Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic
The Role of the Church in the Community
Lesson 2. Restoring Dominion
Our lesson this week asks an intriguing question: "What can the church do to help people regain some of what was lost after the tragic fall of our first parents in Eden?" [1]
Many people define what was lost in Eden in egocentric terms. Adam and Eve had interesting jobs and it wasn't difficult or hard work. You could eat a complete meal just by picking and eating what was growing in the garden spontaneously. They could play with all the animals, and they had each other for companionship. People who understand something about God might even include the fact that Adam and Eve had access to Him face to face. They were unified with the entire universe by being connected to and in communication with the Creator of all things. When they chose to rebel, the resulting disunity separated them from this precious unity with God. The entire plan of salvation is God's effort to deal with the consequences of their choice to fracture the union.
In His prayer recorded in John 17:22, 23 Jesus prayed, "I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as you have loved Me" (New International Version).
What a phenomenal concept, that we, in Christ, are loved just like the Father loves the Son. The Godhead consists of three separate beings, but they function in complete unity because the love they have for each other is perfect agape. There is no selfishness in this love, and it suggests that as unified equals, they don't exercise dominance over each other.
Created beings, especially fallen ones cannot relate to such a concept of love, because our concept of love is centered around ourselves. When choosing a spouse, we tell ourselves we want the "best" when we really mean the best looking, the best family, best earning potential, or some other egocentric criteria.
When we speak of unity in the church, we define that as a majority believing the same, but complete unity is generally considered impossible. In order to be unified like Christ described in His prayer, is God going to change us from having free will to automatons, facelessly agreeing to everything He says? No, agape cannot do that, because love only exists when there is no force. No one can force another to genuinely love them. By exercising dominance through force, a person may fake love, but it is for survival, not out of genuine love.
The 1888 message teaches a unique perspective in its special emphasis on the concept of agape as unconditional love. Jesus loved Peter, but when He warned him that Peter would deny Him, Peter let pride take over which led him to essentially tell Jesus He was wrong. Jesus loved him anyway. Judas, also because of his pride, would reject the love that Jesus had for him. Since "on Him was laid the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6), Jesus took Judas's sins to the cross and died his second death, which is the wages of sin. "He tasted death for every man" (Heb. 2:9).
This may sound too good to be true, leading some to ask, "'Do you mean to teach universal salvation?' ... We mean to teach just what the Word of God teaches--that 'the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men.' Titus 2:11, RV. God has wrought out salvation for every man, andhas given it to him; but the majority spurn it and throw it away. The judgment will reveal the fact that full salvation was given to every man and that the lost have deliberately thrown away their birthright possession." [2]
But the lesson's intriguing question remains: What can the church do to help people regain some of what was lost after the tragic fall of our first parents in Eden? The title of our lesson is "Restoring Dominion," but what did God give human beings dominion over?
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Gen 1:26, King James Version). We were not given "dominion" over other humans, just the flora, fauna, and the earth. Paul confirmed this when he said "Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand" (2 Cor. 1:24).
The parable of the sower (Matt 13:1-9) suggests there are different categories of people, even in the church. Too many are content with "crowd religion," happy to hear an entertaining sermon once or twice a month, but letting nothing go deeper. Those people are represented by the seed that falls on ground and never actually takes root. The "stony ground" people initially receive the Word with joy, but fail to hang on to their faith when trials come. People stay in the church for many reasons, but we need to check ourselves on any kind of pride, even denominational pride.
The slumbering church, content with "crowd" or "stony ground" religion, cannot learn non-selfish love without waking up to accept the message to Laodicea by the True Witness (see Revelation 3). We need to agree with His assessment of our blind condition and take His advice that we need eye salve to exchange our self-righteousness for His clean and white linen character.
Without that recognition and repentance, we should understand that dominion can be a dangerous thing in people who are not ruled by a non-selfish love. For the church to be able to properly show the world a restoration of Edenic dominion, it needs to experience the unity of God's agape before it can be entrusted with dominion. The more the church unites under the umbrella of that love, the more she shows the world that it is the only basis of unity. Any thought of restoring dominion is best directed at restoring dominion over ourselves, which we lost at the fall.
It is the True Witness's evaluation of the Laodicean Church that she considers herself "rich and increased with goods and hath need of nothing." This self-righteousness and self-perceived doctrinal purity is the cause of her "lukewarmness" and legalism. Her self-love is exposed as in need of God's agape. Hence, Christ's call for her to repent. In other words, exchange her ideas of righteousness by faith for His righteous self-sacrificing Divine love demonstrated on the cross. The 1888 message has always been one of joy and hope that would result in the repentance that the Bride of Christ must have in order to be made ready for the second coming.
Ellen White challenges us: "The Lord calls for a renewal of the straight testimony borne in years past. He calls for a renewal of spiritual life. The spiritual energies of His people have long been torpid, but there is to be a resurrection from apparent death. By prayer and confession of sin we must clear the King's highway. As we do this, the power of the Spirit will come to us. We need the pentecostal energy. This will come; for the Lord has promised to send His Spirit as the all-conquering power." [3] Pray that this happens soon.
--Arlene Hill
Endnotes:
[1] Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, p. 14. [2] E. J. Waggoner, The Glad Tidings, pp. 13, 14 (Glad Tidings ed.). [3] Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, pp. 307, 308.
Note:
"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888mpm.org |
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Lesson 2. Restoring Dominion
Friday, July 1, 2016
Lesson 1. The "Restoration of All Things"
Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic
The Role of the Church in the Community
Lesson 1. The "Restoration of All Things"
How did evil get started in the perfect world which God created "in the beginning"? The answer is astonishing. Human beings invited the devil in, opened the door to him, welcomed him. And those human beings were our first parents, Adam and Eve. The devil could not push himself in unless our first parents should invite him into their home. We can understand this even today, for evil cannot intrude into a person's heart and control him unless he first gives his consent. In creating man "in his own image," the Creator endowed him with the ability to reason and to choose. The enemy took advantage of this freedom and deceived man.
Which is more reasonable, to accept the Bible by faith, or evolution by faith? Evolution is man's imagined idea of "what might have been."
The Bible teaches devolution, that is, that man has fallen lower than his original condition. This is in complete harmony with the simplest, most easily seen law of nature, namely that everything gets old, wears out, or runs down. Man was created "in the image of God" and has wandered far from his original place of honor, but he is still a child of God through Christ, and is loved by His heavenly Father. Evolution teaches that man is essentially only an animal for whom the survival of the fittest is the jungle law. Who can estimate the cruelty and injustice, the inhumanity of man toward man, that this "theory" has produced in our sad world? Which do you prefer to consider yourself to be? A child of God or merely a clever animal?
An animal caught in a trap can know nothing but physical fear; but a human being is created in the image of God with infinite capabilities for joyous eternal life, not merely eternal existence. Unlike animals, we can know bright dreams of "the much more abundant life."
Eve actually believed the serpent's deception; Adam did not. He joined her in the evil step only because he loved her. Whatever this mysterious, unknown thing to come might be that God said was "death," he chose to share it with her. But mother Eve's original deception included the idea that there would be no death: "Ye shall not surely die," the wily serpent had assured her. Here is the origin of the idea of the natural immortality of the human soul.
Adam and Eve's descendants split into two camps: those who believed the deception and those who held firmly to God's original revealed truth, "Ye shall surely die." And there were those who believed the serpent's lie, "Ye shall not surely die."
His three deceptions were woven together into one strand: (1) There will be no death, for Eve believed the serpent that man's nature is immortal; (2) "knowing good and evil" is essential, for there is a conjunction of opposites; and (3) "ye shall be God," for divinity dwells within every immortal human soul and only awaits self-realization.
The descendants of Adam and Eve who heartily repented of their folly and maintained a firm loyalty to the original truth of God were called "the sons of God" (Gen. 6:2). They became the progenitors of an unbroken line of generations of faithful worshippers of God who believed that man had forfeited immortality by rebellion against Him and could obtain it only through faith in a divine Saviour to come, and in His sacrifice. These faithful believers in God's truth cherished the promise that He made to the serpent in the presence of the guilty pair in Eden: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15). Here is the acorn of good news in seed-form that developed through the ages until the grand oak of truth was fully matured in the New Testament.
Look at this precious assurance that has brought hope to the human race: This "enmity" against the serpent is something not natural to the human heart. No one is born with it. God puts this enmity against evil in the heart through the grand sacrifice mentioned in this promise. It is a gift of grace. Satan will have his followers known as "thy seed." "The woman" will also have "seed." And there will be "enmity" or war between the two "seeds." A Deliverer will come in the person of the woman's "seed," a descendant of Adam and Eve. This is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus.
Satan will succeed in wounding or "bruising" the woman's seed on the "heel"--an "acorn" prophecy of the eventual crucifixion of the Son of God on His cross. But Christ's apparent defeat will prove to be a glorious victory; He will crush the serpent's head and kill him.
God's people cherished this promise for thousands of years, waiting for the coming of the Deliverer. Satan (the serpent) has been defeated by the sacrifice of Christ, and the long reign of sin and evil is to be brought to an end.
Does the sin of Adam transmit to us irresistible tendencies to sin? Would it not be more accurate to state that the sin of Adam transmits to us tendencies to sin that have overcome all human beings except Christ, and which are "irresistible" to us if we have no Saviour? If we say that the tendencies to sin transmitted by Adam are truly "irresistible," are we not in danger of echoing Satan's charge that the law of God cannot be kept by fallen man? The idea that our natural "tendencies to sin are irresistible" is responsible for the immorality and anti-nomianmism that pervades the world and even the lukewarm church? This seems to be a kind of Calvinist defeatism.
The 1888 message advances the startling thesis that tendencies to sin are resistible--if only we understand and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. And part of that "good news" is that Jesus proved in His human flesh that these tendencies are indeed completely resistible. This is not fanatical "perfectionism" but rather a reverent appreciation of the message of Christ's righteousness.
Christ came to save the lost race, fallen and degraded. In His giving of His life on Calvary, He made an abundant atonement for the sins of the entire world. No sin can be committed for which satisfaction was not met upon Calvary. This was also one of the distinctive features of the 1888 message--that Jesus did more than just make an offer--He gave the gift of His own righteousness to all mankind, and that the only reason all mankind would not be made righteous by that giftwas because so many would refuse to partake of the gift freely given.
Peter at Pentecost spoke of Christ's heavenly inaugural in this way: "... Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things ..." (Acts 3:21). The parallel thought to this is Revelation 19:7 [1]--Christ cannot return until this "restitution" takes place.
In numerous Ellen G. White statements, this "restitution" is described as "restoring the image of God in man," [2] etc. This is equivalent to the seal of God placed in the forehead. Such a "restitution" certainly entails a vindication of God, and His plan of salvation. It cannot be mere legal imputation, for if it were, the "times of restitution of all things" would have been Abel's time when he was murdered by Cain, for he was legally declared righteous by imputation then, long ago. The "times" Peter speaks of are meaningless unless they are when righteousness by faith is fully imparted as a "fitness for heaven."
--Paul E. Penno
Endnotes:
[1] "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." [2] Ellen G. White, "This Man Receiveth Sinners," Signs of the Times, Jan. 15, 1894.
Note:
RR"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888mpm.org |
Friday, June 24, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Lesson 13. Crucified and Risen
Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic
The Book of Matthew
Lesson 13. Crucified and Risen
Jesus did no work on that last Sabbath as He lay in Joseph's new tomb. Now He rested from His long, hard work, as Savior of the world. It had been an extremely busy week.
The anointing at Bethany; the ride on a donkey into Jerusalem at the beginning of this busy last week; meeting the contentions of the Jewish leaders who opposed Him; preaching His sermon on last-day events of Matthew 24; His last meeting with His disciples when He organized the Lord's Supper on Thursday night; the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane when He nearly died and would have had not an angel come to strengthen Him to endure more suffering; His disappointment at His disciples sleeping through His period of agony; the betrayal by Judas and the cruel arrest by the police; the forced march to the high priest's house, then the all-night (illegal) trial when He was mocked, spat upon, beaten, ridiculed and despised; the terrible sorrow at hearing Peter deny Him three times with cursing and swearing; the trial before Pilate; the forced march again to Herod, and his sneering contempt that Jesus had to endure; the march back to Pilate; having to listen to the people shout "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"; the last visit with Pilate when the governor almost yielded to his wife's pleading not to condemn Jesus; the sentence of death; the mocking of the soldiers; the crown of thorns on His head; the jeering of the mob; being forsaken by all of His disciples; the forced march this time to the hill called Calvary when they forced Him to carry His heavy cross; His fainting beneath the burden; hearing the women weep and wail because of Him and His last sermon to them when He said, "Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children!" (Luke 23:27-31); the actual crucifixion with its physical pain; the exertion of His soul to say words to the penitent thief, "Thou shalt be with Me in paradise!"; the taunting of the priests and rulers and the cruel crowd as He hung on His cross in pain and shame; the terror of the great darkness that came at noon that Friday when He cried from his broken heart, "My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"; His refusal to taste the intoxicating drink they offered Him to help to deaden His pain; His mental agony as He fought in His mind against despair (such a struggle would exhaust anyone!); His choice with His last ounce of strength to believe that His Father would not abandon Him, that His sacrifice would be accepted, that--yes! He had saved the world!
And then He bowed His head and prayed, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit," and He died.
He was tired, oh, so tired! But He had finished His hard week of work and now He was resting in the tomb on the holy Sabbath day.
The 1888 message shows us the special kind of death which Jesus, the Son of God, died (Gal. 2:20). He "tasted death for every man" (Heb. 2:9), not the ordinary kind of death which we call "sleep." No, Jesus did not "go to sleep for our sins," He died for our sins! He died the equivalent of what the Bible calls "the second death," the real thing (Rev. 2:11). He went all the way to hell in order to find us and to save us. Since the world began, He is the only person who has ever truly died; all the others have gone to sleep!
On the cross Christ felt the horror of eternal separation from the Father. This was due to infinite guilt, but not the self-righteous, self-justifying pain of a sinless person who feels his innocence; it was the total self-condemnation felt by One who was "made to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21). The "us" is the entire human race. Combine the guilt of all the sin of the world: that is what He bore "in His own body," in His nervous system, in His soul, feeling as if the guilt were His own (1 Peter 2:24). He died for the human race and He died as the human race, for He became our second Adam. In dying the equivalent of our second death, He delivered the human race from that death ("perish," John 3:16).
One need only ask two questions: "What is the punishment for sin?" and the answer has to be, "death" (Rom. 6:23; Eze. 18:4; Gen. 2:17; Rev. 2:11; 20:14). The first death, which the Bible calls "sleep," can never be the punishment for sin. The Bible does not say that "Christ went to sleep for our sins," but "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3). "Did He suffer the true punishment for our sin?" The answer had better be "yes," or we are lost for eternity. Thus Christ died every man's second death (Heb. 2:9).
But how then could He be resurrected the third day? The second death is not the mere degrees of heat and physical pain of the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). On the cross, Christ hardly felt the physical pain, so terrible was His spiritual anguish, being "made ... sin for us." [1] Likewise, the lost will hardly feel the physical pain, so great will be the spiritual anguish sensed because of their true guilt--which now at last they fully realize. The anguish of despair which Jesus endured on the cross was itself the precise experience the lost will have at last--the second death (Rev. 2:11). Isaiah describes it clearly: "He poured out His soul unto death." "Therefore" the Father honors Him supremely, to "divide Him a portion with the great." "He shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isa. 53:11, 12).
It had to be that "God raised [Him] up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that He should be [held by] it" (Acts 2:24). Those were not the "pains" of mere sleep! Not only did He make the total commitment of His "soul" unto eternal death--not seeing "through the portals of the tomb," [2] He actually did experience the total agony of the real second death. Those who deny this do not understand why His agape made it "not possible" that He should be held in the tomb. Christ's resurrection is an eternal principle. All who choose to be "crucified with Christ," motivated by this agape of Christ to die with Him the second death, says Paul, cannot "possibly" be held in its grasp: "If we have been planted [united] together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection" (Rom. 6:5).
But that awful second death could not hold Him. Satan wanted to keep Him a captive there, but it was impossible. The Son of God had lived and died triumphant over sin and Satan; He had "condemned sin in the flesh," our fallen, sinful flesh, and had gained the victory for the entire human race; He had single-handedly wrested from Satan the control and rulership of this world. He had conquered sin. Now He must be resurrected as triumphant over death as well!
The voice of the Father called, "Jesus! Come forth from that prison house of death!" It was so real!
He carefully folded the grave-clothes they had wrapped about Him, and laid them down neatly. Then He stepped out of the dark tomb into the everlasting light of His resurrection life.
Yes, in Him you and I are resurrected also. "He that hath the Son hath eternal life," says John (1 John 5:11, 12). Jesus had said, "Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19).
That is why when Jesus was resurrected, you were resurrected "also"! Now, be happy forever; and demonstrate your thankfulness by following Him "whithersoever He goeth" (Rev. 14:4).
--Paul E. Penno
Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 753.
[2] Ibid.
Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md_TE1L4-S0
"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888mpm.org
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
SST #12 | Jesus' Last Days | 1888 Most Precious Message
Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic
The Book of Matthew
Lesson 12: "Jesus' Last Days"
Our lesson this week uses a unique approach to understanding the cost of the cross in focusing on the lesson of "freedom and free will." Without the proper understanding of the nature of Christ as developed by the 1888 message pioneers, the cross can never be properly understood.
While there were many people making choices during the week preceding Calvary, none were more critical than the choice Jesus had to make. We can sometimes be tempted to think Christ's nature was so different from ours that He serenely floated through what is called "passion week" with no doubts, reservations, or concerns. We make a mistake if we think Jesus used any of His divine powers to get through the rough parts of that week. One of the key points of the 1888 message is a proper understanding of the nature in which Christ lived during His time on this earth. Without that, it is impossible to understand the cross.
Ellet J. Waggoner, one of the 1888 "messengers," wrote: "The humiliation which Christ voluntarily took upon Himself is best expressed by Paul to the Philippians: 'Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being originally in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped [that is, to be clung to] to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, becoming in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross' (Phil. 2:5-8, Revised Version, marginal reading). ...
"It is impossible for us to understand how Christ could, as God, humble Himself to the death of the cross, and it is worse than useless for us to speculate about it. All we can do is to accept the facts as they are presented in the Bible." [1]
Some can accept this only if the nature Christ assumed was that of sinless Adam. "A little thought will be sufficient to show anybody that if Christ took upon Himself the likeness of man in order that He might redeem man, it must have been sinful man that He was made like, for it is sinful man that He came to redeem. Death could have no power over a sinless man, as Adam was in Eden; and it could not have had any power over Christ, if the Lord had not laid on Him the iniquity of us all." [2]
Having properly understood this, we can begin to understand the reality of the choice Christ was required to make in Gethsemane. The decision Jesus had to make was not from the vantage of His divine as well as human natures. He had laid aside the divine ability of knowing the future (foreknowledge), so He did not know for sure that His sacrifice would be accepted. How Satan must have gloated, urging Jesus to doubt whether His life had indeed been perfect so He could continue the path to the cross without compromising His mission. He had lived His entire earthly life completely dependent on His Father, through the Holy Spirit to direct His thoughts and conduct. Now, He was to be separated from that power. The temptation to doubt must have been tremendous, and his disciples offered no encouragement because they were sound asleep.
Yet during the week before Calvary, Jesus had been given a precious gift in the actions of Mary Magdalene, a woman who in many ways represents His wayward corporate church. She was plagued by the spirit of seven demons which Jesus cast out of her, and she yielded her heart to Him completely when she saw the agape that Jesus unconditionally gave her. Her outpouring of gratitude must have been a memory of comfort that the Holy Spirit could bring to Jesus' mind during His suffering.
We know that she was not a theologian, but only Mary out of all Jesus' followers had some level of understanding that His mission required Him to die for her sins. The disciples' self-centered notion of Christ's mission prevented them from believing that He was to die in disgrace. They firmly believed He had come to overthrow the hated Romans. They missed that the lesson of all those sacrifices was that the Gospel promises involve a cross from which all the benefits of the plan of salvation flow. The nation of Israel had come to believe that by bringing their sacrificial animals they were reinforcing a bargain with God. They believed that God was obligated to save them if they performed the rituals He required. They had lost sight that salvation has always been by faith in the saving grace of the cross of Christ.
Waggoner saw this: "All the misunderstandings of the promises of God to Abraham and his seed have arisen through a failure to see the Gospel of the cross of Christ in them. If it be continually remembered that all the promises of God are in Christ, to be gained only through His cross, and that consequently they are spiritual and eternal in their nature, there will be no difficulty, and the study of the promise to the fathers will be a delight and a blessing." [3]
In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus asked that, if possible, the cup pass from Him. The imagery here is that of the sanctuary services. When the repentant sinner brought his lamb, he was required to slit its throat; the priest then caught the blood in a cup or bowl and symbolically transferred it into the Most Holy Place by sprinkling it on the veil. We know that the life of the animal is in the blood. Jesus had been taught the significance of this since childhood, and the time had come for Him to become the ultimate type of all the sacrificial antitypes. The humanity Christ had assumed at the incarnation shrank from the task, especially since it meant separation from His Father.
The struggle Christ was going through was real because the integrity of the Godhead hung in the balance before the watching universe. He could not use His divine foreknowledge to literally see through the portals of the tomb. The separation from His Father was wrenching His soul. In the same nature that we must fight the battle of faith, Christ chose to grasp the promises of God, and hold on to them by faith in His word. His faith triumphed when He finally could say, "Into Thy hand I commend My spirit." When we understand that He went through that struggle and separation for each one of us individually, like Mary, our hearts will be melted in gratitude, unless we refuse. Judas was disappointed that Christ would not fulfill his plans for an important position in the new government Judas coveted. Ironically, the gratitude Mary showed from her humble heart, is what tipped the indecision in Judas' heart. He decided that he would not believe in Christ since He allowed this woman to honor Him.
Peter's problem was different. He was blind to his true condition; he believed he would be loyal to Christ regardless of what happened. God later told His Laodicean church that He rebukes and chastens those He loves. Peter was given a simple test to help him see his true condition. What made the difference? Peter humbled his heart and let the rock he fell on break it. Judas must have felt a pull when Jesus responded to his betrayal kiss by saying, "Friend, do what you have come for" (Matt 26:50, NASB). Why didn't Judas repent like Peter? It's simple, he hardened his heart. It isn't more complicated than that.
May God give us humble hearts to receive His wonderful grace.
—Arlene Hill
Endnotes:
[1] Ellet J. Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, pp. 29-30 (Glad Tidings ed.).
[2] Ibid, p. 31.
[3] Waggoner, The Everlasting Covenant: God's Promises to Us, p. 41 (Glad Tidings ed.)
Thursday, June 2, 2016
SST #10 | Jesus in Jerusalem | 1888 Most Precious Message
Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic
The Book of Matthew
Lesson 10: "Jesus in Jerusalem"
Now we join Jesus on His last fateful journey to Jerusalem to be disfellowshipped by the true church of His day (remember, up until the Temple veil is rent, it is still the Temple of God's true people). It's a terrible feeling to be disfellowshipped by the true church. What hurt Jesus the most was not the physical pain of crucifixion but the awful sense of being "forsaken" by His Father and by His people.
When we come to the story of the cross we will see how He worked His way by faith from that "forsakenness" to joyous at-one-ment. If you ever feel "forsaken," you can retrace His steps into the sunlight of the Father's smile where you can see it too, by faith.
Think how on this final journey His heart is heavy with serious thought! Our minds search. We recall that some will live through the great time of trouble "without a mediator" [1] after the heavenly sanctuary has closed. If so, they are in the world today quietly bearing the cross with Jesus, humble people you and I might easily miss. The Gospel of Matthew is a prelude to living in 2016 A.D. Don't desire the top job; but do be faithful now.
THE MESSIAH'S ROYAL ENTRY (MATT. 21:1-11)
His public relations strategy was professional; He didn't want to die in obscurity. He wanted that cross to be lifted up so high that all would see what was happening. Only then could He "draw all to Himself" (John 12:32). Not self-aggrandizement but soul-saving was His burden.
We talk longingly of the great days of the "loud cry" yet to follow our "latter rain." God's public relations plans will be perfect when Christ's mission meets its final fulfillment before probation closes. But just as the disciples were greatly disappointed in how "Palm Sunday" led to crucifixion, so we may be surprised how the true "loud cry" that "lightens the earth with glory" may be a very self-humbling experience for all of God's true people.
Ellen White pinpoints the initial outpouring of the "latter rain" as the coming of the 1888 message of Christ's righteousness; our dear brethren had expected it to be great emotional upheavals that would be like spiritual thunderstorms. They were taken by surprise—it turned out to be humble, quiet Bible studies on Romans and Galatians by two unworthy young "messengers" with undiscerned "heavenly credentials." But the two let in opened windows of "new light" which to the old men became bitterly unwelcome.
In deep discernment, Ellen White perceived what was happening. Calvary's week was being re-played. Over a hundred times the next few years she likened the reception which that "most precious message" received as being a re-play of how the Jews received their Messiah. The last week of Jesus' life that we are studying this week becomes therefore a vital "present truth."
THE CURSING OF THE FIG TREE (MATT. 21:18-21)
We need to understand the good news encouragements in the account of the fig tree that was "cursed" (Matt. 21:19; Mark 11:12-14, 20-26). Christ's greatest disappointment was that the nation did not respond. He upbraided "the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent" (Matt. 11:20). He likened the nation to the unfruitful "fig tree planted in His vineyard. ... For three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none" (Luke 13:6-9).
The barren fig tree which Jesus cursed became a symbol representing not merely the mass of individual unrepentant Jews, but the corporate people which as a nation rejected Christ: "The cursing of the fig tree was an acted parable. That barren tree, flaunting its pretentious foliage in the very face of Christ, was a symbol of the Jewish nation. The Saviour desired to make plain to His disciples the cause and the certainty of Israel's doom." [2]
Only a day after Jesus cursed it, it "withered away." Sad; but grasp the positive thing Jesus said. If He curses a tree and it dies in 24 hours, if you through earnest prayer will bless a problem or frustration in your life for Him, it too will "wither away." In other words, your prayers for blessings will be as dramatically answered as was Jesus' prayer for a curse on that tree. But in your great rejoicing, be humble as you contemplate how little "fruit" your tree has borne, and let's be very careful about flouting "nothing but leaves" which elicit "amens" from the congregation but have no lasting substance.
But a prayer that has apparently been unanswered must not be forgotten. "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward" (Heb. 10:35) if for no other reason than this: the Father remembers that prayer better than you do. It will be answered for good when you may least expect it.
BY WHOSE AUTHORITY? (MATT. 21:23-27)
The Jewish leaders asked Him by whose authority He did these things? They were trying to get Him to say it was by God's authority. But they denied that God had sent Him. Jesus sought to link His authority with that of John the Baptist's credentials. He asked the leaders whether John's baptism of repentance was authorized by Heaven or man.
If they replied, by man's authority, the populace would turn against them because they all believed John was a prophet sent by Heaven. If they replied that John was sent by Heaven's authority, then they would have to concede that Christ's authority was from Heaven, because John was the Lamb's forerunner. So the leaders simply denied knowing John's authority.
We want to be very careful that we know how to recognize "Elijah"/John the Baptist, when the Lord sends him again. Every one of us without exception should walk in fear and trembling lest we make the same mistake the Jews did in the days of John the Baptist. Their "Elijah" came and went and they had no idea what had happened! Consequently, they missed their Messiah and crucified Him.
JESUS CONFRONTING CHURCH LEADERS (MATT. 21:12-14)
See how Jesus "confronted" the leaders of His day. Jesus went to the Temple to teach and heal.
We are led to ask: "Are there ever times when we, too, should challenge the establishment?" This question is not trivial nonsense. Just be sure you're right before you challenge God-ordained leaders, but remember that the time may come when faithfulness to Jesus will require a challenge to leadership. Keep step with Him! You, too, be crucified with Him.
—Paul E. Penno
Footnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 425.
[2] White, The Desire of Ages, p. 582.
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