Acts 242 Study

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Author Archives: Bob Dodson

The Emmaus Road

The story of Jesus meeting two travelers on the road to Emmaus, a small village seven miles from Jerusalem, is recorded in great detail in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 24:13-35. According to Luke, the story takes place on the evening of the day ( Sunday) Jesus was resurrected. One of the men is named Cleopas and the other remains unnamed. These two men were discussing the events that had taken place in Jerusalem over the recent Passover weekend, and in particular what had happened to the man named Jesus, who was crucified. They had also heard that Jesus’ body was now missing from the tomb and some were claiming that he was, in fact, alive. 

While they were walking and talking, Jesus came alongside them and began walking with them and listening to their discussion. They were prevented from recognizing him and were shocked that he didn’t seem to know about all these terrible things that had taken place over the weekend. They were completely downcast because it seemed that their hoped-for Messiah had now been killed by the Romans. Jesus interrupted them and told these men that they were not seeing clearly and weren’t understanding why all these sequences of events had to have taken place.

The next set of verses in this story, Ch. 24:25-27, are some of the most profound and revelatory words in scripture, but we probably read right over it! ”Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory? And beginning with Moses and the Prophets he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself”. What “scriptures” was he talking about? The Old (Hebrew) Testament!! By saying, “beginning with Moses”, he was saying, the Torah and all the prophets. In other words, he was saying the whole of the Old Testament tells the story of how God’s only son had to come to earth, be crucified on a cross to be our Passover Lamb and then rise again on the 3rd day! Wouldn’t you have liked to have been in on that lesson? He would have shown them all the prophecies that had to be fulfilled to bring him to the spot where the events of the past weekend had unfolded. Can you imagine the look on their faces as everything became clear to them? The text says that after he had explained the scriptures to them, their eyes were opened and they recognized him as the risen Jesus! That phrase, “recognized” meant more than just him as a man-they now knew he was the promised Messiah.

The verses in Luke 24:25-27 are something we just typically overlook, but what he was saying was that Jesus is in the whole Bible, not just the New Testament. From Genesis to Maps, Jesus is on every page, we are just not always seeing him there. The whole Bible is one long thread that wonderfully portrays our Messiah Jesus as our Risen Savior.  Don’t we serve an amazing God?

The Lineage of Jesus: Miraculous Preservation of the Messianic Line

We know from reading and studying Scripture that the Jews of Jesus’ time were anxiously anticipating a Messiah. They were expecting a Savior figure that would bring them out of Roman captivity and lead them into a new age of prosperity and greatness that they had not experienced since their former great leader David, hundreds of years before.

From Old Testament passages and events, we know that this Messiah had to come from a very specific lineage, the lineage of King David. God had promised David specifically in 2 Samuel 7:13-16 that his kingdom would endure forever (also see Psalm 89:30-37). God also spoke through the prophet Isaiah that this promised Messiah would come from the stump of Jesse, David’s father (read Isaiah 4:2-6, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 11:1-2, and Isaiah 53:1-7). If someone was going to be considered as the Savior for the Jewish people, he was going to have to first be from the line of David.

Matthew, who was a Jew writing to a Jewish audience, is well aware of this situation and begins his gospel of the account of the life of Jesus by showing in chapter 1, verse 1, that Jesus’ genealogy does, in fact, go back to King David. Matthew 1:1 reads, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham…” and then he lays out 42 prior generations to prove his point. Had you ever stopped to think what a miracle it was for God to have preserved that kingly line for all those generations? For God to honor His promise that the Messiah would come from David’s line, God would have to guarantee the presence of a surviving male descendant in every generation going forward up to Jesus’ birth. At first glance, it might not sound like all that big of an issue, until you realize how unlikely it would be in the normal course of affairs of life and death. Let’s look at a modern day example of what would be involved in keeping a male blood line intact for that much time.

Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, is perhaps America’s best known leader. President Lincoln had four sons: Robert Todd Lincoln, Edward Baker Lincoln, William Wallace Lincoln, and Thomas Lincoln. Of those four sons, one died in infancy and another died as a youth. A third died in early manhood before he was married. The only one of President Lincoln’s sons to marry was Robert Todd and he had three children; two daughters and a son. His son, however, died before he ever married. In less than three generations, approximately one hundred years from the time Lincoln was born, his direct male line had disappeared. No one today can claim to be a direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln; his blood line is extinct. Think of your own family heritage and how quickly the male blood line can disappear. Keeping David’s lineage intact for all those generations down to Mary and Joseph was an amazing miracle. God delivered on His promise when He told Mary in Luke 1:32-33 that the son she was about to give birth to would be that long-awaited Messiah who would fill David’s throne.

Peter (Acts 2:30) and Paul (Acts 13:23 and Romans 1:2-4) both confirm that Jesus was the promised Messiah from the line of David and Jesus confirms this fact himself in Revelations 22:16, when He says, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

This advent season, stop and think of what a wonderful gift we have received and the promises that were kept to give us the hope of eternal life. Merry Christmas!

Adventus: The Coming

The word “Advent” (coming, or arrival of a notable event or person) is not a word that is in common usage in twenty-first century English. For those people in the more liturgical Christian denominations, they know the word is used for the four-week Advent season that leads up to the day of Christmas and the birth of the Christ child. For the rest of the church, it is not even a word that is familiar or often used. Where did the word come from and what did the early believers hear when they heard the term? A look back to the origin of the word and the customs surrounding it will give us an unbelievable picture of what the early believers were thinking when they heard this term used to describe the coming of their Savior, Jesus, the Christ.

“Advent” is derived from the Latin word “Adventus” (Greek: parousia). During the time of the Roman domination of the world, “Adventus” was a term reserved almost exclusively for the Roman Caesars. Adventus was a ceremony in which a Caesar was formally and ceremonially welcomed into a city. When the ruling Caesar won a military campaign or when a city was dedicated to a Caesar or another Roman God’s divinity, an Advent celebration was held in that city to confirm their deity and give them great honor and adulation. These ceremonies were not only held in Rome, but in many of the great conquered cities in the Roman Empire. All the major cities under Roman control were in competition with each other for the prestige to be known as the ”neokoros” – the protector and center of worship for a Roman deity, or the Roman Emperor that was in power. A great example of this is the city of Ephesus where Paul stayed for three years and the church to whom he wrote the book of Ephesians (also see the story of Paul in Ephesus in Acts:19 and Acts:20). At that time, Ephesus was not only the neokoros for the goddess Artemis, but also the neokoros for the Flavian family of emperors: Vespasian, Titus and Domitian.

To honor these great emperors and confer deity upon them, huge ceremonies were held in these Roman cities. Tremendous effort would go into sprucing up the city and completing building projects for statues and temples to commemorate these Adventus celebrations. Once the time had arrived and the city was ready, Caesar would take a huge entourage from Rome, complete with the Praetorian guard and several legions of troops, to travel to the place that was going to honor him. This huge assembly of royalty and troops could be seen for miles as they approached the city. Caesar would be mounted on a magnificent white horse and in full battle armor. Word would spread throughout the city that Caesar had arrived and was just outside the city gates. All the city dignitaries would lead the townspeople outside the city gate to meet and welcome the honored guest and his assembly. They would form a circle around the coming King and bow before him. They would honor him with words and proclamations and then welcome him into the city to see the new statues and temples that were built to deify their king. The entire procession would then march back into the city and the Advent celebration would begin. This huge event would last for several days and no expense would be spared to honor their deified “King of Kings” and “Lord of Lords”.

With this background in your mind, now try and picture the word ”Advent” and imagine the coming of our “King of Kings” as it is described in the Book of Revelation and in other places in scripture. Doesn’t it make the thought of his second coming feel so much more real and powerful? At Christmas time, we not only celebrate Jesus’ first Advent as a baby, but also his Second Advent when He will come again as a conqueror in all His power and glory. During this second Advent, Jesus will come, with the armies of heaven, riding on a white horse (Revelation 19:11-16) and Christians will fall before and acknowledge Him. He will lead us into the new heavenly city where we will worship and praise Him for eternity (Revelation 21 and 22). What a cataclysmic and earth-changing event this will be! In light of the historical background for Advent, shouldn’t the Christian church make a bigger attempt to recover the meaning and awesomeness of the Advent season?

P.S. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and see if you don’t notice an Advent in Paul’s description of Christ’s returning.

Before the Rooster Crows

Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” –  Luke 22:34

Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.”  – Luke 22:60

Read also: Matthew 26:34, 74-75; Mark 14:30, 66-68; Luke 22:34, 60-68; John13:38 and John 18:27

Peter's denialHere is an interesting piece of information that I learned from my rabbi recently while studying the story of the crucifixion. It doesn’t change the story in any way and is a fact that can’t be confirmed with certainty, but it is something fun to think about. However, it does point out again, as we have seen so many times, that we have a hard time understanding some of the sayings of Jesus because we didn’t live in that time period and don’t know the idioms they used or what the original wording might have meant.

All four gospels tell the story of Peter denying Jesus during His arrest and trial. Immediately after the third denial, Peter hears a rooster crow. Was there a rooster in the area where the trial took place in upper Jerusalem that crowed at that moment or was it something else? Or, did we miss something? Let’s take a look.

First of all, according to the Mishna (Baba Kamma vii7) poultry were forbidden in Jerusalem, ”on account of the holy things”, or “on account of the sanctuary”.

“No cocks or hens must be raised in Jerusalem (even by laymen), because of the voluntary offerings (the meat of which may be eaten in any part of the city, and as the habit of the named fowls is to peck with their beaks in the rubbish, they may peck into a dead reptile and then peck in the meat of the offerings). In all other parts of Palestine priests only must not raise them, as they use leave-offerings for their meals, and they must be very careful about cleanliness.”

The fear was because they are such a messy animal, their presence might defile some of the holy items used in the sacrifices that were to be eaten. Could this be possible that it wasn’t a rooster? We’ve all seen and heard the rooster crowing in plays and on the movie programs!

If it wasn’t a rooster, what was it? The answer lies in the division of the night watches during Jesus’ time. The Romans divided each day into three hour blocks and the night blocks were called watches (see also study Bible notes on Matthew 14:25). The first night watch began at 6:00 p.m. and lasted until 9:00 p.m. The second watch ended at midnight, the third at 3:00 a.m., and the 4th at 6:00 a.m. or sunrise. Jesus seems to confirm this when He tells the disciples in an earlier story in Mark 13:35 of these same four divisions:

“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. –Mark  13:35

Notice that Jesus call the  3rd watch, “the rooster crows”, and makes a distinction between rooster crowing and dawn.

Cornu

The Romans used the tuba, the cornu (pictured), and the bucina to sound reveille (cock-crow)

The signal the Roman divisions used to change the guard for each shift was a trumpet call. The Latin word for trumpet call (the language spoken by the soldiers) is “gullicinium”, which means, “cock-crowing”. At the end of the 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. shifts, the guard change was announced by a Roman “cock-crowing” or blowing of a trumpet. What Peter heard probably wasn’t an actual rooster crowing, but the end of the watch trumpet call! Jesus used that same phrase to describe it.

Although this knowledge doesn’t change the intent or outcome of the Peter story, it is just interesting to see that there are often things from the time period that we may not have understood clearly and therefore get missed in the translation.

A Different Perspective on Psalm 23

The Good ShepherdThe 23rd Psalm, often called the Shepherd Psalm, is arguably the most loved and memorized pieces of all the Scriptures; almost everyone can recite most or all of its reassuring lines. As familiar as we are with its words, is it possible that we could have missed an important part of what the psalmist David was trying to say? After the opening verses where David declares the Lord is his shepherd, David then makes another series of statements that we might have misinterpreted.

Psalm 23:3 is usually translated, “He restores my soul.” In our English tradition, we have taken that phrase to mean that God lifted us from our depression, or he helped us recover a sense of joy and purpose or worth. But was this what David was saying? The original Hebrew words which are translated, “He restores my soul”, are “nafshi yeshobeb.” Nafshi is from the word, ”nephesh” (Strong’s 5315) and means, “myself / soul / person / life.” The second word, “yeshobeb” is an intensive form of ”shub” (Strong’s 7725), the great Hebrew word for repentance (to turn back, to return).

Ga 10,22-30 c

Instead of using the cross, early Christian artists most often depicted Jesus carrying an oversized (indicating a burden) sheep on His shoulders.

From the translation of these two Hebrew words, Psalm 23:3 could easily be translated, “He brings me back” or “He causes me to repent”, instead of, “He restores my soul.” This really makes sense when you realize that David might have been reflecting on his personal journey of faith. David could have been saying, as do many other Old Testament Passages, that God came after him and brought him back. It is the picture of a good shepherd who goes after a lost sheep and brings it back to a safe place. Middle Eastern translations of these verses have always said, ”He brings me back”, and even the Wycliffe translation says, “He converted my soul and he put me on the right path.”

Could this be the correct interpretation? The phrase in the 23rd Psalm that immediately follows, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness”, adds credence to this idea. The assumption from the story is that the Psalmist was wandering in the paths of unrighteousness when God rescued him. God found him in his lost condition and on the wrong path and picked him up on his shoulders and carried him back to the right path. The good shepherd caused him to repent and return (shub).

Could the 23rd Psalm be a story of a lost sheep who God rescues and brings back to the right path? Re-read Psalm 23 reprinted below with this idea in mind and see if it doesn’t bring a fresh and deeper meaning to these words that we know so well. Also, this interpretation wonderfully carries the thread of redemption to yet another place in Scripture. God is the good shepherd and always has His eye on His sheep and will do anything to bring them back to His fold. This is another example of how knowing and understanding the Hebrew language and culture adds another and deeper dimension to our English translations.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
– Psalm 23 (KJV)

A Double Portion of the Spirit

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
— 2 Kings 2:9-10

Elisha and ElijahWhile studying the stories about Elijah and Elisha in 1 and 2 Kings and reading some rabbinic commentaries on their lives, I came across an interesting thought concerning these two great prophets.

In the Jewish mind, the consummate idea of discipleship is found in these two men. According to the biblical account, Elijah came to the village where Elisha lived and found him plowing his field (1 Kings 19:21). Throwing his cloak over Elisha, Elijah recruited him to become his m’sharet or assistant (see also M’sharet-God’s Assistant). Elisha faithfully followed Elijah until the time came for Elijah to pass the mantle of God’s prophet onto Elisha, his successor. In 2 Kings 2:9-10, before Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha asked him if he could have a double portion of His Spirit. Elijah answered that he had asked for a difficult thing, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours, otherwise not.”

We know from the next verses that Elisha did see Elijah as he was taken up to heaven and that God authenticated Elisha’s succession to Elijah’s ministry by giving him the same divine powers that had accompanied Elijah’s ministry. But, did Elisha receive a double portion of his spirit?

There are seven miracles attributed to Elijah in 1 and 2 Kings (some scholars count more because they count prophecy as a miracle). When Elisha comes to the end of his life in 2 Kings 13:20, he has had thirteen miracles recorded in scripture (again, more can be counted). The fourteenth miracle of Elisha occurs in a bizarre story after his death, when a dead body touches Elisha’s bones and and the dead body is brought back to life (2 Kings 13:21-22). Elisha did receive a double portion of the spirit of Elijah! Was this a coincidence or did the Hebrew writers pen it that way so that the digging student of the text would pick up the connection? It ‘s a fascinating thought and would be just like God and the Eastern mindset to deposit that nugget in scripture.

Note: If you Google “Miracles of Elijah and Elisha”, you will find the miracles of each man that are recorded in scripture. Depending on what you consider a miracle (prophecy, etc.), you can get up to 16 miracles for Elijah and 32 for Elisha. I read another commentary that had 8 for Elijah and 16 for Elisha, but 7 and 14 was the most common figure. The fact that Elisha’s miracles exactly double Elijah is just a neat way of saying through the text that God gave Elisha a double portion of His spirit.