New Testament Archives - Page 147 of 208

Let Us Keep the Feast

Ben Zornes on April 23, 2017

Deuteronomy 16 and 1 Corinthians 5

1. “Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed.”
The death of Christ as fulfillment of the Passover sacrifice.
– Exodus 12: Passover in Egypt
– Exodus 13: Instructions for future Passover celebrations
– Deuteronomy 16: Passover in Jerusalem
Note: All that the Passover typology teaches us about the death of Christ is true, but that is not all there is to say about his death.

2. Feast of Unleavened bread
“No leavened bread will be seen among you nor leaven seen among you”
– Removal of leaven and leavened products from your households – Biblical injunctions and application in Paul’s day.
– Relationship with the Passover and the Exodus.

3. “Let us Keep the Feast”
– A little leaven leavens the whole lump
– You really are unleavened
– Cleanse out the old leaven
– Let us Keep the Feast

The Good News of Easter Baptism

Ben Zornes on April 18, 2017

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Text: Luke 24:1-7, Romans 6:3-4

Two Questions
This morning, we will address the two questions given in our two passages–– “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5) and “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3).The response to the first is “Jesus is risen!” The answer to the second is “Jesus is risen, and we’re with him!” Easter is the foundation for every baptism, and each baptism is a celebration of Easter.

Garden of Graves (Luke 24:1-7)
Luke 24 begins in a garden as several women attempt to anoint the dead body of Jesus (vs. 1). This garden is not full of life but has become a place of death, a garden of graves (Jn. 19:41) When the women arrive at the grave they find the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty (vs. 2-3). As they are processing, two angels appear and deliver a zinger, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (vs. 5) On first pass, the women seem pretty justified in their search. They know Jesus is died because they saw him die. So he’s going to be among the dead. This is how it’s been since the events of another garden––the Garden of Eden.

The Gospel According to Two Trees
In the beginning, God created Adam, the seed of humanity’s family tree. The tree of mankind is contained and represented in this tiny seed named Adam. As the seed goes, so goes the tree. If the seed is healthy, the tree is healthy. If the seed is sick, the tree is sick. On the day Adam disobeyed, sin entered the seed and this disease infected the human tree. The root, trunk, branches, fruit all share the same disease, and, like the seed, “shall all surely die.”
Here begins the good news of another tree from a new Seed. The Master Gardener loves the diseased, the rotting, the dying people in Adam’s Tree. So the Lord causes a new Seed to grow on the old tree and from this new Seed he would plant a new tree. The Holy Spirit caused Mary to conceive so that “the child to be born will be called holy––Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). This seed has to be the Son of God and not the son (or great, great, great, great, great…grandson) of Adam, so he can born without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Because Jesus is man, He is united to the tree. Because Jesus is God, He is free from the sin of the tree.

Baptized into Adam’s Tree
The first thing Jesus does in his public ministry is to identify with Adam’s Tree by being baptized by John. John’s baptism was of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk. 1:4). But Jesus is the one person who does not need to be baptized. As Paul says, “He made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus becomes the sin of those he will save. On the wooden cross, the Seed of the woman receives the punishment for the sins of Adam’s Tree. The Seed is then hacked off from the tree and the buried in the ground (Is. 53:8). But even when Jesus is buried as a dead seed, there comes new life. The angels announce to the women the miracle. The seed of the woman, Jesus, is no longer among the dead. He’s not here, but he has risen! And so the angels ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

Baptized into Jesus’ Tree (Romans 6:3-4)
This is all very good news for Jesus. But why is this good news for me and all those in Adam’s tree? At Easter, the seed of the new tree is planted. Pauls says that your baptism unites you with the Seed so that what happens to the seed, happens to you. In baptism, you die with the Seed. In baptism, you are buried with the Seed. And in baptism you are raised with the Seed in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4). To become a Christian is to be cut off from the dying Adam Tree and to be grafted into the living Jesus Tree. And if this seems impossible for an individual twig to accomplish, that twig is correct. The work must be done by another, and it’s a gift to you (Eph. 2:8-9).

Baptized Death, Easter Life
The same question the angels asked about the Seed can now be asked about those from the Seed, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” If there’s new life from the dead for Jesus, then there’s new life for all those unified to Jesus. Once you are connected to the living Jesus Tree, then live like it! Produce the kind of fruit in your life that shows the kind of tree you’re connected to. Easter is the declaration that “Jesus is risen.” And each baptism is the declaration on another Easter, “Jesus is risen, and I’m with him.” This is the good news of Easter baptism.

Easter 2017: A New Kind of New

Ben Zornes on April 16, 2017

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Introduction:
We have all heard about the new life in Christ. It is not possible to function in Christian circles without hearing that phrase. It is not possible to read through your Bible without realizing that Christ says that He makes all things new (Rev. 21:5). And if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation—old things have passed away (2 Cor. 5:17). But our hearts are slippery, and so we often miss the point by equivocating on the meaning of the word new.

The Texts:
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Rom. 6:1–8).

Summary of the Text:
Paul has started to answer objections to the gospel that he laid out in the first chapters of Romans. If we are saved by grace, plus nothing, what is to prevent us from becoming morally dissolute? The answer to that question is that grace comes to sinners in one form only, and that form is the glory of death and resurrection. Sinners cannot take advantage of grace, because when grace comes near the sinner dies.

Shall we abuse grace by continuing in sin (v. 1)? God forbid it, Paul says. How can people who are dead to sin continue to live in sin (v. 2)? Do you not know that everyone who is baptized into Christ is baptized into His death (v. 3)? That is what baptism with the water of grace means. So if we were baptized into His death, this means that in an analogous way we are raised up from the dead by the glory of Father, in order that we might walk in newness of life (v. 4). If we have been planted in the pattern of His death, this means that we will also be planted in the pattern of His resurrection (v. 5). We know this. Our old man, our body of sin, is both crucified and destroyed, so that from this point on we might no longer be slaves to sin (v. 6). Freedom from sin is attained by those who die (v. 7). So if we are dead with Christ, it necessarily follows that we will also live with Him (v. 8).

Union with Christ:
As you have heard many times before, Jesus did not die so that we might live. It is appropriate to say that in a form of shorthand, but only if it is shorthand, and only if you know what it is shorthand for. The truth of the gospel is here: Jesus died so that we might die. He was buried so that we might be buried. He was raised from the dead so that we might be raised from the dead. He ascended into Heaven so that we might reign with Him from the right hand of the Father. The gospel is the gospel to us only through true union with Christ.

In this short passage, Paul makes this profound point three times. If we share His death, then we will share His resurrection (v. 4). If we have been planted together with Him in the likeness of His death (which is what baptism is), then it will be the same with the resurrection (v. 5). If we are dead with Christ, we will also live with Him (v. 8).

Different Kinds of New:
There are two ways that we could take the word new. One is quantitative and the other is qualitative. A new day would be a quantitative illustration. Today is Tuesday, not Monday, but it is another day just like the previous one. You got a new car, but it was a used new car, meaning that it was new to you. New to you, but not new. But there is another sense we need to have if we are to understand the potency of the gospel. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, on Sunday. But this day was qualitatively different. There had been a previous Sunday, just seven days before, but this Sunday was entirely and completely different. The world had been born again. The times of regeneration had been inaugurated. Jesus really had made all things new.

Water New or Spirit New?
Paul is explicit here on what our baptism means. We do not have the authority to contradict the meaning of our baptism on the basis of the meaning of our carnal logic. In other words, we are not allowed to say that grace means liberty to sin when our baptismal grace says that it means death to sin. Look down a few verses (Rom. 6:14). If we persist in contradicting our baptisms in this way, it will not be long before our baptisms rise up in order to contradict us. If Tyre and Sidon will be able to accuse Capernaum on the last day, then the baptisms of hollow Christians should certainly be able to rise up to accuse them.

“But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit [same word for newness], and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom. 7:6). The newness that indicates salvation is a spiritual newness.

Both Kinds of New:
Someone can move into Christianity the same way you might move into a new house, or buy a new car, or take a new job. It is new in the quantitative sense. This is not a sinful thing, and it does apply to everyone who comes into the faith. Someone might be truly converted, and still need to get used to the ordinary new things. Christians form an actual subculture on the earth, and the lingo and the customs and the government might be new to you in the same way that the analogous things would be new if you joined the Navy. But those who are actually planted together with the Lord’s death are those who actually walk in a qualitative newness.

If this has happened, then it means that you are walking where Jesus is. And where He is must be described as being on this side of death to sin.

Palm Sunday 2017: The Crowded Heart

Ben Zornes on April 9, 2017

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Introduction:
You have often heard here that we have no real reason to assume that the crowds that welcomed Jesus in the Triumphal Entry and the crowd that was gathered to scream for His crucifixion were made up of the same people. Those two events, just days apart, are often pointed to as evidence of “the fickleness of crowds.” But there is no good reason to identify the crowds with one another, and a number of good reasons not to. But there are still complexities.

The Text:
“Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him” (Mark 15:14).
“And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9).

Summary of the Text:
We have two crowds, exhibiting two completely different attitudes toward Jesus. One crowd wanted Him lifted up . . . on a cross. The other crowd wanted Him lifted up . . . in praise. One crowd was manipulated by men. “But the chief priests moved the people . . .” (Mark 15:11). The other crowd had no earthly leader—although it did have an earthly focus. They just appeared, rejoicing as they came. One crowd wanted blood—“crucify Him.” The other crowd wanted gladness and rejoicing. One crowd wanted a regicide. The other wanted a coronation.

Divided Jerusalem:
Now each crowd was unified in what it wanted. Each crowd had a very particular focus. Each crowd was single-minded. Each crowd had a defined goal. But they were going in decidedly opposite directions. But they were both Jerusalem crowds, and this meant that Jerusalem was divided. Each crowd was not divided, but the city was therefore necessarily divided. But in the struggle between the crowds, the city was making a decision. The city was in the process of making up its mind. One crowd chose wisely, but the city chose poorly.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37).
This is sometimes cited by those Christians who believe we have the capacity to withstand God’s election, but note carefully what Jesus says. He does not say “I wanted to gather you, but you would not.” He says “I wanted to gather them, but you would not.” The problem with Jerusalem was in the leadership. And they successfully held onto their control of the city, running it into an overwhelming judgment. We are talking, not about the salvation of individuals, but rather the damnation of a city.

You Are a City, Not a Monad:
Now many Christians make simplistic assumptions about themselves. A monad is an indivisible unit, and we think of ourselves that way—with a brake and an accelerator, and simple steering wheel. Life should be that simple, right?

But then you actually get into the turbulent life of your own soul, and discover that it is a lot more like Byzantine politics during a coup than like driving on a straight road in Nebraska. And you don’t know what side anybody is on.

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Prov. 25:28).
And if you deal with the consequences of the political turmoil, while clinging tenaciously to the idea that you are simply driving on a straight road, your confusion about what is going on will be massive. But if sanctification is more like a new king learning the lessons of crowd control, and it is understood to be such, that clarity can be enormously helpful.

Double-Minded or Single-Hearted?
“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8).
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (James 4:8).

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deut. 6:4–9).

What God wants from us is simplicity, not duplicity. What He wants is singleness of mind.

The Basics of Rule:
The word for rule in Prov. 25:28 carries the meaning of restraint, or holding back. The mobs of your heart, the ones from the bad side of town, are the parts of you that want to tip over cars and set them on fire. There are sections of your heart that want to throw rocks at the riot police.

Are you going to rule like Josiah, tearing down all the idols (2 Kings 22:2)? Are you going to rule like Manasseh (2 Chron. 33:3)? Or are you going to try to split the difference like Asa (2 Chron. 15:17)?

So What Do You Make of Jesus?
So then bring it back to the two Jerusalem crowds. Everything came down to just one thing. What do make of Jesus? Do you want Him to die, or do you want Him to reign? If you want Him to die, then you want Him to stay dead, and thereby stay out of your life. If you want Him to reign, that is good, because He is going to reign regardless.

Palm Sunday 2017: The King’s Pre-Victory Parade

Ben Zornes on April 9, 2017

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Text: Matthew 21:1-17

COMMON SENSE UNDER HOOF
You don’t throw a victory parade until you’ve won the battle. This common sense seems to be tramped under donkey hooves as Jesus leads a victory parade into Jerusalem before winning the victory. The great battle on the cross is still a few days away, and the great victory in the resurrection is even beyond that. Why can Jesus organize a “Pre-Victory Parade?” Because he believes the Scriptures, and believes the God of Scripture. Jesus trusts God that he would win the victory and so acts as though he had already won the victory.

WELL-SCRIPTED IN SCRIPTURE
The triumphal entry is a well-scripted event which was planned in the Old Testament Scriptures. Notice the biblical support for Jesus’ transportation, the crowds’ chants, the responses of everyone and everything. The “whys” of this passage are answered by pointing back to God’s word in the Old Testament. Why the Donkey? Bible. Why the temple destruction? Bible. Why the children hollering “Hosanna?” Bible.

REJOICE, HERE COMES THE KING (ZECHARIAH 9)
Matthew 21 begins with Jesus sending two disciples on a mission (vs 1-4). Jesus organizing the donkeys intentionally follows the scripted directions from Zechariah 9:9––a king riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. A war horse is fit for battle, but a donkey for the victory parade. So when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, he is announcing that the battle has been fought and the victory secured. Zechariah shows the king doesn’t declare war on the nations, but speaks peace to the nations. He doesn’t carve out a corner to rule, but his kingdom covers sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth. He doesn’t conquer through spilling others blood, but his own (Zech. 9:10-11).

HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID (PSALM 118)
The disciples obey and, of course, everything happens just as Jesus says (vs 6). As they move closer to Jerusalem, the expectant crowd lines the road and cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!” (vs 9) They quote Psalm 118:25-26 which is a good choice as Psalm 118 declares the Lord’s triumph of life over death (vs. 17-18). Temple Overturned and Outcasts Gathered (Isaiah 56) Jesus enters the temple and rampages (vs. 12). Jesus again returns to the Scriptures to justify his actions. “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.’” In Isaiah 56, the Lord specifically highlights that the deliverance He is preparing is not just for Israel, but absolutely includes the “foreigner” (Is. 56:6-8). When the temple is overturned, the outcast are gathered in (vs 14).

PRIESTS IN DIAPERS (PSALM 8)
The chief priests and the scribes are indignant at the kids’ continued chorus (vs. 15). Jesus gives a sharp response, “Have you never read?” ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” (vs. 16) Again, Jesus explains by quoting Scripture. In the psalm, the kids are praising the LORD our Lord (Ps. 8:1) And who are the kids praising in the temple? The high priests have failed to praise God in the temple, so the children take over.

PRE-VICTORY PARADE OF FAITH
How could Jesus do all of this in his pre-victory parade? He had faith in what God said. We have the advantage of reading the story knowing the events from the last chapter. Jesus lived the story trusting God for the last chapter. Faith confidently celebrates with a parade before the final victory. Because Jesus entered Jerusalem in his pre-victory parade, we can join the celebration, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”