Sunday, November 29, 2020
Matthew 1:18 The Holy Spirit impregnates Mary miraculously
Sunday, November 22, 2020
Matthew 1:16 The Anointed One
This genealogy concludes with the key subject: Jesus! Note Matthew states His name as Jesus and adds: “who is called Christ.”
What does Christ means?
Christ is the Greek word for “Anointed One.” Messiah is the Hebrew word for “Anointed One.” So what was this “One” anointed with?
Under the Mosaic covenant, a person was anointed with olive oil. I had some olive oil on my dinner this evening, and it served many purposes in Ancient Israel, including oil for lamps and being a healthy flavoring to food. Now for the priests the olive oil for anointing included other ingredients added in. Under the Mosaic Law, there was a “sacred” anointing oil recipe which is recorded in Exodus 30: 22-24.
So who was anointed?
People in three positions were anointed: priests, kings, and most likely prophets.
Regarding priests, the LORD said to Moses, as is recorded in Exodus 30:30-31: “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.’”
Regarding kings, we see kings being anointed with olive oil, such as David in I Samuel 16:13 and Jehu in 2 Kings 9:1-6.
Regarding prophets, Scripture records the anointing with oil of one prophet, Elisha in I Kings 19:16.
Incredibly, the Christ turned out to be all three! As we learned last week, Christ is the King of kings. As we learned from the book of Hebrews in the posting in September, Jesus is the eternal high priest. And a teaching for another day is the fact Jesus is the Prophet foretold in Deuteronomy.
And the Anointed One was expected. God told Daniel the Anointed One would come, and even gave a time period which used Hebrew time lingo, which I learned from a Jewish Christian in a great book I read many years ago by Stan Tilchin. At the time of Christ, people were anticipating the Messiah, which is shown in New Testament passages such as in John 1:41.
I conclude this message saying we learn from the book of Hebrews that in addition to the Christ being the eternal high priest, the Christ was the Sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed Himself. Incredible.
Thus I close this teaching this morning telling the Good News that Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone. Jesus was the substitute for the wages of sin which is spiritual death. And then Jesus was resurrected. If you do not know Jesus, the Anointed One, as your Savior and Lord, you can right now. All you need to do is believe in Jesus. To believe is to receive, and if you believe in Jesus, you will have eternal life in heaven with Him.
Hunter Irvine
Question for pondering:
1.) Nowhere in Scripture is it shown Jesus being anointed with olive oil. What was Jesus anointed with?
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Matthew 1:6-15 Leading to an everlasting King
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Dr. Bill Watson of Colorado Christian University
I give a personal note here, which is quite appropriate as I am posting these messages on the first chapter of Matthew, considering that Dr. William Watson was a Jewish man who turned to Jesus on a beach after hearing the Gospel from some Christians doing beach evangelism.
Dr. Watson, the incredible professor of history at Colorado Christian University, passed away unexpectantly on Thursday. A loss for the entire CCU community, there will be a void at CCU which will never be filled. When I heard the news, I thought of something Dr. Watson told me in 2017 about a plan his wife had for them upon his retirement. I have so much sympathy for his wife and family.
I never had Dr. Watson for a class, yet being someone who was on campus often even in the summer, I talked with him sometimes. Dr. Watson invited me to sit in on any of his classes, which was an incredible honor. I did once, and his teaching enthusiasm was enough to take the roof off.
Dr. Watson lived his calling. At some point in his time as a university student, Dr. Watson started considering attending seminary with the aim of becoming a pastor. Yet Dr. Ron Rietveld, of California State University, Fullerton, had a life changing influence on Dr. Watson, aiding him to realize his ministry calling was to be a teacher of history. And carry out that passionate calling he did. And being an expert in many areas, Dr. Watson was passionate that the Bible is true history, and Dr. Watson had a heart for witnessing Christ.
Dr. Watson was the one responsible for bringing Dr. Ron Rietveld to speak at CCU in February of 2008 on the faith of Abraham Lincoln. Thus Dr. Watson ended up indirectly blessing me since that event was used by God to seal my call to study at CCU.
To be personal, my favorite memories are when Dr. Watson was the first person I ever checked a book out to in the CCU Library after gaining a job there. I forgot to de-magnetize the book, and the security beeper went off. Dr. Watson yelled out, “I am not stopping,” and he marched out the door.
Then there was the time I was sitting next to Dr. Watson when the ambassador to the U.S. from Israel was a guest speaker at CCU. Dr. Watson was asked to give the opening prayer, and he did so in Hebrew! It was powerful.
Several years after my graduation when I was on campus, Dr. Watson was walking home for lunch, and he stopped to talk with me. I told him I was discouraged since I had been unemployed for such a long time. He gave me a lead regarding a position which was only a temporary and part-time, yet I got that job, and it was one of the best ministry positions I have served in. He was a blessing. I am thankful I had the opportunity to know him, and I am thankful to God he is in heaven.
Hunter