Reading the Bible Together

Passages for the Day

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Acts 1:1-9

1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6 So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Points of interest:

·         ‘Then Jesus came to them‘—these are the last words of Jesus in Matthew’s story.  The following passage is the beginning of the book of Acts, which tells the story of Jesus’ disciples after his ascension to heaven.  In both passages, Jesus is passing the baton to his followers.  He has done his work: he has died and risen from the dead.  Now, he has a mission for his friends and followers.

·         make disciples of all nations’—‘disciples’ are followers or students.  Once again, like with Abraham before (Genesis 12, March 4^th) we have an instance when things are starting small, but are meant to get very big.  During his earthly career, Jesus spent almost all of his time with twelve people.  But that’s not because he only cares about those twelve people, or because they are somehow more worthy of his attention.  Jesus wants absolutely everyone to get exactly what the disciples have gotten, by the disciples passing it on freely and widely.

·         ‘baptizing them’—circumcision was the sign of participation in Abraham’s covenant.  Baptism is the sign of participation in this new covenant Jesus is establishing.

·         ‘in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit’—Jesus’ predecessor John the Baptist immersed people in water as a symbol of spiritual purification.  Jesus carries on the tradition, but he has a much more powerful baptism in mind.  He wants to immerse people, not in water, but in the very presence and power of God.

·         ‘going to restore the kingdom to Israel’—God had told Isaiah, ‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob’ (Isaiah 49, March 19^th).  Small part of God’s purposes or not, it’s the part that continued to capture the attention and the imagination of the Jews.  The disciples aren’t an exception.

·         ‘It is not for you to know’—the disciples would have expected the restoration of Israel to happen in ‘the last days.’  So, along with yearning for Israel’s restoration they’re wondering, ‘Is this the end of the world?’  Jesus essentially answers, ‘None of your business.’ 

·         ‘in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’—this is an expanding circle.  It starts in Jerusalem, the center of everything Jewish.  It moves on to anywhere descendants of Jacob live, and then takes a giant leap to everyone.  It’s interesting that Judea and Samaria are lumped together; they would have thought of themselves as very different.

·         ‘he was taken up before their very eyes’—Jesus completely disappears, very obviously leaving the work in the disciples’ hands.

Taking it home:

·         For you: Jesus told his followers not to leave Jerusalem without the Holy Spirit.  Before you go any further in your day, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit.

·         For your six: Jesus was willing to do whatever it took to show the disciples that he was alive and to explain the kingdom of God to them.  I think he’s also willing to reveal himself to your six.  If any of your six are looking for something from Jesus, pray that he would give them the ‘convincing proofs’ they need of his presence, his power, and his love.

·         For America: I don’t think the Jews of Jesus’ day are alone in sometimes confusing their national interests with God’s priorities.  Pray that God would forgive our nation for the times we present our own agenda as his.

¹⁸ They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. ¹⁹ “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

²⁰ “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. ²¹ But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God and tell the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

²⁶ Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷ He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸ Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

³⁰ The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. ³² Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴ To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

³⁹ Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

⁴¹ Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

¹ Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ² For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³ Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

⁵ Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “Whoever does these things will live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

⁸ Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, ⁹ I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. ¹⁰ I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

¹² “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD, “and will make it desolate forever. ¹³ I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. ¹⁴ They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of God’s Wrath

¹⁵ This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. ¹⁶ When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.”

¹⁷ So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it:

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who sit enthroned in heaven.

² As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy.

³ Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.

⁴ We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.