September - Reading 19

Good afternoon -

Our Scriptures for today are:

Luke 23:44-49

Hebrews 11:1-16

Proverbs 27:15-27

Isaiah 49-50

May God bless you as you continue to read from His Word.

 

Good morning -

I believe I may have posted this link when we came to the story of Christ's death in our reading of Mark, but it definitely bears repeating. Brother Glen (Tydale1946) posted this back at the beginning of the year. It is a medical account of the death of Christ and a grim reminder of what an innocent God/man endured for our sakes: *see note

In Isaiah we read, among other things, the second of four "servant songs" in verses 49:1-6 (some theologist extend the definition to verse 13). The first of these passages was in 42:1-9. Chapter 50 offers a vision of what the yet to come Christ would endure at the end of His ministry.

Hebrews chapter 11 is like the "faith hall of fame". The Old Testament characters mentioned herein are used to illustrate examples of those who had great faith in the preceeding urgings by the writer. The people listed in Hebrews 11 attained salvation before Christ and not through the Law, but through faith. The first verse gives us our definition of the concept of faith.

May God bless you

- Clint

*Note - Unfortunatley, Brother Glen's post has been lost in the shuffling of threads over the years. I did, however, find what I believe to be the same article that he posted:
http://www.tonycooke.org/resources/crucifixion_medical.htm

[ September 19, 2004, 12:34 PM: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Aaron's comments from reading 18 : http://www.baptistboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=000244#000003

 

Sunday School lesson 2/20/05 - continued

Luke 23:44-49 The Death of Jesus

Mark tells us that Jesus was crucified at the third hour, that is to say, 9:00 AM. Luke tells us that two significant signs occurred while Jesus was on the cross. First, the suns light failed from noon until 3:00PM. This is the moment when the powers of darkness head the upper hand just as Jesus had stated in 22:53. There are many speculations as to how and why this darkness occurred. It has been speculated that it was an eclipse, a possibility since the Passover occurred during the full moon. Some feel that it was from dust and vapors resulting from the earthquakes described in Matthew 27:51. In any case the darkness is unquestionably a sign of the cosmic significance of Jesus’ death. Again, this event had been foretold in the Old Testament (Amos 8:9).

The other event recorded by Luke is the rending of the curtain in the Temple. This was the heavy tapestry that separated the Holiest of Holies from the rest of the Sanctuary. The tearing of it signifies the direct relationship to God available through Jesus Christ. The meaning of the event was not lost on the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:19-22).

According to Luke, Jesus’ dying words were a quote of Psalm 31:5. Even in His final moments in His corporeal form Jesus did not falter in His confidence that God was His Father. Even in this ultimate despair, He knew that God was waiting to receive His Son.

The centurion would be the officer who oversaw the execution and represents the authority of Rome on the scene. He adds his declaration of Christ’s innocence to those of Pilate and Herod. Thus all representatives of Rome mentioned in the account confirm that an innocent man was executed. The multitudes left the scene beating their breasts, a sign of deep remorse. The Galileans and women who had accompanied Him stood far off at a distance and witness the death of Jesus. The mention of the women is significant in that they saw Him alive, they saw Him die, they saw Him buried and they will return in chapter 24 to see Him Resurrected. For the moment, however, there is no question that Jesus is dead.

http://www.zordesign.co.nz/Livingword/crucifixion%20.htm

 

Hebrerws

Hebrews 11​

Hebrews 11 stands as one of the great testimonies of faith in the Bible. In the previous section, the preacher had referred incidentally to “living by faith” in verses 10:38-39.Now he comes to an explanation of that faith and holds up to his Hebrew audience great examples of faith in their own history.

The arguments are reaching a conclusion but the thrust of the Epistle remains the same. The audience was in danger of relapsing into Judaism or some school of it. If Christ was the great anchor in the Heavenly Sanctuary then faith was the anchor chain that held us to Him.

The author explores and defines many facets of the nature of faith in this chapter but the one characteristic that he focuses on the most is that faith is looking forward to divine reward. It is the ultimate end of a life of faith and has historically been the base of true religion and consequently salvation.

Though unseen, intangible, and unprovable, the unseen value of religion based on faith is a valid and real thing for the believer. This confidence we have in God’s promises serves to tie us to Him even in the midst of trials and persecutions.

Hebrews 11:1-2 Substance and Evidence

Faith is not a wistful daydream. Faith brings the things that God has prepared for the future into the present and makes them a reality. This is not a blind leap in the dark but the assurance we have acts as a light upon the promises of God. Faith is the foundation of the Christian life. To live in faith is to act in faith and demonstrate faith.

Faith as a conviction means that it is not a whimsical and temporary state of mind. It is a firmly grounded belief that the greatest things in life are as yet unseen. Faith dictates that though we have tasted a portion of the divine glory in Christ, the best is yet to come and there is more to enjoy than we have yet dreamed. Christian faith is the conviction that the future belongs to God.

It should be stressed that the preacher’s message here is not that faith give substance to the things unseen but that the substance they already have is a reality. The existence of things unseen is what gives validity to faith.

The “men of old” or the “elders” of verse 2 refers to the people of faith that had come before the consummation of Christ. They stood as examples of those who held to faith before God had fulfilled His promises, just as we in the interim before Christ return must conduct ourselves.

Hebrews 11:3 Belief in the Creator

This profound verse stands to tie not only future hope to faith but also past mysteries. The author of Hebrews does not explore the way in which God created the universe but the rock bottom truth is that god created it with a word. We do not begin our journey of faith with a belief in the Creator. We begin our journey with belief in the Redeemer. Our present faith carries us to the hope of the future and the origin of it all. Both past and future are in God’s hands and in His control.

When we understand that all that was created, all that can be seen, was created by God, we recognize that all of existence can only be understood by faith.

 

Our Scriptures for 9/20 are:

Luke 23:50-56

Hebrews 11:17-31

Proverbs 28:1-14

Isaiah 51-53

 

Our Scriptures for 9/20 are:

Luke 23:50-56

Hebrews 11:17-31

Proverbs 28:1-14

Isaiah 51-53

 

Our Scriptures for 9/20 are:

Luke 23:50-56

Hebrews 11:17-31

Proverbs 28:1-14

Isaiah 51-53

 

Our Scriptures for 9/20 are:

Luke 23:50-56

Hebrews 11:17-31

Proverbs 28:1-14

Isaiah 51-53

 

Our Scriptures for 9/20 are:

Luke 23:50-56

Hebrews 11:17-31

Proverbs 28:1-14

Isaiah 51-53