Monday
Carpenter Diem (Because Jesus Was a Carpenter and Is Now Preparing a Home for His People)
The resurrection of God the Son, Jesus Christ, is crucial to the Christian faith. In Luke 24:13-35, we read of the resurrected Savior walking the road to Emmaus. This specific geographical reference reminds us of the absolute accuracy of God’s Word in all areas. In verse 27, Jesus begins to teach from the Old Testament; He not only walked the talk but also talked the walk! This passage does not reveal the exact Scriptures Jesus employed to teach these journeying believers, but we do know that He fulfilled the entire Old Testament (Matthew 5:17,18). Fulfilled prophecy is one of the major reasons that we can be certain that our faith in Jesus is not misplaced. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
One passage (of many) that speaks of the “angel of the Lord” is Judges 2:1-5. An angel is a messenger from our gracious God. Often an angel is exactly what we usually think, a created being who serves God in heaven and sometimes on earth. However, the context of this passage and others like it reveal that the “angel of the Lord” is God Himself, God the Son. Note, for example, the use of “I” in verse 1; only God can say and do these things. We should never lose the wonder of the fact that God communicates with us. One New Testament passage that has always fascinated me is Matthew 4:18-20. Here, Jesus calls fishermen with the exact words that would draw them; to non-fishermen like me, these words would not be as deeply personal. To the wisemen, Jesus spoke through Old Testament prophecy and a star (Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2:1-12); as scholars of that era, they studied both. To those who needed comfort, Jesus spoke gently (Matthew 12:20; John 8:1-11). To those who needed spiritual rebuke, Jesus spoke sternly (Matthew 16:21.23). To people like me who admire logic, Jesus speaks with exquisite precision (Matthew 22:41-46). The infinitely eloquent voice of Jesus reaches to us all, for Hebrews 1:1-2a states, “God, Who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.” May we hear and heed the words of Jesus, and may we always marvel that He communicates with us.