Category: Trinitarian Commentary

We’re going through the New Testament and looking for Trinitarian emphases. Right now, we’re in Luke looking mainly at the understanding Jesus has of himself or the way his contemporaries saw him. We’ve been skipping many parts that have been covered in Matthew or Mark and we’re going to be making some huge skips this time as many parables exist to show the character of the Father, which it is important to point out that Jesus has the same nature. Tonight, we’re going to be seeing some of that nature with Jesus’s encounter with Zacchaeus. The text is in Luke 19.

 ¹Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ²A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. ⁵When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” ⁶So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

 ⁷All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’ ”

 ⁸But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

 ⁹Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

To set the scene, in the mindset of the Jews at the time, tax collectors were the lowest of the low. They were the ones that were despised by all the people and were seen as completely wicked. (Okay. Some things haven’t changed in 2,000 years.)

It was more than the taking of money though. In the case of Jewish tax collectors, they were seen as allying themselves with the evil empire of Rome. Not only that, when they collected taxes, they would often up the charge a bit just so they could line their pockets.

One interesting aspect of this is that Jesus had disciples that would be considered zealots and eager to overthrow the establishment of Rome, yet at the same time, he had the tax collector Matthew. There was definitely more tension among the disciples than we see presented in the gospels.

In this case, the tax collector is a man named Zacchaeus who was wealthy, which shouldn’t be too much of a shock. He wishes to see who Jesus was, but is short, so he runs ahead of the crowd and climbs a tree just so he can catch a glimpse of Jesus.

It’s always amazing the sinners loved to see Jesus but the righteous didn’t.

If the church is to be the body of Christ on Earth, shouldn’t sinners love just as much to see us and the holier-than-thous want nothing to do with us?

Jesus has the real surprise though. He tells Zacchaeus to come down for Jesus must stay at his house today. Zacchaeus does not hesitate to come to Jesus. (Do sinners today hesitate to come to the church?) Now we have the good and holy crowd around Jesus talking amongst themselves. “He’s gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 

No parallels to this today of course. 

Zacchaeus is immediately repentant. He says that he gives half of his possessions to the poor and if he has cheated anyone out of anything, he will pay back four times the amount. This being said in a crowd, we can be sure that he would be held to it to maintain his honor in this society.

Jesus points out then that he came to seek and to save that which was lost.

He came…..

When we read the New Testament, we can often overlook passages that do point to the definite pre-existence of Jesus. He came willingly into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus lived knowing he was on a mission and that mission in part was to seek and to save that which was lost. (I say in part for in other places in other gospels, he gives other reasons.)

And of course, Jesus’s mission is tied into his identity which is what this is all about.

As we go through the gospels, let us keep this point in mind. Christ came into this world for a purpose.

We’ve been going through the New Testament trying to come to a deeper understanding of the Trinity with an emphasis on Christ and how his contemporaries saw him. We’re in the gospel of Luke and we’re going to be in the seventh chapter tonight. 

 ³⁶Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, ³⁸and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. ³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

 ⁴⁰Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” 
      “Tell me, teacher,” he said.

 ⁴¹“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.⁴²Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

 ⁴³Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” 
      “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

 ⁴⁴Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

 ⁴⁸Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

 ⁴⁹The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

 ⁵⁰Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This is an account of Jesus being in the house of Simon, who would be the creme de la creme. He would be the best of the best. If anyone in Israel wanted to know how to live a righteous life, they would probably be knocking on Simon’s door.

In to this event comes a sinful woman.  She starts wiping Jesus’s feet with her tears. In that culture, Jesus would have been reclining on a couch and this would have been something in the open that everyone could see. It was also common for people to come in to other people’s houses on occasions like this. 

Simon is disgusted and thinking “He doesn’t know this lady is a sinner!” Maybe there were some ladies it would have been seen as decent to have wash feet with hair, but not this one. Jesus knows what Simon is thinking and tells the great parable.

The point is clear. This lady recognizes who she is and sees herself as a sinner. Simon doesn’t and doesn’t think he owes the Lord that much. Even if he thought Jesus could forgive, he doesn’t think that he has that much to be forgiven of. 

Which is usually a sure sign you have plenty you need to be forgiven of. 

Instead, Jesus honors the lady and shames Simon. This would have been a huge contrast in Jesus’s time. Simon is not the righteous one. The lady is. Simon receives no pronouncement of forgiveness. The lady does. Jesus shames his host telling him that he hadn’t provided the way this lady had. This lady was a guest and had stooped to the lowest position to provide for Christ. 

The guests in the end ask “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

Who indeed?

We’re going through the New Testament and looking to see how many clues we find of the Trinity therein. Right now, we’re in the gospel of Luke. Tonight, our text will come from the fourth chapter.

¹⁴Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. ¹⁶He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 
 ¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, 
      because he has anointed me 
      to preach good news to the poor. 
   He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners 
      and recovery of sight for the blind, 
   to release the oppressed, 
    ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

 ²⁰Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

 ²²All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

 ²³Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ”

 ²⁴“I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁵I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. ²⁶Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. ²⁷And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

 ²⁸All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.²⁹They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. ³⁰But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

This is a most interesting passage and I would like to point out some facets of it.

First, if this account is accurate, and Luke is quite accurate, then we have a response to the idea that Jesus went to India or anywhere else and picked up tricks that he returned back to Israel with. Verse 16 tells us that he went to Nazareth where he had been brought up. Personally, the idea of sending a boy to travel across the countries and then just pop up again in town and no one says a word never really struck me as coherent anyway.

Second, Jesus is teaching which was common in those days as a visitor would be the one mainly who would teach. (You can imagine church attendance dropping today if that happened.) This is how Paul and Barnabas got audiences so often in synagogues. 

Yet can we consider for a moment what has happened in this text? Jesus has quoted a text announcing a ministry of healing and of release from oppression. To a society under Roman Law, this would be something looked forward to. What does he say in response? “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Again, I do not think the words of Christ shock us enough when we read them. Imagine hearing this boy you’d seen grow up in your town suddenly come to your church, read a passage of Scripture and say “By the way, now that you’ve seen me preach, this passage of Scripture has been fulfilled.”

Do we realize how dynamic Jesus was?

And yet, he hardly makes friends. While he is preaching good news and has done many miracles, he practically refuses to do so in his hometown due to the unbelief of the people and instead speaks of the great prophets of the past and who were they sent to? Not the people of Israel. They were sent to Gentiles.

Definitely enough to tick a first century Jew off.

So much so they wanted to kill Jesus.

Now does this mean that Jesus is deity? No. It means he has a high view of himself however and we dare not think of him in a way any lower than he thought of himself. I don’t believe even the Arian would wish to say Jesus was wrong about anything. What about our views of Jesus? Are we stunned by him? Have we made him lower than he made himself?

A reader named Mikael left a comment about what about cases where Son of God is simply taken to be the Messiah? Now there could be cases where this happens, but as I had said in the earlier blog, the context determines the meaning. Thus, let’s see if there are passages that can indicate that more is being said than that Jesus is simply the Messiah.

Now I do believe there were several beliefs that would see the Messiah as divine in some sense, but one thing is worth pointing out. Because you claimed to be the Messiah, it did not mean that you were guilty of blasphemy. Most would-be messiahs did not even make that claim. They just built up armies and then came to nothing.

Yet we never see this with Jesus. Jesus never raised up an army, although it could be some thought that he was going to. When the triumphant entry takes place, Jesus does not enter Jerusalem riding on a horse. Instead, he enters riding on a donkey. The horse would be the method of transportation of a conquering general. Jesus doesn’t go that route. Instead, he does make a messianic claim that comes from Zechariah 9, but he is not coming as if he’s a warrior.

Most revealing I believe are texts such as the one we covered earlier in Mattew 26.

⁶²The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”

 ⁶³But Jesus kept silent And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

 ⁶⁴Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

What would it meant had Jesus claimed to be the Messiah? He could have been sentenced for insurrection maybe. He could have just been seen as crazy. He would not have been seen as one who was guilty of blasphemy. Yet let us look at how the high priest responded.

⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy;

 ⁶⁶what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!”

 ⁶⁷Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him,

 ⁶⁸and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?”

He is seen as worthy of death for the claim of who he is and then told to prophesy and say who hit him. In other words, Jesus should have known this since he was the Son of God. This is a case where Son of God definitely means more than just Messiah.

Notice also this passage later in John 10 which we will cover more when we get there:

³⁵“If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),

 ³⁶do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

Note again the claim between blasphemy and claiming to be the Son of God. In fact, in that passage, he had not claimed to be the Son of God but had said “I and the Father are one.” (I urge the reader to see the whole passage.)

My conclusion then is that the context again determines the meaning. When asked, have the person go to the passage where they think this is referenced and then go to passages where you don’t think that will fly, like the ones I’ve just shown.

Greetings friends. The blog is going up early as I have other duties that I need to attend to tonight. For those who are just joining us, we’ve been going through the Bible and right now, we’re in the gospel of Luke, studying the Trinity and seeing what we can find out about the doctrine from Scripture. Tonight, we’re going to be in Luke 4 and looking at his temptation narrative.

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

 ³The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

 ⁴Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’ ”

 ⁵The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

 ⁸Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ ”

 ⁹The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰For it is written:
   ” ‘He will command his angels concerning you
      to guard you carefully;
 ¹¹they will lift you up in their hands,
      so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

 ¹²Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

 ¹³When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Notice that each of these temptations relied on Jesus’s identity as the Son of God. The whole theme of this is who Jesus is. Will Satan be able to tempt him based on his identity? Let’s look at each of the temptations in the order Luke presents them.

The first is to turn stones to bread. At first, this might seem harmless. If you’re hungry, why not make food? What’s the problem?

The problem is that Jesus would have been using the divine prerogatives for his own advantage and not for the good of the mission. It would have been saying he did not trust God to supply for his needs. Ultimately, it would have been utilitarianism. The result will be good, so why not?

Instead, Jesus while being fully God does not choose to use his divine prerogatives for his own advantage. Note this about the incarnation. Jesus plays by the rules of the game. If he used his divine attributes, he did so purely for the glory of God.

The second temptation is one many of us would be tempted with. Bow down and you can have everything. Jesus already had all of this even before he left his throne in Heaven. This could be seen as a call back to the past. Again, Jesus refuses saying that he will simply worship God.

The last was probably the greatest temptation for Christ and that was to jump down from the temple and show himself to be God. I say this was probably the greatest because the prayer that Jesus prayed in the garden was if there was some way to avoid the cross. When Jesus rebukes Peter, he does it for saying that he should avoid the cross.

Yet Jesus could have shown himself to be the Messiah easily by such a great act and had a following and avoided the cross.

He just wouldn’t have atoned for the sins of the world.

Jesus answers saying not to put God to the test. He must trust God in the method that he has instituted to bring about salvation.

In all of these, Jesus is still the Son of God. It is by not doing these things that he showed the nature of holiness.

May we remember this for the temptations in our own lives. Simple trust in God and reliance on his Scriptures is a great way to resist temptation.

We’re going to spend some time covering a broader issue tonight in going through the New Testament and looking for Trinitarian ideas. What exactly does it mean to say that Jesus is the Son of God? The reason for this comes from the genealogy found in Luke 3.

the son of Enosh, 
      the son of Seth, the son of Adam, 
      the son of God.

Now I believe in a way, this could refer to Adam as he was a direct creation of God and had no natural father, but in the greater sense, it refers to the second Adam, who is of course, Christ. He is a Son not by grace or by creation but by nature.

Ultimately, the context will determine the meaning as is the case in many other words that can have dual meaning. “The ruler fell down.” Am I talking about a measuring device or am I talking about Queen Elizabeth? You won’t know without more context. Let’s consider some ways it’s used. The first from Job 1.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

In this case, it refers to angelic beings. It speaks of the heavenly court where angels would be and this time, Satan is among them. While I believe Satan is of an angelic nature, could it be he is not included technically due to his fallen nature? Note that Job 38:7 speaks of the sons of God also as witnesses of creation. 

Another case is Genesis 6:

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Looking at the context, I believe that the sons of God refer to the godly line of Seth in this case as I do not believe that spirit beings are capable of pro-creation with human beings. Again, the context determines the meaning. 

Note also the Luke 20 passage:

for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

This is an idea we see in the Pauline epistles. (And note in this case the sons of God are differentiated from the angels.) 

Romans 8:14

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Galatians 3:26

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Meanwhile, Luke 1:35 tells us that Jesus will be called the Son of God and that certainly means more than just an angel or a good man. This was the whole identity dealt with during the temptation of Christ. “If you are the Son of God.” As we saw in Matthew 26 when Jesus was on trial, that was the question he was asked. “Are you the Son of the blessed one?”

So what does it mean?

It doesn’t mean angel for Jesus. It doesn’t mean simply a good man who is a Christian by adoption. It refers to what he is by nature and what he is eternally. God has always been Father. He did not become Father at one point. He is eternally Father because there is eternally a Son. As we get into the Johannine epistles, we will see this more. To deny the eternal Sonship of the Son is to deny the Fatherhood of the Father. That gets us to a God who is temporal and changing. (I am aware of the Open Theist movement and I definitely do not agree with it.)

When we say Jesus is the Son of God, we refer to his unique relationship with God by nature. He is the one who is in the bosom of the Father as we will see in John’s gospel. He bears the nature of God by nature.

I know that’s a lot to unpack. It won’t be this post. You’ll have to wait for later posts, especially the epistles.

We’re going through the New Testament now and looking for Trinitarian understanding of the text. I’m of high hopes that many of you are seeing signs of the Trinity that you had never seen before and are coming to appreciate just how important this doctrine is. I assure you, we will get to applicational principles, mainly in the epistles.

I would also like to thank Fenixpirit for their kind note on the Law of Undulation in the Screwtape Letters. That is a favorite work of mine of C.S. Lewis and that passage is the first one I think about when I think of that book.

I would also like to ask readers of this blog to be in prayer for my grandmother. She’s the only grandparent I’ve got left and she’s not doing well. I ask that you pray for her and pray for me in whatever happens as I am prone to anxiety.

Our passage today will again be in Luke 2. I find it amazing that there is so much deep theology in a book that would be sent to those who were not even Jews and who the writer himself could be the only Gentile writer in the NT.

 ⁴¹Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.⁴²When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. ⁴³After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” ⁴⁹“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

 ⁵¹Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵²And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

This is the only reference we have in the gospels to Jesus as a boy. Now some people might wonder why more wasn’t said about him in this time period. The answer is that frankly, people didn’t care. It didn’t matter so much how someone got to where they were, but what they did when they got there.

What we get from it is that Jesus understood his identity early on. He was the Son of God. This was not something that happened to him at his baptism, contrary to what Adoptionists would have us think. Jesus knew who he was and was learned in the Scriptures at a young age.

Yet we also see the full humanity. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man at the end. God’s blessing was on him and what would come of that blessing will be apparent as we go through the rest of the book.

We’re going through the New Testament hoping to come to a deeper understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. Right now, we’re in the gospel of Luke. Already, we’ve seen shades of Trinitarianism and we have yet to even get to the ministry of Jesus. Keep in mind that Luke is a gospel that is written specifically for Gentile believers to tell them about Jesus. I’d also like to extend my thanks to a reader named Mike who apparently is appreciating what is being done here at Deeper Waters. I am pleased you enjoy the blog and I hope you’ll be back again soon.

Today, we’re going to be in Luke 2. Here is the relevant portion.

 ⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 
 ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, 
      and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

For those of you who might prefer the audio version, there is a memorable account of it that can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

This takes place right after we hear about the birth of Christ. It is my contention that the shepherds were there the night of the birth of Christ most likely and if not the night, a night very much shortly afterwards. The wise men came later when Jesus was living in a house for those of you who are concerned about supposed contradictions.

I’d also like to point out that the way this passage is translated traditionally is really not the best. It is not mean to be goodwill towards men. The NIV that has been quoted has the idea right. The idea is that there will be peace towards men who are of goodwill. If you’re one of those, the birth of Christ is a good event. If you’re not, then the birth of Christ is your condemnation. One is either on the side of the angels or the side of the demons. There are no fence-sitters.

Let’s notice the title that is given of Jesus here. He is said to be Christ and he is said to be Lord. This message was being proclaimed by angels as well. (Contrary to the Christmas carol, there is no record of them singing) However, let’s note the language used.

The angels do not say “Christ your Lord.”

They say “Christ the Lord.”

Why is that important? This messiah being born is not just one who leads the people. He leads the angels as well. This is the one who is the Lord of the angels. At his birth, he is already Lord and he is already Christ.

I recommend you keep this in mind. As we get further into this study, this will be important. Let’s keep this for now as another reminder of who Jesus is in the minds of the gospel writers.

We’re going through the New Testament and looking for Trinitarian clues to further our understanding of this essential doctrine. Right now, we’re in the gospel of Luke. Last night, we covered the appearance of Gabriel to Mary in Luke 1. We’re going to be continuing that tonight with looking at Mary’s visit to Elizabeth who by a miracle due to her age is pregnant with John the Baptist.

 ³⁹At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

I’d like to focus on an aspect of this I find extremely revealing. Let’s consider the role of Elizabeth. Elizabeth is an elderly Jewish lady and she is married to a priest in the Levitical system. The earlier part of this chapter has this to say about her and her husband. 

 ⁵In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. ⁷But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

So when we consider this, we need to realize the unique event that happens when John the Baptist leaps for joy in the womb of Elizabeth upon the entrance of Mary and how Elizabeth is immediately filled with the Spirit.

One important question to concentrate on is “Who is the mother of Elizabeth?” I would contend that Elizabeth was speaking by the Holy Spirit and knew that YHWH had come and taken an incarnate form to dwell among men, which I have shown in prior posts can be deduced from the Old Testament texts.

A hesitating Christian might wonder what it means to speak of Mary as the mother of God. I’m not Catholic as I’ve said, but I believe even my Catholic brethren would agree with me on this. When we speak of Mary as the mother of God, we do not mean that Mary gave birth to God as if God came into being at that point in time.

Remember that persons give birth to persons. Mary is a person who gave birth to a person who in addition to his humanity happened to have the full nature of God. In that sense, Mary is referred to by that title. Those of us who are Protestants disagree with the high place that Mary is given in Catholic circles, but make no mistake about this friends. The Bible refers to Mary as a blessed woman and we have to admit that. Mary was chosen out of all the women to be the mother of the Messiah. While we believe Catholics tend to overdo her role, let us not make the opposite mistake and downplay her role.

Mary was the chosen vessel to bring the incarnation into the world. What about you? Are you going to be the vessel that reveals the good news that happened starting with Mary to the world?

We’ve been going through the New Testament in trying to understand the Trinity. Recently, we finished the gospel of Mark so now we’re going to start Luke tonight. I’d like us to begin at Luke 1. After all, the first chapter seems like a good place to begin anything. 

 ²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

 ³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

 ³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[c] the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God.”

 ³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

It is a passage like this that emphasizes the need to be familiar with the Old Testament. There are many places in the New Testament where an Old Testament passage is not being discussed, but the ideas in that passage are in the mind of the writer. Most noted is the book of Revelation where it has been said that 2/3 of the text has an allusion to the Old Testament. I can only think of one Scripture quotation right off in the book. Christians who only read the New Testament deprive themselves as you need that rich Old Testament heritage to understand the language that is being used.

Let’s look at a few passages. First will be 2 Samuel 7:

¹² When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. ¹⁵ But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶ Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me ; your throne will be established forever.’ “

Christ is the fulfillment of the promise to David and the emphasis of the Son ruling forever means that this passage had to be in Luke’s mind somewhere. Next is Jeremiah 23:

⁵ “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, 
       “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, 
       a King who will reign wisely 
       and do what is just and right in the land.

 ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved 
       and Israel will live in safety. 
       This is the name by which he will be called: 
       The LORD Our Righteousness.

This was just after the description of a wicked king being deported and none of his descendents sitting on the throne, but God is saying that this won’t be a permanent situation. A great king will come who will reign wisely. The final passage will be Daniel 7:

 ¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

This is one I’d say definitely had to be in Luke’s mind. So what does this tell us?

All of these passages are coming into fulfillment in the time of Christ. The hope the Jews had been waiting for was coming to pass. God was sending the Messiah. There are many Jews today who deny that Jesus is the Messiah, but imagine the joy of those today who do know that he is. Imagine then the joy of a Jew living in the time of the Messiah when he realizes that that moment, the moment his parents had told him and their parents had told them and theirs had told them etc. when God would break into the world and send his Messiah, imagine the joy when he realizes that that moment had come.

Who is the Messiah? The Son of the Most High. We’ll look at the meaning of “Son of God” later on, but this does show the unique nature of this one being born, something we will look at again very soon.