Was That Light an Actual STAR that the Magi Followed?

Was the star the wise men followed really a star? Did it actually move so that they could follow it? The star is a stumbling block for a friend of mine.

Was the star a star like the sun? Well, not exactly, because stars are enormous, and being that close to the earth would have fried everything! Luke 2:9 says the glory of the Lord shone around the angels when they appeared to shepherds. Was THAT the light that was originally seen by the magi? Note that the passage simply describes WHAT happened, not explain HOW it happened. I wasn’t there, so all I can do is read the description gathered from those who were!

Jesus: David's Grandson or David's God?

Who is Jesus, really?

It’s always the issue. I have been hit with the debate countless times. The Mormons who showed up to tell me Jesus was Satan’s brother. The Jehovah’s Witnesses who say Jesus was a man, a good man yes, but just a man. And I’ll never forget the 2 enormous Muslim men who challenged me in the prison during Bible study, saying, “The Bible never says Jesus is God.”

Who is Jesus? Is He just a good man? Famous rabbi? Good philosopher? Brother of Lucifer?

As we have walked through Mark, we have seen many challenges presented to Jesus in chapters 11 and 12. Questions meant to trap him. Well, their questions have all failed, and now Jesus is going to hit them with a question.

And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.'

David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?" And the great throng heard him gladly. Mark 12:35-37

The question goes back to the main issue: who is Jesus? The religious leaders in Jesus’ day believed the Messiah would be a man, just a man, but a powerful man from the line of David - and a conquering warrior like David. That’s why many people who acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah of Israel called Him the “Son of David”.

So after Jesus handily addressed their questions, He initiated one of His own. His question boils down to this: If the Messiah is just a human great great great etc grandchild of David, how can David refer to the Messiah as “Lord“?

Good question! It doesn’t make sense… unless David’s descendent is also God in the flesh. Which is exactly what the Bible claims about Jesus (John 1:1,14).

Jesus took them to Psalm 110 - the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. What a profound and deep theological truth is found in the statement: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.

The Lord (God the Father) said to my Lord (the Messiah, God the Son), Sit at my right hand (meaning they are equal in power, rank, and authority), until I put your enemies under your feet (the ultimate victory of the Messiah - defeating sin at the cross and defeating sinners at His Second Coming).

So the question Jesus dropped on the religious leaders has now fallen on your lap. Who is Jesus?

The popular answer of “just some popular Jewish teacher” isn’t an option. Not from Jesus, and not from the prophecies about Jesus, like Psalm 110.

Conquering King, yes, but ultimate Lord of all. Like David, do you call Him, “My Lord”?

Is right understanding of Jesus that critical to salvation? It is according to Romans 10:9: “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…”

Don’t take Jesus for what you think He is. Take Him for Who God’s Word says He is. He is the Lord of all.

p.s. - hear Him gladly

I Can See Clearly Now…

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village." Mark 8:22-26

This is an extremely unique miracle of Jesus, one that occurs only in Mark’s Gospel. Sure, some of the elements look familiar, in fact, look a lot like what we saw in Mark 7:31-37 when Jesus healed the deaf man.

In both cases:

• the afflicted was brought to Jesus
   
• they begged Jesus to heal the afflicted
   
• Jesus pulled the afflicted aside privately
   
• Jesus incorporated spitting into the healing
   
• the afflicted was healed
   
• Jesus told the newly healed person to keep it quiet

But something unusual happens with the blind man. Again, something that only happens here, in all of what is written about Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John - this is the ONLY time this happens - the man was healed in 2 stages!

The first time Jesus touched the man, Jesus asked him if he saw anything. The man saw something that looked like moving trees. Obviously, he saw people - just really out of focus. Then Jesus touched him again, and this time his sight was 20/20.

Jesus never asked questions of the people He healed, so why here? Why bring attention to this? Jesus obviously wanted the disciples to know what He was up to. What is it?

Last Sunday, we looked at the previous passage where Jesus warned the disciples to watch out for the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod. Upon their misunderstanding of Jesus’ point, Jesus rebukes them, verses 17-21, for being hard hearted, spiritually blind and deaf, and having a short memory.

The point was: the disciples saw some things, but they didn’t really see them clearly.

You and I can be just like that. We see God at work, watch Him provide, heal, restore - and we don’t see things clearly. We still are tempted to doubt and lose heart at the very next trial that comes. So how do we go from being spiritually blind, to having some sight, to being able to see the things of God clearly?

The same way this man physically went from blind --> having some sight --> seeing clearly. It’s only through repeated contact with Jesus.

You want spiritual eyes to see God at work? The more you are around Jesus, the clearer you will see.

p.s. - longs for clearer and clearer vision...

I Fought the Law (and the Law Won)

(This is a p.s. from last Sunday’s message on legalism from Mark 7:1-13, available to listen to on this site!)

Should a Christian get a tattoo?

Maybe that isn’t the best way to phrase that. Let me try again…

Is it okay for a Christian to get a tattoo?

Wait, that’s not great, either. Because you are like, “A tattoo of what? Donald Duck? A flaming demon skull?”

Is it a sin for a Christian to get a tattoo? (we‘ll go with this one.)

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for keeping their list of unbiblical rules, but doesn’t the Bible say something about tattoos? Yes, Leviticus 19:28 does. So obviously it is a sin, then, right?

Actually, no. 

Here is where people get confused. Christians are not bound by the OT Law. God gave Israel the Law for a season, and for a reason. God gave Israel the Law to show His standard of righteousness - and man’s inability to keep the Law.

Why would God give a Law that He knew we couldn’t keep perfectly? It was to show us our universal and absolute need for grace. If I want to be righteous, totally righteous in and of myself, I need to keep the Law perfectly. How is that working out for you? Just looking at the 10 Commandments (See Exodus 20)…

1. Is God always #1 in your life?
2. Have you ever had anything else be a priority over God?
3. Have you ever used God’s name in vain?
4. Have you always taken a day of rest?
5. Have you always obeyed your parents?
6. Have you ever murdered? (According to Jesus, Hatred = Murder.)
7. Have you ever committed adultery? (According to Jesus, Lust = Adultery.)
8. Have you ever stolen anything?
9. Have you ever lied?
10. Have you ever been envious of someone having something you want?

If you have ever broken any of these, even once, you are guilty of the whole Law, because you have rejected the giver of the Law (James 2:10).

So if you want to keep the Law, you have to keep ALL of it, and never violate ANY of it, not even once, or you stand guilty and condemned.

That’s bad news for me, how about you?

The good news is Jesus abolished the Law (Hebrews 10:9)! He fulfilled the Law by being perfectly obedient, died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and rose from the dead to give us eternal life.

So keeping the Law, any Law - Old Testament, man-made, church-dictated… will not and cannot save you (or keep you saved), because you will fail. Only belief in the work of Jesus on your behalf will save you, and keep you saved (Romans 3:28), because Jesus will never fail.

So… rest, and live in Jesus‘ grace. You fought the Law, and the Law won. It isn’t a sin to get that tattooed on your face, but that doesn’t mean it is a good idea.

p.s. - If that song is stuck in your head now, I apologize.