 28.

10. Peterson, 30.

11. Peterson.

12. “ . . . the LORD of hosts . . . Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isaiah 8:13 ESV).

13. Eugene Peterson, Living the Resurrection (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress 2006) 17.

14. Peterson, 28.

15. Peterson, 38.

16. “And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:3 ESV).

17. R. Macculloch, “Commentary on Isaiah 11:3,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 12 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/isaiah/11-3.html#verse-tbi.

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 20

THE RESURRECTION

“Easter Sunday is celebrated on the first full moon following the vernal equinox, when the Sun crosses the equator going north. For this reason, Easter can fall on any date from March 22 through April 25.”¹

“God raised him on the third day. [H]e is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:40,42-43 ESV).

He was dead. His enemies thought they had done him in, and they were glad. His friends thought he was done for, and they were sad. But heaven watching was preparing the music that should ring around the world declaring the defeat of evil, the mastery of sin, and the ransom of the race.²

It is a pledge and assurance that our sins are forgiven. Death was the penalty of our sin; the debt we owed to God; Christ engaged to discharge that debt for us; till He discharged it in full, He was to remain in the prison of the grave. His liberation from that prison was to be the token to us that the anger of God was appeased, that our whole debt was paid to the uttermost.³

[O]ur Lord by His work upon the cross, in addition to bearing the penalty and punishment of our sins as our substitute, was also destroying the works of the devil. He was delivering us from the bondage and the dominion of the devil, and was also delivering us from the territory of death. We are no longer dead in trespasses and sins; we do not belong to the realm of death, we are alive unto God. And likewise He has delivered us from the tyranny and power of sin.⁴

“It means that the Atonement is complete; it means that God the Father has accepted Christ’s work as a satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. It means that the problem of a future life has been solved.”⁵

Jesus the Messiah has come; he has lived, died, and risen among us, atoning once for all for our sins. [H]e has written his laws on our hearts. This new covenant is the ‘eternal covenant’ in Christ, through which we shall forever have fellowship with God, and he shall be our God, and we shall be his people.⁶

JESUS, I stood at the foot of the cross knowing in my heart You were the Son of GOD. Today I’m at the garden tomb where the stone has been rolled away. Now I believe history and again see with the eyes of my heart that You are the Son of GOD!

ENDNOTES

(20) Have You Heard?

1. Joe Carter, “9 Things You Should Know About the Christian Calendar,” 1 December 2019, The Gospel Coalition, 3 July 2021 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-know-christian-calendar/.

2. G.C. Morgan, “Commentary on John 20:1,” 1983-1999 Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/john-20.html.

3. H.L. Nicholson, “Commentary on John 20:1,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/tbi/john-20.html.

4. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Great Doctrines of the Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003) I:345.

5. J.H. Coward, “Commentary on John 20:1,” 1876, Church Pulpit Commentary, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/john/20-1.html#verse-cpc.

6. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 522.

7. Edmond L. Budry and George Friderick Handel, “Thine is the Glory,” 1904, Hymnary, 4 June 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/thine_is_the_glory_risen_conquering.

8. Charles Wesley, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” 1739 Hymnary, 11 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/christ_the_lord_is_risen_today_wesley.

9. Edmond L. Budry and George Friderick Handel, “Thine is the Glory,” 1904, Hymnary, 4 June 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/thine_is_the_glory_risen_conquering.

10. Budry and Handel.

11. Budry and Handel.

12. Budry and Handel.

13. Charles Wesley, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” 1739 Hymnary, 11 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/christ_the_lord_is_risen_today_wesley.

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WEEK 19

THE CRUCIFIXION

“And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts” (Luke 23:48 ESV).

“The people who had acted under the influence of the priests now yielded to superior influences and began to experience change of sentiment.”¹ “Both Jew and Gentile left Calvary that evening heavy-hearted, self-condemned, and ill at ease.”²

The people who came to behold this melancholy spectacle, were wonderfully affected when Jesus gave up the ghost. They had been insistent, with loud voices, to have him crucified; but now that they saw the face of the creation darkened with a sullen gloom during his crucifixion, and found his death accompanied with an earthquake, as if nature had been in an agony when he died, they rightly interpreted these prodigies to be so many testimonies from God of his innocence.³

God Himself had foreordained the very minutest details of how Jesus would die. Dying was Christ’s consummate act of submission to the Father’s will. Jesus Himself was in absolute control. Yet it was not Jesus alone, but everyone around Him—His enemies included—who fulfilled precisely the details of the OT prophecies. These events display [God’s] divine soverteignty.⁴

“[T]he cross ‘disarmed’ the demonic ‘powers’ and forged the final triumph over Satan.”⁵

[I]f we lived more in the atmosphere of the cross sin would lose its power, and every grace would flourish. When we draw very near to Him and have fellowship with Him in His sufferings we raise a hue and cry against the sin which slew Him, and resolve to be revenged upon it by departing from it ourselves.⁶

“The cross is that holy implement with which we make war with sin till it be utterly destroyed.”⁷ And this is how we “make war with sin:” “A disciple must deny himself (die to self-will), take up his cross (embrace God’s will, no matter the cost), and follow Christ.”⁸

“[P]ut off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22, ESV).

The believer relives the death and resurrection by putting to death the old self and putting on the new. In one sense this is a past act, experienced at conversion. Yet this is also a present act, experienced in the corporate life of the church. In other words, both at conversion and in spiritual growth, the believer must relive the cross before experiencing the resurrection life. The Christian paradox is that death is the path to life!⁹

ENDNOTES

(19) CHRIST Surren’dring All

1. J.W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton, “Commentary on Luke 23:48,” 1914, The Fourfold Gospel, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/luke/23-48.html#verse-tfg.

2. J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2007) II:481.

3. Thomas Coke, “Commentary on Luke 23:48,” 1801-1803, Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/luke/23-48.html#verse-tcc.

4. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 436.

5. Grant Osborne, “Cross, Crucifixion,” 1991, Holman Bible Dictionary, 18 June 2021 https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hbd/c/cross-crucifixion.html.

6. Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermons on New Testament Men (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1994) 106-107.

7. Spurgeon, 107.

8. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 1841.

9. Grant Osborne, “Cross, Crucifixion,” 1991, Holman Bible Dictionary, 18 June 2021 https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hbd/c/cross-crucifixion.html.

10. J. Lathrop, “Commentary on Luke 23:48,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://pro.studylight.org/commentary/luke/23-48.html#verse-tbi.

11. W. Landels, “Commentary on Luke 23:48,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://pro.studylight.org/commentary/luke/23-48.html#verse-tbi.

12. Charles Spurgeon, “Commentary on Luke 23:48,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://pro.studylight.org/commentary/luke/23-48.html#verse-tbi.

13. James Nisbet, “Commentary on Luke 23:48,” 1876, Church Pulpit Commentary, 11 February 2021 https://pro.studylight.org/commentary/luke/23-48.html#verse-cpc.

14. J. Lathrop, “Commentary on Luke 23:48,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://pro.studylight.org/commentary/luke/23-48.html#verse-tbi.

15. W. Landels, “Commentary on Luke 23:48,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://pro.studylight.org/commentary/luke/23-48.html#verse-tbi.

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WEEK 18

THE LORD’S SUPPER

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:53-54 ESV).

To ‘eat’ Jesus’ flesh has the spiritual meaning of trusting or believing in him, especially in his death for the sins of mankind. Similarly, to ‘drink his blood’ means to trust in his atoning death, which is represented by the shedding of his blood. The receiving of eternal life through being united with ‘the Son of Man’ is represented in the Lord’s Supper.¹

Jesus himself is the origin of the Lord’s Supper. He commanded that it be continued. And he is the focus and content of it. The Lord’s Supper is to focus the mind on Jesus and especially his historical work in dying for our sins. As we do the physical act of eating and drinking, we are to do the mental act of remembering.²

“The power to excite remembrance consists in the appeal made to the senses. Here the eye, the hand, the mouth, find joyful work, and thus the senses, which are usually clogs to the soul, become wings to lift the mind in contemplation.”³

Jesus, who knew our forgetfulness, appointed this festival. Only as it assists remembrance can it be useful. [W]e need that there be a set sign and form to incarnate the spiritual and make it vivid to the mind. [I]t behooves us to keep the name of our Lord engraven on our hearts.⁴

Christ Himself has appointed this institution and selected for us the part of His mission which He considers the vital and all-important centre—‘This is My body, broken for you. This is the new covenant in My blood, shed for the remission of sins.’ Not His words, not His loving deeds, not His tenderness, does He point us to; but to His violent death, as if He said, ‘There is the thing that is to touch hearts and change lives, and bind men to Me.’ The part of it which most concerns us to remember was this: ‘that He died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.’⁵

“Know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2 ESV).

“Our obligation duty, and interest all combine to enforce obedience to this last, solemn, and dying command of Christ.”⁶

“There is no other religion whose believers can look back to a founder who was content to say, ‘Be true to My memory. That is all I command. Let your most solemn worship embody the expression of this remembrance.’”⁷

ENDNOTES

(18) CHRIST Inside of Me

1. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2035.

2. John Piper, “Why and How we Celebrate the Lord’s Supper,” 13 August 2006, desiringGod, 11 February 2021 https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/why-and-how-we-celebrate-the-lords-supper.

3. Charles Spurgeon, “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:24,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/1-corinthians/11-24.html#verse-tbi.

4. Spurgeon.

5. A. Maclearen, “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:24,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/1-corinthians/11-24.html#verse-tbi.

6. N. Meeres, “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:24,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/1-corinthians/11-24.html#verse-tbi.

7. R.H. Story, “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:24,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/1-corinthians/11-24.html#verse-tbi.

8. Don Fleming, “Lord’s Supper,” 2004, Bridgeway Bible Dictionary, 11 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/bbd/l/lords-supper.html.

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 17

JESUS TRAINING HIS DISCIPLES

Sprinkled throughout the Gospels we have words like, “then JESUS said to His disciples . . .” He spent a great deal of time and energy teaching His chosen apostles.

Two years into His public ministry He inaugurated an intense training of the twelve.

One example of His intense focus on training is found in Luke 12:1. The narrative starts where there were so many thousands of people gathered to hear Him they were trampling one another. In this case of life and death, I would assume JESUS would first address the problem of the crowds. But, He did not. “In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples . . . ”(Luke 12:1 ESV).

Jesus retired three times from Galilee to outlying districts, seeking privacy with the Twelve. Leaving the hot shores of the lake, he planned to spend the summer on the cooler plateaus for more intensive training of those whom he had chosen to become apostles.¹

“And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat” (Mark 6:31 ESV).

The disciples must have been happy for those words. But one time when they arrived at their destination they saw a great crowd coming toward them. And JESUS welcomed them. I doubt that the 12 were happy at this. But the disciples’ discouragement most assuredly grew worse when JESUS asked them to feed the crowd of 5000 (Mark 6:37).

[T]he purpose, the goal of our Lord’s dealings with the disciples was to train them in the area of faith. The means of training the twelve in faith was not ‘teaching’ per se, but testing them. Jesus commanded the disciples to obey Him, without having the human means of doing so, and thus having to trust Him to provide for their needs. [T]he events were intended to teach the disciples to trust and to obey.²

“As Christ acted with his disciples while he sojourned with them, so the Holy Ghost acts with those who believe in his name.”³

[A]ll of the commands of God are impossible for fallen, sinful man to obey. That is why we must not only be saved by faith, but we must walk by faith. Jesus’ burden is light, not because it is easy, but because He provides the means to do what He commands.⁴

ENDNOTES

(17) When the LORD Was With His Twelve

1. Orville E. Daniel, The Harmony of the Four Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1996) 87-112.

2. Bob Deffinbaugh, “The Training of the Twelve,” 22 June 2004, Bible.org, 10 February 2021 https://bible.org/seriespage/29-training-twelve-luke-91-27.

3. Adam Clarke, “Commentary on John 14:16,” 1832, The Adam Clarke Commentary,

10 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/john/14-16.html#verse-acc.

4. Bob Deffinbaugh, “The Training of the Twelve,” 22 June 2004, Bible.org, 10 February 2021 https://bible.org/seriespage/29-training-twelve-luke-91-27.

5. John H. Sammis, and Daniel B. Towner, “Trust and Obey,” 1887, Hymnary, 10 February 2021https://hymnary.org/text/when_we_walk_with_the_lord.

6. John Newton, Letters of John Newton (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1960, reprinted 1990) 85.

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WEEK 16

JESUS AND THE SABBATH

“The Sabbath in Christ’s time was a veil upon the eyes of the people. It prevented them beholding any duty on that day further than the offering of the set form of sacrifice. But Jesus Christ came to show them of the Father.”¹

And, it was to show them that He and the FATHER were One! The Messiah is divine—GOD Himself come down to man. As GOD of the Old Testament commanded a Sabbath (a one-day rest from the rigors of the world), so does GOD’s Son in the New.

“Jesus does not argue with His opponents about whether they understand the Sabbath legislation correctly. His interest is whether they understand who He is.”²

The debate between the Jewish religious leaders and JESUS about the Sabbath came to a head when the leaders realized He was making Himself out to be GOD. “[T]he Jews never accused our Lord of blasphemy for saying that he was the Messiah, but for saying that He was the Son of God, because they did not believe that Messiah when He appeared was to be a Divine Person.”³

“This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18 ESV).

This verse begins a long discourse, in which our Lord formally defends himself from the charge of the Jews of laying claim to what He had no right to claim. (1.) He asserts His own Divine authority, commission, dignity, and equality with God His Father. (2.) He brings forward the evidence of His Divine commission, which the Jews ought to consider and receive. (3.) Finally, He tells the Jews plainly the reason of their unbelief, and charges home on their consciences their love of man’s praise more than God’s, and their inconsistency in pretending to honour Moses while they did not honour Christ. It is a discourse almost unrivalled in depth and majesty.⁴

And, does it not hang heavy on our consciences that we take GOD so lightly that we begrudge the command to think upon Him one day of each week?

Is it going too far to say, that if our nation repented of its sin and returned to the old path of Sabbath observance, we would again become the leading nation of the world? But though the nation does not return, let us as individuals, and as a church, put this promise to the test and we shall find the Lord faithful.⁵

“’If you turn back from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, not seeking your own pleasure, then I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken’” (Isa 58:13-14 ESV).

ENDNOTES

(16) The Jews Observed the Sabbath

1. Charles Ellicott, “Commentary on Mark 2:27,” 1905, Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, 10 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/mark/2-27.html#verse-ebc.

2. R.C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible (Orlando, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005) 1518.

3. J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2007) III:282.

4. Ryle.

5. C.E. Hunter, “Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy,” Chapel Library, February 10, 2021 https://www.chapellibrary.org:8443/pdf/books/ktld.pdf.

6. Philip Schaff, “Commentary on Mark 2:27,” 1879-90, Schaff’s Popular Commentary on the NT, 10 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/mark/2-27.html#verse-scn.

7. Charles Wesley, and John Darwall, “Rejoice the Lord is King,” 1744, Hymnary, 10 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/rejoice_the_lord_is_king_your_lord_and_k.

8. John 5:19-47.

9. Matt 12:3-4.

10. Matt 12:11.

11. Albert Barnes, “Commentary on Isaiah 58:13,” 1870 Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, 10 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/isaiah/58-13.html.

12. D. Lloyd, “Commentary on Ezekiel 20:12,” 1905-09, The Biblical Illustrator, 10 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/ezekiel/20-12.html.

13. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 1342.

14. Sinclair Ferguson, “Sabbath Rest,” 1 March 2004, Ligonier Ministries, 10 February 2021 https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/sabbath-rest/.

15. Alistair Begg, “The Gift of the Sabbath,” 18 July 1999, Truth for Life, The Bible-Teaching Ministry of Alistair Begg, 10 February 2021 https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/the-gift-of-the-sabbath/.

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WEEK 15

THE SUFFERINGS OF JESUS

“The Heidelberg Catechism says that Christ sustained the anger of God against the sin of His people ‘during his whole life on earth, but especially at the end’ (Q&A 37).”¹

“One who is the Creator of the universe lived His life on the same plane ours is lived, passed through the same trials we experience, and suffered not only as we do, but far more acutely.”²

A large boulder on the seashore takes the full force of each wave, while small rocks and pebbles move back and forth with the waves. JESUS took the full brunt of resistance against Him (for He never sinned), while we move back and forth with sin making it not as severe as the suffering of JESUS.

He was made perfect ‘through suffering’ (Heb 2:10). Therefore we should see all the hardship and suffering that comes to us in life as something that God brings to us to do us good, strengthening our trust in him and our obedience, and ultimately increasing our ability to glorify him.³

The suffering of JESUS consisted of two reasons: (1) He suffered because He was the Son of GOD and spoke Truth and lived it out (Matt 4:17) and (2) He suffered because He was the Son of Man and tempted to sin but did not (Heb 2:18).

Scripture speaks of two kinds of suffering Christians experience: (1) We will suffer as JESUS suffered by unholy men because we speak Truth and live it out (Acts 4:1-3) and (2) we will suffer because we are mere men; we’re tempted to sin, and succumb to it (1 John 1:8).

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12 ESV).

The indwelling of Christ in the believer is a kind of second incarnation of the Son of God. When Christ enters the heart of a poor sinner, He once more clothes Himself with our nature. The life Christ lived in the days of His time on earth was a life of sorrow, of conflict, of temptation, of desertion, of want and of suffering in every form. Does He now live a different life in the believer? No; He is still tempted and deserted, in sorrow and in want, in humiliation and in suffering—in His people. Did you think that these fiery darts were leveled at you? Did you suppose that you were deserted, you suffered, you were despised, you were trodden under foot? No, it was Christ dwelling in you. All the cruelty of Satan, all the power of sin and all the contempt of the world are leveled, not against you, but against the Lord dwelling in you.⁴

ENDNOTES

(15) JESUS, You Suffered

1. “The Sufferings of Christ,” Ligonier Ministries, 17 June 2021 https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/the-suffering-of-christ/.

2. A.W. Pink, “Commentary on Hebrews 2,” A.W. Pink’s Commentary on John and Hebrews, 9 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/awp/hebrews-2.html.

3. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 812.

4. Octavius Winslow, Evening Thoughts (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2005) November 7^th.

5. John Newton, Letters of John Newton (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1960, reprinted 1990) 82.

6. “ . . . ‘Sing aloud with gladness . . . and raise shouts . . . proclaim, give praise, and say, . . .” (Jeremiah 31:7).

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 14

THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

“[H]e was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt 7:29 ESV). “The people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching. In contrast to their rabbis, who merely cited the opinions of other rabbis, Jesus’ teachings had inherent authority, the authority of God himself.”¹

“Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15 ESV).

The kingdom of God is the central theme in Jesus’s teaching. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God had come, and that he, as the incarnate and divine Lord, was its ruler. This kingdom challenged the standards of the kingdoms of men and called its citizens to live in radically different ways.²

“[T]here is no teaching of Christ contained in all four Gospels [w]ith one exception. Only one verse of teaching is to be found in all four Gospels.”³

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt10:39 ESV).

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35 ESV).

“Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it” (Luke 17:33 ESV).

And John records the same teaching during JESUS’ final week before His crucifixion: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25 ESV).

“This was a principle that He had taught [His followers] on at least three separate occasions previously. Obviously it was very important.”⁴

This paradoxical saying reveals an important spiritual truth: those who pursue a life of ease, comfort, and acceptance by the world will not find eternal life. On the other hand, those who give up their lives for the sake of Christ and the gospel will find it.⁶

“Lose your life. Hate your life. This was the foremost and most-repeated word of our Master.”⁵ And, what does “losing your life” look like? “[It’s] when God has more of your heart than any creature in the world has.“⁷

ENDNOTES

(14) JESUS Teaches

1. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 1958.

2. Benjamin L. Merkle, “The Teachings of Jesus,” 2021, The Gospel Coalition, 5 February 2021 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-teachings-of-jesus-2/.

3. Bob Sorge, “Jesus’ Most Common Teaching,” 3 November 2014, Bob Sorge, 5 February 2021 http://bobsorge.com/2014/11/jesus-most-common-teaching/.

4. Thomas Constable, “Commentary on John 12:25,” 2012, Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable, 6 February 2021, brackets mine https://www.studylight.org/commentary/john/12-25.html.

5. Bob Sorge, “Jesus’ Most Common Teaching,” 3 November 2014, Bob Sorge, 5 February 2021 http://bobsorge.com/2014/11/jesus-most-common-teaching/.

6. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 228.

7. Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Worship (Orlando, FL: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2006) 77.

8. Matthew 5:21-48.

9. “And he marveled because of their unbelief. . . .” (Mark 6:6 ESV).

10. “And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” (Luke 7:48 ESV).

11. “The LORD God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word . . .” (Isaiah 50:4 ESV).

12. Bob Sorge, “Jesus’ Most Common Teaching,” 3 November 2014, Bob Sorge, 5 February 2021 http://bobsorge.com/2014/11/jesus-most-common-teaching/.

13. “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25 ESV).

14. Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Worship (Orlando, FL: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2006) 77.

15. “The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor . . .” (Isaiah 61:1 ESV).

16. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4 ESV).

17. “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves . . .” (Matthew 10:16 ESV).

18. “The world . . . hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil” (John 7:7 ESV).

19. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden . . .” (Matthew 11:28 ESV).

20. “ . . . I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29 ESV).

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 13

THE COMPASSION OF JESUS

There is no end to grief. Sin destroys. Israel’s history is recorded in the Old Testament—her history of suffering from sin, but the discourses always end in this likeness: “[A] throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness one who is swift to do righteousness”(Isa 16:5 ESV). Now the righteous One has come—in compassion.

“[T]he coming of the kingdom of God was being seen in works of mercy. It was in the compassion of Christ that this great transforming impact was being felt throughout the world”¹

Synonyms for “compassion” are: care, concern, tenderheartedness, mercy, and empathy. “Empathy is the ability to experience the feelings of another person. It goes beyond sympathy, which is caring and understanding for the suffering of others.”² Compassion equals empathy.

In the synagogue at Nazareth JESUS read from the Old Testament the declaration of His compassion (Luke 4:16-19): “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound”(Isa 61:1 ESV).

All the gospels record events where the Lord’s compassion is demonstrated: “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand” (Mark 1:41 ESV). “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her”(Luke 7:13 ESV). “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them”(Matt 9:36 ESV). “Jesus wept”(John 11:35 ESV).

‘He was moved with compassion.’ [F]or he took upon himself our infirmities, and was made like unto ourselves. Matchless pity, indeed, was this! He took our sicknesses and carried our sorrows: he proved himself a true brother, with quick, human sensibilities. A tear brought a tear into his eye; a cry made him pause to ask what help he could render.³

It is not the sad seeking for joy, but rather Joy seeking the sad; not emptiness seeking fullness, but rather Fullness seeking emptiness. And it is not merely that He supplies our need, but He becomes Himself the fulfillment of our need. He is ever ‘I am that which My people need.’⁴

Our Lord attached Himself to the woes of our nature; [i]t was necessary that our Lord, in order to sympathize fully with His people, should not only identify Himself with their nature, but also in some degree with their peculiar circumstances. He never instructs them to walk in a path that His own feet have not trod first and left their impressions.⁵

ENDNOTES

(13) Shout for Joy

1. Alistair Begg, “Compassionate Shepherd,” 30 July 2008, Truth for Life, The Bible-Teaching Ministry of Alistair Begg, 3 February 2021 https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/compassionate-shepherd/.

2. “Empathy vs. Sympathy,” Diffen, 3 February 2021 https://www.diffen.com/difference/Empathy_vs_Sympathy.

3. Charles Spurgeon, “The Compassion of Jesus, A Sermon (3438),” 24 December 1914, The Spurgeon Archive, 3 February 2021 https://archive.spurgeon.org/sermons/3438.php.

4. Roy and Revel Hession, We Would See Jesus (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 1958, 2010) 41.

5. Octavius Winslow, Evening Thoughts (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2005) July 31^st.

6. “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted” (Isaiah 49:13 ESV).

7. Frank Ellsworth Graeff, and Joseph Lincoln Hall, “Does Jesus Care,” 1901, Hymnary, 3 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/does_jesus_care_when_my_heart_is_pained.

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 12

THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS

“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and immediately was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”¹

God Himself is never the agent of temptation but here—as in the book of Job—God uses even satanic tempting to serve His sovereign purposes. Jesus confronted Satan and took the first step toward overthrowing his evil kingdom. Christ was tempted in all points; Satan tempted Him with ‘the lust of the flesh’ (Matt. 4:2-3); ’the lust of the eyes’ (Matt. 4:8-9); ‘and the pride of life’ (Matt. 4:5-6).²

“The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ was tempted in every respect as we are.”³

“[P]resenting Himself for baptism, Jesus fulfilled righteousness. When He later allowed Himself to be driven into the wilderness to be tempted, it was so that His righteousness could be tried.”⁴

God withdrew from His Son the consciousness of His presence, and Jesus was exposed to all the forces of hell. All the religious questions Satan is capable of suggesting were thrown at our Lord and Saviour. The temptation of Jesus would not have been real had it not contained the possibility of failure.⁵

He could not in any way seek to use His powers to prevent His facing up to the Father’s will and the world’s sufferings. His powers must not be used simply for Himself. They were a trust from God, not a personal power bank. They must be used only in accordance with His direction.⁶

We should note the use which our Lord made of Scripture: in his hour of trial he did not look to visions and voices and special revelation for guidance, but used the written Word. [I]n the conflict of temptation he did not defend himself by his own divine wisdom, but used that wisdom which God had revealed to all Israel through his prophets. Jesus fought as a man and used that weapon given to man. Jesus used the Scripture as authority. Jesus permitted Satan neither to question nor pervert the Scripture.⁷

“The human task of thinking about God on the basis of his Word is the place where God ‘grants understanding.’ It is a gift. (Prov 2:2-6).”⁸

It is the book of the world, because He inspired it who formed the world,—who made all nations of one blood,—and knows man’s common nature. It is the book for every heart, because He dictated it who alone knows all hearts, and what all hearts require. It is the book of God.⁹

ENDNOTES

(12) JESUS Tempted

1. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 74.

2. MacArthur.

3. Bob Mumford, The Purpose of Temptation (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1973) 106.

4. Mumford, 107-108.

5. Mumford, 106.

6. Peter Pett, “Commentary on Matthew 4:4,” 2013, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, 3 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/pet/matthew-4.html.

7. J.W. McGarvey and Phillip Y. Pendleton, “Commentary on Matthew 4:4,” 1914, The Fourfold Gospel, 3 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/matthew/4-4.html#verse-tfg.

8. John Piper, The Pleasures of God (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1991, 2000) 285.

9. J.C. Ryle, Foundations of Faith (South Plainfield, NJ: Bridge Publishing, Inc., 1987) 13.

10. “. . . the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’” Matthew 4:8-9 ESV.

11. Kenneth Baker, ed., The NIV Study Bible, Luke 2:42, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) 1442.

12. Bob Mumford, The Purpose of Temptation (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1973) 115-116.

13. “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool . . . ” (Proverbs 28:26 ESV).

14. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, “Commentary on Matthew 4:4,” 1871-8, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible – Unabridged, 3 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/matthew/4-4.html#verse-jfu.

15. Paul E. Kretzmann, “Commentary on Matthew 4:4,” 1921-23, Kretzmann’s Popular Commentary, 3 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/matthew/4-4.html#verse-kpc.

16. William Burkitt, “Commentary on Matthew 4:4,” 1700-03, Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament, 3 February 3 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/matthew/4-4.html#verse-wbc.

17. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (NY, NY: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1935, Fifty-fifth printing) 261.

18. Albert Barnes, “Commentary on Matthew 4:4,” 1870, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, 3 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/matthew/4-4.html#verse-bnb.

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Keeping myself in CHRIST

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song

JESUS! In Word and Song