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.)
In II Kings 19:15, King Hezekiah prays to God and marvels that He has resided “between the cherubims” even though He is God of all. Hezekiah was speaking of the Ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which had representations of angels (cherubim) on the top. (As an aside, the Hebrew ending -im is plural; adding an s to it is unnecessary.) Clearly, God is greater than angels, and this truth is explicitly applied to Jesus, God the Son, in Hebrews 1:4-14. One of the most powerful proofs of the fullness of the deity of Jesus Christ is found in verses 8-9. Quoting from Psalm 34:6-7 (always study Old Testament prophecy and compare it to New Testament fulfillment), God the Father speaks to the Son, addressing Him with “O God.” Yes, God the Father specifically calls Jesus “God”! As we approach Good Friday and Easter, let us remember that Jesus could have called tens of thousands of angels to keep Him from being illegally arrested and later crucified (Matthew 26:53). He did not, for as fully God, He knew that only His sacrificial death on our behalf and in our places could pay the penalty for our sins. May we continue to be humbled that our Savior directed His omnipotence not to save Himself but to save us. Jesus walked this lonesome valley alone so that not one of us ever has to walk alone, now and eternally.