Jesus

The Holy Spirit places Jesus at the centre

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At Pentecost, Peter picks up his listeners by explaining what has happened (Acts 2:14-21).

It is important for him to say that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This Lord is Jesus, as he points out in verse 36.

Calling on Jesus in prayer is the hallmark of Christians (Acts 9:20-21). In Joel 3:5 quoted by Peter, Lord means God YHWH. Jesus is therefore God and Messiah. Today he sits at the right hand of God and through him we receive God’s Holy Spirit.

Even for David, Jesus is his Lord (verses 34-35). In the midst of our failures, we can turn to Jesus because the heavenly father has made him Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36).

Israel

Al-Aqsa Flood and the red heifer

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Update about the rumors 2024: There is no ceremony on April 22nd, which is Passover Eve, when Jews will all concentrate on the Passover lamb, not on a burned red cow. There is no altar anywhere in Jerusalem. There is no prophecy of a red heifer whatsoever.

The “Al-Aqsa Flood” is what Hamas named the October 7th invasion and massacre. This is not a new thing. The attempt to create a pan Islamic unity in the fight to eliminate Israel is leading them always to talk about the Temple Mount. “Al-Aqsa is in danger” (Arabic: الأقصى في خطر) is a popular political slogan used to oppose efforts by Jewish hardliners to take over the Temple Mount. The annual “Al-Aqsa in Danger Festival” was in some years (1996-2015) the most-attended Islamic festival in Israel.

The rise in numbers of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount to over 50,000 in the past couple of years made Islamic fanatics worry and get angry.

However, the red heifer wasn’t specified as the reason for the October attack when it was announced on that horrific Saturday morning. What has been mentioned was the constant “invasion” of Jews to the Al Aqsa holy site.

It wasn’t until 100 days into the war that Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubeidah mentioned the words “red cows” in his speech. Why? Continue reading Al-Aqsa Flood and the red heifer →

Bible

The synod

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The shock must first be dealt with (Acts 1:12-26), that someone who had even been entrusted with money was a traitor. The first Christians withdrew, reconciled themselves with history and had to find a new way of working together.

The name Judas Iscariot could indicate that he was associated with the particularly radical movement of the Sicarii (Dagger Men). This was a subgroup of the Zealots. They Continue reading The synod →

Uncategorized

Living with the vision of the coming kingdom

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Jesus goes to the heavenly Father (Acts 1:9-11) and thus clears the way for the direct work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). The heavenly Father determines the time of his return (Acts 1:7).

With his ascension, Jesus has completed his first mission on earth. He has gone in the flesh to a real, otherworldly place. He promised to prepare dwellings there for his followers (John 14:2). Jesus has not vanished into a spirit world, but is seated at the right hand of the heavenly Father (Acts 7:56).

The two angels make it clear to the disciples that they should not dwell on the past, but live with the vision of the coming reign of God (Acts 1:11).

Bible, Jesus

You will be my martyrs

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The disciples want to know whether Jesus will now make Israel into a great and mighty kingdom (Acts 1:6).

Jesus replies that there is a time for everything. He does not deny an earthly kingdom, but first comes a time of waiting, then of witnessing in all the world and then the visible return of Jesus to this earth.

His reign begins in the place where people have decided against him (Jerusalem), then continues into the surrounding area (Judea), to the despised Samaritans and to the end of the world. Continue reading You will be my martyrs →

Bible

The Sadducees’ expectation of the Messiah

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The Sadducees were the liberals.

They rejected everything supernatural. God is a nice thought, but it has nothing directly to do with life. Religion is a beautiful tradition that needs to be preserved. But it all ends with death.

We find an indication of this in Acts 23:8, where it says: “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.”

Josephus, a Jewish historian, writes in “Antiquities” (ant. XVIII 1,4): “The doctrine of the Sadducees allows the soul to perish with the body and recognises no other regulations than the law” (Five Books of Moses).

In the dispute with the Sadducees, Jesus said in Matthew 22:31-32: “As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

It is a hint from Jesus that not everything ends with death.

Bible

The key to eternal life

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The story of the Good Samaritan is not about caring for the sick, but about stopping my busy life for someone I meet who needs my help.

Jesus is asked what the key to eternal life is. The answer is: love of God and love of neighbour. This simple sentence sums up the Old Testament.

But the questioner immediately tries to talk his way out of it by asking who his neighbour is. Jesus responds with a story (Luke 10:25-37).

My neighbour is not a person of my choice. I do not have to seek and fulfil a specific task.

I become a neighbour by changing my behaviour towards the people I meet.

Bible

We fulfil God’s mandate together

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As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word (John 17:18.20).

We cannot fulfil God’s mandate alone, but only together. Not only because the task is too great, but because we can only be a reflection of God together. God lives in perfect unity.

This means that we support, encourage and strengthen each other – even those who have received a completely different task from God than we have. Continue reading We fulfil God’s mandate together →

Bible

God invites us to comprehensive freedom

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“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1-2).

Jesus reads these words in the synagogue in Capernaum and connects their fulfilment with his person. “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).

In Jesus, God gets to the root of the problem. His death and resurrection change our thinking, our values and our attitudes. The goal is salvation and healing, freedom and well-being for the wretched, the entangled and all those with a broken heart. Continue reading God invites us to comprehensive freedom →

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