acquaint yourself with Jesus...

"What then, would you have of me? What am I to do?" Inquired Wingfold.

"Your business," emphasized Polwarth, "is to acquaint yourself with the man Jesus: he will be to you the one to reveal the Father. Take your New Testament as if you have never seen it before, and read to find out. The point is, there was a man who said he knew God, and that if you would give heed to him, you should know him too. The record left of him is indeed scanty, yet enough to disclose what kind if man he was -- his principles, his ways of looking at things, his thoughts of his Father and his brothers, and the relations between them, of man's business in life, his destiny, and his hopes."

George McDonald, A Curate's Awakening

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God/Heaven

The Jews were impatiently awaiting their promised Saviour and Ruler; the one so many prophets had described and hinted at. They believed he would come and knock off the Romans, and restore Israel to it's former Golden Age that it had enjoyed under David and Solomon. In the past, when the Israelites were being oppressed by their enemies, the prophets preached that they needed to repent of their sins and return to God.

So when all this talk of the Kingdom of Heaven and of God was being thrown about, it's no wonder they got excited, and come by the thousands. They wanted it to be like the old days under David and Solomon; God, I think, may have wanted it to be like the Older Days, when He was their King...

So he came Himself as their Ruler; the King. But this Man's Kingdom was going to look quite different to the Present Order...quite different...

to be continued...

Matthew 3: 1-2

If I hadn't grown up in a religious home with a steady biblical diet, I have no doubt I'd find a lot about the Bible strange. Including the name John the Baptist. It took a long time before I realized that the stories weren't about some guy named John Thebaptist. The Baptist...what an odd title. I wonder if they had entries for those kind of people...

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• Son: Hey, Mum, do you know the number for someone who might dunk me under water in a symbolic gesture?
• Mum: Sorry, Son. Try the Yellow Pages.
• Son: What should I look under?
• Mum: Try B. Look for a Baptist.

See? No one uses that word anymore!

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Matthew 3:3-6

John's audience were ready and willing to hear what he had to say; they'd had 400 years of silence, during which there had been no prophets.

Instead of repelling them with his strange fashion sense (fur coats and leather belts) and odd diet (locust and honey sandwiches), he attracted them, and they came to him from all over the countryside.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all quote Isaiah 40:3, which foretold John preparing the way for the Lord, and making 'straight paths for him.' John preached that the preparation was to be made through repentance of sins.

When a king visited a country, the roads would be worked on, and improved in readiness for his coming. The Messiah, Anointed One, was coming! So the people had to get ready. They did so by coming in hordes to John, confessing their sins, and being baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Matthew 2: 13-23

Matthew 2: 13-23

Joseph doesn't get any where near as much honour as Mary does, but he was a righteous and obedient man. He married a woman who was pregnant by Someone other than him, and he obeyed strange angels commands to the letter every time. It must have gotten so he was afraid to go to sleep after a while, as time after time, angels appear to warn and instruct him. Maybe the righteous man needed this to understand and obey. Even though most of these instructions required him to do things that no good Jewish man would enjoy, like flee to Egypt in the middle of the night.

Herod tries to slay the little Jesus, by conducting a mass slaughter of boys under two in Bethlehem. This incident rings bells of a certain Pharaoh who also slaughtered baby boys. Both of these men did so because they felt threatened by the future of the children.

God knew it was going to happen; that's why he warned Mary and Joseph to escape with Jesus to Egypt.

He knew it was going to happen, and he let it happen.

Scholars say that Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., and they also think Jesus was born around 7 B.C.

So it seems that not long after the slaughter, Herod himself died. I guess he didn't really have to worry about the threat from the young king.

He was scared of this prophecy...of a ruler coming forth who would rule Israel. He tried to thwart God's plans...

It wasn't a fair fight...the one who made the prophecy already knew it would come true...

Matthew 2: 1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

Wise men came to worship the one born King of the Jews. They were possibly from Persia or Southern Arabia. Why did they come so far to worship this King? Why would those so far away care about a Jewish King, and come to worship him? Unless they thought he was that and more? There was already a king ruling in Judea.

Herod was disturbed at the thought of this king. He calls the religious leaders together to ask where the Christ was to be born.

So perhaps it was understood that this King was the 'anointed one'...or Messiah?

The religious leaders quote Micah 5:2.

In verse 11, the wise men find Jesus, who was then 2 years old, and they give him kingly gifts, and worship him. I find it interesting that the first instance of worship given to Jesus is done by foreigners...non-Jews.

Matthew 1

Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2:6)

Thoughts on Matthew chapter one:

Matt 1:

Jesus' ancestry was not shiny clean. It included prostitutes, adulterers, and foreigners. As a son of David, he had non-Jewish blood in him.

Mary was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. According to the law, any betrothed virgin found pregnant was to be stoned to death. Jesus didn't enter the world in a way that religious leaders might have wanted.

Jesus would be called Immanuel, which means "God with us". The name Jesus means, "The Lord Saves."

The angel told Joseph that Jesus would "save his people from their sins."

How did Jesus walk???

I was reading 1 John one day when a verse I had read many times before struck me.

Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2:6, NIV)

I certainly claim to be a follower of Jesus...do I walk as Jesus did?

How did Jesus walk?

I have an inherent desire to read through the Gospels...as if with fresh eyes...and try and catch a glimpse of how Jesus walked. What he was like, how he thought, how he operated...

because I honestly believe that when we begin to understand Jesus, we can begin to understand God...and what He is like.

Am going to start with Matthew...Let the discoveries begin!

Grace

Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name


Grace
It`s a name for a girl
It`s also a thought that
Changed the world


And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness
In everything


Grace
She`s got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She`s got the time to talk


She travels outside
Of karma, karma
She travels outside
Of karma


When she goes to work
You can hear the strings
Grace finds beauty
In everything


Grace
She carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips
Between her fingertips


She carries a pearl
In perfect condition
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings


Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things


Grace finds beauty
In everything


Grace finds goodness
In everything

U2