Monsterlizard - Born Again

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)

The first section of these verses about the salt was confusing to me.  I thought it was probably because of the time period, but after reading it will the part about light the salt made more sense. 

In the section about light, Jesus explains:  Light is not something that people try to hide.  When we turn on a light, we don’t try to keep the rays to ourselves (except maybe when I am reading in bed and Heather is asleep).  We share light, even if we don’t realize that we are.  I remember back to junior high school history class when the teacher was talking about the American settlers putting up fences.  The Indians didn’t understand this, and my teacher made the analogy of air.  Taking claim to land was as strange a concept to them as it would be to us if people took claim to air.  So, in the same way that we don’t make claim to air, we don’t normally take claim to light and try to keep it to ourselves.  Jesus then teaches that we should do good things in the name of God, and lead others by example.

Understanding the light section really brought the salt section into focus.  By Jesus saying we are the salt of the earth, I think he is saying: we will last forever in this world by spreading to those we come in contact with.

First, if you understand salt, you will know that salt cannot become unsalty.  The very properties of salt constitute what it is.  It is like saying that water has lost it wetness.  Un-wet water is not water at all, it is nothing.  The only way to make salt unsalty is to wash it away into nothing.  However, once diluted away it makes salty all that came in contact with it.  If you have a shaker of salt, and put it into a pot of water, you no longer have salt, but you now have salty water.  Then if you cook something in that pot of water, the item you cook becomes salty.  So, we are like salt who with our faith cannot be made to lose it.  We can be washed away into nothing, but in all actuality our properties live on in those we touch.

I haven’t posted in a while because I left town to pick up my brother.  He is going to stay with us for a while.  This is a huge step for him to ask for help, and move all the way out to Texas. 

He came out to visit a few weeks ago, and Heather and I urged him to stay.  While he was out, I was drawn to Matthew 18:21-35.  I told him the other day, “my motto for us with you is 70 times 7″.  He started doing the math, 490, 77, etc.  I let him know that the mathimatical number is irrelevant to what I am saying.

I don’t know if he’ll ever read my posts here, but incase he does, here is the answer:
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:21-22)

Aaron asked me to write this post after I opened my mouth and told him that I looked up what beatitude means. According to what I was able to find, beatitude is from the Latin beatitudo which means blessedness. This section of Matthew is named “The Beatitudes” because in Latin each verse begins with “beati” (blessing in Latin). http://noshadow.cnc.net/matthew/05.shtml

Basically, in these verses, Jesus is describing to his disciples what awaits them in the kingdom of Heaven if they live a Godly life. Many of the verses that I have heard over the years, such as “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” reside in the Beatitudes.

I find comfort in these passages. To me, reading these verses feels like a refill of my soul. At the end of the day, when I’m tired and just don’t feel like I have the energy to be strong in my faith, I can read these verses and find strength. It’s like being picked up off the floor by the LORD and reminded that there are better things waiting beyond this life. And not that I have a bad life. On the contrary, I have an amazing husband and three precious sons and I get to work in my calling every day. But there are days, and there have been plenty of them in the past year, where it just feels like too much effort to stand up for myself as a Christian. Reading these verses is such a reminder to me that it’s not about the momentary embarassment or tension that I would endure at saying “hey, I’m a Christian and that offends me”. It’s about taking the time out to do so, and reaping rewards far greater than I can fathom in a place beyond this one.

11″Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 4 ends with Jesus going back to Galilee when he hears that John the Baptist has been put in prison (see my post on the Herods). This fulfills a prophecy of Isaiah 9:1. He then begins to call on disciples: Simon (called Peter), Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother. Calling on Simon and Andrew is the famous verse, “fishers of men”: Matthew 4:19. Finally Jesus began healing the sick and teaching the gospel (Old English for “Good News”) of heaven. I find it interesting that “So a report about him spread throughout Syria.” Matthew 2:24. The message of Him spread through Syria and not Israel.

Ok, bear with me here. If you are not into history, you might want to stop reading now. However, I have found all this information incredibly interesting. Heather and I have been watching the HBO series Rome, and much of what I have been discovering when researching Herod links back to what we have been watching on Rome.

In chapter 2 of the Book of Matthew when Jesus is born, the King Herod that wanted the wise men to take him to baby Jesus was Herod the Great. This Herod was the son of Antipater who was an Idumæan.

Antipater
Idumæan had been known as Edom in the Old Testment see Genesis 36. Antipater became a client of Pompey Magnus when Pompey conquered Judea. He also was an aid Julius Caesar in Alexandrea and was eventually made procurator of Judea, with the right to collect taxes. The Idumæan were forcibly converted to Judiasm by the Hasmoneans, and before which were pagan. He was not a blood Jew, but a converted Jew of Arab decent whom had been Hellenized and colluded with Rome. When Ceasar is killed, Antipater sides with Cassius against Marc Antony. Antipater is finally poisoned and dies.

Herod the Great
Herod the Great was appointed governor of Galilee at age 25 by his father. In 40 BC he fled to Rome after Judea was invaded by Parthians. In Rome, he is elected King of the Jews by the Roman Senate. When he died (and Joseph was called back out of Egypt Matthew 2:19), his will was upheld by Octavian (by this time named Augustus). Israel was split up:
Herod Antipas was to rule Galilee and the east bank of the Jordan as a tetrarch; Philip was to be tetrarch of the Golan heights in the north-east; and Archelaus became the ethnarch of Samaria and Judaea.

Herod Antipas
This Herod is the ruler during the time of Jesus in Galilee. He like his brothers rule the various areas of Israel and surrounding locations. The also were all educated in Rome. These rulers were more Roman than they were Jewish. Herod Antipas like his father married and divorced many times. I believe this is what Jesus was refering to in Matthew 5:31-32. I plan to write an entire post about that later. This Herod is also the one Luke 23 whom Pilate first sent Jesus too because he was thought to be a Galilean.

During all this research, I am amazed to see just how involved Rome was during the time of Jesus. I don’t think we really think about this much. That the leaders of Israel were really Romans and not Jews. It wasn’t limited to Pilate. I have always found myself skimming past the parts of the Bible that explains lineage and location, but I think we really need to study this to put the words into context.

More reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great
http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodians/herod_the_great01.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_Antipas
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/rome_timeline.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hyrcanus
http://www.preceptaustin.org/bible_maps_4.htm
http://www.historicjesus.com/maps/index.html
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/footsteps-of-jesus.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07289c.htm
http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodians/herod_antipas.html

Ok, the history behind the Book of Matthew is outstanding.  I don’t have enough time to trace things in order to put them into perspective. For one, there are 3 or 4 distinct Herods, and at least 2 talked about in the beginning of Matthew.  With that being said, I don’t have enough time to write about it at work.  It will have to wait until I get home tonight.

Matthew 4 begins with the classic devil/angel on your shoulders that you see in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons. 

The devil tempts Jesus: “The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.’” (Matthew 4:3) But, Jesus comes back with a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3, “But he answered, It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4). The devil then tries quoting Psalms 91:11 quite loosely, but Jesus counters with “…Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’”(Matthew 4:7).  Because he didn’t test God, Jesus did not “strike his foot against a stone”.  Both quotes were true.  Then in verses 8 and 9 the devil offered Jesus all the “Kingdoms of the world” if Jesus were to worship him.  “Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” (Matthew 4:10) The sections ends with “Then the devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to his needs.” (Matthew 4:11)  I think this eludes to Psalms 91:11 that Satan was quoting. 

I think these verse teach us that when we are alone and hungry and Satan is tempting us, that we can find comfort with the Word of God.  Even when Satan tries to use that Word corruptly, we can stand-fast knowing that God’s angels are there to minister to our needs.

Chapter 3 begins talking about John the Baptist.  verse 3 reminds us of Isaiah 40:3 “For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ⁵  his paths straight.’” (Matthew 3:3)

John is an eye opener for me, as I think he was ment to be to the Pharisees and Sadducees.  God works through the meger among us.  “Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.” (Matthew 3:4).  I think this chapter is to remind us not to take parts of God’s Word and cast out the rest as we see fit.  The Pharisees came to John the Baptist to be baptized, but weren’t interested in changing their ways.  So, John took the oportunity to explain what was in store for them.

Then end of Chapter 3 verses 13-17 are the begining of Christ’s ministry.  He is reborn from water, by a man that is not perfect, but godly.

“Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah.”  (Deuteronomy 6:16).  Again what I was saying in Chapter 1, we are not to test God.  However, if we just look, God continues to prove himself.  The wise men in verses 5 and 6 quote Micha 5:2: “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

The wise men confuse me some.  What I read about them usually makes them out to be astrologers.  This seems to be contradictory to Old Testament teachings.  After a few hours of meditating on this, I am brought to 2 places in the Bible:

“You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand –the ones who see omens in the sky,who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions –let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! Look, they are like straw,which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction,  leaving no one to rescue you.” (Isaiah 47:13-15)

This is what happened to King Herod.  He listened to ones who see omens in the sky, “Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared” (Matthew 2:7). 

And each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue Herod. “And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way” (Matthew 2:12)

The second place I was drawn was: “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer.  Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things the Lord your God is about to drive them out from before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.  Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things”  (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). 

Again, Herod is listening to omen readers, but also he sacrificed his son or daughter in the fire. “Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi” (Matthew 2:16)  While mystics are forbidden by God, he has a reason for everyone.

Matthew chapter 2 closes explain two more prophecies that are completed.

“He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.” (Matthew 2:15)

“A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.” (Matthew 2:18)

Matthew begins by proving the lineage of Jesus back to David and Abraham. “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:” (Matthew 1:1).

As I have been seaching for study aids, I have found many people concerning themselves with numbers and meanings of numbers.  I will leave this for another time, if at all.  To me beside Matthew tracing the lineage, I find a message of trust.

Joseph had to trust that the Holy Spirt placed Jesus in Mary’s womb, and he did.  We have to trust the lineage and whatever math is or isn’t produced in verses 1 through 17.  We are even remined of the prophecy that is being fulfilled: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, ” GOD WITH US.” (Matthew 1:23) which is a quote from the Old Testement: Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)  If you trace the name Jesus through English back to Hebrew, the name means “God Saves” and the name Immanuel means “God with Us”