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

Matthew 1:2 Leading to an everlasting covenant

Why does this genealogy of Jesus begin with Abraham?

   It has to do with a promise from God.  That promise goes back to around 2100 B.C. when a man named Abram (Abraham) was lamenting the fact he did not have a child.  God then told Abraham: “…[Your relative Eliezer] will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”  Scripture continues- [God] took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.”  Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15: 4-5).

   The situation took a turn when Abraham did not wait for the promise and rather had a child, Ishmael, with his wife’s maidservant, Hagar, at age 86.  Yet God did not cancel the promise.  When Abraham was 99 years old, God supported the promise: “…You will be the father of many nations” (Genesis 17:4).  Added to the promise was giving Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan.

   God kept His promise.  Regarding becoming the father of many nations, Abraham’s first son Ishmael fathered twelve sons who became patriarchs of twelve tribes, listed in Genesis 25:12-17 and in I Chronicles 1:29-31.  They settled to the southwest of what would become Israel, near the eastern border of Egypt.  (Makes sense to me since their mom was an Egyptian.)  There is mention of his descendants later on in Scripture, for example, Isaiah 42:11 states: “Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice…”  Kedar was Ishmael’s second son, and the name here surely refers to that tribe there over one thousand years later.  A statement by Josephus (Josephus, A.J. 1.12.4) suggests some of those tribes became nomadic.

   Then at age one hundred, Abraham has a son, Isaac, who was the heir promised to Abraham by God.  And Isaac would become a “father” of the great Hebrew nation, later called Israel.  And key for us all, Isaac would carry on what scholars call the Abrahamic covenant, which involved not only a great nation, yet also an everlasting covenant, which I will discuss after noting the promise of the land of Canaan.

   The Hebrew nation eventually settled into the land of Canaan for many years after their four centuries in Egypt.  But Hebrews over the centuries did experience the collapse of the northern kingdom, Israel, in 722 B.C., the exile in 586 B.C., the ransack of Jerusalem and Judah by the Romans in 70 A.D., and the subsequent banishment from their homeland for 1878 years, due to sins.  By God’s mercy, Israel was miraculously re-established in the 20th century, and Hebrews occupy territory in that land today.

   Yet in addition to all of these promises, God was making an even greater promise as He was establishing a covenant with Abraham.  In Genesis 17:7 and in Genesis 17:19, God calls the covenant which went through the line of Isaac an “everlasting covenant.”  Sounds like it could be a simple metaphor for a long lasting covenant.  Yet I think there is more to that phrase.  The promise was also foreshadowing the Messiah!  The event of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son illustrates this.

   The bottom line: God made a covenant with Abraham, and though several promises were involved, the eternal promise involved the Messiah.  And who was the Messiah?  Matthew is saying Jesus is the Messiah, by calling him Jesus Christ.  (Messiah is the same word as Christ, the former being Hebrew and the latter being Greek.  They both mean Anointed One.)  Thus for a genealogy of Jesus, starting with Abraham is totally fitting because, first, the Messiah had to come into the world at a historical time and place as a Hebrew.  Second, the covenant God made with Abraham involved a promise which would carry through another covenant, a temporary one between God and the Hebrews mediated through Moses, and then finally find fulfillment in the “everlasting” covenant which is offered by Jesus.  God worked to prepare people for the Messiah all those years ago by making a gargantuan promise to Abraham of an everlasting covenant.  As Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).

Hunter

Question for pondering:

                                           What has Jesus promised us?

Matthew 1:1-17 A radical genealogy

   A genealogy full of ancient Hebrew names?  Ironically this was an amazing manner for Matthew to begin his book.  The literary nature is established from the start: historical.  Yes the content of what is to come is going to involve the supernatural, however the author is tactfully stating from the start that this is no fantasy story.  This is a story about Jesus Christ, who was God incarnate, and His family ancestry is recorded back to Abraham.

   Ancient Hebrew genealogies were paternal, meaning they only included males in the lineage.  Yet Matthew includes five women in his genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (Uriah’s wife), and Mary.

   What is the point of this radical move which would have offended the majority of Israelites two thousand years ago?  Matthew was showing that women served God, including women who were not Hebrew and women who had shady reputations, deserved or undeserved.  Women were part of the glorious endeavor to usher in the Messiah.  God’s plan, which involved His divine intervention at every juncture, did require His enlistment of people who were willing to do His will, such as Mary.  The keen author, Joseph Kelly, in his book The Origins of Christmas, argued that Matthew wanted to show that Mary, who had the reputation of being a mother who became pregnant out of wedlock, was not alone among women who did not fit the perfect Israelite idea of royal family for the Messiah.  Radical indeed.

   This seemingly boring genealogy record is foreshadowing that something unexpected is going to happen, something huge.

Hunter

Question for pondering:

1.) What is something good which has happened in your life which was utterly unexpected during this difficult year?

Jesus Loves Children

   When I was in the 5th grade, my special teacher, Mrs. Eckert, asked for a volunteer to read a story for some 2nd grade students at our school in the coming week.  One of the 2nd grade teachers thought her students would appreciate hearing from an older student.  My classmates became quite quiet after my teacher’s request, but I raised my hand and volunteered.  My teacher told me she would tell me soon on what day I would read.  Then she asked me to pick a book from her bookshelf, and I picked a fictional book on Paul Bunyan.  I read it once at home to prepare.

   A few days later, a young girl appeared at the door of our classroom and said her teacher was ready for the reader.  With a perplexed look I looked at my teacher, and she looked at me and said, “Oh, did I forget to tell you today is the day?”  She had.  I said I had the book with me and that I could do it.  Yet I felt overwhelmed.  After walking out of my classroom, I even started walking in the wrong direction down the hall.  Fortunately the young girl who was escorting me was patient.

   Though I was not as prepared as I wanted to be, reading the book to that class of second graders went well.  The key point which stuck with me was the fact those young students were all so attentive.  At one point when I was reading, I looked up and saw all of those second graders quietly looking straight at me.  They intently listened to me read that entire book.

   After I returned to my class, my teacher apologized to me for forgetting to tell me the date, and she later complimented me, saying the 2nd grade teacher said I did a good job.

   As a follower of Jesus, this memory is important for me, because it reminds me of how open children are to learning.  When a child is in a store, often times he or she will grab something from a shelf.  Why?  Because he or she wants to experience it.  That is a good thing.  Children desire to learn.

   The tragedy in American culture at this time is that our culture is full of much sickness which is hurting our children.  From sexual immorality, to violence, to drugs, to cussing, to flat out meanness, our culture is saturated with sin.  And access to all kinds of evil is easy on the Internet, cruel stuff I was never exposed to at all in my youth.  Many young people have easy access to such sick stuff right on their electronic devices.  And our culture simply is becoming more and more of a bad influence on our youth of all ages.

   So a common practice by parents is to keep their children heavily occupied in school and extracurricular activities.  But such nonstop activities can keep kids from the blessing of simply being a kid.  When I was young, I had activities, yet I also had plenty of time for simply playing with friends outside, or playing alone.  Creativity was often fostered in such non-structured time.  I would develop my own activities.  Fortunately, in this pandemic, a number of families are spending more time together doing activities as a family.  How super.  But dangers still lurk for a number of children.

   Jesus loves all people, and Jesus loves all children.  Thus Jesus does not want anyone getting hurt.  Jesus was totally clear about His desire that children be protected!  In the summer of 2019, I spent a day at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.  In one exhibit, there is a model of a millstone which was used for crushing olives to make olive oil.  I was fascinated by the exhibit, because in the past four years I have learned of how important olive oil was to people 2000 years ago.

   Regarding the millstone model: It was huge.  The warning from Jesus, recorded in Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2 could not be any clearer.  People who hurt children are going to be punished, because Jesus wants all children protected, physically and spiritually in their heart.  (Eternal salvation is given to anyone who truly believes in Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord.)

   In this day and age where a landslide of immorality is taking place, what can we do?  We can love children by being Christ-like, by telling children about Jesus, and by teaching children about the teachings of Jesus.  He is the Savior who died on a cross for them.

   This pandemic of 2020 has been stressful for everyone.  Thankfully children on the whole have not been in the direct path of harm from COVID, however a number of families have had people die, and the social distancing and the economic hardships have been rough on children.  Now as always, children need the love and hope offered from Jesus.  May we continue to teach the children the Biblical truths about Jesus that they may have the love of Jesus in their hearts and live by that love, and be blessed!

Hunter

Jesus is the eternal High Priest

   Hebrews is a book of the Bible I cherish.  Studying it during the summer, the term “high priest” kept sticking out for me.  Priests served in a crucial position in the community of Israel under the Mosaic Covenant.  Priests had to be in the lineage of Aaron, so it was a select number of Levites who had that privilege and responsibility.  We learn from the Old Testament that sacrificing animals, including daily sacrifices and sacrifices on a mass level during the three yearly festivals, was a primary role of priests.  From an altar in front of the tabernacle starting when the Israelites were in the desert, to an altar in an area in front of the temple when the first temple and the second temple were in place, priests killed animals as a sacrifice to God in order to gain temporary forgiveness for the people.  Just as Moses had been a mediator of the covenant between God and the Hebrews, priests were mediators between God and the people as they offered sacrifices for the sins of the people.

   Plus there was the selection of the single “high priest.”  Though the high priest made sacrifices throughout the year, one pinnacle duty of the high priest was the sacrifices he would carry out on the Day of Atonement.  Prescribed in Leviticus 16, a bull was sacrificed by the high priest for his own sins and the sins of his family, and then two goats were sacrificed for the sins of all of the people.

   Hebrews explains why Israelite priests no longer should make animal sacrifices.  The reason: Animal sacrifices merely gave temporary forgiveness.  In Hebrews 5:3, the author states it was necessary for the high priest to offer sacrifices for their own sins, revealing priests were not perfect.  And in Hebrews 7:11, the author bluntly states: “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come – one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?”  The sacrifice of animals did not perfect the priests who were sinners, and those countless sacrifices did not perfect the people.  The animals were not a perfect or permanent sacrifice, rather a temporary sacrifice.

   Yet the Mosaic Law served an important purpose since I think God had the intention of using it to show people their need of a perfect and permanent sacrifice.  Thus the Mosaic Law leads to the high priesthood of Jesus.  First, He is perfect, being without sin, as stated in Hebrews 4:15.  Second, His priesthood is permanent: “Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood” (Hebrews 7:23-24).

   And the radical revelation in this book is that Jesus was both the High Priest and also the sacrifice!  “… He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself” (Hebrews 7:27).  Being the perfect and permanent High Priest, He was likewise the perfect and permanent sacrifice.  “He did not enter by the means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).

   Though Jesus does not seem to qualify as a high priest under the Mosaic Law, since Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, the author of Hebrews gives a detailed explanation that Jesus is the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, as was prophesied.

   All of us have sinned, thus all of us are in need of forgiveness, because God is Holy, and He does not commune with those who are not holy.  Eternal forgiveness is available because Jesus, the eternal High Priest, and the Lamb of God, died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the perfect and permanent atoning sacrifice for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death.  No more sacrifice is needed!  “…because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14).  People who believe in Jesus will be transformed to be holy and will dwell forever with Jesus.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life in heaven with Him!

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Keep on Loving All People - Jesus does!

   Before receiving Jesus thirty years ago, I lived in Annandale, Virginia, in a neighborhood where there were folks of a variety of ethnic groups.  There I had a friend, Derick, who is African-American.  He had a great smile.  His passion was basketball, and he and our 6th grade teacher had much fun jousting with each other that year when the Washington Bullets played the Seattle SuperSonics in the championship series.  Our teacher, Mrs. Henderson, was a transplant from Seattle.  That was the beginning of a number of blessed friendships I have had with folks who are African-American.

   In this year of the pandemic catastrophe, we have had another tragedy involving racism, violence, and hatred.  Racism is a sin.  God has revealed in Genesis 1:27 that all people were made in the “image of God,” both males and females, which involves all people having a soul.  Scripture reveals all people came from Adam and Eve.  And Scripture reveals in Galatians 3:28 that no Christian is superior over another, which was the way God created the human race in the first place.  And hate is a sin.

   From the Samaritan woman at the well, to the robber on the cross next to him, Jesus loves all people.  Jesus loves all people to the extent that He died for all people, all people of every ethnic group of all time, as the substitute for our sins.  Christ died for every single human being!  Now all have the opportunity to receive His gift of eternal life.

   Once I was unemployed and desperately in need of a job.  Filling out a job application for a place I really wanted to work, I got to the question, “What is your race?”  I checked “Other,” and then wrote “human.”

   Tragically we are at a time where much sin and much division haunts our culture.  Why?  I am convicted the reason is that many people, for decades, have ignored, distorted, or even rejected the Scriptures, which are the sacred writings from God.  In the 1990’s, there was a huge movement arguing the Scriptures could not be taken literally.  When a number of Christians are disputing the authenticity of the witness of Christ, their outreach to people in the culture who are not in the Church will fail, because people are not going to embrace a muddled god, who is not really God.

   So what can we followers of Jesus do?  Keep loving God and keep loving people.  Being such a loving person requires receiving love from Jesus.  And it requires growing in the love of Jesus, thus we must be students of Scripture.  And remember, telling people the Gospel is always loving people!

   In my years of following Jesus I have seen much love towards people of all ethnic groups.  When I was a new Christian, I worked a job in Washington, D.C.  There was a fellow employee there, Sheila, who is African-American, and a longtime Christian.  She was so caring for me, like a sister.  I remember once I treated her to lunch, and that one hour made my entire week.

   How about Bill McCartney?  Attending Promise Keepers in 1995 and 1996, I learned of Coach McCartney’s passion for racial reconciliation.  He loves people of all ethnic groups.  And at those revivals I got to hear from many great African-American preachers such as Tony Evans and E.V. Hill.

   The first Christian music album I ever purchased was “Jesus Freak” by dcTalk in 1996.  That one album had a huge influence on the Christian community at that time.  One of my favorite songs on the album is all about racial reconciliation.

   I served as a youth minister for an internship under an African-American pastor who was truly special.  I have served as a college pastor under a young man from Africa who was the student leader of the group.  And every church I have ever been an active parishioner in had at least a few people of various ethnic groups.  We are all family.

   And praise be to God I have given love to people of countless ethnic groups.  Going back to Promise Keepers, a highlight for me of the final one I attended in 1998 was being asked to pray with a young man who is Latino-American whose parents were going through a divorce.  I will never forget that.

   Many Christians have been loving people of all ethnic groups for 2,000 years.  And a number of Christians have been pioneers for racial harmony.

   Granted there have been some Christians who have hampered racial harmony over the years, just as there are divisions among Christians to the present day regarding other areas of morality.  Even genuine Christians have different interpretations of the Bible.  For example, a number of ministers and leaders of various Christian denominations in the south in the 1800’s interpreted the Bible as permitting slavery.  Yet the abolitionist movement was fueled by Biblical conviction.   Truly, many Christians are the pioneer lovers.

   So keep loving people indeed.  Hate and hypocrisy is going to continue, tragically.  Yet God instructs us: “…overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).  Rely on the Scriptures, since they contain revelations from God.  And rely on the Holy Spirit, who will enable a follower of Jesus to be loving.  No need to shy away from identifying sin!  If you love someone, you do not want them to get hurt.  Sin always results in hurt, thus you do not want people you love to sin.

   In my view, Christians often get treated like Scripture: ignored, distorted, or rejected.  Yet when disaster strikes, there is a unique opportunity to be a light for Jesus, who is the Messiah.  Keep being a pioneer of love, as hard as it can be.  Keep loving all people!  Jesus does!

Hunter Irvine

Jesus wants to save us!

   During my worship time in my room yesterday, I was reading the passage of Luke 23: 35-39.  I started intensely pondering how a number of people insulted Jesus after He was nailed to the cross.  Luke records Jesus was mocked by religious rulers, Roman soldiers, and a man who had robbed who was also being crucified then.  I add Matthew 27: 39-44 reveals some people passing by “hurled insults,” and that mocking from religious rulers was extensive.  Also, Matthew informs us that at the start, both men who had committed robbery were insulting Jesus.  Thanks to Luke, we learn that one of the robbers had a change of heart.

   Now the insults recorded centered on the point that if Jesus is the Messiah, then He should save Himself.  The tone was mocking!  The only exception is the one robber who later got rebuked by the robber who had a change of heart, who possibly had some dim hope Jesus could still save them.  Those individuals seem convinced that since Jesus had already suffered beatings, a crown of thorns, an agonizing death-sentence march, and being nailed to a cross, that He was unable to rescue Himself from the execution.

   However, I pondered how Jesus could have saved Himself.  Being God the Son, just as He walked on water and brought His friend Lazarus back from the dead, He could have rescued Himself from that cross.  (And note Matthew 26: 53-54).  Yet He stayed there.  Dying for the sins of people was His mission.  Jesus allowed Himself to be murdered so He could be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of people.  The consequence of sins is physical and spiritual death, and Jesus died as the substitute for that punishment.  Why?  Because Jesus loves people, and He endured the ultimate suffering to save us!

   Consider a time when you did something for someone you love which brought hardship upon yourself.  Was it worth it?

+ Thank You Jesus for being willing to suffer more than I can comprehend by taking our sins in Your heart and dying as the substitute for people.

Hunter