Jesus Christ is alive and living in the hearts and lives of billions of Christians. I am interested in what He is saying and doing in the lives of those who know and love Him and interested in being a familiar and trusted blogger about Him
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MAY 27, 2019, 9:59 PM Ur well come ,how a u doing these days I want to sell the house, no buyers are coming around yet. It is stressful. Pray for a quick sale so we don't move and leave it vacant. I Will continue praying.Father in the name of Jesus ,I pray that u bring the buyers to come buy the house of my brother ,Father, he he give testimony and people shall praise ur name ,a men. Dear brother trust in Jesus the buyers will come, the Bible said fear not. Thank you. I believe you. I will not fear or stress over this situation. Be have a blessed day or night l prophecies that these days you will have peace MAY 29, 2019, 10:43 AM JUN 11, 2019, 11:19 AM Thanks a lot to have a accepted my friendly request. Be blessed JUN 14, 2019, 1:39 PM Hi my brother ,have sold the house? Am praying for u No, still haven't sold it. My brother don't wary God is on ur side he go on make a way for u,He has the final say. Stay in blessing. A men JUN 18, 2019, 9:54 AM JUN 23, 2019, 10:58 AM Hello my brother JUL 6, 2019, 9:09 PM My brother, how a I doing A men SEP 17, 2019, 4:41 AM Today, the Lord will be gracious unto you and bless you beyond your expectations. Those who are planning your downfall and patiently waiting to hear bad news about you will be perpetually disgraced and disappointed in Jesus' Name! Heaven will cause a serious pandemonium in the camp of your enemies, and they will use their weapons against themselves to slaughter themselves into pieces in Jesus' Mighty Name! Good Morning. Have a grace filled Tuesday. OCT 11, 2019, 5:36 AM Today I pray that your life will be a daily miracle that cannot be explained by your adversaries. Every yoke of many years and those problems that have defied all solutions shall mysteriously bow out of your life in Jesus' Name, Your name shall be changed for good. Men shall always have a reason to congratulate you. Those lying in wait to celebrate your downfall, error and failure shall all be disappointed. The contradictions and difficulties of life shall not submerge you, You shall overcome life challenges, God shall move over your situation and announce your name for good. God will plunge you into realm of amazing testimonies in Jesus' Mighty Name. Good morning. Have a grace filled Friday!. OCT 11, 2019, 11:16 AM Hours of Grace and Mercy October 11th, 2019 The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and they are safe. The Almighty God shall keep you safe and secured under the shadows of His wings. Whatever is due to you shall be delivered to you. Your days shall be filled with favour and prosperity. You shall be victorious over that challenges. No evil shall befall you and your household. Amongst the great men and women in this world you shall never be found missing because surely God will perfect all that concerns you. Go and enjoy favour in Jesus name. The Lord who remembered Sarah for good and brought her laughter will remember you and bring you laughter in Jesus name. Everyone who sees and hears what the Lord will do for you today will laugh with you. No matter the hardship in the land, you will laugh in Jesus mighty name....... Good morning! Shalom... OCT 11, 2019, 12:57 PM My brother how a you doing,
IN CONCLUSION I pray that God will use the encouraging words from Pastor Masereka to me to bless you, the readers of this blog - Rick Livermore
6: Healed for the Sake of Holiness (John 5:1–18) 1
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
This passage from God’s word—John 5:1–18—is amazing in what it shows us about Jesus; and how we should think about the fact that, in spite of Jesus’ power to heal, our world continues to be shot through with sin and disease and calamity and death. It is a very rich text, and I pray that God will open my mouth, and your mind and heart, and lead us into Christ-exalting truth.
First the setting. Verses 1–5,
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
Jesus at the Pool
Three observations.
First, Jesus is in Jerusalem again, and he makes a point to go to a pool where people with diseases and disabilities wait for the troubling of the waters, because healings happen in this pool. Jesus walks in among this crowd of people.
What Happened to Verse 4?
Second, we notice that there is no verse 4 in the ESV (or the NIV, or the NASB). But it’s there in the old Authorized King James version. Why is it missing? The answer is that it’s not there in the oldest and best manuscripts. There are thousands of Greek manuscripts or fragments of Greek manuscripts and the way we arrive at our amazingly reliable Greek and Hebrew and English versions is that these texts are compared with each other in painstaking and complex ways so that when some manuscripts have different wording, we can tell almost all the time which is original. And in the few places where we can’t, there is no significant historical or doctrinal issue at stake.
Here it seems that somewhere along the way, a copyist drew a marginal note of explanation into the actual text. Verse 7 begs for an explanation. It says, “The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.’” It seems like only a few were healed (or maybe only one), when the water was “stirred up,” and if you were too slow, you missed out.
So verse 4 in the King James explains (you can see it in your footnote): It says that the invalids were “waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water; whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.” That helps make sense out of verse 7 where the man says he can’t get to the pool in time.
Of course, this explanation may be exactly right. But since it’s missing from the earliest manuscripts and has other marks of being added later, the more recent versions omit it so that we have a version that is as close to the original as possible. How the pool worked is not essential to the story. The fact that Jesus worked is essential to the story.
A Multitude of People
The third observation in these first verses is that there was a multitude of people in these five colonnades. Verse 3: “In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.” That is going to be important when we get to verse 13 that says, “Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.” Jesus did not even stay around for the man to find out who it was who healed him. Why not? We will come to that in a few moments. It had something to do with the crowd.
The Focus Turns to Jesus
Now in verses 6–9 the focus is on the revelation of Jesus. What kind of person is he?
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
It seems to me that John is showing us something about Jesus’ knowledge, his compassion, and his power.
Jesus’ Knowledge
First, his knowledge. Verse 6: “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time.” Jesus knew this man’s situation without having to be told. Thirty-eight years he had been paralyzed and unable to walk, and perhaps all of that time he had been brought here to the pool to wait—ever-hoping for some kind of miracle. Jesus knew his situation.
When you know Jesus, this is the kind of person you know. A person who knows you perfectly—knows everything about you, inside and out, and all you have ever felt or thought or done. “You discern my thoughts from afar. . . . Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:2–4). The more you know about Jesus, the more precious this truth becomes.
Jesus’ Compassion
Second, the compassion of Jesus—this is one of the other things we know that makes his knowledge of us more precious. Jesus chooses to go to this pool. He did not have to. It didn’t sneak up on him. He didn’t stumble by. He knew what he was doing. He was going to this pool the same way he went to Samaria to find the woman at the well, and the same way he went to sign-seeking, prophet-dishonoring Galilee to find a kingly official who had a sick son. Jesus moves toward need, not comfort. Toward brokenhearted sinners, not the self-righteous.
Notice that when he asks the sick man in verse 6, “Do you want to be healed?” what the man said was not, “Yes.” Instead, he explains his tragic situation. Verse 7: “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus asks no more questions. In response to that description of his sorrows, Jesus acts. Verse 8: “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
So it looks like this healing is not a response to anything religious or faithful about the man. It looks like Jesus healed him simply because his situation was so miserable for so long. In other words, it looks like it came from Jesus’ compassion, not the man’s faith or righteousness.
I counted at least nine times in the Gospels where it says Jesus was moved with compassion or pity. So not only does Jesus know you perfectly, but he is easily moved by the misery you feel. His therapies are not always what we want. But that’s not owing to his heartlessness. He is not heartless. He is compassionate to us in our misery. He is a sympathetic High Priest for those who will trust him.
Jesus’ Power
So his knowledge of us is complete, and his compassion toward us is great. And now his power is immediate and sovereign. Verse 8–9: “Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.” The words “at once” signify the immediacy of Jesus’ power. When he speaks, diseased muscles and bones obey. And they obey “at once.” This is John exulting again in the sovereign power of Jesus the same way he did in John 4:52–53 where the official’s son was healed at exactly the seventh hour 15 miles away when Jesus said the words.
So far then, John’s aim is that we see the complete knowledge, the heartfelt compassion, and the sovereign power of Jesus. This is how you get to know Jesus. This is how you build a relationship with Jesus. You meet him here in his word. And you speak to him. You tell him what you think and feel about his knowledge and compassion and power. You ask him to shape your thinking and your feeling around this sight of his glory. Then you walk out of this room, or out of your morning encounter with him, into the day and live in the fellowship of this Jesus. Not an imaginary one. Not a self-made one. But the real living Jesus revealed with absolute authority in the words of his apostle.
“Now That Day Was the Sabbath”
Now at this point in verse 9, John says something that feels abrupt. He says, “Now that day was the Sabbath.” We are all thinking about how magnificent Jesus is, and how happy the healed man must be. And then John says: “It happened on the Sabbath.” And we pause and say, “Uh oh.” Now what? The question this raises is: Is that what this story is really going to be about? Is this going to turn into a conflict over what you are allowed to do on the Sabbath? Is John going to shift from the glory of Jesus to the ground rules of the Sabbath?
The answer is no. The Sabbath issue is raised, but it’s raised in a way that amazingly keeps the focus on the glory of Jesus. Watch what John does.
Forged in the Fires of Conflict
Jesus knows what he has done. He healed a man on the Sabbath and told him to carry his bed as a sign and celebration that he is whole. He knows this will create conflict. Conflict in the ministry of Jesus is the furnace where the steel of his identity is forged. In the fires of conflict, his glory is made to shine. So here it comes. We will see part of it today and part of it next time we take up this text.
Is This a Random Miracle?
Verses 10–13:
10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.
Now notice what is most remarkable here. Jesus healed and disappeared before the man could find out who he was. He didn’t even know who healed him. Does this mean Jesus had no intention of dealing with this man’s soul? Was he content just to do a random miracle and leave the man in ignorance as to where it came from?
No. And we know this because in verse 14 it was Jesus who found the man, not the man who found Jesus: “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.’” Jesus had no intention of walking away from this man and leaving him with nothing more than a healed body.
“I Have Healed You to Make You Holy”
Notice two things. At the end of verse 13, the reason Jesus walked away from the man was that there was a crowd there: “Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.” The place was filled with sick people and, no doubt those who cared for them. Had he stayed there after healing one man there would have been a tumult of miracle-seeking. This is not the main thing Jesus is after.
So notice, secondly, how this is confirmed in verse John 5:14. Jesus seeks out the man in the temple and tells him the real issue in his healing. “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.’” What’s the issue? The issue is holiness mainly, not health. “I have healed you to make you holy.”
“Turn from Sin to Me”
Do you see this? “Sin no more. Stop sinning. My aim in healing your body is the healing of your soul. I have given you a gift. It’s free. It came first, before my command. You didn’t earn it. You weren’t good enough for it. I chose you freely. And I healed you. Now, live in this power. Let the gift of healing, the gift of my free grace, be a means to your holiness.”
And yes, he warns him that, if he turns away, and mocks this gift, or makes an idol out of his health, and embraces sin as his way of life, he will perish. I take that—final judgment—to be the “worse thing” (in verse 14) that will happen because there aren’t many natural things worse than the 38 years this man endured, and because in verses 28–29, Jesus says, “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
In other words: “I have healed you that you may be holy, that you may stop doing evil, and that you may not rise to the resurrection of judgment, but to the resurrection of life. I have pointed you to myself as a life-giver. I heal in more ways than one. Don’t turn from me to a life of sin.”
He Healed Only One
The implications of this are huge for the diseases and disabilities that we deal with today. Jesus walked into a huge “multitude of invalids” according to verse 3. And he heals one man. Just one. And disappears before even that man can know who he was. He leaves hundreds of invalids behind unhealed. Then he finds the man in a less conspicuous place and puts all the focus on holiness. “Sin no more.”
The point is this: In the first coming of the Son of God into the world, we receive foretastes of his healing power. The full healing of all his people and all their diseases and disabilities awaits the second coming of Christ. And the aim of these foretastes which we receive now is to call us to faith and holiness.
Healing Is the Exception, Not the Rule—For Now
Most people who suffer from disabilities in this life will have them to the day they die. And all of us, till Jesus comes again, will die of something. Here and there, some are healed. We believe in miracles. But even though Jesus had all the power to heal, he did not usher in the final day of perfect wholeness. His ministry points to that day. But while this age of groaning lasts (Romans 8:23), healing is the exception, not the rule. And that is not because we are weak in faith. To be sure, we might see more miracles if we expected more and believed more.
But Jesus left hundreds unhealed at the pool of Bethesda. And told the one man he did heal, who had not even believed on him—to wake up. I am pursuing your holiness. The main issue in this age till Jesus comes back is that we meet him—meet him—in our brokenness, and receive the power of his forgiveness to pursue holiness. In this calling to faith and holiness, the disabled often run faster and farther than many of us who have our legs and arms.
And in the mentally disabled, we simply don’t know how far they are running. Perhaps farther than we think. Jesus knows. Jesus knows everything. And he is compassionate. And he is sovereign. May the Lord open your eyes to know Jesus personally, as one who knows you, and has compassion on you, and is sovereign over your body and your soul, and the one who has come with saving and healing power first for the sake of your holiness, and then finally for the sake of your everlasting health.
In my New International Version Celebrate Recovery Bible Subject Index in the back, the above passage mentions John 5:14 as the Health effect of Sin along with all the following other Effects Of Sin: 2
In my New International Version Study Bible the notes for John 5:14 read as follows: something worse the eternal consequences of sin are worse than any physical ailment.3
2 New International Version Celebrate Recovery Bible 2007 by John Baker published by Zondervan
3 New International Version Study Bible 1995 General Editor Kenneth Barker, Associate Editors Donald Burdick, John Stek, Walter Wessel and Ronald Youngblood published by Zondervan
Sin offering The sin offering among the Jews was the sacrifice in which the ideas of propitiation and of atonement for sin were most distinctly marked. The ceremonial of the sin offering is described in Lev 4 and Lev 6. The trespass offering is closely connected with the sin offering in Leviticus, but at the same time clearly distinguished from it, being in some cases offered with it as a distinct part of the same sacrifice; as, for example, in the cleansing of the leper. Lev 14. The distinction of ceremonial clearly indicates a difference in the idea of the two sacrifices. The nature of that difference is still a subject of great controversy. We find that the sin offerings were—
1. Regular.
(a) For the whole people, at the New Moon, Passover, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets and Feast of Tabernacles, Numb 28:15-29:38. besides the solemn offering of the two goats on the Great Day of Atonement. Lev 16
(b) For the priests and Levites at their consecration, Exod 29:10-14, 36 besides the yearly sin offering (a, bullock) for the high priest on the Great Day of Atonement. Lev 16:2
2. Special.
For any sin of "ignorance" and the like recorded in Lev 4 and Lev 5. It is seen that in the law most of the sins which are not purely ceremonial are called sins of "ignorance," see Heb 9:7 and in Num 15:30 it is expressly said that while such sins call be atoned for by offerings, "the soul that doeth aught presumptuously " (Heb. with a high hand) "shall be cut off from among his people." "His iniquity shall he upon him." Comp. Heb 10:20 But here are sufficient indications that the sins here called "of ignorance" are more strictly those of "negligence" or "frailty" repented of by the unpunished offender, as opposed to those of deliberate and unrepentant sin. It is clear that two classes of sacrifices, although distinct, touch closely upon each other. It is also evident that the sin offering was the only regular and general recognition of sin in the abstract and accordingly was for more solemn and symbolical in it's ceremonial; the trespass offering was confined to special cases, most of which related to the doing of some material damage, either to the holy things or to man. Josephus declares that the sin offering is presented by those "who fall into sin in ignorance." and the trespass offering by "one who has sinned and is conscious of his sin. But has no one to convict him thereof." Without attempting to decide so difficult and so controverted a question, we may draw the following conclusions. First, that the sin offering was for the more solemn and comprehensive of the two sacrifices. Secondly, that the sin offering looked more to the guilt of the sin done, irrespective of its consequences, while the trespass offering looked to the evil consequences of sin, either against the service of God or against man, and to the duty of atonement, as far as atonement was possible. Thirdly, that in the sin offering especially we find symbolized the acknowledgment of sinfulness as inherent in man, and of the need of expiation by sacrifice to renew the broken covenant between man and God. In considering this subject, it must he remembered that the sacrifices of the law had a temporal as well as a spiritual significance and effect. They restored sin offender to his place in the commonwealth of Israel; they were therefore an atonement to the King of Israel for the infringement of his low. --William Smith, Smith's Bible Dictionary
G2378. θυσία thusia; gen. thusias, fem. noun from thuō (G2380), to sacrifice. The act of sacrificing or offering.
(I) The act and rite of sacrificing (Matt. 9:13; 12:7; Heb. 9:26; 10:5, 8 quoted from Ps. 40:6, 7; 11:4); of an expiatory sacrifice for sin (Eph. 5:2; Heb. 5:1; 7:27; 8:3; 9:9, 23; 10:1, 11, 12, 26).
(II) By metonymy, the thing sacrificed, victim, the flesh of victims, part of which was burned on the altar and part given to the priests (Mark 9:49 [cf. Lev. 2:13]; Mark 12:33; Luke 13:1; Acts 7:41, 42; see Lev. 2; 3). In 1 Cor. 10:18, “those who eat of the victims (or animals) sacrificed” (a.t.), as was done by the priests and persons offering the sacrifices (Sept.: Ex. 34:15; Deut. 12:27 [cf. Lev. 8:31; Deut. 12:6, 7]). Of birds as a sin offering (Luke 2:24 [cf. Lev. 12:6]). Metaphorically (1 Pet. 2:5, “spiritual sacrifices” [cf. Ps. 51:19; Rom. 12:1]).
(III) Metaphorically, of service, obedience, praise offered to God, an offering, oblation (Phil. 2:17; 4:18). In Heb. 13:15, 16, “sacrifice of praise” means offering of praise. See Sept.: Ps. 107:22; 116:17 (cf. Ps. 50:23).
(IV) The Levitical system of sacrifices was the typological analogy of redemption by Christ. In the Jewish sacrifices we see an illustration for apostolic forms of teaching regarding redemption. We see the Jewish sacrificial system fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s being sacrificed as the Lamb of God for the purpose of taking away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The sin offering became the ultimate sacrifice. Eventually this type of sacrifice appears to have overshadowed the other great type represented by the peace offerings which assumed that the covenant relationship with Jehovah was undisturbed. The expiatory type constituted the daily sacrifice—the continual burnt offering—up to apostolic times. Although most perfectly embodying the sacrificial idea through its vicarious character, it was not connected with any particular transgression but was maintained as the appropriate means of a sinful people’s approach to a holy God. Essential features were the shedding and sprinkling of blood and the offering up of the entire sacrifice to God and His ministers. It was also accompanied by the laying on of hands. In this type of sacrifice, the utmost importance was attached to the disposition of the victim’s blood: the blood belonged to God by right; the life was in it (cf. Lev. 17:11); and safety for the individual and the nation lay in such sacrifices of blood.
In view of apostolic concepts, it is of great importance to note that such sacrifices—the highest in value of the Levitical system—availed only for sins of ignorance, unwitting transgression of holy things, and the removal of physical uncleanness which implied moral as well as ceremonial disability in drawing near to God.
For willful sins, however, no reconciling sacrifice was provided for Israel (Num. 15:30). The penalty of such sins was death in the form of separation of the individual from Israel. Nevertheless, willful sins were not beyond the reach of forgiveness. That such sinners might approach God through confession and true penitence and meet with His mercy through His grace apart from sacrifice was the evangelical proclamation of the prophets. It was held by later Jewish interpreters that the scapegoat, on the great day of atonement, expiated the sins of all Israelites who had not deliberately put themselves outside its effects by forsaking the religion of their people. This expiation included sins for which the penalty was a cutting off from God’s people or death.
(V) A number of controversies arose in the apostolic church during the transition from the sacrificial system to Christianity. The Lord Jesus recognized the authority of the sacrificial law as practiced in His time by observing it, keeping the Passover and other feasts, worshiping in the temple where sacrifice was the central act, and by commending its observance to others, e.g., the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing (Matt. 8:4 [cf. Mark 1:44]). The Lord constantly favored the prophetic moral view of sacrifice rather than the priestly Levitical view. He quoted Hos. 6:6, “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice” in Matt. 9:13 and 12:7, and commended the judgment that love is more than all burnt offerings (Mark 12:33). He declared that sacrifice is futile in dealing with unrepented sin (Matt. 5:23). He referred to His own death as sacrificial, comparing it especially with the covenant sacrifice with which the Mosaic system was instituted, “My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many unto remission of sins” (a.t. [Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20 (cf. 1 Cor. 11:25)]). In speaking of the new covenant (kainē (G2537), qualitatively new), the inference is that the old covenant was abrogated, and with it the sacrifices that it had initiated and given historical continuity in Israel.
(VI) We cannot easily determine how long it was before the apostolic church appreciated all the implications of the new covenant with a complete cessation of the sacrifices of the old. The full inferences of the abrogation of the ancient sacrifices are first drawn by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The records of the apostolic preaching in Acts reveal the primary fact that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). The death of Christ was regarded at the inception of the apostolic church as expiatory. It was looked upon as a sacrifice and spoken of in sacrificial terms.
(VII) No direct mention of the sacrifice of Christ is made by James or Jude in view of the fact that such a sacrifice was not within the subject of their treatises.
In the epistles of Peter, the sacrificial references are clear and interesting: “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2 [cf. Ex. 24:8]); “Ye were not redeemed …, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18, 19 [cf. Isa. 53:7ff. with its clear echo in 1 Pet. 2:21-25 where the sacrificial idea of vicarious suffering is too obvious to need comment]).
(VIII) In the Pauline references, the contrast between the Jewish and the Christian aspects of the sacrifice is more pronounced. Paul was intimately acquainted with the minute details of the Levitical system. He even definitely associated himself with its observance (Acts 21:26; 24:11, 17f.) despite the difficulty we may have in reconciling his action in the temple to the contrary precept he expressed so clearly (cf. Gal. 4:9). Paul speaks definitely of the death as a sacrifice in Eph. 5:2, “He gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell” (a.t.). In 1 Cor. 5:7, he says, “Our Passover also has been sacrificed, even Christ” (a.t.). The death of Christ as which brought about the reconciliation of man to God (man being an enemy of God due to Adam’s fall), is the same as the blood (haima [G129], blood) of Christ which satisfied the justice of God. Paul presents the blood of Christ as the basis for the benefits conferred upon the believer (Rom. 3:25; 5:9; 1 Cor. 10:16; Eph. 2:13). By the phrase “blood of Christ,” Paul meant Christ’s sacrificial death (cf. Rom. 8:32; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:20).
(IX) In the Epistle to the Hebrews we have:
(A) The doctrine of salvation wholly in terms of sacrifice. In this epistle, we find the running comparison between the sacrifices of the Levitical ritual and the perfect offering presented by Christ in the sacrifice of Himself. The sacrificial institutions associated with the old covenant are set forth as types and shadows of the heavenly and eternal reality in which the new covenant is established in the blood of Christ. The key word of the epistle and the comparison it elaborates is “better.” The Son whose humanity is perfect, the Mediator of the new and better covenant, is the true High Priest (cf. 8:6-13; 9:15ff.). His constitutive function is to offer sacrifice (8:3). Christ offers Himself, the nature and effect of this perfect sacrifice being contrasted with the sacrifices of the law (8:10-13). The culmination of the contrast is the parallel between the action of the high priest in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement (Ex. 24:4-8) and Christ entering the heavenly places “through [the occasion of] his own blood [sacrificial death]” (a.t. [Heb. 9:12ff.]). The superiority of Christ’s sacrifice is impressively manifested everywhere. It was also an offering in close dependence upon the love of God, for by the grace of God, Christ tasted death for every man (Heb. 2:9). It was never spoken of as “reconciling” God to man. What emerges from a careful study of the Epistle to the Hebrews is that the Levitical sacrifices could not permanently take away sin; they were rather temporary in their expiatory power (Heb. 10:3). Christ’s sacrifice is final and complete because it is related to the heavenly and eternal realm of reality (Heb. 8:1f.; 9:1, 24; 10:1). Christ has entered into heaven itself with His sacrifice (Heb. 9:24) and obtained eternal salvation for us (Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 15; 10:10), having “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God” (a.t. [Heb. 9:14]). It was an offering of a pure and spotless life on our behalf and as our representative. The solidarity of Christ with mankind is confidently stated: “Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:11). The Levitical sacrifices were perpetually repeated because they had no permanent efficacy (Heb. 9:6; 10:3f.). Christ’s sacrifice is made once for all, perfecting forever them that are sanctified (Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 25f., 28; 10:12, 14). Christ’s sacrifice purged His people’s conscience that they might serve the living God (Heb. 9:14; 10:22), thus dealing with sin efficaciously and in its deepest seat instead of with its accidental expressions as in the limited efficacy of ceremonial sacrifices (Heb. 9:9; 10:3). The sacrifices of the Law opened no way of spiritual access to the holy presence of God (Heb. 9:8); by the blood of Jesus a new and living way was dedicated by which men could draw near to Him with spiritual confidence (Heb. 10:19f.). The basic purpose of the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews is to mark the radical difference between the Christian and the Levitical concepts of sacrifice.
(B) The importance of the blood is stressed in the sacrifice of Christ. In the Levitical system the use of the blood was of supreme importance. Nothing was cleansed without its use (Heb. 9:21f.). The vital moment culminating the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement was when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies bearing the sacrificial blood (Heb. 9:7). To explain that Christ fulfilled the great atoning work signified by this procedure, Hebrews describes Christ’s work in the language of the type saying that Christ’s sacrificial act was accomplished when He entered into the heavenly place “through his own blood” (a.t. [Heb. 9:12ff.]) “to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (a.t. [Heb. 2:17]). Such statements are not intended to teach that Jesus reenacted or copied this procedure in a one-for-one corresponding manner. The altar on which Jesus offered Himself was the cross of Calvary and not a sanctuary in heaven. However, what He accomplished was equivalent to that which was typified in the OT ritual sacrifice made on the Day of Atonement. Therefore the author portrays Christ’s work in the language of OT type. Once for all He offered a sacrifice for sins “when he offered up himself” (Heb. 7:27 [cf. 9:26, 28]). It is clear that the author makes distinct use of the concept of substitution. His blood refers to His death which in turn denotes the laying down of His life. It is the life yielded in death which is the essence of all true sacrifice. Even in the Levitical system the blood constitutes the sacrifice, because the life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). Christ’s offering of Himself includes more than His dying; it is the willing offering of His life and the perfect ceaseless filial obedience to the will of God (see Heb. 10:8ff.). This offering with which God was well pleased brought humanity into a new relationship with God. It was a positive, ethical, and religious evaluation of Christ’s sacrifice that went beyond its value as merely legal substitution.
(C) The doctrine of the new covenant. The first covenant was not dedicated without blood (Heb. 9:18 [cf. Ex. 24:6, 8]). Sacrificial blood was, for Israel, essentially “the blood of the covenant” (a.t. [Heb. 9:20 (cf. Matt. 26:28)]). The sacrifices of the Mosaic covenant were the sign of the establishment of the Law; the new covenant in Christ’s blood was the sign of its fulfillment, therefore, “unto the remission of sins” (a.t. [Matt. 26:28; John 6:53-7:1, 1 John 1:7]). Jeremiah’s prophecy of the new covenant (Jer. 31:31) is the principal link between the sacrifice of the Law and Christ’s fulfillment which consequently abolished it. This is a covenant under which God lays His laws upon the hearts of men and inscribes them upon their minds, no longer remembering their sins and iniquities (Heb. 10:16ff.; 8:8ff.). “Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin” (Heb. 10:18). A real remission makes all other sacrifices useless. The sacrifice of Christ, “the mediator of a new covenant” (a.t. [Heb. 9:15]), which established the new covenant is the “one offering by which he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (a.t. [Heb. 10:14]). The prophetic idea of the value of the sacrificial sufferings of the Righteous Servant is thus restored in close association with the sacrificial ideas which were the current trend of Jewish thought. Henceforth there was no longer room for the sacrifices of the Law (Heb. 10:18). The only sacrifice that retained its permanence for the future was a “sacrifice of praise to God continually, i.e., the fruit of lips which make confession to his name” (a.t. [Heb. 13:15]). See discussion under diathēkē (G1242), covenant or testament.
In John’s gospel, there are definite references to the sacrifice of Christ as the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). See in Rev. “stood a Lamb as it had been slain” (Rev. 5:6, 12); those who have “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14); “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11); salvation is ascribed unto “our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Rev. 7:10).
Syn.: sphagē (G4967), slaughter.
Ant.: lutrōsis (G3085), ransoming, redemption; apolutrōsis (G629), deliverance from, redemption; lusis (G3080), a loosening, letting go free.
--William Smith, Smith's Bible Dictionary
The following are Rick Livermore's closing remarks:
The subject of sin is so big that in Systematic Theology classes in Bible Schools and Seminaries, the greek word for sin, Hamartia, is the first portion of the official title of the hamartiology subject, along with other --------ology titles for other things that make up Systematic Theology. I have a Systematic Theology book in my library that has 40 pages to handle the hamartiology subject. The subject is one of the Parts, and within those pages are 7 Chapters. This block quote from Smiths Bible Dictionary is just about "sin offering."
I hope you will consider the study of the topic of "sin offering." that I have made into a block quote and posted to this blog today.
Appendix / Bibliography
The digital book that I have taken and made the block quote is:
If you are wondering where the pages that contained the words "excerpt", "Introducing" or other words indicating I was quoting a book have all gone, I migrated all of them over to Posts and Posted them all on August 18 and August 19 2024. I did that so you could use the search widget that is built in to the blog on the upper right hand corner. You will be happy to know that there are more of them than just the batch that were migrated, there were also lots of posts that contained the same words that did not have to be migrated over, they were there all along. I am really enjoying doing introductions and excerpts because it really makes for powerful and fascinating reading when I do them. You get the feeling you are in a bookstore holding a book in your hand looking at the table of contents and deciding whether or not to buy the book.
Jesus Christ is alive and living in the hearts and lives of billions of Christians. I am interested in what He is saying and doing in the lives of those who know and love Him and interested in being a familiar and trusted blogger about Him
Dallas Theological Seminary Fighting Human Trafficking video on youtube
Human Trafficking Victims Program Introduction
She said two urls that are no longer the urls to use. The first one, www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking automatically becomes www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign The facebook site was the old site which does not automatically update to the following, the new facebook site is http://facebook.com/dhsbluecampaign Click this link to search all of the DHS site for mentions of the Blue Campaign
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This song is on the album "Sovereign" From Michael W. Smith Sky Spills Over · Michael W. Smith Sovereign ℗ 2014 The MWS Group, under exclusive license to Sparrow Records Released on: 2014-01-01 Producer: Christopher Stevens Composer Lyricist: Michael W. Smith Composer Lyricist: Christopher Stevens Composer Lyricist: Ryan Smith
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