The Bible declares that the LORD’s thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are His ways your ways (Isaiah 55:8). You believe that, right? Good! Then why do we still struggle with Jesus going to the least, the last, and the lost? Not just then, but now? Here is a question to wrestle with, “If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not reaching the kind of people now that it reached then, is it the same Gospel?”
Join us as we step into the most famous verse and one of the most familiar scenes in John’s Gospel. Watch full episodes of The Chosen at: watch.thechosen.tv
What did you expect? This question is often loaded with disappointment and unmet expectations. So far, Jesus has made gracious invitations and performed miraculous signs. News of Jesus is spreading and those who are responding are lepers and paralytics. For most of us we would have preferred people who were cleaner, less complicated, and more like us. The question is, “What did you expect?” What about you? Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ in you and through you still reaching people you would not expect?
Reading the Bible can help the reader know what is happening. Knowing what is happening is one thing, but feeling it is another. This week, we enter the familiar story of Jesus’ first miracle. Along with understanding what happened, let’s also get a glimpse of what it may have felt like.
You know what it’s like. You’re watching something and without warning someone says, “We interrupt this program to…” You know what that means. Something is happening that is more important that what you were watching. The same is true for life and the call of Jesus. It doesn’t always feel that way but rest assured that His call is better and more important. Watch full episodes of The Chosen at: watch.thechosen.tv
Mary Magdalene is one of the most prominent people in the life and ministry of Jesus. She is a prime example of what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does and who the Gospel is for. Guess who is also a prime example of what the Gospel does and who it is for? You and your neighbor.
The Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashana in Hebrew, is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. It is a day of solemn rest and “Memorial” (Lev. 23:24). How do you celebrate Memorial Day? With barbecues and cookouts? How did Israel celebrate the Feast of Trumpets as a memorial day? By remembering their exile as a result of sin and the faithfulness of God’s mercy. Ultimately, the Feast of Trumpets reminds us that Jesus is coming again with a loud trumpet call (Matthew 24:31).
God chose a very specific day to pour out His Holy Spirit. It wasn’t just any day. It was the day of Pentecost also known as the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot in Hebrew. Pentecost originally celebrated the day when the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19) and God gave the Torah through Moses. The LORD’s Torah was not only for Israel but for all nations. The events of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2 are the fulfillment of the New Covenant prophesied about in Jeremiah 31. Pentecost is also one of the most joyous of all the feasts because it celebrates freedom from slavery and exile. Today, living in the joy of Pentecost, we share the New Covenant accomplished through Jesus Christ which sets sinners free from slavery to sin.
The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur in Hebrew, is the most holy of all the Seven Feasts. This is the day, the only day, when the high priest would enter into the holy of holies and sprinkle the blood of the lamb on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Like all of the Seven Feasts, Jesus Christ is the focal point and fulfillment of the Day of Atonement. Just as Hebrews 9:12 says, Jesus, our High Priest, “entered once for all into the holy of holies not by means of the blood of goats, but by means of His own blood.”
Jesus and His disciples celebrated all of the feasts including the Feast of Booths. On one occasion, during the Feast of Booths, Jesus refers to “Living Water.” What is He referring to? Join us as we step into the life and ministry of Jesus who not only fulfills the Seven Feasts by what He does, but also by what He says.