Archives for May 18, 2015

When King Hezekiah prepared to defend Jerusalem against the invasion of the Assyrians, he set his workers to direct the waters of the Gihon spring into the city, so that Jerusalem and not its enemies might have access to its waters during the siege (2 Kings 18:17; 20:20; 2 Chron. 32:2–4, 30). To accomplish this, Hezekiah’s men cut a tunnel through the rock to carry water to the Pool of Siloam or Shiloach (Neh. 3:15). Its name means “sent” (John 9:7). It was be a major source of what the Hebrews called “living water,” that is, fresh running water as opposed to stagnant water—a picture of God’s life-giving grace (Jer. 2:13).

In the prophecy of Isaiah, the waters of Siloam became a symbol of trusting in God’s covenant with the son of David as the Lord’s appointed king (Isa. 8:6). Because the people of Samaria rejected the God’s chosen king, like the gentle waters of Siloam, and trusted in man and man’s alliances, God would sweep the northern kingdom away with the king of Assyria like a raging, flooded river, but would preserve King Hezekiah and Jerusalem (Isa. 8:4–8).

Dr. Ronning Reading John 9

Seven centuries later, the Lord Jesus Christ was in Jerusalem and saw a man who was blind from birth (John 9). Christ said, “I am the light of the world.” Then Jesus did something very strange. He spat on the ground, made mud, put it on the eyes of the blind man, and told him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” When the blind man did so, he came back able to see! The healing of the blind fulfilled ancient prophecy, confirming that Jesus is the Christ (Isa. 35:5; 42:7; Luke 7:19–23). Ironically, when the news of the healing of the blind man reached the Pharisees, they were the ones who proved to be blind, for they absolutely refused to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ despite this miracle, for to do so would expose their sin (John 9:39–41). Once again, people chose to trust in man rather than in God’s appointed King.

The pool of Siloam reminds us that despite all the spiritual enemies that may besiege us, there is “a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,” for “God is in the midst of her” (Ps. 46:4–5). His living waters heal our spiritual blindness, so that we see and trust the Lord Jesus Christ, though seeing Him also exposes our sins. By faith in God’s appointed King, we find victory and life. Like the blind man whom Jesus healed, let us fall down to worship Christ, and say, “Lord, I believe” (John 9:38).

Hundreds of Orthodox Jews Gathered under Wilson’s Arch at the Western Wall

Among all the features of ancient Jerusalem, the temple especially draws our attention for its beauty and spiritual significance. The temple has a complex history. In the covenant with David, the Lord authorized the replacement of the tabernacle-tent with the temple constructed by David’s son Solomon (2 Sam. 7), who began construction in 966 BC (1 Kings 6:1). After Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the Holy Place, and it functioned as a center for the people’s prayers and seeking God’s grace in repentance over their sins (1 Kings 8).

Praying at the Western or Wailing Wall

Solomon’s temple stood until the Lord judged His people for their sins and the Babylonians burned it in 586 BC (2 Kings 25:9). Following the return from exile, Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, led the people to rebuild the temple, completing it in 516 BC. After centuries of use, the new temple was defiled by the idolatrous pagan King Antiochus Epiphanes (167 BC), but was restored after the Maccabean revolt. King Herod the Great began construction of a new, more impressive temple in 20 BC, and construction continued for many decades. Herod’s temple was the location where Christ and His apostles ministered, until it too was destroyed by the Roman legions in AD 70.

Ever since the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews have gathered in pilgrimage and in prayer at the Western Wall, which became known as the Wailing Wall. Its cracks are filled with hastily written prayers for the speedy recovery of the sick, for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the coming of the Messiah. Pray that the scales would fall from their eyes and that they would embrace the Messiah who has come.

We find a fascinating reference to Herod’s temple in John 2. After Christ had driven out the moneychangers and those selling sacrificial animals, His fellow Jews demanded a miracle to prove He had the authority to do this. We read,

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:19–22)

Here is the good news: we no longer need a physical temple, because we have the risen Lord Jesus Christ. He is our temple, in whom the glory of God dwells (John 1:14). By faith in Christ we can draw near to God, for His sacrificial death on the cross makes believers holy in God’s eyes once and for all (Heb. 10:10, 19–22). The New Jerusalem contains no temple, for “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Rev. 21:22). Jesus Christ is our new temple. As much as we may admire architecture, we need no building to enter God’s holy presence, just Christ and the people in whom His Spirit dwells (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19).

With My Son at Caesarea Philippi

The place called Banias in the far northern region of Palestine was originally named Paneas by the Greeks, for here, in a magnificent cave, they built a shrine to the pagan nature god Pan. The nearby city of Caesarea Philippi was also the site of a beautiful temple of white stone built by Herod the Great to the honor and glory of the Roman Emperor. The location has significant connections to the false gods and idols of this world.

Jesus Christ chose this pagan region as the place where He would speak to His disciples about the most important question anyone can ever ask regarding Christ: “Whom say ye that I am?” Peter, illuminated by God, was enabled to confess, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Lord Jesus declared, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:15–18). Perhaps as He spoke of the “gates of hell,” the disciples involuntarily shuddered at the thought of the nearby idols devoted to the wicked pleasures and powers. Christ faced them unafraid, confident that He would build a solid church that Satan could not overthrow. Yet Christ also knew, as He proceeded to explain to His disciples, that this victory would require Jesus to “go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matt. 16:21).

If we are going to be Christians, then we must confront the idols of this evil world, and set our faces against them. There can be no faithfulness to God without conflict with the gods of this world. The only way that we can win this spiritual war is by faith in Jesus Christ (1 John 5:5). Everything hinges upon Jesus’ question, “Whom say ye that I am?” If your heart rests upon Jesus as the Son of God, sent by His Father to be the Christ, the anointed prophet, priest, and king of His people, then you have a rock on which to stand that the whole world cannot shake.

Faith in Christ is not easy, but He is worthy. It is not a matter of merely confessing Christ with our lips, but of believing in Him with our hearts. In the shadow of pagan idols and human empires, it would have been easy for the disciples to look at the son of a carpenter and think, “Him? The Son of God?” Similarly today, false religion and secular powers may hang like mountains over the little flock of God’s faithful, ready to crush God’s church. And indeed, we must take up our crosses to follow Christ. But if we are convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then all earthly powers are as grasshoppers before Him.

With My Wife at the Jordan River (human water usage has greatly reduced its flow in modern times)

Drawing from the melting snow atop Mt. Hermon, the Jordan River rushes from the Huleh (or Hula) Lake into the Sea of Galilee, and then meanders southward to the Dead Sea. Though not a large river, the Jordan figures prominently in many parts of Holy Scripture, especially in its lower regions. Often it is the location of a new beginning in the life of a nation or individual.

The people of Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, for the Lord cut off the waters of the river, even at flood stage (Josh. 3). In this way, the Lord showed them that the God who had split the Red Sea was still with them as they entered the Promised Land—a major support for their faith as they went from wandering in the wilderness to the battle to take the land of their inheritance.

Six centuries later, the prophet Elisha told a Syrian leper that he must wash in the Jordan seven times, and the Lord would heal him (2 Kings 5:10). This offended Naaman at first, for though a leper he was a rich and powerful military commander. Didn’t Syria have better rivers? Yet by God’s grace, he humbled himself, and in the waters of the Jordan his flesh became like that of a little child again—a physical picture of being born again.

Over eight more centuries passed, and at the Jordan River we find John baptizing large number of Jews as they confess their sins and profess repentance towards God (Mark 1). John preached a new beginning to them too: the forgiveness of sins for who repent of sin and hope in the coming Messiah. Yet when Jesus Christ appeared on the shores of the river, He shocked John by seeking baptism Himself. Our new beginning depends upon Christ taking the place of sinners in order to fulfill all righteousness. As Jesus came up out of the water, God publically declared Him to be His beloved Son, and visibly anointed Him with the Holy Spirit, so that Christ would baptize His people in the same Spirit (Mark. 1:8–11).

Have you experienced the new beginning Christ can give by His Spirit? Have you been washed of your spiritual leprosy, and been born again as a child of God? If not, then let the waters of the Jordan remind you that Christ can wash your heart clean by the gift of saving faith. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved. If you have been washed by the Spirit, then give glory to God, for your new beginning would never have happened apart from Jesus Christ.

View from Possible Location of the Sermon on the Mount

While we cannot be sure where the Lord Jesus delivered His famous Sermon on the Mount, we do know that His teaching astonished people for its authority (Matt. 7:28). Christ called people to a way of life radically different than the religion popularized by the Pharisees (Matt. 5:20).

Matthew had summarized Christ’s preaching with the words, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). In the Beatitudes, Christ gave us eight pithy sayings that capture what repentance looks like. They are the Beatitudes, or declarations of the kind of person God has blessed with membership in His kingdom, both now and forever (Matt. 5:3–10). Rather than looking at each Beatitude distinctly, let’s use them like eight colors to paint a picture of what our Lord calls us to in discipleship, and what He promises.

Who are the people who have truly repented? They are a broken and humbled people in their relationships with God and man. They are not rich in their own estimation, but poor; not boasters, but mourners over their sins; not graspers and controllers, but meek and gentle. They long to be holy and to do the Father’s will. They do not simply clean up their external morality, but their hearts are cleansed by faith in Christ so that they sincerely love God and people. This love shows itself in mercy when they encounter people in misery and trouble. They have been reconciled to God, and so they seek to make peace among men. Yet their lives are so different from the world, especially the world of religious hypocrites, that they suffer hostility, slander, and all kinds of persecution. They are heavenly pilgrims in this world.

What blessing does the Lord promise them? It is the kingdom of heaven, where Christ will reign in His glory and His people will shine like the sun. No longer will they sorrow over sin, for all their sins will be gone, and they will be filled like golden cups with the wine of holiness. God will not give them what they deserve, but will show them mercy and openly declare them to be His beloved children in Christ. Though they were the most humble and gentle of men and women, they will rule as conquering kings and queens over the new creation. Best of all, they will directly see the glory of God shining in Jesus Christ, in each other, and in the new heavens and earth. Therefore, Christ says to them, “Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed!” If you are a Beatitude person, then you are blessed indeed.