We will be starting a combined Bible study going through the book of Romans. All are welcome to join as we learn about grace, repentance, and redemption.

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What are the Pharisees doing here? They’re not just raining on John’s parade… Luke says that John called the whole crowd a brood of vipers, and that crowd was coming to be baptized. They were there to participate! So why does John reject them?

The first words from God to his people in 400 years are intense. John sets the standard of salvation at an impossible level, which Jesus will reaffirm in the Sermon on the Mount. John comes to say: there’s only one way to salvation, and nobody’s got it.

OEMB (09-20-09) – Matthew 3:1-12

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Matthew is adamant that his readers know the life of Jesus fulfilled prophecy. But what is the relevance to us? If every word of Scripture is God-breathed and profitable (2 Timothy 3:16), how does “He will be called a Nazarene” help us? It seems a minor point, a theological quibble.

Matthew has a powerful message about Scripture before he gets to the life of Jesus – everything Jesus says or does will be because of the Word of God.

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What was the star of Bethlehem, and for that matter, who cares? As Matthew shows us again, nothing is as it seems on the surface, or what Hallmark has made it out to be. Forget the Christmas card version: while the chosen people in Jerusalem slept, God’s kingdom was given over to tax collectors, prostitutes, and foreigners.

The Magi came from the end of the world to worship, following the star every step. It led them – just as the cloud had led Israel in the wilderness – to the cradle of the King.

The glory of God fills up Jesus, and our experience of it is unrestrained joy. The word “glory” in Hebrew literally means “weight,” and if you’ve never felt the weight of joy, or long to feel it again, this message is for you.

CORRECTION: I mention that Job fits in between Genesis 3 and 4. Given his lifespan of 210 years (traditional), this places him more toward the end of the patriarchs, that is, around Genesis 10-12.

OEMB (09-06-09)

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By the second chapter, Matthew has managed to insult, confuse, offend and shock his 1st century Jewish readers. Not only did everyone in Jerusalem reject their promised King at his birth, but pagan, idol-worshipping Gentiles were the first to bend the knee and enter the kingdom.

God is working quietly but forcefully, setting in motion events that will lead to his Son’s rejection and crucifixion at the hands of the Jews – a disobedience that would bring about the obedience of the Gentiles (Romans 11). Salvation is a total grace, and Matthew here reminds Gentile Christians where they came from, and at what great price they’ve been bought.

OEMB (08-30-09)

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One of Matthew’s major themes is the confusion, misunderstanding and downright offense that the coming of Jesus brought.

The conception of Jesus presents a hopeless dilemma for the last Old Testament believer, Joseph. Joseph is engaged to Mary, who is found to be mysteriously pregnant. As an Israelite, his only two options are to divorce her, according to rabbinical law, or kill her, according to God’s law.

Because he is a “just” man, Matthew tells us, he decided to divorce her quietly. But why was that his best option? And what does “just” mean, when everything you do is wrong?

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Jesus of Nazareth was born to an unmarried woman in a backwater town of a backwater province of the Roman Empire 2000 years ago. He was the incarnation of the second person of the Triune God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born by a virgin, under numerous circumstances that coincide with ancient Hebrew prophecy.

He came on a mission – to establish a kingdom on Earth, with himself at the head, to rule from Jerusalem over every nation on the planet. There was just one catch – his kingdom was not like any other kingdom. Instead of a throne, he had a feeding trough; instead of a scepter, he had a carpenter’s hammer. He came in complete humility, the way no one expected a king to come. This is the beginning of his story.

Matthew begins his gospel, or “good news” (a declaration of salvation through the story of Jesus’ life and work), with a genealogy - a list of Jesus’ ancestors going back to Abraham, the father of the chosen Hebrew people. Through history, we see God’s promise to Abraham and David fulfilled in Jesus. God is outside time, and sovereign over time, but he stepped into time to rescue us from its curse, and from our sins.

OEMB (08-16-09)

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Everyday Worship (OEMB 8-9-09)

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