Expositional

The Law of Unsolved Murder (Christendom 2.0)

Christ Church on November 22, 2020

THE TEXT

“If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, ²then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities. ³And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. ⁴The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. ⁵Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. ⁶And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁷Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. ⁸Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. ⁹So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord (Deuteronomy 21:1–9).

The Pool of Bethesda

Christ Church on November 15, 2020

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THE TEXT

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic^[a] called Bethesda,^[b] which has five roofed colonnades. ³In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.^[c] ⁵One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”⁹And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰So the Jews^[d] said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” ¹¹But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” ¹²They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ¹⁴Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath (John 5:1-16).

Psalm 122: Christ our Jerusalem

Christ Church on November 8, 2020

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INTRODUCTION

This psalm is not exactly a pilgrimage psalm, but is more like a psalm that anticipates great rejoicing upon arriving at the destination of the pilgrimage. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates . . .” (v. 2). Whether or not the pilgrimage has already occurred, the focus of the psalm is on arrival.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand Within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded As a city that is compact together: Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, Unto the testimony of Israel, To give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, The thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, And prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good” (Psalm 122:1-9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

David’s heart rejoices at the prospect of true worship. When someone invited him to go up to the house of the Lord, he was glad (v. 1). The pilgrimage is to Jerusalem, and he anticipates the moment when their feet are within the gates (v. 2). That is the moment when the pilgrim band would assemble themselves together to make their ascent up to the Temple. But remember that David is here speaking with the eye of faith. David was the one who had just recently captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5:6-7), and the Temple would not be built until the time of Solomon, David’s great son. And yet, David can speak of Jerusalem as already built, and as compact together (v. 3). There are the distinctions of the various tribes (v. 4), and yet the testimony offered is that of all Israel (v. 4). The two things mentioned that they offer up to God are testimony and thanks (v. 4). They can rejoice because true judgment is found in the thrones of the house of David (v. 5). The reference to thrones in the plural might be a plural of majesty or dignity, or it is also possible that members of the royal family (2 Chron. 19:8). In the phrase “the house of David” is teaching his people to remember him. So then, pray for the peace of Jerusalem—because those who love Jerusalem will be prospered (v. 6). Peace and prosperity are mentioned together, within Jerusalem’s walls and palaces (v. 7). For the sake of those on pilgrimage with him, David will pronounce the benediction of peace (v. 8). He seeks the good of Jerusalem because the house of the Lord is there (v. 9).

TESTIMONY AND THANKSGIVING

Martin Luther pointed out that when these pilgrims arrived at their destination, their intention was to offer up their prayers and their thanksgivings. They would give a testimony to the goodness of God, and they would render their thanksgiving to Him. Sacrifices are not mentioned here. It is not that there is anything wrong with sacrifices, but that is not the emphasis here.

PROSPERITY AND PEACE

The key note is always the truth. This is what Israel testifies to. We give thanks to God for the certainty of His judgments, and this is the express reason given (v. 5). We render thanks because of the presence of the thrones of judgment. Then, right after this, the pairing of peace and prosperity comes in for mention twice (vv. 6, 7). Peace and prosperity are therefore not ends to be pursued, but are rather are the result of caring about something else much more than peace and prosperity. Pursuing peace for its own sake breeds wars, and pursuing prosperity for its own sake breeds mammon-grubbing idolatry, and then poverty.

THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL

The people of God are one great ocean, and our individual communions, or denominations, or churches, or . . . tribesare simply distinct waves on the surface of that great ocean. All who trust in Christ alone for their salvation are our brothers and sisters, and the unity beneath all of us is immense. Different Christian churches are not isolated from one another, as though we could be collected in different buckets. You can easily distinguish one wave from another one, just as you can tell one bucket from another. But the unity shared by the former is what we are dealing with.

All the different tribes give a united testimony, and it is the testimony of all Israel (v. 4).

The presence of tribes does not mean the absence of unity. That only happens if you define unity as “no tribes.” If you have had much interaction with Roman Catholic apologists, they will often point out the fact that Protestantism is inherently fractious, and has something like 25K denominations. That misleading figure likely comes from a book called World Christian Encyclopedia, but if you drill down to identify actual tribes, you will find that the Orthodox have 19 traditions, the Roman Catholics have 16, and the Protestants have 21. If we tossed in the Anglicans, we have another 6. And among Protestants, we have a lot more inter-tribal unity than they do elsewhere.

CHRIST OUR JERUSALEM

When we are invited to come to the house of the Lord, our response should be one of gladness. When we are invited to come to the house of the Lord, we have been invited to come to Christ. When we come to Christ, He brings us to the Father, and He brings us to the Father in the power of the Spirit. Not only so, but He brings us to Himself together with all the rest of His people.

The metaphors of Scripture do not displace one another, like they were billiard balls. Rather, they can be layered, one on top of the other. Christ is the road to Jerusalem. Christ is the house of the Lord we come to in Jerusalem. Christ is married to His bride, the new Jerusalem. Christ is always all, and in all, and through all.

If we have Him, then we have a true testimony, and we can give thanks. If we have Him, then we are given the gift of true peace and true prosperity. And only there.

The Finger of God

Christ Church on November 8, 2020

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THE TEXT

John 4:27-54

THE WILL OF HIM

Why are you here? What are you here for? There are fundamental questions that, unanswered, can leave us with deep uncertainties. And there are people making millions of dollars giving you cheap, trivial platitudes that pretend to be answers. One of the things that is most striking about Jesus is his certainty of who he is and what he is here for (John 4:34, cf. 5:30, 6:38). He is immune to the trivial insecurities that plague us because he has a deep understanding of who he is and what he is here for.

THE SIGNS

We have in this passage two different responses to Christ. The woman at the well who abandons her waterpot to run and tell the village (v. 28) and the man from Capernaum whose son was dying (v. 47). The need for signs (v. 45 and 48) is a weakness that Jesus bears with. But it reveals a problem that we have with understanding what Christ is for. The woman at the well, on the other hand, abandons her waterpots and runs to point others to Jesus.

THE FINGER OF GOD

Jesus comes to point us towards eternal life. We, in our sin and in our finitude, can’t understand what life really means, especially the life that God is pointing us towards. Instead, we are like a dog who can’t trace the line from the master’s finger to what the master is pointing at. Instead, we keep looking blankly at the fingertip. But Jesus’ signs are pointing to so much more.

THE WHITE HARVEST

Because we don’t see what God is pointing at, we miss the significance of right now. Now is the harvest (v. 35). And the virtue of right now is that it is always right now. Life and all that God is offering to you in that life are all right before you now. Go to the ant you sluggard! The present matters. Eternal significance is in the moment before you.

Psalm 121: Jehovah Keeps

Christ Church on November 1, 2020

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Introduction

This psalm is a brief word of great encouragement. God’s providential care is true help, and it is a help that is promised to everyone who has the faith to receive it. And who has the faith to receive it? Anyone who lifts up his eyes to the hills, looking for God to undertake on his behalf.

Every time God is named in this psalm, He is called by His personal name YHWH, or Jehovah—the covenant name of Israel’s covenant God.

The Text

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, From whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (Psalm 121:1–8).

Summary of the Text

This is likely a psalm for the pilgrim, for someone traveling up to Jerusalem, or perhaps a soldier on a campaign. The imagery indicates the circumstances of some kind of traveler. Regardless, the psalmist is experiencing some difficulty, and he looks up to the mountains for his help (v. 1). This is a metaphor for where his help really comes from, which is from the Lord (v. 2). This Lord is the one who made everything. He is the Creator God. He is the one who made heaven and earth. This Lord never sleeps (v. 3), and so He will not permit the psalmist’s foot to be moved—which, in mountainous country, could be disastrous. The promise is then repeated, and it is for the individual as well as for the nation. The one who keeps all of Israel never slumbers or sleeps (v. 4). The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your right-hand shade (v. 5). You will be protected from both sun and moon (v. 6). Again, the Lord will keep you from all evil. He will preserve your soul (v. 7). This covenant-keeping God is going to be keeping you, watching over you, in every circumstance—in your going out and coming in (v. 8). This is a constant thing; it is a forever commitment.

Jehovah Keeps

If there is one thing that we must take away from this psalm, it is the fact that Jehovah keeps. He will watch over every footfall; the one who keeps you will not slumber (v. 3). He not only keeps the individual believer He also keeps Israel (v. 4). The psalmist moves on to identify the Lord in these terms; the Lord is your keeper (v. 5). The Lord will preserve you (same word) from all evil (v. 7). The Lord shall preserve your soul (v. 7). The Lord shall preserve your going out and coming in (v. 8). Try to find out anything about you or your life that He doesn’t keep. Jehovah keeps.

Night and Day

So Jehovah keeps you, and He keeps you in every circumstance. He protects you from both the sun and moon (v. 6), and anything that happens to you will either happen during the day or in the night. He will prevent sunstroke. He will guard you against being moonstruck. He will keep you during the prosperity of daylight, and through the adversity of night. He will protect you from the sweltering heat, and He will guard you from the biting cold. He is your keeper in open battle, and He is your keeper against the night riders.

Going Out and Coming In

You go out in the morning to your labors. You come in at evening in order to rest from your labors, and God keeps you both coming and going (v. 8). He keeps you while abroad and He keeps you at home. You young people—you who are most eager to be “going out” into your lives, consider this. And those of you approaching the end of your lives—you are coming in. When you go out, Jehovah keeps the door. When you are coming back home for refuge, Jehovah welcomes you. And on top of everything else, He keeps you on the journey.

The Names of God are Promises

In v. 5, we are told that the Lord is our keeper. Consider this as a name, or even as a title. And then remember that all of God’s names are virtual promises. If we call Him Savior, which we do by faith, this is His promise to save. If we call Him Lord, in faith, this is His promise to rule. If we call Him our Shade in faith, this is His promise to shield us. If we call Him Keeper, again in faith, this is His promise to keep. Jehovah is your keeper.

A Covenant Keeping God

God is a covenant-keeping God. “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:9). And every time Scripture mentions how God keeps covenant, it also says that He keeps covenant and mercy (hesed). See also Neh. 9:32 and Dan. 9:4.

And because God keeps covenant, this is the reason He keeps you. You may therefore look up to the mountains for your help, where you can see the castle-keep that Christ Himself built. And every block of granite in that fortress is three feet thick, and each one of them is one of God’s promises. And all of them together are yes and amen in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).

So at the conclusion, this is why the psalm can promise that God’s providential care is constant and forever. “From this time forth, and even for evermore.”