The house was crowded and Jesus is teaching. It was on of those times when Jesus was especially empowered with the gift of healing. Jesus’ teaching was immediately recognized as newer than, different from, and better than that of the scribes and Pharisees. It would not have taken these teachers of the law long to recognize that the popularity of Jesus spelled trouble for them. The teachers of the law had gathered to hear Jesus, to pass judgment on Him, and then, undoubtedly, to decide what course of action to take concerning the threat which He posed to them.

The Pharisees and teachers of the law were “sitting” – a position of authority. To have stood would have been to concede Jesus’ authority as a teacher, the very thing they were inclined to challenge. It is this large group of hostile hearers who take up the room inside this house, and who keep the paralytic from being brought before Jesus.

Once Jesus saw the man’s need the response is swift: “And seeing their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you’” (Luke 5:20). But he had not come to be forgiven, but to be healed. And now the Pharisees and teachers of the law were indignant.  Forgiveness of sins is something which only God can do, they reasoned, and rightly so. Thus, to tell a man his sins were forgiven was also to claim to be God.

1. Why did Jesus offer the man forgiveness of sins when what he really wanted was physical wholeness?
Jesus, by His actions, was teaching that the forgiveness of sins is more important, more valuable, than mere physical healing. If one had to choose between one or the other, forgiveness of sins is of much greater value than physical recovery.

2. How can Jesus forgive this man’s sins, based on the faith of the four friends?
Forgiveness of sins should be  based upon individual repentance and faith, shouldn’t it.  But we love him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We have faith in him because he first opens our hearts (Acts 16:14). Faith itself is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-10). Therefore grace is not prompted or initiated by man’s actions, it is prompted by God’s compassion and grace. God’s good gifts are the result of God’s goodness, not man’s good words, to which God must respond. God’s blessings do come by faith, and that in this case the faith which is in focus is that of the four men, not that of the man on the stretcher.

3. How can Jesus forgive a man’s sins when only God can do so?” 
Simply because he is God.

This healing was to be a teaching tool, not just a miracle. Strangely, it is actually easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” than it is to say, “Rise up and walk.” The reason is because there is no visible proof that sins have been forgiven. One can make such a statement without having to prove he has done it. But to command a paralysed man to walk is something very difficult. To command a paralysed man to walk requires him to do so.  He is “killing two birds with one stone,” so to speak.

Some contrasts:

The stretcher-carriers has faith
The Pharisees showed unbelief.

The stretcher-carriers believed in Jesus,
the Pharisees and teachers were sceptical.

The stretcher-carriers were persistent in their efforts to reach Jesus.
The Pharisees and teachers were resistant, increasingly drawing back from Jesus.

The stretcher-carriers overcame various obstacles to get to Jesus;
The Pharisees and teachers were obstacles, keeping others from Jesus.

The stretcher-carriers wanted others to benefit from the blessings which Jesus bestowed on men;
The Pharisees and teachers rejected His blessings and cared little about others benefiting from Jesus.

Not once in any of the gospels do you find a teacher or a Pharisee bringing anyone to Jesus for mercy and grace. You find them opposing and resisting people who wish to draw near to him. At best, you find the Pharisees and teachers passively tolerant. The Pharisees and teachers had to reject their own logic and theology to reject Jesus as the Son of God, which their hardened hearts compelled them to do. They saw themselves as righteous and suspected Jesus to be a sinner. After all, He associated with them.

The bottom line is simply this: Are you a stretcher-carrier or a sermon critic? Stretcher-carriers are those who recognise Jesus’ power and authority and who seek to share him with others, often at great personal effort and sacrifice. Sermon-critics are those who may listen to the teaching of the Bible, but with minds already made up, just waiting for some pretext for their unbelief and rejection.

Even Christians are inclined to become sermon critics, rather than stretcher-carriers. They come to hear a preacher, only to see if he conforms to their preconceived doctrines and ideas. They want only to discover if he agrees with them. They do not want their prejudices exposed and challenged. They do not want to be under the authority of God’s Word.

May God grant that you and I become stretcher-carriers, and not sermon critics.

Half way through Lent and half way through the Bible!

The first five verses of John’s gospel show Jesus Christ be to the source of life and light — the very opposite of the spiritual condition of the world.

He is the “Word.” It is the Greek term logos. He is the full expression of the Godhead, the Alpha and Omega. He is the complete revelation of God. He is the first word of creation, and the last word of Revelation.

In the Old Testament, God was described frequently in human terms. The writers described God as if he had hands and feet, or ears and eyes; he was said to laugh, ridicule, turn his back, come down for a closer look. They are figures of speech to help us understand what God is like. But in Jesus all those “words” became literally and historically true: God did come down to earth, and as Jesus he did have ears and eyes and hands and feet. So he is called the “Incarnate Word”, the revelation of God in human flesh.

John offers many insights into Jesus, the Word:

1. He was in the beginning.
Literally, the text says: “He was in beginning.” Before anything else, before even the creation, the Son of God was there. He is beyond time; he is eternal.

2. He was with God. 
Before time began the Father and Son were together as one, a relationship that is unparalleled in existence.

3. He was God. 
The Son was not just a divine creature, a heavenly creature, a lesser god-among-many, a creation who became a god. He was God, equal with the Father and the Spirit. Jesus Christ is both divine and eternal.

4. He created everything that exists. 
The Word reveals the Father, but the initial revelation of the Father is the creation, for the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps 19).  God the Father is the creator, and now we learn that creation was done by the Son. Every work of God involves the entire Godhead, for while there are three persons in the Godhead there is one God. For every work, the Father decrees it, the Son does it, and the Spirit enables it to be done.

The Son is the agent of creation. Nothing exists that was not made by him. But it came from the Father’s decree; and it was accomplished through the Spirit’s hovering over the deep and preparing for creation (Gen. 1:2).

The means or creation was the spoken word of God. “And God said” occurs ten times in Gen 1. As God commanded nature and all forms of life, the different parts of creation came into existence or took form. John is telling us that it was the living Word, Jesus Christ, who spoke the creative word in Genesis.

There is a more profound point being made to about Genesis 1 and John 1.  “Let there be”, in the Hebrew, is the shortened spelling of the verb “to be” which in the longer spelling is the holy name “Yahweh,” which the LORD interpreted to Moses to mean “I AM.” So John indicates that the Word of God created everything; and in Genesis the I AM was the One who said “Let there be,” and “there was.”  And now has coming as Jesus Christ: “I am the way, the truth, and the life”; “I came that they might have life”; “I am the resurrection and the life”. Not only did the Son of God create life, he holds it together by his powerful word (Heb. 1:2), and he is able to give it again if we should die (John 11). He is life, in the fullest sense of the term. There is no life without him.

5. He is the light
Light was the first thing created in Genesis – “Let there be light.” Its purpose was to dispel the darkness that covered the earth. And so light became a symbol of God, his nature, his reign over the earth. Those who remained in darkness, meaning sin, oppression, war, and gloom, Isaiah predicted, would see a great light (Isa. 9:2) in the region of Galilee of the nations. Jesus came preaching in Galilee, announcing, “I am the light of the world.” Light represents life and understanding, or the truth. He came to reveal the Father, and by so doing guide people in the way of righteousness.

This is the doctrine of incarnation.  Word took flesh and “tabernacled” among us – pitched his tent. The background, of course, is the Israelite experience in the wilderness with their tabernacle or tent of meeting. Once Israel put up the tent, the glory of the LORD entered it and dwelt among them, concealed from their view by the tenting. The cloud that had represented God’s presence through the wilderness now was dwelling in Jesus. The flesh of Jesus is like that tent, both enabling the glorious Lord to dwell among his people and concealing his glory from their view.

And they saw his glory! Usually this refers to the transfiguration (Matt 17, Rev 1). But it also means that they witnessed his life. They saw the miracles, heard the teachings, witnessed the death, and celebrated the resurrection appearances. The glory they saw was the glory of the only begotten of the Father, and the resurrection declared that once and for all.

Without this incarnate Son of God, there is no salvation, no hope, no light or life.

Ezra answers the question “Is there hope for Israel’s future?”  And in short there is!  There is a God of Heaven who does exercise sovereign control over history to fulfil his word, bless those who seek Him, and pour out wrath on those who abandon him. Therefore, Israel present and future hinges not on external events but on their holiness, as individuals and as a people.

Over 42,000 exiles, along with more than 7,000 servants, return to Judah under the leadership of Sheshbazzar. They quickly rebuild the altar and found the temple; however, opposition from the peoples of the lands halts the work for many years. Under the leadership of Haggai and Zechariah, the reconstruction resumes and the temple is finally completed. They celebrate the completion of the temple with great joy.

God’s sovereignty is evident, for the greatest monarch of earth is subject to his direction. Cyrus’s decree (1:2-4 ) emphasises the Lord’s sovereignty, acknowledges him as the God of Heaven, the Owner of all the kingdoms of the earth, and the Master who has appointed him to rebuild the temple. This fulfils The Lord’s word through Jeremiah.

Ezra 3 recounts the first two steps towards the rebuilding the temple. These events followed quickly on the heels of the Return. The people gather in Jerusalem and restore the altar of burnt offering to its place, in  careful obedience to Moses’ law. It strengthens the sense that those who have returned are, in every way, the continuation of God’s chosen people. Why spend time in worship, why rebuild the temple when there was so much more to do?

Worship must always come first. Out of the rubble of their past disobedience, they first made sure they were right with God. In a sense, by making sacrifices first, they were saying, “Lord, we want to get right with you.” The altar was the symbolic centre of Old Testament religion. It was the place where they brought their lambs, goats and bulls to be offered to the Lord. They killed the animal, poured out its blood, and burned the flesh before the Lord. Without the altar there could be no proper worship, no assurance of divine protection, no guarantee of forgiveness, no access to God, and no lifting of the burden of guilt and failure. The altar was the link between God and man. During all the years in Babylon, the people had no altar and thus no clear access to God and no assurance of forgiveness. Their disobedience had taken the altar away and broken their fellowship with God.

There are times when we all need a new beginning with God. Sometimes we need a new beginning because of our own sin. Sometimes the circumstances of life have so defeated us that we need a fresh start. Sometimes we feel that hope is gone forever. And in those moments, we must do what the Jews did. We must return to the altar of sacrifice. For Christians, that means returning to the cross of Jesus Christ where his blood was shed for our sins. We all need the healing that comes from the cross of Jesus Christ. And we need it every day.

But, as they rebuilt the altar, we read they “were terrified because of the peoples of the lands.” Very soon opposition will arise. How often in these readings we have come across the words "Do not be afraid!" There was good reason for this encouragement from the Lord

The rebuilding of the temple begins in earnest as Zerubbabel and Jeshua hire labourers, purchase supplies, and appoint overseers to manage the construction. When the foundation is laid, a grand worship celebration marks the occasion. Once again there is a link back to their forefathers when the musical praise was conducted “according to the hand of David the king of Israel.” There is jubilant thanksgiving, based on the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord.  We can note that:

1. The people’s words affirm his eternal loyal loving-kindness toward His people. 
2. Their songs and shouts (3:12 ) fulfil the Lord’s promises that “again shall be heard … the voice of those saying, ‘Give thanks to Lord of hosts, for Yahweh is good, for His loving-kindness endures forever,’” and “From them will go forth thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry” (Jer. 33:10-11 ; 30:19 ).

These last few days, we have been reflecting on the impact of broken covenants.  Each covenant’s basic structure is, “I, God, will do this and you, humans, will do that.” From Adam to Moses, when a covenant is broken, it is always broken in the same way – people fail. So what good will it do to establish a new covenant? What is the point in God recreating a new covenant when every one so far has fallen to pieces?

The covenant promised in Jeremiah 31 is not only new, it is different.  We begin to get this sense in 31:22 where Jeremiah says:

The LORD will create a new thing on earth—
       a woman will surround a man.

The word for “created” is the same as in Genesis 1:1. Only God is able to “create” something completely new. The cryptic phrase "a woman will surround a man", probably refers to God’s people clinging onto God and not letting go. Since they have let go every time in the past, then this would definitely be a new thing.

Which then brings us to, what some say is the theological high point in the OT: The new covenant:

"The time is coming," declares the LORD,
       "when I will make a new covenant
       with the house of Israel
       and with the house of Judah (31:31)

This new covenant is powerful and world-changing.

1. There is profound reconciliation.
God’s covenant is with both Israel and Judah – two nations divided by centuries of violent and bloody conflict (31:31b). They will be drawn together in harmony, as one new Kingdom before God. This same theme is developed in Galatians 3:

Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (25-28)

2. There is profound regeneration.
God will write his law on their hearts. Jeremiah has already told us what is currently written on our hearts in 17:1:

Sin is engraved with an iron tool,
       inscribed with a flint point,
       on the tablets of their hearts
       and on the horns of their altars.

Now the law will be written in a completely new way:

I will put my law in their minds
       and write it on their hearts.
       I will be their God,
       and they will be my people.

God wants to take possession of our hearts. What God does is to breathe the very spirit of his law into and through our minds and write them on our hearts. If the Holy Spirit possessed our whole being and takes complete control of our minds and our emotions, everything we did and are would be from God. We would no longer be separated from Him. We would know Him completely; for we are no longer on our own when we are one in Christ Jesus.

It is only when we learn to love and obey the law of God, when our heart and life are together and given wholly to the Lord, devoted to Him and His will that God can be to us the altogether inconceivable blessings which these words express, "I will be their God." God is not hard to find… he lives within us. But it is only when we are truly circumcised (in our hearts), that is, by cutting all those things that separate or blocked us from the face of God that we will truly find Him. Jeremiah 29:13 says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." That includes total surrender or submission to the Lord. Sincere repentance and turning away from our wicked ways is the route to having eyes focussed on Jesus.

3. There is profound intimacy.
We will all know God and no one will need to teach his neighbour about him. Instead of needing to be reminded of God on a regular and daily basis, we will enjoy such intimacy with him that we will be continually in His presence.

No longer will they teach their neighbours,
       or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
       because they will all know me,
       from the least of them to the greatest,"

4. There is profound atonement
This is where we realize what has changed so dramatically with this new covenant.

For I will forgive their wickedness
       and will remember their sins no more.

In his last conversation with his disciples, Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection and says:

This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Suddenly we realise that this forgiveness comes in a totally new way. If previously, the covenant was between God and humanity, now this new covenant was to be between God and Jesus Christ. This covenant cannot be broken by humanity’s sin and rebellion.  It is permanent and inalienable.

The Christian’s salvation is achieved not by keeping a covenant, but by being an undeserving recipient of the benefits of a covenant between two other parties. Christ fulfilled this covenant on Calvary’s tree and now sits at the right hand of God waiting his reward. We receive unlimited forgiveness and grace through this loving act of a merciful self-giving God who has created something new upon the earth.

If yesterday’s passage from 2 Kings 17 spoke of one of the darkest days for Israel and Judah, today’s recounts one of those moments when God acts to bring his people out of exile.  He is a liberating God, although he often works through the most un expected people.

Cyrus, king of Persia, is unconditionally praised by the post-exilic Jews. He later was considered as a messiah sent by God (Isaiah 45:1).  Daniel was a favourite of Cyrus (Daniel 10). Cyrus issued the decree of liberation to the Jews (Ezra 1:1-2), concerning which Daniel had prayed and prophesied. And he approved the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem which marked a great moment in the history of the Israelites.

We know quite a lot about this man:

A chronicle drawn up just after the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus, gives the history of the reign of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, and of the fall of the Babylonian empire. In 538 BC there was a revolt in Southern Babylonia, while the army of Cyrus entered the country from the north. In June the Babylonian army was completely defeated at Opis, and immediately afterwards Sippara opened its gates to the conqueror. Gobryas, the governor of Media, was then sent to Babylon, which surrendered "without fighting," and the daily services in the temples continued without a break. In October, Cyrus himself arrived, and proclaimed a general amnesty, which was communicated by Gobryas to "all the province of Babylon," of which he had been made governor. Meanwhile, Nabonidus, who had concealed himself, was captured, but treated honourably; and when his wife died, Cambyses II, the son of Cyrus, conducted the funeral. Cyrus now assumed the title of "king of Babylon," claimed to be the descendant of the ancient kings, and made rich offerings to the temples. At the same time he allowed the foreign populations who had been deported to Babylonia to return to their old homes, carrying with them the images of their gods. Among these populations were the Jews, who, as they had no images, took with them the sacred vessels of the temple.

Not unlike the Romans who would follow him, it seems that he was prepared to be reasonably tolerant (albeit on his terms) of the diverse beliefs and customs of the peoples within his extended kingdom. After the conquest of Babylon, it is recorded that he paid homage at the temple of the Babylonian god Marduk – thereby gaining the support of the Babylonian people and minimizing further bloodshed. In Ezra 1:1-8,  it is "the Lord [who] inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation".

Whereas in Isaiah 1-39, the prophet saw the destruction of Israel as imminent, and the restoration in the future, the later chapters of Isaiah speak of the destruction in the past (Is 42:24-25), and the restoration as imminent (Is 42:1-9). So, for example, Is 39:6-7 sees captivity as being far in the future, whilst by Is 43:14 the Israelites are spoken of as already in Babylon.  So these later chapters help us to understand how God used an unbeliever to achieve his purposes:

Who has stirred up one from the east,
       calling him in righteousness to his service?
       He hands nations over to him
       and subdues kings before him.
       He turns them to dust with his sword,
       to windblown chaff with his bow.

He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
       by a path his feet have not travelled before.

Who has done this and carried it through,
       calling forth the generations from the beginning?
       I, the LORD – with the first of them
       and with the last—I am he."

Isaiah 41:2-4

Then the alliance between Cyrus and the Lord is made explicit:

"This is what the LORD says to his anointed,
       to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of
       to subdue nations before him
       and to strip kings of their armour,
       to open doors before him
       so that gates will not be shut:

I will go before you
       and will level the mountains ;
       I will break down gates of bronze
       and cut through bars of iron.

I will give you the treasures of darkness,
       riches stored in secret places,
       so that you may know that I am the LORD,
       the God of Israel, who summons you by name."

Isaiah 45:1-3

Josephus (1st century AD )also mentions that Cyrus freed the Jews from captivity and helped rebuild the temple. He also wrote to the rulers and governors that they should contribute to the rebuilding of the temple and assisted them in rebuilding the temple. A letter from Cyrus to the Jews is described by Josephus:

“I have given leave to as many of the Jews that dwell in my country as please to return to their own country, and to rebuild their city, and to build the temple of God at Jerusalem on the same place where it was before.

I have also sent my treasurer Mithridates, and Zorobabel, the governor of the Jews, that they may lay the foundations of the temple, and may build it sixty cubits high, and of the same latitude, making three edifices of polished stones, and one of the wood of the country, and the same order extends to the altar whereon they offer sacrifices to God. I require also that the expenses for these things may be given out of my revenues.

Moreover, I have also sent the vessels which king Nebuchadnezzar pillaged out of the temple, and have given them to Mithridates the treasurer, and to Zorobabel the governor of the Jews, that they may have them carried to Jerusalem, and may restore them to the temple of God.

The priests shall also offer these sacrifices according to the laws of Moses in Jerusalem; and when they offer them, they shall pray to God for the preservation of the king and of his family, that the kingdom of Persia may continue. But my will is, that those who disobey these injunctions, and make them void, shall be hung upon a cross, and their substance brought into the king’s treasury.".

This display of divine grace had created an atmosphere of awe and excitement among the people of God. He was causing them to return to their land.  Yet even as the exiles resettled in Jerusalem and engaged in the work of restoration, we read:

Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They hired counsellors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia. Ezra 4:4-5

Incredibly, in spite of the miracles, signs and provisions, simple discouragement neutralized their progress. Scholars say that their work stalled for nearly 20 years!  Discouragement is an enemy that is both subtle in its attack and powerful in its ability to stop us. We must discern it when it comes and refuse to accommodate its influence when it speaks.

Exile was something that everyone dreaded. What would it feel like to you if you were suddenly taken from your home and banished from your country into one you knew very little about, maybe nothing about? Maybe just taken to the nearest port, put on the nearest ship, and told, "Don’t ever come back." You’d be stripped of all your goods, maybe all you had, the clothes on your back. You would have no income any more. You couldn’t work. Maybe you were even separated from your family.

Exile is a form of punishment that God has used from the very beginning. In Genesis 3, we have the first instance of exile imposed by God Himself.

So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Gen 3:23-24

The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." Gen 4:10-12

The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. . Gen 11:6-7

But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring." Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. Genesis 21:12-14

Abraham, Jacob and Joseph all had to go through exile at some part of their life to learn the lessons that God wanted them to learn so that they would look for the city that He had placed before them and grab hold of eternal life…….

Though they had short periods of obedience to God, it was very soon that Israel would sink into disobedience and God would have to send someone to save them for a time. But it was only a matter of time, a matter of generations before God had had enough and Israel and Judah had to be removed from the promised land and into exile. Unlike his predecessors from the time of Jeroboam, Hoshea neither established the rites of Baal, nor compelled the people to adhere to the symbolic worship of the calves (2 Kings 17). Yet the whole nation had become so completely apostate that God finally moved in righteous judgment.

In 2 Chronicles 36 we see the same thing happen to Judah. Judah was a little better than Israel. They kept the covenant a little bit longer than Israel, but again with them it was only a matter of time.

Judah was exiled for seventy years and still they rebelled. They rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and they rebelled against the word of God which, through Jeremiah, was telling them to submit to King Nebuchadnezzar; "He’s My servant." And they put Jeremiah in prison because he was speaking treason, according to them. But he wasn’t. God was their King and He was saying, "I have chosen Nebuchadnezzar. Follow him and you will avert this calamity." And they still wouldn’t even listen to that. And so they went into exile.

We see how terrible that exile was in Psalm 137:

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
       when we remembered Zion.

This was indeed a bleak moment for Israel and Judah.