Let’s Carol Me, Christmas–telling the true Christmas story—with another historic hymn.   Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is an ancient chant, a Cherubic Hymn and devotion based on words from Habakkuk 2:20, “Let all the earth keep silence before him”.

Tomorrow’s carol will be uplifting, but today’s is another hymn written in a minor key which ought to give us pause about all this Merry Christmas stuff:  candy canes, hot cocoa, Santa, reindeer, joy, and happiness; partying, drinking toasts and going to cocktail parties in festive finery.  Like Charlie Brown, we can find ourselves getting depressed, finding that we’re not happy, and end up thinking that we don’t know what Christmas is all about.

Contrast the words of Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence with the lyrics to pop music like It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!  Let me be clear: There’s nothing wrong with celebrating.  Let’s make sure we’re celebrating the right things.

Why are all these Christmas carols, these hymns of anticipation, so mournful sounding?

This past month, I’ve had the privilege of our family experiencing births of sons.  I have a grandson –a first grandchild, and I am now also a great aunt of a brand new baby boy.  Babies are to be celebrated, for sure!

But why is Jesus’ birth notable? 

Because He was born healthy and alive—just another miracle of God in that sense?

No.  Jesus’ birth is notable because it is beyond the miracle of who He was as a baby (God’s Son). 

It’s notable because of what He’d do as an adult and these anticipation hymns sounding mournful remind us that this was no trivial sacrifice of God. 

We needed a Savior so badly that God knew there was no other way.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is a traditional carol, a chant, a hymn that powerfully points this out.  The chant itself probably dates back to around 275 AD with arrangements in Syriac.  The hymn as we know it was translated from the Greek by Gerard Moultrie and then Ralph Vaughan Williams gave it a melodic arrangement to the tune of Picardy which was a French medieval folk melody.

The message Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is quite holy and might be modernized and made rather vulgar by saying that it’s like God is saying to us,

Let all the earth shut up!”

Habakkuk records a response of God to the pride, greed, arrogance, plundering, destruction, and bloodshed of a world He created to exist in peace and love.  Mankind ruined it all.  Violence and idolatry form man’s actions since the fall of man.  To a world such as this, God says the end is coming and the end of what we have done to this earth will come with it.  Wrath is on its way.

And yet, hidden in this passage of Habakkuk, we read “the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

Habakkuk 2: 2 Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

4 “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright– but the righteous will live by his faith—

5 indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples. 6 “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ 7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their victim. 8 Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. 9 “Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin! 10 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. 11 The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it. 12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime!

13 Has not the LORD Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? 14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

15 “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies. 16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. 17 The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. 18 “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. 19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.

20 But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”

As we listen to musical interpretations of this old carol by the Millennium Youth Choir and another version by Fernando Ortega, read through the words below.  All the while, remember how idolatry is commonplace in our day. People exalt money, race, vengeance, pride, and intellectual prowess.  Where are the headlines in our newspapers of God’s Good News?  Ironic, is it not, that Black Friday, Cyber Monday, greed and materialism mark our culture’s celebration of His Christ?  Newspapers report what kind of “good news” retailers might expect and what it means for our economy.  God’s answer to that is pointed in the face of sinners: Let all the earth be silent.  (Shut your mouth.  Don’t you get what this season is all about? You don’t need stuff!  You need a Savior.)

Thought focus for today:  Consider the difference between Christmas Joy found in an Eternal Savior and the fleeting happiness of stuff.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six wingèd seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,                                                                                                                              As with ceaseless voice they cry
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

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Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) began November 30th.  By way of reminder, if you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.  If you like these devotionals, I’d really appreciate your letting others know so I can continue to spread the Good News far and wide.  Blessings to you, in Christ always, Barbara <><

As we continue to Carol Me, Christmas in our 2014 Advent season, the words of today’s traditional Christmas carol, Comfort Comfort O My People, come straight out of the Bible.  It’s a passage of Scripture that has also been used in Handel’s Messiah for Comfort Ye My People (Isaiah 40:1-10).  These same verses are also used at Easter and speak of preparing the way for the LORD.  But this call to repentance didn’t begin at Lent.  It begins with preparing our hearts now—for with His coming, you see, the Kingdom is now here.

But why comfort?  How does that really relate to Advent?

Without knowledge of our sin and taking it seriously, we have no real need for a Savior.  No sin.  No Savior.  Without realizing our hopeless state of salvation on our own merits, we can delude ourselves into thinking that Christmas is about other things than our pitiful situation.  Apart from God’s action on our behalf in the Incarnation, we’re doomed even though we’re Ho-Ho-Hoing our way through the holidays.  The mere fact that the Savior had to come is evidence that we needed Him and without Him, we’re toast.

So the words of this hymn and of Isaiah 40:1-10 are profoundly comforting.  Speaking Peace.  Comforting those who sit in darkness (of bondage to sin, of exile, of exclusion from God’s favor).  They’d been rebellious, as have we all.  They were mourning their bondage, burdened with sorrow, and tired of fighting the inevitable.

Do you ever feel that way?

So God gives His people comfort and tells us that our sins will be covered.  The warfare will end.  The payment—though double from the Lord’s hand—will be paid by another.  By His Christ.

Make ye straight what long was crooked,
Make the rougher places plain:
Let your hearts be true and humble,
As befits His holy reign,
For the glory of the Lord
Now o’er the earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the token
That His Word is never broken.

Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

It’s good news of great joy because our situation apart from God’s grace was nothing short of hopeless.  Jesus didn’t come as a baby in a manger because the world needed more boys.  The Virgin Birth set Him apart.  Only He could address our dire straits.

You see, the Good News is that the Savior didn’t begin with the Cross.  He is before all time. He is the Living Word. His Incarnation is the radiance of God’s glory and this news of salvation, of purification for sins…is Good News indeed and great Comfort to God’s people.

As you listen to Comfort Comfort O My People, the 1671 German hymn written by Johannes G. Olearius, theologian, writer of biblical commentary, and composer, let the words of comfort given by Isaiah minister to you.  Translated into English by London native Catherine Winkworth, this carol appeared in The Chorale Book for England (published in 1863).  We can benefit from the great German chorale tradition brought to us today.  As you listen to this modernized version (click link), remember the words of old and this theological truth that is our Thought Focus for Today.

Thought focus for today’s reflection:  We celebrate the Incarnation as it showed we needed a Savior.  God’s lovingkindness to forgive our sins is demonstrated in His Son Jesus who would come not just as a baby in a manger, but as our Savior and God’s Christ.  This is Comfort indeed!

Comfort, comfort ye My people,
Speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
Comfort those who sit in darkness, Mourning ’neath their sorrow’s load;
Speak ye to Jerusalem
Of the peace that waits for them;
Tell her that her sins I cover,
And her warfare now is over.

For the herald’s voice is crying
In the desert far and near,
Bidding all men to repentance,
Since the kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way!
Let the valleys rise to meet Him,
And the hills bow down to greet Him.

Yea, her sins our God will pardon,
Blotting out each dark misdeed;
All that well deserved His anger
He will no more see nor heed.
She has suffered many a day,
Now her griefs have passed away,
God will change her pining sadness
Into ever springing gladness.

Make ye straight what long was crooked,
Make the rougher places plain:
Let your hearts be true and humble,
As befits His holy reign,
For the glory of the Lord
Now o’er the earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the token
That His Word is never broken.

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Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) began November 30th.  By way of reminder, if you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.  If you like these devotionals, I’d really appreciate your letting others know so I can continue to spread the Good News far and wide.  Blessings to you, in Christ always, Barbara <><

As we begin Advent 2014 with devotions to Carol Me, Christmas, we start with anticipation!  O Come O Come Emmanuel is traditionally sung either at the very beginning of Advent or in the final days just prior to Christmas.  Its haunting melody accurately communicates a world in pain, in distress, and dying for need of a Savior.  The tune is slow, majestic, and mournful.  You wouldn’t probably be surprised to learn that the melody (Veni Emmanuel) is from a Requiem Mass (Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead).  It’s a lament for the dead, or a dirge (funeral song) from a 15th century French Franciscan convent of nuns located in Portugal.   To a world that’s dying in sin, it’s a perfect melody.

The words are considered an Antiphon (a response chant kind of like a Gregorian chant also known as a “plainsong”).  Oftentimes, the original 7 verses were sung out in unison and then the response was chanted back (often in harmony) and rang out “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel.”

Greg Sheer (1994) writes,

The text for “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” comes from a 7 verse poem that dates back to the 8th century. It was used in a call and response fashion during the vespers, or evening, service. The original text created the reverse acrostic “ero cras,” which means “I shall be with you tomorrow,” and is particularly appropriate for the advent season. A metrical version of five of the verses appeared in the 13th century, which was translated into English by J.M. Neale in 1851.

To be sure, most hymnals shortcut the Antiphon’s theological ties by listing it only as “Behold a virgin shall…bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel (Isa 7:4).”  The theological implications and teachings are more profound, however.  They are reflected, not only in the many Old Testament names given for the Messiah, but also in their teachings of truths about humanity.

Here are the names in the 5 verses that appeared in the 13^th century as pointed out by Sheer.

1. “Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14, Mt 1:23) means “God with us”
2. “Adonai” (Exodus 19:16) is a name for God, the giver of the law (*My note Adonai means Lord and is the way the Jews avoided saying “The Name” represented by YHWH—a tetragrammaton for The Name of God, Yahweh, considered too holy to even speak!)
3. “Branch of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1) refers to Jesus’ lineage
4. “Oriens” (Malachi 4:2, Luke 1:78-79) is the morning star or daystar
5. “Key of David” (Isaiah 22:22) again refers to Jesus’ lineage

Many of our hymnals, however, will have a different listing of names or varied orders (Emmanuel, Rod of Jesse, Dayspring, Key of David, and Desire of Nations) or even (Wisdom, Emmanuel, The Lord of Might, The Rod of Jesse, Dayspring, and The Key of David).  Still that is only six–one short of the 7 verses from the original “Great O Antiphons.”  Here you will find a nice chart of how the Catholics use the Antiphons during the final week of Advent including the Latin since you may have noted that the first letters of the English don’t add up to ero cras .

The Anglican Church of the Province of Southern Africa lists the Antiphons this way:

• Antiphon 1  O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of the Law, the people await you, their Savior:  Come and save us , O Lord our God!
• Antiphon 2  O Wisdom, you came forth from the lips of God Most High and you reach from one end of the universe to the other, powerfully and gently ordering all things:  Come and teach us the way of prudence!
• Antiphon 3   O Adonai and Leader of the house of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush and at Sinai you gave him the Law:  Come with your outstretched arm to save us!
•  Antiphon 4  O Root of Jesse, you stand for a sign to the peoples; before you kings are silent, and Gentiles pray with longing:   Come now and set us free!
• Antiphon 5  O Key of David, and Ruler of the House of Israel, you open and none can shut; you shut and no one can open:   Come and lead out of the prison house the captives who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!
• Antiphon 6  O Morning Star, you are the splendor of eternal life; you are the dawning sun, the Sun of justice:     Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!
• Antiphon 7  O King of nations and fulfillment of their longing, you are the Cornerstone and you make all one; you formed us from primeval clay:  Come, and save us!

No matter which version you use, the theology is the same.  Israel as the Chosen People group was prophesied by Isaiah to end up in Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 39:6) in a physical sense forming a fitting metaphor for the spiritual captivity of the entire world due to human sin, idolatry, and rebellion against God.   But there would be restoration when the Messiah finally comes.  There would be Comfort for God’s people (Isaiah 40:1-5)…but only when Emmanuel comes to ransom all of us who have been held captive to sin.  He redeemed us by His death on the Cross.  So we anticipate the birth of Messiah—not because He’s a cute baby in a manger—but because of what He would do to save us!

This Messiah is King and Lawgiver.  He is the Wisdom that created the entire universe.  He is the Lord and Leader promised to Israel.  He is the Root of Jesse once razed to the ground by the Assyrians and Babylonians, but when captive Judah returned to the land… from this stump, the Kingdom would again rise.  He is the Key of David prophesied in Isaiah 22:22 and shown as fulfilled in Revelation 3:7 when the Spirit says to the churches:  “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”  He is the Morning Star spoken about in prophecy and fulfilled in Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”  And He is the King of Nations, the Cornerstone over which some have stumbled but who has become the Capstone, holding all things together.  He is the Desired of all nations.   Haggai 2:7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty.

When we listen to O Come O Come Emmanuel (click link) we should reflect with great anticipation at the deliverance ahead.  As Advent 2014 begins, we joyfully remember His birth, yet we mourn…remaining a world in distress, needing the healing touch that only “God with us, Emmanuel,” can provide.  Until He returns, all we can do is cry out, “How long, O LORD?” (Psalm 6:3-4; Revelation 6:10) and “Come quickly Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

O Come O Come Emmanuel….

Thought focus for today’s reflection: 

Anticipation at God’s deliverance from an evil world in strife and rebellion.  Come, Lord Jesus!

• O come, O come, Emmanuel
• And ransom captive Israel
• That mourns in lonely exile here
• Until the Son of God appear
• Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
• Shall come to thee, O Israel.
• O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
• Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
• From depths of Hell Thy people save
• And give them victory o’er the grave
• Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
• Shall come to thee, O Israel.
• O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
• Our spirits by Thine advent here
• Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
• And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
• Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
• Shall come to thee, O Israel.
• O come, Thou Key of David, come,
• And open wide our heavenly home;
• Make safe the way that leads on high,
• And close the path to misery.
• Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
• Shall come to thee, O Israel.
• O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
• Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
• In ancient times did’st give the Law,
• In cloud, and majesty and awe.
• Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
• Shall come to thee, O Israel.
• O, come, Desire of nations, bind
• All people in one heart and mind
•  Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
•  And be Thyself our King of Peace.
•  Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
•  Shall come to you, O Israel!

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Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) began November 30th.  By way of reminder, if you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.  If you like these devotionals, I’d really appreciate your letting others know so I can continue to spread the Good News far and wide.  Blessings to you, in Christ always, Barbara <><

As we begin to Carol Me, Christmas as our Advent 2014 series and tell the story of Christmas through the Church’s most beloved traditional carols, it would be good to set the stage for why many of these carols have had such an enduring quality.  For some, the tune is memorable, is fun to sing, or turns one’s thought to Christmas just by hearing it.  For others, it brings back fond recollections of childhood, related more to our lighting candles at the Christmas Eve service, or sugar plums dancing in our heads as we drift off to sleep and wait for Santa to arrive.

But the reason I would like to focus on these hymns is that they have been useful instruction for the Church.  It is no mistake that they are in our hymnals, often labeled simply as Jesus Christ: His Advent, or His Birth.

Stop and think about it for a second—Before the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg (approx. 1439) and with it, the greater availability of reading material or reading instruction, things like oral traditions, memorization, and yes, hymns provided some of the best ways of conveying Scriptural truths.  It was one of the easiest ways of communicating theology.  Just like we sing ABCs to learn to read, singing could teach us who Jesus is before we could ever hold a Bible in our hands.

The first group of hymns we will look at beginning tomorrow are usually included in a section of a hymnal entitled Advent but they all proclaim an anticipation of His glorious birth.  On the first day of Advent, we will explore O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) will begin November 30th.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.

===note:  You will find all the Carol Me, Christmas items archived beginning in November 2014.

Acts 4:1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

5 The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family.  7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them:

By what power or what name did you do this?”

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Could this be the same Peter?

The same Annas? The same Caiaphas?

The same “other disciple” John?

John 18:12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people. 15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in. 17 “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.” 18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. 19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.” 22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded. 23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest. 25 As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.” 26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the olive grove?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

That rooster crowing was the low point of Peter’s life.

But the grace of God, the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit change people.

This is the very same Peter who’d denied Christ three times and yet, once restored in love, redeemed by his Savior, and filled with the Spirit of God, Peter boldly says what the religious leaders didn’t want to hear.  What he should have said the last time.  Having been forgiven, Peter would never be the same again.

For some of us, preaching the Good News burns in our bones.  We can’t help ourselves.  We know what it’s like to be hopeless in sin.  We know what it’s like to experience both grace and forgiveness.  And so we can’t shut up about it.

When we truly appreciate what it means to be forgiven such a mountain of debt we have no ability to pay, we will know that this Good News is so good that we will want to share it.

Questions for pondering:

1.  Can you relate more to Peter before his reinstatement by Jesus or the Peter who boldly goes where Jesus leads him?  John 21:15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
2. How does Peter deflect all the glory from himself in the Acts 4:1-12 passage?   To whom does he give the credit?
3. Why might Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family have asked “By what power or what name did you do this?”  If they had been listening to Peter and John’s teachings, do you think they probably already knew the answer?  Why then did they ask?
4. In Acts 3, a crippled beggar is healed.  How does this healing form a turning point for people to believe and other people to get angry at the Gospel?  How is faith the hinge, the dividing point, on which the message turns?

Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) will begin November 30th.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.

This particular series of devotions will end December 7th as I return to the pulpit and post sermons again now that my new grandson is happily situated at home with his parents.  We’re praising God for His grace and mercy… and also thank you for understanding this important life event for me personally.  But it’s been important to continue our study of Acts of the Holy Spirit and the Apostles. In the flow of Acts, Peter is in midst of giving a sermon about the Messianic expectations.

Acts 3:22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’ 24 “Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Genealogy will only take people so far.  Good behavior will only take people so far.  We can find all kinds of things to rely upon to save us.  None of them are sufficient to be our Messiah.

But the Jews are the Chosen People, right?  Heirs of the promise, right?

Well, the Chosen People weren’t chosen because they were better, but only because God chose to choose them.

Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

The Messiah, Jesus Christ, was to come from the Chosen People.  Mary, a devout Jew, bore the Messiah.  But entrance into heaven is a function of grace, forgiveness, and faith.  Being heirs makes no difference unless we claim that inheritance.

That’s why in verse 26, Peter says,

Acts 3:26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Jesus was sent first to the Jews in accordance with their Chosen status.  What was Jesus’ message?

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 

Repentance is our first step along the path to receiving the inheritance.  Everything else was done for us already.  Jesus paid for our sins and now all we can do is repent and believe.

Matthew 4:13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali– 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles– 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

It is through God’s grace that we are chosen.  It is by His Son Jesus that we can be forgiven. It is by the gift of faith and the response of repentance that we turn from our wicked ways, whether Chosen as Jews or Chosen as Gentiles.  Any of us who wish to claim the inheritance will turn from our wicked ways recognizing that we are all Chosen by Grace.

Questions for pondering:

1. In our Acts passage, why do you think God sent Jesus to the Jews first?
2. When Scripture (above) says that these Jews ARE heirs of the prophets and of the Covenant, what does that say about Jews today?  Are they still heirs of the prophets and the Covenant?  What must they do to claim this inheritance?
3. Is there a difference between how the Jews are saved and how the rest of us are saved?  (I’ll give you the answer on this one: NO).
4. Why can there not be many roads to salvation?  Why must all of us come through the Savior, Jesus Christ?

Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) will begin November 30th.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.

What do we do with what we know?  For Peter’s hearers in Acts 3, there was but one solution.  Peter says,

Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you– even Jesus. 21 He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

This time of restoration is the Advent which the Jews have eagerly anticipated: the one of refreshing, vindication, and judgment.  Christians know this as the Second Advent, the Return of Christ.

The Jews have not been wrong to see that the ultimate coming of the Messianic King will be with a King who does not die.  The fault can be found with not seeing—even after the explanation—that sin had to be wiped out in order for the restoration to happen.

Here’s the key though: we cannot wipe out sin on our own. 

We need God to eradicate our sin’s consequences.  We need Him to pay for the wrath we deserved.

That’s why Jesus had to come first as Perfect Sacrifice (Advent 1) before He could be pronounced by God as Lord and Savior (Ascension).  

Interestingly, though, He’s been Lord and King through it all.

Repentance, our turning away from one direction (sin) and turning toward God, is necessary for the refreshing to occur.  Jesus made that refreshing a reality in principle and turned sacrifice into Savior, just as God promised in the Scriptures.  Whether that refreshing will apply to us depends entirely on what we do with the first Advent.

Questions for pondering:

1. Why did I say that that refreshing is a “reality in principle” and not just say it was a reality?  What distinguishes grace from universalism?
2. What distinguishes what Jesus did on the Cross from what He does in our hearts?  How do we get forgiveness applied to us?
3. Do you long for refreshing, for restoration, and for forgiveness?  What did Peter say is the answer to all that?
4. Advent, which begins November 30^th this year, offers a time—much as Lent does—for preparing our hearts to receive Him and to take His mission of salvation seriously.  What might be some activities you can do to make Advent meaningful and not just a season of holiday shopping?

Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) will begin November 30th.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.

But Jesus doesn’t look like the Messiah the Jews have been expecting!

In Acts 3, Peter’s sermon continues with an explanation for his Jewish hearers.  First, he quickly summarizes the Gospel message and then he explains why Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, just not the way they were expecting.

The Jews of Jesus’ day were expecting a Messiah who was a conquering King.  All of their prophecy pointed to this fact.  What they failed to see is that they wouldn’t want a Messiah who conquers kingdoms and vindicates the holy, righteous, and chosen ones as a once-and-done deal.

A once-and-done Eternal Judge isn’t what the Jews or any of us want.  Why?  Because none of the Jews were holy.  None of them would be suitable for the eternal kingdom.  None of us are.  We need first to be made holy.

This is such an important point and a reason for Christians to continue to treat our Jewish brothers and sisters the way Peter, a Jew, did.   Peter had an advantage: he was a Jew himself.  Therefore it was easier for him to understand the Jewish perspective.  It had been his own story.  It’s why he could honestly say,

Acts 3:17 “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.

You see, it isn’t a matter of smart enough or clever enough.  They cannot be faulted for “not getting it” before it was explained.  With only a lens that showed a conquering King (see diagram below), they cannot be faulted for the eventual understanding that Messiahs don’t die.  It’s what Christians expect of the Return of Christ!  He won’t die.  Been there.  Done that.

Therefore, to the Jews who conflated both the first and final Advents, death was the ultimate disqualifier.  The Jews had all their prophecies looking toward the very last moment of eternal vindication and a conquering King, not a Messiah who dies.  With a view of only a final lens, they are absolutely correct: the Messiah will not die.

Why did Jesus die then?

Peter offers this wise corrective explaining the Crucifixion’s veracity and necessity as only a man who encountered Jesus could.

Acts 3:18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.

The suffering servant predicted in Isaiah is not just Israel.

The Suffering Servant is the Messiah.

Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. 3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” 4 But I said, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” 5 And now the LORD says– he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength– 6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” 7 This is what the LORD says– the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel– to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”8 This is what the LORD says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, 9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. 11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up.

All of us, both Jew and non-Jew, have been held captive to sin and death. 

This is the real enemy of Jews and non-Jews! 

Jesus came and conquered that by entering onto death’s battlefield and He defeated death by doing it and by being resurrected from it.  Because of the Cross and the empty tomb, we can all be free to know the day of salvation as fulfilled and foretold.

Questions for pondering:

1. What is the root of anti-Semitism among a distinct minority of Christians?  Why do they do this when Jesus was Jewish?  Most Christians are the Jews’ best friends.
2. What is the root of anti-Semitism among Muslims?  How is it different?
3. How has a politicization of the nation state of Israel in the minds of many Westerners undermined our compassion for Jesus’ brothers and sisters in a Jewish sense?
4. If Jesus had not come to deal with sin by dying during His first Advent, where would we all be?  Would we still be sinners without salvation?
5. The world and all our sinfulness crucified the Messiah.  How might this acknowledgement serve to communicate compassion for Jews instead of blame?
6. Nationalistic/Religious pride stands between people and their God.  How does love break down that barrier?
7. How might pointing to the entry to the Promised Land by faithful Jews (while those who failed to trust God died in the desert though they too were Jews by heritage) serve as a parallel to show that salvation is all about faith in God and trusting His means of entry?

Psalm 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; 7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.” 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest.”  

Hebrews 3:15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. 4:1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

For those of you who would like more information on this subject, please feel free to contact me at seminarygal@gmail.com or read this article I posted in 2011, Top Ten Things I Wish Every Jew Knew.

Finally, as a reminder, Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) will begin November 30th.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.

Acts 3:12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

Remember how we said that Peter and John went to the temple, not only to pray, but also to do evangelistic ministry?  After the healing of the crippled man, people came running to see what had happened.  It was a 1^st century gaper’s delay.  Everyone wanted a look to see what had happened.

By the time the crowd had formed, Peter was ready with a sermon.  He deflects any credit for this man’s healing and says that really, it’s all about Jesus!

One of the ways you can tell that something is a work of God is that it points to Christ.

Peter gives a short summary of the Gospel message: Jesus was the foretold Messiah; He was crucified; He’s the Son of God who was killed; but God raised Him to life.  And we are all witnesses.

Then he closes his message by saying that it’s all about Jesus.

Acts 3:16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

Questions for pondering:

1.  How often are we tempted to make everything all about us?
2. There’s an airline with the slogan right now, “It’s All about You.”  What does this appeal to in a human being?  Does this glorify God or is it encouraging thoughts and actions that do not bring glory to God?  Who receives all the attention and glory in such a slogan?
3. If you had the opportunity, how well would you be able to summarize the Gospel message?  What is the likelihood that you would share the Gospel with a crowd of people?

As a reminder, Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) will begin November 30th.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.

Acts 3:9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade.

Changed lives make great testimonies.

Each of us becomes changed when we encounter Jesus for salvation and He gives us new life.  In each and every case, the inward change ought to be manifested outwardly.

Questions for pondering:

1.  When is the last time you were filled with wonder and amazed at something that happened to you?
2. What changes have happened in your life?  Do you still see these changes?  Do other people see changes in your life?
3. The Fruit of the Spirit describe some of the growth areas when a person becomes a follower of Jesus Christ.  Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” If this is your measuring tool, are you finding yourself growing or stagnant?
4. If you’re at a standstill, what do these Scriptures say about how to grow or resume growing?  2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  Philippians 4:9 “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me– put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”  Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

As a reminder, Carol Me, Christmas (2014 Advent Devotional Series) will begin November 30th.  If you haven’t signed up yet, you can receive these devotional studies in your email throughout Advent 2014 by entering your email address on the SeminaryGal.com home page in the space provided in the sidebar.  Or “Like” the SeminaryGal Facebook page to access them there.