A Sparrow Thrown In For Free

As the Bible tells us the story of God’s people, it reveals some of the details of ancient daily life. One of the things we find out is how much sparrows cost. 

Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?” (Matt. 10:29). But if you spent a little more, you’d get an even better deal. “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents?” (Luke 12:6).

These birds were so cheap that if you bought four, another was thrown in for free. Still, “Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Matt. 10:29), and “Yet not one of them is forgotten before God” (Luke 12:6).

Have you ever felt so insignificant that you were just part of a package deal? Sometimes this world makes feel like these little sparrows: cheap, disposable, sold by the lot, even thrown in for free. We even talk about being so out of place we feel like “a fifth wheel.” 

But in all times of fear, doubt, and unease, realize that God that knows and cares about each individual one of us to the degree that “the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matt. 10:30).

So, “Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:31; Luke 12:7).

The Strength (And Limits) Of Sin

Samson was the strongest man in the world because “the Lord blessed him” (Judges 13:24), yet sin made him weak, brought him to is knees and destroyed him.  

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived because God gave him “a wise and discerning heart” (1 Kgs 3:12), but sin led him into great folly and took his heart from God. 

Moses was the humblest, meekest man in world (Numb. 12:3) and spoke to God face to face, as friend to friend (Ex. 33:11), yet sin provoked him into not honoring God (Numb. 20:12) and kept him from entering the promised land. 

David was “sought out for” by God as “a man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14), yet sin led him to adultery, murder, and lies that caused him to “despise God’s word” (2 Sam. 12:9).   

Without Christ, fighting sin would be hopeless since it’s smarter, stronger, more cunning and more relentless than we are—and its wages are death (Rom. 6:23). But Jesus proved stronger than Samson, wiser than Solomon, more devoted that David and more humble than Moses. 

In Christ, we find help and a place for hope because while “The wages of sin is death…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23). And “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4).

The Messiah

The Jews in ancient times were looking for the “Messiah”—the wise, victorious, ruler whom the prophets had foretold. “Christ,” the Greek word equivalent to the it would become the word most associated with Jesus and carries with it the full hope of the prophecies. 

The prophecies told of a descendant of David (“a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” Isa. 11:1), who would be born in Bethlehem, (“O Bethlehem Ephrathah...from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel” Mic. 5:2) by virgin birth (“The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” Isa. 7:14). 

He would be both priest and ruler (“He shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne…a priest on his throne…the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord” Zech. 6:12-14). And He would care for the poor and for what was right (“With righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth...with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked” Isa. 11:4). 

He would do miracles (“Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; and the lame man leap like a deer” Isa. 35:5,6) and preach good news to those who most needed it (“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release from darkness to the prisoners” Isa. 61:1).

The people of Jesus’ time took the Messiah prophecies seriously. Jesus’ ministry forced many to consider if He was the one they foretold. (“They said, ‘When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?’” Jn. 7:31). 

Though many believed, Jesus showed from the prophecies that He would be rejected (“Jesus said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD?” Matt. 21:42; quoting Ps. 118:22). Isaiah also foretold this (“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not” Isa. 53:12).

But in His rejection, He saved us all (“Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him, the iniquity of us all” Isa. 53:46).

From His rejection and death, God raised Him and, as the apostle Peter preached, “Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).

“Son Of God”

Jesus’ most commonly used title for Himself was “Son of Man.,” but the the most common title for Jesus in the New Testament is the “Son of God.” It was used by almost everyone who knew, or came to realize, who He was. The angel announcing His coming said He would called “the Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). John the Baptist testified to it (Jn. 1:34). Nathanael confessed it early on (Jn. 1:49) and Martha confessed in the cemetery (Jn. 11:27). 

Jesus using called Himself the “Son of God” (Jn. 10:36), admitted to it when asked (Lk. 22:70) and was well-known for claiming it (Mt. 27:43). It was used by the devil and demons (Luke 4:3;41). The Jewish leaders demanded He admit to it so they could charge Him (Mt. 26:63), yet the centurion at the crucifixion concluded He truly was (Mk. 15:39).

The resurrection powerfully showed it was true (Rom. 1:4), and it is what believers preached (2 Cor. 1:19) and confessed (Acts 8:37; 1 Jn. 4:15). Him being the “Son of God” is the faith by which we live (Gal. 2:20) and in which we hope for eternal life (1 Jn. 5:13). 

As the apostle John concluded his first letter: “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:20).

“Son Of Man”

His personal name was Jesus, a name revealed from heaven (Matt. 1:21). In the scriptures—the prophecies, the gospel and epistles—He has more than 150 names, titles and descriptions.

The title that Jesus Himself used most was “son of Man.” Because  the fact that Jesus is both God and man is such an important teaching ( l Jn.4;2; 2 Jn. 7), many think that the title “Son of God” refers to His deity and “Son of Man” to His humanity. But it’s a bit more complicated than that.

The phrase “Son of man” is used in the Old Testament to refer to humanity a few times (Isa. 51:12; 56:2; Jer. 50:40; 51:43). But it takes its special significance with Ezekiel, where “son of man” is his prophetic title (Ezek. 2:1,3,6,8 and about 90 more times). Daniel is also once called by this prophetic title (Dan. 8:17). 

The most important text for understanding the significance of Jesus' use of this title is Dan. 7:13,14 where “one like a son of man” comes in the clouds to the thrown of God and is given authority over the nations. This “one like the son of man” acts with the authority of God Himself. 

Jesus, “the son of man,” can forgive sins (Matt. 9:6), is Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8), commands angels and rules His Kingdom (Matt 16:27,28), and will sit on His glorious throne (Matt: 19:28). This is the “son of man” who came to seek and saved us (Lk. 19:10) serve and redeem us (Matt. 20:28) who was lifted up from our sins (Jn. 3:14). 

“More Blessed To Give Than Receive”

Acts 20:33-35   “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.

34  “You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me.

35  “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Worldly minded people seldom understand the spiritual words of the Savior, and none are more misunderstood or maligned than the word’s that Paul reminds us of here. 

We don’t know when Jesus spoke these words since they are not recorded or referenced in the gospels. We only know that His inspired apostle attests to these words, and used them to teach the church the proper view of material things: that is, sharing, not coveting and hoarding.

It is more blessed to give than to receive because… 

…Christians view life and possessions are as things to do good with, not ends in themselves.to be accumulated. 

…helping others is more valued than seeking our own pleasures. 

…the spiritual is more important than the material. 

…the ability to give means that we have been first blessed to have enough of something to share.

…it follows the example and pattern of our heavenly Father. 

So let us seek every opportunity to give important things, both physical and spiritual. It is the blessed way.

“God Manifest In The Flesh”

1 Tim. 3:16  “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: 

God was manifest in the flesh, 

justified in the Spirit, 

seen of angels, 

preached unto the Gentiles, 

believed on in the world, 

received up into glory.” 

Here is the great mystery of God, that God would come in the flesh. He came as a man to redeem man. He came as God to reveal God to us. 

The scriptures as equally and readily affirm Jesus as God in one passage and man in the next. He’s  the son of God and the son of man.  

Jn. 1:14  “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Rom. 1:3,4  “His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This is a fact hard to explain. The scriptures simply tell us that Mary was overshadowed by the Spirit and through this she conceived. (Ref. Luke 1:35-38) The faith of many has floundered and many heresies have sprung up in trying to explain more than the scriptures affirm and the faithful have always believed: That God was with us in the person of Jesus.

John 11: Cemetery Words (9) Lazarus Come Forth

Having assured Mary and Martha that their brother would rise again, that He Himself was the resurrection and the life, having the grave opened and praying before the crowd, Jesus does not disappoint. He speaks the words we who know the story have all been waiting for and that would have surprised those present, “He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth’” (vs. 43). 

In one of the great ironies of human existence, the dead always seem to obey the Lord better than the living, though He is the lord of them both (Acts 10:42; Rom. 14:9; 2 Tim. 4:1). So out he comes in his burial clothes. “The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth” (vs. 44). Jesus says, “Unwrap him and let him go” (vs. 44), since the burial clothes that bound him as no longer needed. He is now unbound by death and set free to life indeed. Just as the sinner freed from His and welcomed anew to his family to a new life here. 

And even more, we maintain our hope that one day with a loud voice Jesus will call our name, “For an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice” (Jn. 5:28). Let us be readying for that day, like “Many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him” (vs. 45).

John 11: Cemetery Words (8) Father, I Thank You

With the stone rolled away and all the witnesses gathered, there was but one more thing to before Lazarus was raised. It was time to pray. 

Jesus’ prayer directly states its purpose: so the hearers will know God sent Jesus. Jesus always knew was with Him and heard Him. This is not like many of our prayers that begin, “God, if you can hear me,” or “If you’re listening.” Jesus knew that He and the Father were always together. This was fully so the witnesses could know too. 

So Jesus prayed, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me” (vs. 41,42). Miracles gave divine credibility to those that worked them. Jesus’ enemies had constantly said that He worked miracles by the power of evil, saying “He is possessed by Beelzebul” (Mark 3:22, also Matt. 10:25; 12:24; Luke 11:15-19). Nothing could be further from the truth. 

So for the sake of absolute clarity in the minds of all that this was the power God—and Jesus is His son with all His power—Jesus prayed. And He fulfilled what He said when He first heard Lazarus was sick, that this is “for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it” (vs. 4).

John 11: Cemetery Words (7) Remove The Stone

As Jesus stood with the family and mourners at the tomb Lazarus He was overcome with emotion again (vs. 38). Here is the great commiseration again. God from the great, gleaming glory above, who came to live with us in dirty, weak, corrupted world. 

When Jesus said, “Remove the stone” (vs. 38), He was reminded of just how corrupted and even smelly this world is. Martha said, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days” (vs. 39). Yes, Jesus knew about the corrupted and putrid flesh of the dead, just as He knew of the corrupted and putrid spirits of those in sin. 

We are given this assurance by the apostle Peter: “He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Pet. 1:4). 

From corruption to glory! In the gospel, there is the great spiritual hope of the transformation of our soul and the great bodily hope of the resurrection to a state suitable for eternity with God. Those present at the cemetery were about to see a foretaste of that as Jesus said, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (vs. 40).

John 11: Cemetery Words (6) How He Loved Him

When Mary went to the cemetery, many others went along, thinking they’d go mourn with her. Instead, they got a front row seat to extraordinary things. 

Like her sister, when Mary met Jesus, she said, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died” (vs. 32). This set her to crying again, along with the mourners. 

Face to face with the reality of the grief of faithful people, Jesus was fully overcome with emotion. “He was deeply moved and troubled in spirit” (vs. 33). Then He wept as He followed them to the grave. 

We are as often captivated by the simple statement “Jesus wept” (vs. 35) even more so sometimes than the display of His power in raising of Lazarus a few minutes later. In His weeping, He’s fully commiserating with us in our deepest griefs. Jesus isn’t just passing through the cemetery—He’s fully there with us. 

Many couldn’t help but notice, “How He loved Him” (vs. 36). But others wondered, “Couldn’t He have kept this man from dying?” (vs. 37). Yes, He could have—and they’d soon see He could even do more than that.

John 11: Cemetery Words (5) I Am The Resurrection And The Life

When Jesus reassured Martha that “Your brother will rise again,” (vs. 23) she expressed hope of all believers, saying, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (vs. 24).

But Jesus’ wasn’t just saying that there would be a resurrection (there will be!), but that He IS the resurrection. 

Jesus is the personal power and cause of it. He’s the life-giver unto everlasting life. Jesus had power over His own life and death, as He said, “I lay down My life so that I may take it again” (Jn 10:17). And He has the power to give life to others. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes” (Jn 5:21).

So Jesus clearly announced to Martha, a believer so recently affected by death, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (vss. 25,26). These are bold, bold claims. But believing these things is what makes us believers. So He directly asked her, “Do you believe this?” (vs. 26). 

Let our answer always be as clear as hers was—as one who knew both death and Jesus personally—“Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” (vs. 27).

John 11: Cemetery Words (4) Your Brother Will Rise Again

In Bethany, Jesus met by his dear friend Martha at or near the cemetery where her brother Lazarus was buried. Her confidence in the Lord’s power to heal was not all diminished by Jesus not being there heal her brother before his passing. There is no hint of complaint or bitterness at Jesus not having been there to heal.

Martha said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (vs. 21). These are the exact same words her sister Mary said a few minutes later when she arrived (vs. 33). They must have discussed this and built each other up in faith during the difficult time of their brother’s illness, death and burial. 

Martha’s faith before Lazarus’ death was exactly the same as after it—and she wanted Jesus to know that, saying, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You” (vs. 22). 

Jesus consoled her with the hope of the resurrection, saying, “Your brother will rise again” (vs. 23). This is that same message of hope that all believers share in times of grief—“Comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18). Martha confessed her confidence “in the resurrection on the last day” (vs. 24), just as we do. But in this case, there would be more to it than just that. 

John 11: Cemetery Words (3) Our Friend Has Fallen Asleep

In Jn. 11, Jesus told the apostles, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up” (vs. 11). The disciples knew he’d been sick, and so were encouraged by the this, thinking of the restorative power of sleep. So they said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” (vs. 12) for “they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep” (vs. 13).

But that wasn’t what Jesus meant at all. Rather, “Jesus had spoken of his death” (vs. 12). Then, “He told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him’” (vs. 15). 

This is the paradox and great hope in Christ. Plainly, he was dead, but they were going to him. Jesus said he was asleep so He was going to wake him—but he wasn’t asleep, he was dead. And though he’s dead there is a way that its a good thing that will cause them to believe.  

To those who know Jesus’ teaching, none of these things are too difficult. And for believers, there are also other paradoxes to sort through: the last shall be first, but the first shall be last (Matt. 20:16l); gaining your life will lose it, but losing it shall gain it (Matt. 10:39); and how the things which are not seen are more meaningful than the things which are (2 Cor. 4:18).

John 11: Cemetery Words (2) Work In The Day — Walk In The Light

In Jn. 11, after enough time passed that Lazarus’ death would be certain and widely known, Jesus told His disciples, “Let’s go to Judaea again” (vs. 7). The disciples, who didn’t know why Jesus hadn’t immediately headed to Bethany upon hearing that their friend was sick, apparently filled in their lack of knowledge with thinking that Jesus wasn’t going near Jerusalem because of the danger involved, saying, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” (vs. 8).

Jesus told them that their going or not hadn’t been because of fear and Jesus had work to do that wasn’t set by any schedule of men. Jesus said, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him” (vss. 9,10). So not only are they are going, they are going publicly, in the daytime, and in the light. The threat of harm had not delayed their trip—it was delayed only for the glory of God (vs. 4). 

Jesus taught us to do things openly, in the light of God and being a light to men. This was a constant teaching of Jesus (Matt. 5:14; John 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; Jn. 11:9) as well as the disciples whom He taught (Eph. 5:8.9; 1 Thess. 5:5; 1 Pet. 2:9;1 Jn. 1:5-7; 2:8-10). Let us do the same. Working in the day and walking in the light.  

John 11: Cemetery Words (1) To The Glory Of God

In John 11 Jesus deals with the reality of sickness and death as only He can. The story begins with Jesus being told, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” He replied, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it” (Jn 11:3,4).

We learn that those who love Jesus, and those whom He loves, still get sick and die. Jesus still loves them and they love Jesus. If “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword” will not “separate us from the love of Christ” (Rom. 8:35), then neither will whatever disease or sickness that Lazarus’ body succumbed to, nor will those that weaken us and our loved ones. 

Believers don’t just passively endure these things without ill effect. We actively live through them to the glory of God. In Lazarus’ case, his immediate and startling resurrection caused many to praise God that day and for the months to come (Jn. 12:9). But there are many ways for God to be glorified in sickness and death. Faithful love and care “in sickness and health,” until parted by death; honoring parents, grandparents and other kinfolk over many years of aging and declining health; and sharing burdens and comforting in grief are all normal things for believers. These regular acts of extraordinary love and service are all to the glory of God.

Spreading Faith In Jesus

John the apostle wrote about faith and reassurance in Jesus. 

Near the end of his gospel, the Apostle Thomas is recorded as expressing His faith when seeing the risen Lord Jesus saying, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn 20:28-31).

John’s general epistle began with the same theme. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn. 4:1-4).

We know Jesus through those that knew Him. Evangelism is still people coming to know Jesus through others who knew Him first and that He lives though. Let us proclaim Jesus by telling of Him and demonstrating His life in ours (Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 4:10,11).

“To Those Who Are Elect Exiles”

Peter’s first epistle is addressed “to those who are elect exiles” (1 Pet. 1:1). The description “elect exiles” tells two important things. First: in regard to God these Christians are the elect, His chosen ones — in God’s mind, heart and plan from the beginning. Second: in regard to this world, they are aliens, dispersed, not honored, outcasts. 

In the second verse (1 Pet. 1:2), Peter gives the how and why of this relationship with God and the world. It is:

“ACCORDING to the foreknowledge of God the Father” 

Chosen in Christ as His, but rejected by the world is God’s eternal plan. We cannot change the nature of the relationship of His people to this world any more than we can it with Him. 

“IN the sanctification of the Spirit” 

This relationship is in holiness—a way separated from this world—as God has revealed by the Spirit. 

“FOR obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood”

This is done for us to obey Jesus and the cleansed from our sin in His blood. 

For this great task of a sanctified obedience and closeness to Christ, but separated from the world we live in, we have been given abundance grace. As this verse ends, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”

Justice And Holiness

Whether partisan or not, no observer of our country’s political turmoil thinks that justice has been sought, much less attained. This is bothersome to us because desiring justice is inherent in us, imprinted on us, as those made in the image of the one who self-declared, “I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isa. 43:3). 

Through the corruption of sin, we’ve learned to lie and seek our own advantage. But we still feel injustices against us. In moral confusion, we even think the justice of the Holy One will vindicate us, rather than condemn. So Amos warned, “Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light,” he said (Amos 5:18).

God’s judicial justice will come. Maybe we’ll have been eagerly waiting for it like the martyrs who said, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging?” (Rev. 6:10), or maybe it will come after the “terrifying expectation of judgment” (Heb. 10:17) that the profane must live with—but ultimate true justice and holiness will come from heaven as promised.  

Let us prepare for that day in God’s way, as the prophet said, “What does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

Eternity In Our Hearts

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon said God made a time for everything in life and “set eternity in the hearts” of men (Eccl. 3:11). 

So we know within us that all the times of life that He gives—of “birth and death,” “planting and uprooting,” “tearing down and building up,” “weeping and laughing,” “mourning and dancing,” “love and hate,” “war and peace,” and every other “purpose and event under heaven”—should mean something. 

This “eternity in our hearts,” makes us crave lasting purpose and seek fulfillment. And it can’t be faked. We need it to be authentic. 

But living in a fallen world “subjected to futility” (Rom. 8:20), where “all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:2,14; 3:19; 12:8). Even things that should be good and comforting to us are often just additional sources of frustration. 

Augustine, summarized this great yearning within us, thwarted by life's futilities, as a “restlessness,” saying, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Only in God and the things He gives—used properly for the purposes He gave them—can we hope to find the satisfaction, fulfillment, and contentment that our souls ache for.