DECEMBER 25 CHRISTMAS DAY THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-11 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 25  CHRISTMAS DAY THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-11   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS,  thanks be to the Son, and the Father, and the Holy Spirit for today marks the most Pivotal Event in human history!!! Though we do not know the exact day the Event occurred, it does not detract in the least from its Magnificence! Because of the Significant Importance of The Event to all mankind, there has been a “day” set aside to commemorate that Event known as CHRISTMAS, named after the Birth of the CHRIST CHILD who was named JESUS by His virgin mother as instructed by the Angel Gabriel. Gabriel announced that though she was a virgin, the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive the Son of the Most High God. The Event celebrated by millions and millions is known as CHRISTMAS but over time the world has lost the TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS in the tumultuous sea of the quest for profit. Lord Jesus, may we reflect this CHRISTMAS DAY on the  “REASON WHY THERE IS A CHRISTMAS SEASON”, why it brings JOY to millions, and KNOW THAT JESUS IS THE  GREATEST GIFT EVER GIVEN TO MANKIND!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was proclaimed as the “Son of the Highest” when Luke in his Gospel of Jesus Christ records “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth… to a virgin betrothed to…Joseph…the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS…The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:26-35) In the Gospel of Matthew we read, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit…an angel of the LORD appeared to [Joseph] in a dream saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son; and you shall call His name JESUS; for He will save His people from their sins.’  So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the LORD through the prophet [Isaiah 7:14], saying ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name IMMANUEL, which is translated, GOD WITH US.’” (Matthew 1:18:23)  Let us look at the simple facts recorded by these eyewitness accounts that began over 2000 years ago what is known worldwide as CHRISTMAS!!! 

FACT#1) “… the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth…” : The world was spinning round and round and everyone was going about their daily lives as they had been doing for centuries and then God sends His angel Gabriel down from heaven to the earth. Do you suppose that God got bored and decided to stir things up or do you suppose that God said, “Now is the time to fix this mess caused by sin”!!! 

FACT#2)  “God sent Gabriel…to a virgin [named Mary]…betrothed to Joseph” : This is now shaping up as an well planned event as God specifically sent a specific angel named Gabriel to a specific woman named Mary who had a specific condition called virginity and Gabriel was sent at a specific month to a specific city of Galilee named Nazareth and a specific time in Mary’s life for she was betrothed to a specific man named Joseph.  Note that there are a lot of names used which generally rules out this event being a “random act of a bored deity”!!!   Also in favor of this being a well-though-out-plan is the absolute conditions surrounding these numerous well established specific facts!!!   

FACT#3)  “Mary…you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus…”  So it is now evident that it is God Most High that has planned this specific mission  for only God can proclaim a future event {known as prophecy} and bring that event to fruition. Notice Gabriel stated that even though Mary now has a virgin womb that she “will conceive” in the future and that she “will give birth to a Son”. Not only does Mary know she will conceive and bear a “Son” but when she comes to the fullness of her time and a “Son” is born to her, that she is to name her “SON, JESUS”!!! The facts are pointing to a Very Specific Purpose that has been Perfectly Planned by God Himself for the place, the people, the circumstance, are very complimentary and very detailed to accomplish this Very Specific Purpose that will unite Heaven and earth, and God and man in a way that has never been accomplished before since the dawn of creation when God dispelled the darkness by proclaiming His Purpose, “LET THERE BE LIGHT” (Genesis 1:2-3) 

FACT#4  “[Gabriel]…an angel of the LORD appeared to [Joseph] in a dream saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife” — God takes care of every situation and God again and again tells us “Do not be afraid” so obviously He wants us to be “Joyful” and God had a very good reason for Joseph being betrothed to the virgin THAT GOD HIMSELF HAD CHOSEN to favor. It is not coincidental that “Joseph” was indeed from the family and lineage of “David” for it is becoming evident that prophecy is going to be fulfilled in such a manner that there can be NO DEBATE ———  THE ODDS OF THIS EVENT AND THESE CIRCUMSTANCES COMING TOGETHER BY RANDOM CHANCE ARE ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH AGAINST THIS EVENT JUST HAPPENING ——— ONLY THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD MOST HIGH CAN ACCOUNT FOR CHRISTMAS!!! 

FACT#5   “…for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit…Mary your wife…will bring forth a Son; and you shall call His name JESUS; for He will save His people from their sins.”  God knows the difficultly that Joseph being a righteous man is having because his betrothed wife Mary is pregnant and Joseph knows without a doubt in his heart of hearts that he has not been with Mary. Also, never in the entire history of mankind since the first mother and father, Adam and Eve, has any woman become pregnant by any other method OTHER THAN the seed of man being implanted into the womb of a woman, therefore Joseph has legitimate concerns about the pregnancy and Mary’s claim she has not been with a man so God dispels Joseph’s concerns by addressing them completely and directly with the revelation that Mary’s Son was conceived by the Holy Spirit. To add further credence to the fact that it was from the Most High God, the same angel that visited Mary also visited Joseph and they were both told that “God IS the Father”, that the virgin (Mary) would bear a “Son” and they were both told to name the Son of God, JESUS!!!  

FACT#6 “call His name JESUS, for He will save His People from their sins.” God establishes that He is the Father, His Son will be named JESUS, and this “virgin birth” and the very Name of Jesus given to the Christ Child was done with the Specific Purpose to SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF SIN. !!!  

FACT#7 “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the LORD through the prophet [Isaiah 7:14], saying ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name IMMANUEL, which is translated, GOD WITH US.’” (Matthew 1:18:23)    God had spoken 800 years before the Birth of His Only Begotten Virgin Born Son Jesus through His prophet Isaiah about GOD’S PLAN of the VIRGIN BIRTH of the SON OF GOD and GOD’S PURPOSE was to bridge the great gap between GOD’S HOLINESS and man’s sin. God further demonstrated His Commitment to “never forsake us” for in our greatest hour of need we can have confidence that  JESUS IS GOD AND GOD IS WITH US!!! When we take these Seven Facts of Christmas we now can sing JOY TO THE WORLD THE LORD HAS COME!!!! We can also be sure that without CHRIST, there is no CHRISTMAS!!!   

From LAYMAN’S PULPIT ———

                                          MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

DECEMBER 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-10 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-10   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, today my first thoughts towards You are thoughts of “Thankfulness” that You were OBEDIENT TO THE FATHER and have done those things the Father asked You to do so that sinners such as I would have a way to fellowship with God through the Miracle of Grace — a Miracle that was bought with a Heavenly Price and yet given UNCONDITIONALLY with a LOVE that can never be reproduced by man but is freely poured out by God on everyone that calls on the Precious Name of Jesus. Lord, there is no way for us with our limited intellect to understand the Heavenly Dynamics that provides Grace to wretched souls because of the Holy Blood You Shed on the Cross, nor why a Sacrificial Lamb could be slain before the foundation of the world and how the Blood of the Lamb of God that is applied to our hearts today brings about the Miracle of Salvation — or why God Almighty would even consider the possibility of Forgiveness of the guilty at such GREAT SACRIFICE AND SUCH GREAT COST to THE FATHER AND HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON!?!?!?!? Lord Jesus, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit our hearts overflow with one word “THANKS” for being the Great God You ARE — AND GIVING SO TOTALLY OF YOUR HOLY SELF FOR OUR SAKES!!!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus comes on the scene in the 3rd Chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew after He is announced by the Star Witness of God, John the Baptist, but it is interesting to note that Matthew documents the fact that before Jesus came to be baptized by John, that John the Baptist was already “preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’” (Matthew 3:1)  Matthew was Jewish and was a well educated Jewish scholar and very familiar with the Jewish Holy Scriptures and there had been 400 years of silence since Malachi the last prophet wrote God’s declaration in the Old Testament that spoke of the coming of the forerunner of the Messiah, “BEHOLD, I send My messenger, and He will prepare the way before Me.” (Malachi 3:1a) Matthew sensed through that same Holy Spirit that the LORD was again speaking to Israel through His latest prophet, John the Baptist, who like the Messiah was also foretold by the prophet Isaiah as the forerunner of the Messiah. Matthew wrote about John the Baptist, “For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD…’” (Matthew 3:3 and Isaiah 40:3)  The impact of John on the nation Israel can be seen by the simple statement of Matthew: “Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to [John the Baptist]” (Matthew 3:5) and the reason they were going out into the wilderness was to hear John preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” is also described when Matthew finishes his report on John the Baptist that those going out to the wilderness to hear John preach about the kingdom of heaven “were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:6) Matthew with these statements makes it clear that John the Baptist is not trying to build a church or establish a congregation because no one would build a church in the desert wilderness where John the Baptist was preaching — therefore one must concentrate not on their surroundings but on the message and that message was clearly “Repent” and the results of the Spirit-Filled-Message was that people were “Confessing their sins”! The success of John’s message to Israel was also noted by Matthew for John became so well known in the wilderness that he caught the attention of even the Pharisees and Sadducees who were “coming to” John to be baptized in the Jordan. (Matthew 3:7a) John’s reaction to the Pharisees and Sadducees must be viewed from the context that the Holy Spirit was leading John and when John calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a “Brood of Vipers” (Matthew 3:7b) we can anticipate that when the Messiah comes upon the scene that the Messiah, being led also by the Holy Spirit, will address the problem of having a “Brood of Vipers” ruling the temple, all temple worship in Jerusalem, and additionally this “Brood of Vipers” was responsible for the religious doctrines of the entire nation of Israel and Israel’s worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that had brought them out of their bondage in Egypt and into the Promised Land! So Matthew has now established that Jesus has fulfilled prophecy by His Birth, and now John who has fulfilled the prophecy that there would be a “forerunner” to the Messiah is about to see Jesus face to face for the first time! Did you ever stop in your Spiritual Journey and consider that even though you believe and know who Jesus is, that there will come that moment when you will stand in His Presence for the first time!?!?!?!?      Now is a good time to stop and think about that “moment” for it is a “moment” in your “future” and your reaction will uncover the TRUTH of what you believe about Jesus in the secret parts of your heart and soul, and “now” is the only time available to get that “moment” settled between you and your “future!”!! The TRUTH of GOD is that one day “your moment in His Presence” will arrive and what you truly believe will be revealed — and after the “moment” arrives it is already to late —— you must be prepared “BEFORE the Moment arrives”—— and the time to think about “who Jesus really IS — IS NOW”!!! 

DECEMBER 23 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-09 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-09  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, oh how blessed are we among men that we can call on the Name of Jesus so openly and so freely. Praise You Lord for the freedom that exists in our lifetime and our generation that we have a country founded on the belief in The One True Living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ.  Lord, I pray for the strength and courage to help preserve for the next generation the privilege of having our churches and Bibles in which we have the freedom to come to know the God of Creation. Forgive me Lord when I take this “Great Blessing” for granted and as just “another freedom” that abounds in plenty in our “Great Nation”— forgive us that in our abundance we have become lazy and in our laziness we are taking our abundance for granted thereby losing our freedoms bit-by-bit, so let me Lord daily recognize the Peace and Joy of starting my day with the Name of Jesus.               AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus, by those circumstances surrounding Him through the first 4 chapters of Matthew — and not of His own volition — has already fulfilled enough prophecy BY CIRCUMSTANCE OF RECORDED HISTORY ALONE that were He to do nothing else, Jesus could be shown to be the Messiah. Jesus could be “proven” to be the Messiah with just the single event of His being a first born Jewish male in the town of Bethlehem from the lineage of King David — but His Messiahship was completely sealed by the fact that His mother was a “virgin”!  When  “the Virgin gave Birth”, the "virgin birth" gave proof that her “Seed was Pure”, (for the Pure Seed comes only from God Himself) thereby making Jesus the Son of God!!!   Without argument or debate, common logic demonstrates that if a bird gives birth, the offspring of that bird will be a bird ——— and as that bird grows to maturity it will grow feathers like its parents and will eventually exhibit all characteristics of a bird and will someday take off and fly like a bird ——— and anyone observing that bird in flight will not have to ask, I wonder if that bird’s parents are birds? This simple common logic that everyone can understand is God’s way of Teaching us HIS TRUTH!!!  In His Creation Account found in Genesis, God made it clear that every living thing would “reproduce after its kind” and “whose seed is in itself” so it is simple common logic to assume that God would put “His Seed” into a “virgin womb” in order that “His Seed” would reproduce “after its Kind”!   With the “Virgin Birth” event it can be “logically understood” that the “virgin’s womb” was “undefiled” and her “Seed was Holy”, therefore the “Offspring” of the “Virgin Birth” would grow in “Grace and Truth” and exhibit every characteristic of “HIS HOLY FATHER”, thereby confirming that the The Child JESUS born to a “Virgin” indeed IS THE MESSIAH, the SON of the LIVING GOD (dead men and dead gods do not have offspring), and being the offspring of an undefiled woman, Jesus is the SON of MAN!!!   Also, coming from the Holy Seed of the Father, Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God and just like the offspring of a bird will grow feathers and fly, so likewise the Offspring of the Holy God would grow in “Grace” and speak “Truth”. If Jesus were not the Son of God, then He would not be able to “fly” with such natural ease that everyone who observed or studies His Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection will say as did the Roman centurion who saw how Jesus died at His Crucifixion, “Truly this Man [JESUS IS] the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39) So the object of the Gospels are to demonstrate that Jesus proves Himself to be the Messiah both by His Life and His Death, and the Resurrection of JESUS ON THE THIRD DAY fulfills God’s Promise to His Only Begotten Son! Jesus is shown to be the Son of God because of fulfilled prophecy, His Virgin Birth, His Holy Life, and His Perfect Sacrificial Death as the Passover Lamb of God, and His Glorious Resurrection by the Father on the 3rd Day!   We cannot but exhibit the nature of our parents and that was true of Baby JESUS, born to a virgin in Bethlehem from the HOLY SEED OF GOD HIMSELF — and we still today call out the NAME OF JESUS!!!!!!!! 

DECEMBER 22 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-08 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 22  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-08  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

{{The Holy Spirit is again leading me to post a prayer originally written in 2004}} “Jesus, You are the Messiah, praise Your Holy Name, God became flesh, Redeemer of all men from the bondage of sin, You have freed us from the Law of Sacrifice for You have substituted Your Holy Self as the Atonement, once for all!!!  Lord, teach me to share the Good News to both Jew and Gentile that the Messiah has come, the GOOD NEWS that Jesus, the Son of Man has sacrificed His Perfect Life and shed His Spotless Blood, the Sacrifice of GOD’S Passover Lamb so that the angel of death will “pass over” all who believe that Jesus is the Passover Lamb and apply His Blood to the doorposts and lintel of our hearts. Salvation is through the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, for God sent His Son, born of a “virgin”, sacrificed on a cross, buried in a borrowed tomb, and was raised to Glory on the 3rd Day — The Messiah HAS COME!!!    AMEN

DECEMBER 22  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

<<Note: The JESUS Questions have their relevance in the TRUTH OF GOD that JESUS IS GOD’S SON, GOD’S ANOINTED, GOD”S CHOSEN ONE, GOD’S MESSIAH and through the “understanding” of GOD’S TRUTH we come to a TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD HIMSELF!   My individual encounter with the Holy Spirit as He leads in the writing of The JESUS Questions sometimes is very personal as was the DECEMBER 21 blog in which I wrote of being led by the Holy Spirit to fulfill “part of a 2004 prayer” and that “part” was for me to get personally involved in the work of the Holy Spirit and I was “to do something about this evil and vile situation that is removing the Name of JESUS from so many [aspects of our lives] ” and today in my study of His Word, the Holy Spirit led me to an article about the Messiah written by Tracey R. Rich that states “If you want to know how Jews interpret the passages that Christians consider to be messianic, see Jews for Judaism, a counter-missionary organization not associated with this website, especially their article about Christian Proof-Texting.”  Today when I read the DECEMBER 21 prayer that said, “teach me to share the Good News to both Jew and Gentile that the Messiah has come” the thought that struck me was that there is a sect of Jews that has taken the Name of Jesus and “separated Him from His Messiahship” which is every bit as “vile and evil” as America promoting “separation of church and state” if taken from the viewpoint of removing the name of God from public places. To “legislate” that God is not allowed in public schools literally removes God’s “moral standard” from our government and therefore the “federal government is free to decide what is moral in our society” ——— and there is nothing more “vile and evil” than man usurping God’s Power ——— for man has been proven untrustworthy since the first bite of forbidden fruit! Therefore, in fair and equal treatment of everyone, every nationality, and every religion, I will continue to be led by the Holy Spirit and continue writing articles based on “God’s Standards” and “His Holy Word” and keep letting the Holy Spirit remind us that GOD IS TRUTH, “so if you are not listening to God, then you are not listening to the Truth!!!”  If man (and woman) had listened when God said “do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17) instead of THE LIE when the Tempter said “you will not surely die”  (Genesis 3:4) then the knowledge of good and evil would have remained on the tree and man would have remained in the Garden of Eden, forever.! So at the very beginning even Satan himself was (and still is) using the Word of God to lead us FROM GOD’S TRUTH but each of us must listen to what God says and KNOW GOD IS TRUTH !!! DO NOT LISTEN to Satan for Satan is the father-of-lies!?!?!?!  Jesus at an early age (starting first with the ‘IMMACULATE CONCEPTION” and with the “VIRGIN BIRTH”) was fulfilling prophecy about the Messiah and starting with the 3rd chapter of the Gospel bearing his name, Matthew documents that the life of Jesus revealed Jesus IS the True Messiah by His actions — because the actions of Jesus Himself could only be accomplished by the True Messiah!!! At the start of the 3rd Chapter of the Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus, Matthew introduces the Messiah’s “star witness”, John the Baptist. Here again we will see that Jesus fulfills prophecy of the Messiah by circumstances beyond His control and starting with the 3rd Chapter, Matthew demonstrates that all Scripture and all prophecy point to Jesus as the Messiah and even the most casual reader will see that Jesus by His actions and lifestyle cannot be interpreted as “just a good man doing good works” as Satan would have you believe, but the “good works” of Jesus were accomplished by God Incarnate, Immanuel, and it was the Power of God in Jesus that was doing “miraculous works” that could only be accomplished by God Himself — and therefore the “actions” of Jesus proclaim and witness that JESUS IS CHRIST, GOD’S ANOINTED ONE!!!

DECEMBER 21 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-07 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-07  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, today I pray, “I am Yours, save me” as was prayed by Martin Luther, a prayer that must have been a great glory to Your Name and a great time of “coming out of darkness” into the LIGHT of YOUR WORD! O Lord, there is a new ‘Spiritual Dark Ages’ for our nation as America continues down this disastrous course of “separation of church and state” and if America continues to drift from our faith in God, we will lose the religious freedom established by our Creator and acknowledged by our Christian forefathers. Lord we simply cannot allow Christ to be taken out of Christmas and let “Happy-Holidays-Gift-Buying” replace “Merry-Christmas-Gift-Giving” in our lives, especially in our schools and public places. Lord, I pray for the Holy Spirit to lead “believers in Christ” to do something about this evil and vile situation that is removing Your Name from so many things that have made our nation great.”  Like many Americans who have felt the the need for unity in Christ, my prayer is that Christ will be allowed back into our schools and public places and that as a nation that we will once again proclaim “IN GOD WE TRUST” and from a Joyous heart proclaim, “Peace on Earth — Merry Christmas to ALL”!!!!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has now been connected to 4 prophecies that point to Him as the Messiah and yet it is our “faith” that will actually seat Him on the “throne” of our heart!!! It is a simple truth of this world that all the evidence in the world will not be sufficient to enlighten those worldly ones that want to trust in the “doctrines and traditions of man” and not the “commands of God”! Jesus adamantly demonstrated against the hypocrisy of abandoning God’s Light for man’s darkness throughout His earthly ministry and especially after making His “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem. During the Passover Week Jesus was very specific as He is quoted as saying: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15) With statements like that from Jesus that attacked power hungry religious leaders of Israel and called them out with such great condemnation (and especially being called out like that in Jerusalem during the Passover Week) that they as “national leaders” would certainly not want Jesus to be confirmed as the Messiah for that would expose their greed for control of the people and would be Divine confirmation of them being “sons of hell” — that particular problem still exists today among people greedy for power that still refute the claim that Jesus is not the “Messiah” and they still today go so far as to say that the word “Messiah” has been defiled by translation ——— those believing that the “mashiach” (which means “the anointed one”) has not yet come argue that the “mashiach” (according to the traditions of men) is not “God” but that the “mashiach” is a “human” that will be a warrior king like David. Those dedicated to this “Messianic Idea in Judaism” base their arguments on arguments put forth in such writings as “Rambam’s 13 Principals of Faith” which are in their own words “the minimum requirements of Jewish belief” and when they refer to God’s Holy Scriptures these so dedicated to “Judaism” use the same prophets that declared the coming of the “Messiah” and “signs” of His Coming through their interpretation of the Scriptures to claim to “prove” that Jesus is not the “mashiach”;  therefore Jesus rightfully called them “hypocrites” for these misguided leaders claim to know the Scriptures better than God Himself!  This is the exact same problem that Jesus questioned the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem who had sought out Jesus because of His “Works” (the “Works” that Jesus had done were “miraculous” by any definition) and when He answered their question with a Question of His own, “Why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3) and called them “hypocrites” by referring to the prophet Isaiah: “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Matthew 15:7-9) So if those that claim Jesus is not the Messiah do so by quoting “commandments of men” such as “Rambam’s 13 Principals of Faith” then I will let each of you make your own decision and review the “evidence” yourself, but each individual must still come to the same point of decision put forth by Joshua — “Choose this day whom you will serve!” (Joshua 24:15)

DECEMBER 20 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-06 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-06   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, today is another day with the Light that You have provided for all. All deserve death and were it not for Your Mercy, Your Grace, and Your Great Sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary to purchase our Redemption from the punishment of our many iniquities, we would still be lost in darkness — Lord let us “lean not” on our own understanding but give us the wisdom to let You Guide our steps and Light our path! Jesus we are so undeserving of the Mercies that You Renew each morning because of who You ARE, You shower us with blessings, so Lord Jesus I offer up that which I have — my praise and prayers; praise for You and prayers for others — keeping neither for myself for Your Grace is Sufficient for me! Forgive me for all the ways that I have failed You and keep me centered in Your Will!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was not only proven to be the Messiah by the evidence of His Birth to a “virgin” (a young Jewish girl who had nothing to gain but death from stoning by claiming her Child was the Son of the Most High God) Jesus was also linked to the “purpose” of the Messiah by outside forces that He could not have manipulated as a Child. The purpose of the “Messiah” in both Jewish tradition and today’s Christian denominations is one of “Kingship” which became an issue that pointed to Jesus as the “Anointed One” when the then King of Israel, King Herod met with the “wise men from the East” who had traveled to Jerusalem and were asking, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:1-2) This inquiry from credible “wise men” that knew of the “birth” of the “King of the Jews” that had seen a “sign” in the heavens and knew that the event had happened in Judea as noted by their statement “has been born” caught the attention of the then seated king of Judea, King Herod. “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when [Herod] had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea…’ and then the chief priests and scribes quoted the prophet Micah who wrote ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:3-6 and Micah 5:2) Modern Jews do not accept that Jesus is the “Messiah” and their main argument is that the “mashiach” is a human and not God and will be a human leader like King David  who will win great battles for Israel and not a “savior” who will save “His people from their sins”. The Judaism concept of “mashiach” is of a human that will rebuild the temple, re-establish traditional Jewish worship in the re-built temple, and also “mashiach” will establish a government in Jerusalem making it the center of all world government.  Herod however was not concerned about these concepts of the “one born King of the Jews” but Herod was concerned about the “kingship” of one that had fulfilled prophecy! Herod was concerned enough to enlist the services of the wise men in finding the “King of the Jews” and when the wise men did not return to Herod, Herod “sent forth [Herod’s soldiers] and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under…” (Matthew 2:7-16) But this act of Herod reacting to prophecy about “one who has been born King of the Jews” was also prophetic in its execution as the prophet Jeremiah had noted that there would be “A voice heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”  (Jeremiah 31:15)  Matthew documented that “Divine Intervention” on behalf of Jesus came as an “angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream” after the wise men had bestowed gifts on the “young Child” Jesus and the angel said, “Arise take the young Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt” … thus fulfilling the prophecy by Hosea stating “Out of Egypt I called My Son” (Hosea 11:1) The simple fact that all these events came about while Jesus was still a “young Child” are events that are historical facts and had they been fabricated after the crucifixion of Jesus they would have been quickly refuted by the Jewish rulers and the chief priests and scribes that had called for the Crucifixion of Jesus; however, the only records that exist support Jesus as having fulfilled the prophecy of the “Messiah/mashiach” according to the prophets of old. So Matthew in the first 3 chapters of his Gospel of Jesus Christ has established as historical fact that Jesus has already, at the young age of 2 or 3 years old, fulfilled 4 prophecies written hundreds of years earlier by God’s own prophets and these 4 critical prophecies and their fulfillment could not have been “fabricated” without receiving great criticism from the chief priests and scribes! If it were the apostles and disciples of Jesus that had “fabricated” the stories after the death of Jesus, their fabrication would have resulted in their own deaths and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Divine Truth would not be documented so well in the New Testament which has been Divinely Protected for thousand of years, which only adds credence to the claim that Jesus IS CHRIST!!!

DECEMBER 19 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-05 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-05   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, my prayer is to be totally dependent on Your Mercy and Grace to lead me where You will. Lord, I pray not to be free of worldly influences but rather my prayer is to have the discernment to see past the world and the deceit of this world to Your Truth and to Trust Your Holy Spirit to take whatever worldly circumstance that I find myself in and use it to witness to Your Great Love — for there is nothing nor no one that cannot benefit from Grace which You have provided so abundantly. Keep our hearts and eyes open to Your Grace and Mercy for in every situation we can take the circumstances of the world and use them to witness to the Glory of God and His Son Jesus Christ!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has already in the first two chapters of the Gospel of Matthew fulfilled more prophecies than any one before Him and certainly anyone after Him and since “His Birth, Life, Death by Crucifixion, Burial in a “borrowed” Tomb, and then His Glorious Resurrection on the Third Day were first prophesied and then documented by so many sources and written down and confirmed that there will NEVER be anyone but JESUS that can have the facts of His Life and Death be the PROOF that He is the SON OF GOD!!!” It is seldom stated some of the most obvious things that must have fallen in place for all the prophecies in the Old Testament to be fulfilled concerning the “Chosen One, God’s Messiah” and the odds of one man fulfilling even half a dozen of the prophecies has been proven mathematically impossible — therefore, if we look at just the “odds” from a numerical standpoint, if one man fulfilling more than 6 prophecies is “impossible” then what is the phrase that would have to be invented for a second person to fulfill more prophesies than the first person?!?!? The “odds” are so great that even one man could fulfill ALL of the prophecies that many find it hard to believe it to be possible at all and choose themselves to be counted among the doubters that believe all of this “prophecy” stuff and “the Jesus story” is a “fairy tale” — which is still one of the major arguments in our modern world against Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit and prevents many people from believing ——— and many of these same “unbelievers” are the very ones that seek “proof” that Jesus is the Son of God and that God Himself exists — yet these are the very ones that refuse to look at “eyewitness” accounts such as each of the individual Gospels!?!?!? If we think of simple things like “facts that must be true” of the Messiah such as the Messiah must be a Jewish male born in Judea and that He would have to be “Sacrificed as the Lamb of God” to make “atonement for the sins of His people” and not just any “sacrifice” but a “unique sacrificial death at the hands of a foreign government!?!”  When we look at the simple facts and discover ancient records of one unique Jewish male born in Bethlehem who started teaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” then how can our eyes not be opened?!? Matthew did not know Jesus until after Jesus had started His Ministry and was called by Jesus to be an Apostle — Jesus called each of His Apostles individually and because Jesus IS the Son of God  He knew the “purpose” that each of the Apostles were called for; therefore, it is easy to imagine that Jesus “knew” that Matthew would naturally learn everything he could about Jesus and His life and Matthew would eventually write the Gospel that would be an eyewitness account to the fulfilling of Jewish prophecy by Jesus. Matthew was a studied and educated Jew himself and as such he would see the significance of the simple facts of the life of Jesus. I can just imagine what Matthew felt like when he started following Jesus and then hearing from the other apostles stories about the parents of Jesus and when from natural curiosity Matthew traced the genealogy of Jesus back to King David that Matthew knew that there was something special about this “first born Jewish male” that could trace His genealogy back to King David!  But can you imagine how Matthew felt when he learned the story that the mother of Jesus stated under penalty of death that her “firstborn Son Jesus” was “conceived by the Holy Spirt” and that she was a “virgin” when she gave birth to Jesus!?!  Add to the miracle the stories that both Mary and Joseph told of their visits from Gabriel and Gabriel telling them to “call Him Jesus for He will save His people from their sins”!!! I can also imagine that Matthew started taking notes and studying the prophecies of the MESSIAH even more fervently because already Jesus had fulfilled the three most basic but difficult prophecies; for no one can choose (1) where they are born nor (2) whom their parents are much less (3) who the parents of the parents are — and these 3 prophesies alone make Jesus, the Messiah unique : (1) the“virgin birth” and (2) being “born into the family of David “and (3) being “born in Bethlehem”!!!!   It is IMPOSSIBLE for one to “choose” that their mother would be a “virgin” and give birth to a Son!!! Those ARE IMPOSSIBLE things for man, but it makes the HOLY SCRIPTURE valid when it clearly states, “with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible.” I am sure that Matthew started writing furiously when he heard Mary and Joseph tell the story of the “virgin birth” and I am sure that God fully intended for Matthew to be the one to write the Gospel and document this “impossibility” of Jesus — for the TRUTH is that it indeed is “impossible” for man to fulfill prophecy, only GOD can fulfill prophecy and only the Son of God could be “virgin born”!!! The first four chapters of Matthew then documents through eyewitness accounts all the simple facts that the Life of Jesus points to the Divine Truth that Jesus is the Son of God!!!