All posts by Hanspeter

Bible

Called by the Holy Spirit

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Suddenly, the Holy Spirit (and not the church) called Saul and Barnabas to a new ministry. They went to the homeland of Barnabas in Cyprus.

In the Roman provincial capital, they were warmly welcomed by the governor Sergius Paulus. Cyprus thus became the first country in the world to be ruled by a Christian.

Elymas, the governor’s counsellor, shows how Satan wants to divert people from the path of faith. As a deceiver and enemy of all righteousness, he perverts the straight path of God (Acts 13:10). The movement of Jesus’ disciples was called “the way” at that time (Acts 9:2; 24:14).

Elymas earns what he is spreading: Darkness. Paul performs the first miracle. Now the name change takes place (verse 12). In resistance Saul becomes Paul – in resistance we are formed. Paul does not become proud, but small. Saul means the one who is prayed for. Paul means the little one.

more from Acts: https://jesus-news-israel.net/tag/acts/

 

Bible, Jesus

The wise men from the East

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January 6th is Epiphany. The day is also known as Theophany. This day is the second oldest Christian holiday after Easter. Before the calendar reform, it marked the beginning of the year.

Today, the revelation of Jesus’ divinity is celebrated on this day. Depending on the region and church, this day commemorates the birth of Jesus with the worship of the Jewish shepherds, the adoration of the wise men, the baptism of Jesus or the first miracle at the wedding in Cana.

We remember the story from Matthew 2:1-12.

There it is not written that the men were kings. The number is also unclear.

It is striking that only the astrologers knew about this star, but not the people in Jerusalem. Therefore, it cannot have been a comet.

If Jesus was born in 7 BC according to the meeting of the planet Jupiter and Saturn, Herod had the opportunity to meet the wise men and try to kill the child before his death in 4 BC.

The three gifts ensure the family’s survival as they flee to the Jewish diaspora in Egypt.

God knows what we need and when. Help came out of nowhere at just the right time.

God’s timetable is not always comprehensible to us. He does not protect us from difficulties, but he helps us through them. God’s timing and his help are what make up the Christian faith.

Bible

The shepherds

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Why does the angel announce the good news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds first?

In Luke 1:32, the angel says to Mary: ‘The Lord God will give him (Jesus) the throne of his father David’.

David was a shepherd in Bethlehem around 1000 B.C. In his insignificant task, his trust in God grew. David described the good shepherd in Psalm 23. Jesus said in John 10:11: ‘I am the good shepherd.’

The shepherds of Bethlehem mainly reared sheep for the sacrificial service in Jerusalem. They therefore had to make sure that the sheep were spotless. Now the experts come and discover the true Lamb of God.

The shepherds are the first witnesses that God’s word can be relied upon. It is worth listening to God, even if some things seem illogical at first glance. By addressing the shepherds, God shows that his salvation is for all people.

Sometimes we think that God should speak through people who are better suited for this. But God loves the testimony of ordinary people.  The many small miracles are often more appealing than lofty theological thoughts.

Bible

God chooses the afflicted

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In Luke 1, verses 28-30, the angel Gabriel says to Mary: ‘Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you! … Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.’

In Mary’s language it was probably: ‘Shalom (peace to you). God has chosen you. The Lord is with you. … Do not be afraid, you afflicted one. God is merciful to you.’

Mary first receives a promise from God. Her name is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Miriam, which means ‘bitterness’ or ‘affliction’.

As she has to register on the tax list in Bethlehem and had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem despite her pregnancy, she could have been an heiress daughter (Genesis 36:8). This means that Mary would have had no brothers and would have been the owner of a family property. Perhaps the parents gave their daughter the name Bitterness because the son they had hoped for, did not come.

It is precisely with a young woman who grows up in difficulties that God wants to write history. The message is: however difficult your life may be, God looks at your heart, not your circumstances (1 Samuel 16:7).

Bible

God works through people who are at the end of their rope

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In Luke 1:20, the angel Gabriel says to the Jewish priest Zechariah: ‘You will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things (the birth of your son) take place, because you did not believe my words’.

Decades of praying and hoping (verse 13) make Zechariah a realist. He knows that they are too old for a child. The angel’s words are surreal for him and come far too late. Like Sarah, Abraham’s wife, he considers it impossible to have a child. But that is precisely the point. John is a miracle of God. Miracles happen where our possibilities are at an end.

Zechariah becomes silent. This reminds us of the prophet Ezekiel, who also became silent so that his prophetic message would be all the stronger (Ezekiel 3:26-27). God can make something out of everything for his glory (Romans 8:28).

John’s birth at an impossible age is reminiscent of the promise to Abraham: ‘In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ (Genesis 12:3). This is now fulfilled in the birth of the Messiah Jesus, whose forerunner John will be.

God acts illogically. He takes the failed and outcast (Luke 1:25) so that his power becomes all the more visible. Thus God says to Paul: ‘My power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9).

That gives us hope. It is precisely through my inability that God receives his opportunities. During the nine-month retreat, Zechariah finds his prophetic praise (Luke 1:68-79). Storms cause trees to take deeper root.

Bible

Christmas begins with an angel

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Who are these mysterious beings?

Angels are messengers from heaven. They are often invisible. In 2 Kings 6:17, Elisha asks God to open his servant’s eyes so that he can see the heavenly hosts around them. 

In the spiritual world, there is a battle between the angels and the angels who have fallen away from God. This is what we read in Revelation 12:7 and in the book of Daniel chapter 10.

Angels always open a new chapter in the history of God’s salvation.  God sends the Saviour to earth.

Even today, God speaks through the Bible, through people and through angels. Angels are fellow servants. This means that we do not focus on the angels, but on God. We talk to God and he commissions the angels. An angel will only do what God says.

It is exciting to think that God also wants to use us as his messengers (angels) by encouraging others, building them up and pointing them to God.

Perhaps sometimes an angel has to step in because there is no human messenger available at the crucial moment.

Bible, Jesus

Advent impulses

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The story of Jesus begins with an angel. An angel meets the Jewish priest Zechariah. Then he meets Mary and in a dream an angel meets Joseph.

There are many coded statements in the angels’ messages.

When the angel announced to Mary that she would have a child as a virgin, the angel assumed biblical knowledge. Mary is not a naive young woman; she knows the meaning of the individual words.

When Sarah, Abraham’s wife, gave birth to a child at the age of 90, God, like the angel to Mary, literally said: ‘No word that comes from God will be without power’ (Genesis 18:14).

It is a reference to the amazing story in Genesis 18, when God appeared to Abraham in human form. There we are told a radical depiction of God’s incarnation: He eats the food that Abraham prepared. This is therefore not a spiritual appearance, but a tangible human being.

If God could become man back then, then he can also limit himself and come into this world in a child. In Jesus, God reveals himself to us in a tangible way.

Bible

The meaning of fasting

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The Advent fasting period originally lasted 40 days and ended on Christmas Day (25 December).

The fasting that Jesus spoke of is not centred on renunciation. Rather, fasting means letting go of something in order to spend time with God.

Fasting is not a hunger strike. Rather, fasting is a declaration of love to God. It is a way of saying: You are more important to me than eating and drinking.

When we fast, it is not the people around us who should notice, but the heavenly Father (according to Matthew 6:18).

More of sermon on the mount

Bible

It’s all a question of motives

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It’s all a question of motives

In Matthew 6:1-6, Jesus shows that it is possible to do the right thing even with the wrong motives.

The point is that we do not act and believe because of expectations or threats, but because we are fascinated by God’s love and mercy (cf. 1 John 4:18-19).

There is extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The question is: Do I want to do something, or do I HAVE to do something?

With an intrinsic desire, I am fascinated by something, I want to deepen something, have new experiences, create something. I do things without somebody needs to motivate me to do them. I also do them without being seen. For example: I talk to God because I want to spend time with him.

Jesus says: ‘Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.’

Therefore, we don’t act in order to be loved, but we act because we have experienced God’s love. That is why the right does not need to know what the left is doing (6:3). We don’t have to count up.

More of sermon on the mount

 

Bible, Jesus

Love of enemies – God’s trademark

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Jesus describes love for those who are hostile towards me as the hallmark of the heavenly Father (Matthew 5:43-48). We should allow ourselves to be motivated by this love of God.

Someone is an enemy to me, not because I have something against them, but because they are against me for some reason.

Treat all people equally and give even those who are hostile to you a chance to repent.

The heavenly Father, who lets the sun shine on all people and also gives everyone the rain, is a role model.

God wants to reconcile all people with Himself. That is why no hatred should emanate from people who live with God. We wish all people peace with God. And that is why we treat all people equally.

Loving our enemies means treating them with respect and not closing the door to reconciliation. David exemplified this very impressively in his relationship with Saul.