The Gospel in the Old Testament

Have you ever wondered how the apostles and new believers passed on the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ? I was reading a devotional a bit earlier and found my answer to the question.

So as a challenge, I want you to think of some ways to share the gospel in a new way. This challenge is also for me as well.

I found this scripture ask my answer.

Act 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

Act 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

Act 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

Now what scripture would Paul teach from when in the synagogues? Look to the Law and the Prophets along with the Psalms. It is here that Jesus taught the disciples on the road to Emmus.

Luk 24:25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

Luk 24:26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

Luk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

And yet again Jesus told the disciples after His resurrection.

Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Luk 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Luk 24:48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

But should we believe what anyone teaches? No! Be like the Bereans who being taught by Paul searched the scripture (Old Testament).

Act 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Act 17:12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

So are you willing to take my challenge? I am working on it but not ready. Will you be like the Bereans and search the scripture daily?

After all we should be able to explain the gospel from the Old and New Testaments, right?

The Circumcision of Timothy

Have you ever wondered why Timothy was Circumcised and other Gentiles were not?

Lets first look at the Acts 15: 22-29.

Act 15:22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

Act 15:23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

Act 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:

Act 15:25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

Act 15:26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Act 15:27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.

Act 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Act 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Here Paul and Barnabus ask that the Gentiles not to be burdened under the Law as the Jews. And therefore circumcision would not be required to follow Christ. So why did Paul have Timothy circumcised? What compelled Paul to do such a thing? Many people may try to point to this as being inconsistent and a contradiction. I think if we look further into this we will find that there was a reason why Paul circumcised Timothy.

Lets now look at Acts 16: 1-5.

Act 16:1 Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:

Act 16:2 Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.

Act 16:3 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

Act 16:4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

Act 16:5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

As I had learned in my Humanities course about religion, Reformed Judaism (Rich, 1995 - 2009) believes that anyone that has at least one parent that is Jewish and their children are raised in Judaism, and then the children are Jewish or you can be converted to Judaism (para. 10). The Orthodox Jews believed that if the mother of a child in a mixed marriage is a Jew then the children would be considered a Jew. Therefore Timothy would be seen as a Jew by the Jewish believers. There in lies the crux of the reason why Paul circumcised Timothy.

If we follow the Reformed Jewish tradition, then Timothy was considered a Jew because his mother was a Jewess. And in the Orthodox tradition, Timothy was definitely a Jew because of his mother being a Jewess. So Paul had to circumcise Timothy so a riot would not ensue when Paul visited the synagogues. Paul did not want to offend the believing Jews.

As Paul said:

1Co 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

Who Is Jesus Speaking To in John 12:8?

Who Is Jesus Speaking To in John 12:8?

Two weeks ago I posted a provocative blog post title: The Poor Will Not Always Be With You. And I got some reactions!

Today, I’d like to invite you to take another look. Look into that moment and see who Jesus was speaking to. Look at the accounts in Matthew 26, Mark 14 and John 12.

In each case there is one sentence: “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” (John 12:8).

I suggested that ending extreme poverty is possible and that Jesus did not say the poor would always be with US. A few folks saw that as heretical!

I wholeheartedly agree that to misconstrue the words of Jesus is heresy.

What if I said, “You will not always have Jesus”? “Jesus will not always be with you.”

I bet some comments would light the blog again – and rightly so! Because Jesus clearly says in Matthew 28, “…surely I am with you always.”

But wait a second, in John 12 Jesus says “You will not always have me.” So, which is it? We won’t have much debate on that one.

Why have we taken the first half of that sentence in John 12:8 and placed Jesus behind a lectern at a seminar on economic development while completely ignoring the second half of the sentence?

We treat the “you” in the first half of the sentence as an all-time statement to us, but we happily treat the “you” in the second half of the sentence in its context.

The “you” meant Jesus’ immediate audience of disciples in a perfume-filled room just moments after Mary anoints him and Judas bursts out a greedy objection.

Why have we extracted the first half of that sentence and used it to foster anemic expectations for the future of the poor when Jesus was clearly not speaking to us; “Jesus replied” to Judas (John 12:7).

This isn’t just an interesting observation. It exposes a root of low expectations that profoundly hinders us.

All the readers of this blog agree that we should care for the poor. The ultimate act of caring for the poor is ending poverty. It is possible – in fact it is time to expect it. In this generation.

For readers just joining this discussion we have already defined poverty, as the Bible does, as a material condition of unmet basic human needs – as the extreme economic poverty of our era. For readers who have commented on the relationship to Deuteronomy 15, stay tuned!

Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/who-is-jesus-speaking-to-in-john-128/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CompassionBlogPosts+%28Compassion+Blog+Posts%29#ixzz12lc9GSxd