Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
       
The next man of faith in Hebrews 11 is Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. God established His eternal covenant with Abraham and later with Isaac. Then He established the same covenant with Jacob (Gen. 28:13-17) whom He later named Israel (Gen. 32:24-32).
       
The account of Jacob’s life has far more detail than that of Isaac. From the day he is born his life reveals a colorful character. Among other character traits, Jacob was calculating and deceptive. He cunningly took his brother’s birthright, then he later deceived his aging father in a successful attempt to receive the blessing of the firstborn. His mother Rebekah may have taught him everything he knew, for she too was quite cunning (Gen. 27:5ff.). Jacob traveled away from home in order to avoid his brother’s wrath, and he found himself employed by a man, his uncle Laban, who seems to have had all of Jacob’s negative qualities and more. It was Laban who employed Jacob for 20 years, and also Laban who became his father-in-law. Jacob married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel, and worked as one of Laban’s hired hands.
       
At times Jacob acted wisely, and at times he was downright spineless, as in the case of his daughter who was raped by the man Shechem (cf. Gen. 34). He had two wives and two concubines by which he had twelve sons—the tribes of Israel. He also had one daughter, Dinah. While reading the account of his life, “faith” is not the first trait that comes to mind regarding Jacob. Then again, no one’s life, if put under a microscope, would ever reveal a man of faith 100% of the time. People are sinful, yet God works through those sins in order to bring about His eternal promises. Jacob was indeed a faithful man—evident from what he believed about God’s promised future and how he blessed his sons concerning the future.
       
Jacob told his son Joseph just before he died while they were in Egypt: “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers” (Gen. 48:21). At the time, they were in Egypt, outside of the Promised Land. But Jacob still believed God’s promise of possessing the land. So, the land that Jacob never possessed, he passed on to his 12 sons in faith, knowing that God would be true to his word. He had the “assurance of things hoped for; the conviction of things unseen” in giving these blessings (Gen. 47:29-31; 48:8-20). Jacob, though weak physically as an old man, was strong in faith—faith expressed in the content of his blessing: “Let them grow into a multitude… a multitude of nations” (Gen. 48:16, 19).
       
An apparent problem exists in v. 21 where the Hebrews author says that Jacob died “leaning on the top of his staff.” Genesis 47:31 says that Jacob “bowed himself on the head of the bed.” The apparent contradiction is reconciled by the Hebrew words for “bed” and “staff” which are exactly alike in their Hebrew consonants (mth). Since Hebrew had no vowels in its original text, vowels being later added as marks between the consonants circa AD 700, the discrepancy lies in these vowels. Though the Hebrew text later rendered the vowels as “bed,” the LXX, or Greek text dating back to 250 BC, renders the vowel points to mean “staff.” Since the LXX reading was used by the author of Hebrews, “top of his staff” is used rather than “head of bed.” Clearly, no doctrine or theology is affected by either rendering. It is thus a moot point.

Food For Thought
       Jacob believed in the future of his people because God revealed it. Not much has changed since Jacob’s time except that so much more about the future has been revealed. In fact, the future has been revealed to strengthen the faith of God’s people (1 Thes. 4:18). Since Christ has promised to return, our faith is expressed in our eager expectation of His return (Heb. 9:28).
            

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Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.

On the day that Abraham took his son Isaac upon the mountain to slay him, per God’s command (Gen. 22:1-2), he learned about God’s promise to bless him and his offspring (cf. Gen. 12:1-3). Isaac represented mankind on that altar of sacrifice—man deserving to die for his sins. So when the great man of faith, his father Abraham, demonstrated his faith, God provided a substitute for Isaac and spared his life—a ram instead of the boy. That is the picture of Jesus Christ dying on mankind’s behalf! Isaac lived it firsthand. He knew his life was over, and he likely had the same fears as anyone else would have had. Then God spared him, and that day Isaac learned about the God of heaven first-hand. Up to that point Abraham had likely told Isaac all about the promise of the land, the seed, and the blessing (Gen. 12:1-3, 7). But on that day Isaac lived it, saw it, and believed it. Perhaps on that day Isaac’s own faith was solidified.

Now one might expect Isaac to have lived a life full of faith, but strangely this was not so – at least not from the very brief account given of his life in Genesis 25:19-27:46. Although Isaac lived longer than any of the patriarchs, the story of his life in the Bible is shorter than Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, or Moses. God certainly passed the promises onto Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4), and although these promises should have given him a sense of security and hope, Isaac seems to have lived in fear most of his life. When the Philistines of Gerar (near Gaza) questioned him about his wife Rebekah, like his father, he lied about her saying she was his sister—afraid they would kill him if she were his wife in order to have her as their own (Gen. 26). Oddly, when Abimelech was informed of who Rebekah really was, he showed more fear of God than Isaac ever did!

Even after Isaac became wealthy while living in Gerar, he seems to have spent his life questioning God up to that point and grumbling about his lot. When things finally went his way he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land” (Gen. 26:22). Indeed, he began to multiply. When he finally moved back into the land he came to Beersheba in the south, and then God repeated the covenant promises to him (Gen. 26:24-25).

Isaac’s life seems unfaithful at times, but at other times he was truly faithful. His wife was initially barren, but she later gave birth to twins—Jacob and Esau. Esau was Isaac’s favorite son although God had made it clear that it was Jacob who would be blessed by God. Rebekah felt the need to intervene through deception to get Jacob to receive Isaac’s blessing. In spite of this, God worked through it, bringing His will to fruition. But the whole story puts Isaac in a bad light.

The point of Isaac’s life, however, is his faith. The author of Hebrews, without condoning Isaac’s shortcomings, points to the faith he had in blessing his sons while looking to the future. One thing is certain: Isaac believed in God’s covenant blessings. This is revealed in Isaac’s blessing of Jacob, even though he thought he was blessing Esau (Gen. 27:27-29). Isaac believed God and looked to the future for God’s fulfillment of what He promised. The Greek text of Hebrews 11:20 literally says, “By faith, even concerning things to come, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau.” In blessing them, Isaac literally “spoke well of them; he praised them.”

Food For Thought
The blessing given by a man, in this case Isaac, with God’s consent, was an act of faith because it concerned a time beyond their lives. When a person looks beyond their own life in the here and now and into the future, they act on faith. For us, teaching our children about Christ and leaving them an inheritance, both spiritual and financial, is an act of faith, for it plans for their immediate and eternal future. Therefore, we have strong faith when we know we’re saved—when we have the “assurance of things hoped for”—a certainty of God’s eternal plan.
            

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Genesis 22:15-19 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
       
Genesis 22:15-19 comprise God’s approval for Abraham’s great faith in his willingness to offer his own son as a sacrifice. God put him to the test in 22:1, and beginning in v. 15 God gave Abraham the reward for his faithfulness. Imagine that! God requiring something only He could give, yet He rewards those He gives it to. Abraham is now the father of all who believe (Rom. 4:11; Gal. 3:7, 9, 29)—not just the father of the Israelite nation. The father of the Christian faith should be one that all believers can look to, admire, and use as the model for their own faith.
       
In v. 15 the angel of the Lord called out again to Abraham for the second time. By calling out to him from heaven it is evident that the angel did not manifest himself to Abraham but only spoke to him. His words are the words of God Himself; hence, the angel of the Lord in this context is at least a representative of God. The angel says, on behalf of Yahweh, “I solemnly swear by my own name…” Since God (Yahweh) is the Sovereign over the universe, then His solemn oath can only be sworn in His own name. Since there is no one higher or more powerful, when God swears His reputation is at stake. His oath then is indeed solemn, but it must not be overlooked why He would make such an oath at that time: “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son…” Thus, God’s oath comes after Abraham’s obedience, and it comes to bless Abraham as a result of his faithfulness.
       
God’s oath promised three things beginning in v. 17. First, it ratified what was previously promised to Abraham (12:1-3, 7; 13:14-15; 15:1-5, 18-21; 17:2). Of course God had blessed Abraham everywhere he had gone even when he had not acted in faith. Second, God swore to greatly multiply Abraham’s descendants to be as countless as the stars of the sky and of the sand on the seashore. This simply reiterated what God had previously said in previous chapters. This was fulfilled in the birth of the twelve tribes of Israel and in Gentile believers who are the sons and daughters of the ultimate fulfillment of the “seed” promise through Abraham and Isaac (Gal. 3:16, 29). Third, Abraham’s descendants were promised to “possess the gate of their enemies.” The “gate” signifies a walled city. To break through a gate in a walled city would signify victory, and this was eventually fulfilled under Joshua during the conquest of Canaan. Finally, God promised that all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on each other because of Abraham’s offspring. This reflects what God said in 12:2-3, namely that all nations would be blessed because of Abraham. God thus mediates His blessings to the world through Abraham.
 
Food For Thought
God doesn’t cry out through an angel from heaven when we faithfully obey, but the example of Abraham proves that He tests us and is glorified when we are faithful. As we grow in our faith we should expect heart-wrenching trials—from sickness to bereavement to persecution to death. But let us be reminded that God’s tests are meant to mold our character after the likeness of Christ. When the test is complete there is worship, and there is praise from God. Sometimes God commends us through the voices of others who, in a very real sense, are angels, for they are God’s messengers to us. Remember that next time someone takes note of your faithfulness.
            

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Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten. 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
       
Abraham waited for 25 years to have a son after God promised him that his offspring would be as numerous as the sand by the seashore. But he never wavered in spite of both he and Sarah being advanced in age. His faith remained strong, however, for he believed God (Gen. 15:5-6). Then, after Isaac was miraculously born, God tested Abraham’s faith again, commanding him to take the young Isaac to a location of God’s choosing in order that Abraham offer him as a sacrifice to God. Astonishingly, God called Abraham to sacrifice his own son!
       
This account in Genesis 22 gives no hint of Abraham hesitating for a single moment after God instructed him regarding Isaac. Though he did not understand, he knew how to obey; he had been obeying God for 40 years. The scene plays out as “when he was being tested,” or in the midst of this divine trial, Abraham “offered up” (Gr. prospherō) his son (11:17), a perfect tense verb indicating a complete sacrifice. It appears from the verbiage that Abraham had actually made the sacrifice. But only in his mind had he done so. The verb is then used again in v. 17 in the imperfect tense (“was offering up”) showing past tense, ongoing action. The point is that in his mind Abraham fully committed to God that he would offer up Isaac, once and for all. After all, that is what God instructed him to do. Yet God never intended for Abraham to actually kill his son, only the commitment to obey. So, while Abraham “was offering up his only begotten” (imperfect tense verb), without having completed the physical task, Abraham completed God’s spiritual test. God did not actually require him to sacrifice his son; He only wanted to test Abraham’s faith. When he offered his beloved and only son, holding nothing back from what God required of him, God’s test was complete. Abraham was indeed faithful.
       
Notably, v. 17 speaks of Isaac as Abraham’s “only begotten” (Gr. monogenēs)—two words in Greek: “mono” (one) and “ginomai” (to come into being). Together, these words mean “one of a kind; unique.” This is notable because Abraham also had a son named Ishmael who was still living (cf. Gen. 16). Therefore, the only way Isaac could be Abraham’s “only begotten” son is if he was Abraham’s unique son. And he was, just as Jesus is God’s unique Son in John 3:16.
       
Verse 19 gives insight that Genesis 22 does not, for we are told that Abraham set out to kill Isaac as God had commanded all the while believing that Isaac would be resurrected from the dead. After all, Abraham knew that a dead Isaac would put an end to any hope of Abraham’s descendants being numerous since Isaac himself had no children at the time. Abraham had to balance God’s promise of numerous descendants with God’s command to kill the boy who would carry out God’s plan. The solution in his mind while on their journey to Mt. Moriah was that God was going to honor his faithfulness by resurrecting Isaac from the dead.
       
Now of course God did not require Abraham to carry out his task. Since God only wanted to test Abraham, when he was about to sacrifice Isaac God provided a substitute—a ram. This of course is indicative of Jesus Christ dying in man’s place. The author of Hebrews says that Abraham “received” (Gr. komizō) his son back as a “type” (Gr. parabolē), or comparison. Abraham was thus rewarded (received) Isaac’s life as a comparison which can only refer to Christ being raised from the dead, for v. 19 says that Abraham believed Isaac would be resurrected. There was no passivity in Abraham concerning God’s promises, for he was certain of the things he hoped for and convicted of the things he could not see (Heb. 11:1). In short, he was a man of faith simply because he trusted God.

Food For Thought
Abraham’s faith made him “the friend of God” (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23). What an incredible honor to be called God’s friend! But Jesus said as much in John 15:13-15 when He told His disciples: “You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” So the friends of God are those who know God’s will and who obey Him as Abraham and the disciples did. What a wrap on faith! Knowing God’s word, believing it, and obeying it. That’s faith unto salvation!
            

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John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (part 2)
           
The word for “so” in Greek is houtōs. It means “this is how much” or “in this way.” It can refer to the degree to which God loved the world—so much so that He gave His unique Son. Or, it can refer to the manner in which God loved the world—by sending his own son. Option one is most common in the NT. However, when the Greek word for “that” (hōste) is used with the indicative mood verb (“He gave”), it tends to emphasize the greatness of the verb, in this case what God gave. John thus appears to combine both options—the degree to which God loved the world and the manner in which He chose to convey His love. John uses many double meanings in his Gospel. Therefore, the passage concerns the nature of God’s love and the mode He used along with its strength and its all-encompassing range.
           
The word translated “whoever” in English is simply “all” in Greek—literally, “that all who are believing in Him shall not perish…” This word would have taken Nicodemus aback since he believed, like all Jews, that God’s love was limited to the Jews. Whereas Jews are confused as to how God can love anyone outside of the Jewish race, Gentiles get confused on whether God has granted a freewill to all—saying “whosoever will” may come to Christ for salvation. Calvinists, or those with a reformed view of salvation, tend to emphasize God’s role in loving the world and in giving His Son. Arminians, on the other hand, tend to stress the “whosoever” as indicating human freedom in salvation. But it all boils down to being born anew (3:3) of water and spirit (3:5). Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to know Him as God’s Son and choose to follow Him; rather, He told him that he must be “born anew.” And this is solely the work of God by the Spirit.
           
All who do believe in Christ will be those whom God the Father has not only caused to be born again (1 Peter 1:3), but because of such He will “draw” them to Christ (John 6:44), and they will thus believe. It is strictly these elect children of God (Eph 1:3-12) who will hear the voice of Christ and follow Him (cf. John 10) as sheep follow only their shepherd. Only these “shall not perish.” With this phrase, the implication is that some will indeed perish—be “destroyed.” Thus, John 3:16 does not teach universal salvation based solely on Christ’s sacrificial death. All must hear the message of Christ then respond to it by faith in order to be saved and not perish.

The Greek text uses the subjunctive mood for “perish”—literally, that they “might not perish but might have eternal life.” This Greek mood is often called the mood of probability or possibility. So is it just possible that those who believe will have eternal life and those who refuse to believe will perish? The grammar mitigates against the possibility and in fact emphasizes the certainty of it. Grammatically speaking, since God is the subject of the passage, and it is His purpose to save through the giving of His Son (indicated by the Greek hina), the result that follows God’s purpose becomes a twofold reality, not a mere possibility. Either believe in Christ and live eternally or reject Him and be destroyed eternally. After all, both John 10:28 and 11:26 speak of the impossibility of perishing after believing in Christ.

For those who do not believe in Christ, God cannot be accused of causing their unbelief. Man is simply born sinful and rebellious, and everyone who evaluates his life knows this. God wills no one to hell, but man’s freewill chooses it every time. It is therefore God’s love that overcomes man’s depraved will—like a drowned man washed up on a beach—and brings him to life spiritually by causing him to be born anew (1 Peter 1:3). Instead of God just overlooking the regenerated man’s sin, in His love He has paid the penalty for that sin by dying in his place on the cross. Thus, the love of God is manifested in His actions through His Son. The gospel is not about God’s love per se but about His gift—the death of His Son, available to all who believe.
            

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John 3:6-10 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?
           
Jesus used the flesh and the Spirit to illustrate true salvation to Nicodemus in v. 6. For as only a human being can create flesh, so too only the Spirit of God can create a new spirit within the human. Man may be able to calm his own spirit and produce joy or sadness in his own spirit, but only the Spirit of God can produce an entirely new spirit within man—a spirit that longs for God and strives to worship Him. Even if rebirth was possible for man whereby a human could enter again into his mother’s womb, the rebirth would only produce flesh! But spiritual renewal, known as “regeneration,” is wholly the work of God and cannot be accomplished through human means. It does not follow a prayer, good works, or monies given. It is God’s work, and it breathes spiritual life into a spiritually dead person (Eph. 2:1-2) giving them the ability to respond to the Spirit’s call to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation (cf. John 6:44).
           
The astonishment on Nicodemus’ face must have prompted Jesus to say what He did in v. 7. Don’t miss the wording, for Christ says that you “must” be born again. This strong Greek term is also used for the necessity of Jesus’ crucifixion (3:14; 12:34), of the necessity for John the Baptist to decrease while Jesus increased (3:30), of the correct means for worshipping God (4:24), of Jesus carrying out His purpose (4:4; 9:4; 10:16), and of the necessity of Christ’s resurrection (20:9). In other words, it was absolutely necessary for Nicodemus to get over his astonishment at how his works could not gain him entry into God’s kingdom. And given the necessity of all these examples, being “born again” is clearly a “must” apart from works.
           
Those “born of the Spirit” are like the wind which, although it can be observed to blow in certain directions, it cannot be manipulated by man. It blows wherever it wishes (v. 8), as if it had a mind of its own. Likewise, the Spirit of God which can neither be controlled nor harnessed by man. One might think that all serial murderers are forever doomed to hell, yet some of them repent and are saved. Equally, one might think that world renowned saints are bound for heaven only to realize later that they are charlatans, adulterers, and habitual liars when no one is around. Truly, the Spirit of God works in whom He wills to work, and He is as unpredictable as the wind.

Like many who hear the gospel message in clear terms yet cannot understand it, Nicodemus could not fathom what he was being told by Jesus. He had worked so hard to attain his status, and he thought his works were so good. Jesus, however, was telling him—and all others like him—that his works meant nothing. Salvation had nothing to do with being Jewish, looking pious, or doing good. It had only to do with the work of God in the heart of a sinner. But because Nicodemus was trained as he was, his confusion is confusing. He knew the prophecies of Ezekiel and Jeremiah that God Himself would soften the hardened hearts of His people and give them a new heart with the washing of the water by the word (36:25-27; cf. Jer. 31:31-34). So perhaps his legalistic religion had numbed and clouded his understanding of Scripture? After all, Nicodemus represents religionists who attempt to establish their own righteousness while failing to recognize God’s. These have zeal for God but not in keeping with truth (Rom. 10:2-3).
           
Nicodemus was known as “the teacher of Israel” (v. 10), so if he failed to understand Jesus, yet believed in Him as John 2:23-25 states, how much less the others who were believing in Him! No wonder Jesus didn’t entrust Himself to them. They weren’t yet born again.
            

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John 3:3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God… unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

The work of the Holy Spirit with regard to regeneration is a key issue in John 3, and it answers many of the questions posed about the Holy Spirit’s work. Regeneration, or being “born again,” might be defined as the sole work of God by which He imparts spiritual life into His elect children in order that they might respond by faith to the gospel call and be saved. God actually promised this to His people through the OT prophet Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (36:25-27; cf. Jer. 31:31-34). Note that this promise from God is His intention to impart spiritual life to His people.

Jesus, in John 3:3-10, chastised Nicodemus for being the teacher of the Law in Israel and yet not understanding the truth of Ezekiel’s prophecy and what it meant to be born again – to be regenerated. Jesus asked him, “You are the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” Jesus spoke of the same “water” that Ezekiel did – the spiritual cleansing from sin – and the new heart that was needed to be reborn spiritually. Both of which are given by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Peter, however, said that “according to God’s great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3; cf. Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13; James 1:17-18). So from Peter’s words (along with Paul and James) it appears that it is God the Father who regenerates. The conclusion to the matter is that both the Holy Spirit and the Father are the two members of the Trinity involved in regeneration.

Now it is important to note that regeneration occurs prior to saving faith, for no one can respond with faith to Christ’s call without having already been regenerated. Jesus speaks of this phenomenon in John 6:44 saying, “No one can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him.” There is a sequence, therefore, in salvation whereby God the Father draws one to Christ, and then after they hear the good news preached to them about Christ (1 Pet. 1:23, 25; James 1:18), they always respond in faith. But they must hear the preached word of God. Although many hear the gospel, only those chosen by God will respond in faith (Matt. 22:14). But they must be regenerated – born again – through the work of God before they are able to respond in faith. The Spirit washes and regenerates, then faith follows immediately thereafter, as in the case of Cornelius in Acts 10:44. As Peter preached the gospel to him and his household, “the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.” There is also the example of Lydia in Acts 16:14: “And the Lord opened her heart to the respond to the things spoken by Paul.” It is God’s work, therefore, that reaches into the hearts of His elect children to summon their response, and it is an instantaneous event that occurs only once for all believers in Christ. So, regeneration occurs before saving faith, although in the mind of the believer they are practically simultaneous.

Food For Thought
There are those who hear the gospel yet fail to respond in faith. They remain “dead in their trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1-5) and are unable to comprehend the gospel because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14; cf. Mark 4:14-15). It is the work of the Holy Spirit that gives new life through regeneration and enables people to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes or where it goes; so it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
            

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John 3:3-5 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus told Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” But note that Jesus did not respond as one might expect him to. Instead of saying, “Yes, I have indeed come from God; in fact, I’m the Word of God who is God in the flesh. And if you truly believe in me, then you will enter into the kingdom of God.” Instead, Jesus, in essence, said, “You may know that I came from God, but you will never see His kingdom (i.e., heaven) unless you are born again.” In other words, what Nicodemus knew was not enough to have saving faith and get to heaven. Hence, he was representative of all those who had believed in Jesus (2:23) with nothing more than rational faith. Jesus, after all, knew their hearts, and he was not entrusting Himself to them (2:24).

What Nicodemus and all the others were missing was saving faith, not intellectual understanding that Jesus was simply an authoritative preacher from God who could perform signs. Thus, Jesus told him that he needed to be “born again” in order to see the kingdom of God. The Greek word behind “again” actually means “from above” in every other instance in John’s Gospel (3:31; 19:11, 23), but since Nicodemus responded as he did in v. 4 by asking how a man would enter his mother’s womb a second time, the text has traditionally been translated “again.” The gist of the argument then is that one must be born “anew,” for the answer to Nicodemus’ question, rebirth is not the repetition of the old physical way but a new birth in spiritual way.

Now in answer to what it means to be “born again” (i.e., born anew; born from above), Jesus explains in vv. 5-6. Saying, “Truly, truly” (Gr. amen, amen) to show the certainty of the words that follow, Jesus said, in essence, that in order for a person to enter the kingdom of God they would have to be “born of water and the Spirit.” Some have taken the water as water baptism and the Spirit as Spirit baptism. But since Christian baptism had not yet been introduced Nicodemus would not have understood that concept. Furthermore, if water baptism was in view, then Jesus would not have refrained from baptizing people as he did in John 4:2. Others have taken “born again” to mean that one must have a physical birth of water from the amniotic fluid of a mother then a spiritual birth from the Holy Spirit. But since “born of water and the Spirit” is synonymous with “born again” in v. 3, only one birth is in view. Neither of these views are good.

Being “born again” was a promise God made through Ezekiel, and Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand such (v. 10). God promised, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (36:25-27; cf. Jer. 31:31-34).

Now since Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a scholar of the OT, he should have known Ezekiel 36; it should have been his focal text as a Rabbi. Jesus was simply affirming God’s promise saying that without a spiritual cleansing of one’s sinful soul (i.e., regeneration, Titus 3:5) through the Word of God, no one can enter into God’s Kingdom. The Apostle Paul likewise affirmed the spiritual cleansing “by the washing of the water with the word…” (Eph. 5:26). So, being “born again” concerns being transformed by the word of God—the words of Jesus Christ. This is the sole work of God, and no one can enter His kingdom without His cleansing.
            

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John 3:1-2 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
 
John 2:23-25 reveals that many were coming to believe in Jesus because of the signs He was performing. Yet although these “believed” in Him, Jesus did not necessarily believe in them. He knew their hearts, and their belief was apparently nothing more than intellectual, for it was obviously void of any true commitment given that when Jesus was being crucified three years later none of these “many believers” were there except those who helped condemn Him to death. Truly, Jesus had good reasons not to entrust Himself to these phony believers. The only thing that seems to have attracted them to Him was His ability to perform signs.
           
In John 3:1-15 one of these “believers” approaches Jesus to speak with Him about His signs. This story follows directly after 2:23-25 so as to illustrate why Jesus was not entrusting Himself to these “believers” in Him. The man that approaches Jesus is named Nicodemus. The first thing learned about Nicodemus is that he is a Pharisee—an influential conservative religious party within Judaism opposite the Sadducees who were quite liberal. The Pharisees adhered to the entire corpus of what Christians today call the Old Testament, although the Sadducees restricted their beliefs to the Torah (first five books of the OT). Many of them were scribes (lawyers) who were the teachers and expounders of the Law of God. They led people to believe that they were in possession of the hidden meanings of Scripture, and they added many legalisms to the Law. They were, in a word, religionists enmeshed in man-made laws.
           
A second characteristic about Nicodemus is that he was “a ruler of the Jews.” This means that he was on the Jewish supreme court known as the Sanhedrin—a 70-member group of men who judged the people of Israel along with the reigning high priest—the 71st member. They arrested criminals (Matt. 26:47; Acts 5:17-18) and conducted trials (Matt. 26:57ff.; Acts 5:27ff.). Now if Nicodemus was a ruler of the people in Israel who believed the signs of Jesus yet did not truly understand Jesus with saving faith, then the belief of the others was likely less than his.
           
A third characteristic of Nicodemus was that he “came to Jesus by night.” Coming to Jesus during the daylight hours would have put his reputation as an authority in jeopardy. Being the ambitious man that he was, having ascended to the level authority that he had, conceding that the teacher from Nazareth was from God might have made him timid. After all, Jesus was an untrained carpenter while Nicodemus was a scholar of the highest rank. Just being seen asking Jesus a question would have tainted the people’s view of him and caused others to look beyond him to Jesus. Yet in spite of his timidity in coming to Jesus at night, there seems to have been a glimmer of hope in Nicodemus. After all, he did not despise the words and signs of Jesus but instead had a humble curiosity about them. Clearly then he was sensitive to God’s leading.
           
Fourthly, Nicodemus addressed Jesus as “Rabbi” revealing his respect for the man from Nazareth. He also confessed that he and others (“we know”) believed Jesus came from God given His ability to perform signs and speak as He did, although as a “teacher” and not God Himself. Thus, he had a pious belief at this point, albeit merely intellectual and not salvific.

Food For Thought
            Nicodemus represents those wealthy, learned, and respected people who know about Jesus, even believing Him to be the Son of God. But they are unwilling to humbly submit to His lordship because it would hinder their reputation as self-made authoritative people. There is hope, however, for Nicodemus later gave it all up to follow Christ in broad daylight (19:39).
            

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John 20:19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week...
       
The Sabbath day, which is every Saturday, was given by God to Israel as a unique sign that they belonged to Him (Exod. 20:8–11; 31:13–17; Neh. 9:14). No other nation had this, and Israel stood out among the nations by ceasing from their labors, both they and their animals, for the purpose of refreshment. It was not necessarily a day of worship, although in obedience to God’s command to observe the Sabbath, it was by default a day of worship.
       
By Jesus’ day, Israel had come under the leadership of corrupt men like the Pharisees and Sadducees. These men were legalists, and their interpretation of God’s law caused the Sabbath to be a day of bondage to Israel instead of being a day of rest and blessing to them. This is why Jesus deliberately violated their Sabbath traditions. Yet He still honored the Sabbath.
       
Jesus rose from His tomb on a Sunday, the first day of the week. He appeared to a group of women (Matt. 28:9–10) and then to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18). Luke’s Gospel relates how two disciples, distinct from the Eleven, encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–35). This incident occurred during the afternoon of that Resurrection Sunday. John 20:19 continues Luke’s story on the same evening after the two disciples returned to Jerusalem from Emmaus to tell the Eleven about their encounter with Jesus. By that time, Jesus had already appeared to Simon Peter, aka Cephas, though this incident is not narrated, only stated (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5). All this occurred on the first day of the week, Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead. That night, Jesus appeared to the Eleven, minus Thomas (John 20:19–25). Then the next Sunday, He appeared to them with Thomas present (John 20:26–31).
       
It was because of the resurrection of Jesus and His appearances on the first day of the week that the early Church gathered on Sunday to worship Christ and commemorate His death and resurrection (cf. Acts 20:7). This was also the day they came together to pool their money as they prospered (1 Cor. 16:1–2). Since these early Christians were Jewish, it is remarkable that they actually abandoned their observance of the Sabbath on Saturday and replaced their day of rest and for Sunday. This proves that they knew there was no longer a command to observe the Sabbath, and they were now under the New Covenant (cf. Jer. 31:31–34; 2 Cor. 3; Heb. 8), released from the old. Not only did the Jerusalem Council make no demands to Christians to observe the Sabbath (cf. Acts 15), the Apostle Paul never commanded it either. In fact, nowhere in the NT is the Sabbath commanded. Christians live the Sabbath every day of their lives, having ceased from their labors and having begun to enjoy their eternal rest in Christ (cf. Heb. 4).

Food For Thought
       Jesus was crucified on Friday, rested in the tomb on the Sabbath day, and He came back to life on Sunday. From the time Jesus Christ rose from the dead, Sunday has been known as “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10). Whereas the Jewish Sabbath honored God’s finished work of creation (Gen. 2:1–3), Sunday honors Christ’s finished work of redemption—the new creation of a holy people. The Triune God worked for six days to create the universe; then He rested. God the Son suffered on the cross for six hours; then He rested. It should be evident why we worship formally on Sunday. Sunday even foreshadows the future “Day of the Lord.” It is a day foreknown by the prophets (cf. Isa. 2:11–19; 11:11; 12:1, 6; Jer. 31:6, 27–34; Ezek. 34:11–12; Joel 2:1–2, 11, 31; Amos 5:18–20), and it is a day reaffirmed in the NT (cf. John 6:39–40; 12:48; Matt. 24:22, 36; 26:29; Rom. 2:5, 16; Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:2–4; Heb. 10:25; 2 Pet. 2:9; 3:10–11; Rev. 6:16–17; 16:14; etc.). On that Resurrection Sunday, God revealed His power in the most extraordinary way! Have you experienced it by trusting in Christ alone for salvation?
            

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Matthew 28:11-15 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” 15 And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.
       
After the women departed the scene, Matthew flashes back to the tomb and the guards whom he had previously said were shaking from fear and who had become like dead men as a result (v. 4), perhaps having fallen unconscious. Without describing how long it took them to get their wits about them or what actually happened to them, Matthew simply says that “some of the guard” (indicating that the “guard” was plural) went into Jerusalem (indicating that the tomb was outside the city walls). The soldiers then “reported to the chief priests all that had happened.”
       
Assuming these guards were Roman soldiers (cf. v. 12), for Jewish temple police would hardly have feared Pilate, it is striking that they came to the Jewish priests and not their Roman superiors. They knew they would be in deep trouble with Pilate, so, knowing that the chief priests had some influence over him, they smartly went to them instead of their superiors. After all, the chief priests had already induced Judas to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, convinced Pilate to have Him crucified, and persuaded him to place a Roman guard at the tomb. So the soldiers put their trust in the hands of the Jews hoping that they would concoct another lie about Jesus to save their necks. And concoct a lie they did! Though the soldiers would be in trouble for having fallen asleep while on watch, the chief priests paid them to tell this story to Pilate. That is what people do who cannot allow Jesus to be Lord over their lives. Though they know the truth, they concoct a lie so that they do not have to submit to the truth.
       
Matthew’s previous depiction of the guard as being “like dead men” might mean they were unconscious. If so, what exactly could they have told the chief priests? If they had fallen unconscious out of fear, were they rendered unconscious before or after Jesus’ resurrection, the earthquake, and the angel’s appearance? Matthew does not elaborate, so it is not known exactly what they told the chief priests. What is known is that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, and His whereabouts were unknown. Now without a body to guard, they could only confess their failure.
       
Instead of just admitting that Jesus was the Christ, the chief priests had already made up their minds not to admit to the truth, in spite of the evidence before them. After the Council of chief priests had conferred together, they decided that another lie was the best course of action, for one lie always begets another. But in order to foist that lie upon the Romans, they bribed the soldiers with money to tell a tall tale about how the 11 disciples came in the night and stole Jesus’ body from the tomb as they slept. This lie was the very one the Jews were trying to prevent in the first place, and it is why they summoned Pilate to place a guard at His tomb (27:64). For the “large sum of money” the soldiers received from the Jews, they would have to admit that they fell asleep while on duty, a crime punishable by death. But the chief priests promised to “win [Pilate] over” and keep them “out of trouble,” probably with another bribe.
       
The soldiers accepted the offer, and the lie permeated throughout Israel from AD 33 to the time Matthew penned his Gospel, somewhere around AD 60—“and to this day.” The Jewish people were all too willing to believe this lie—anything that pointed to Jesus not being the Messiah, Matthew’s motif throughout his Gospel. And it is “to this day” that the Jews continue to believe this, rejecting Jesus of Nazareth as their long-awaited Messiah, the Christ.

Food For Thought
       Can you imagine the disciples, whose leader (Peter) denied even knowing Christ when a little girl asked Him, being so bold as to stand up to Roman soldiers and attempt to steal Jesus’ body? The disciples were not the kind of men to do such at that time. They were in no frame of mind to steal Jesus’ body. But even if they did, how can one explain the fact that of the Eleven, knowing that they stole the body of Jesus, later went out and died for their faith? It is true that people die for a lie every day, but people don’t willingly die for a lie if they know it’s a lie. There are way too many difficulties with the stolen body theory to use it as an explanation for the empty tomb. The disciples were not transformed into courageous men until they had actually seen the risen Lord Jesus and had been filled with the Holy Spirit. So it wasn’t the empty tomb that did it for them (cf. John 20:8-9); it was the appearance of Jesus Himself.
            

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John 20:16-18 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
       
As Mary wept outside the tomb of Jesus, the man she thought was a gardener was Jesus, alive from the dead! All Jesus needed to do to reveal Himself to her was to say one word: her name. Now although a common gardener may have known Mary by name, it was the way that Jesus spoke her name that identified Him as her “Rabboni” (Aramaic for “my Teacher”). Like the raging sea which Jesus stilled with a word (Mark 4:39), Mary’s troubled soul was calmed by one word from Jesus. Likewise, the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in John 21:6-7, after Jesus instructed them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, and in the story of the two disciples making their way to Emmaus (Luke 24:31), Jesus transforms people’s lives in an instant. All these examples reveal that recognition of Jesus does not follow a single pattern.
       
Mary’s joyful response to Jesus was to call out to Him in reverential awe as to who He was to her, namely her Teacher, her Lord. But given Jesus’ response to her, she must have also embraced Him physically as the other women had done when Jesus was revealed to them (Matt. 28:9). Therefore, He told her, “Stop clinging to Me…” Though the NASB sounds quite harsh, Jesus was not in any way pushing Mary back. His words were in no way meant to keep her from actually touching Him, for that would contradict the invitation He gave the disciples to touch Him in Luke 24:39 along with the challenge to Thomas to touch His hands and His side in John 20:27 (cf. Matt. 28:9). Perhaps what Jesus was telling Mary, given the present imperative verb tense, was to refrain from fixating on the idea that Jesus had returned to stay. The fact that He told her to “stop” means that she had already begun to think that Jesus being back from the dead meant that He would be with Mary and the others in a physical sense indefinitely. The truth of the matter was that Mary’s relationship to Jesus, as with all others, would no longer be through her physical senses. Once Jesus ascended to the Father (v. 17) a short time later, her relationship with Him would be through the presence of the Holy Spirit (cf. 14:16, 26), not Jesus physically.
     
It should be noted that Jesus did make many physical appearances after His death, prior to His ascension (cf. Acts 1:3, 9). This was so that writers like John could claim to have been eyewitnesses who had heard, seen, and touched Jesus—the “the Word of life” who grants eternal life (1 John 1:1-3). Even in his Gospel, John asserted that seeing and touching Jesus had ceased to be the means by which people come to faith. From that point onward, God’s blessing came upon those who believed without seeing (cf. John 20:29).

Food For Thought
       Though Jesus’ work of redemption is finished (19:30), He still had work to do before the Spirit descended, and He is still working. In telling Mary to go inform His “brethren” in v. 16 and telling her, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” in v. 17, Jesus includes all those who have faithfully followed Him as His family, the One who “is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Heb. 2:11). After all, “Whoever does God’s will is [Jesus’] brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:34). They are co-heirs with Christ (cf. Rom. 8:16-17).
 

            

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John 20:11-15 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

When the four Gospels are read as a single narrative, each writer’s perspective paints the following story: Early on Sunday morning the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and a violent earthquake shook Jesus’ tomb. Though Jesus had already risen, the angel rolled the stone away from the tomb and sat on it while the Roman soldiers became so afraid that they fainted and became like dead men (Matt. 28:1-4). Meanwhile, while it was still dark, the women who had followed Jesus so faithfully throughout His ministry departed their homes for Jesus’ tomb to anoint His body, wondering how they would move the stone. Arriving on the scene as the sun appeared over the horizon, they discovered the empty tomb, and while the other women stayed to investigate, Mary Magdalene ran immediately to tell Peter and John, believing from the empty tomb that Jesus’ body had been stolen.

During the time Mary Magdalene was gone, the other women who remained at the tomb were told by an angel that Jesus had risen from the dead (Luke 24:4-5), showing them the empty tomb (Matt. 28:6). When they looked, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting to the right of where Jesus once laid, and he too told the women that Jesus had risen (Mark 16:5). As the women hastily ran to tell the disciples what they had seen, in great fear (Mark 16:8), Jesus appeared to them, and they fell at His feet and worshipped Him (Matt. 28:8-9).  

Now as the women departed to tell the disciples, knowing that Mary Magdalene had already departed to do so, Peter and John arrived to survey the scene without seeing the other women, oblivious to the prior events. Once they investigated and left the scene, Mary Magdalene returned to the site, and she stood outside Jesus’ tomb weeping (John 20:15). As she wept, she looked into Jesus’ empty tomb, and two angels were sitting on either side of where Jesus once laid. Confused as to why anyone would be crying on the single greatest day the world has ever known, the angels asked Mary why she wept. Her answer reveals a woman who was so distraught that even heavenly beings were of no comfort to her, and she probably did not initially recognize them as such. She thought they, along with the man outside the tomb she perceived to be a gardener, were the culprits who had stolen Jesus’ body. So, coming back out of the tomb and not recognizing the man she thought was a gardener as Jesus, she pleaded with him to tell her where Jesus was after He too asked her why she was weeping and whom she was seeking.

Food For Thought
The writer of Hebrews wrote that holy angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (1:14), and “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it” (13:2). These beings announced the births of John the Baptist and of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:11-20, 26-38). They also comforted Jesus in Gethsemane (Luke 22:43) and even announced His resurrection (24:4, 23). Appearing at will and at lightning speed (Dan. 9:20-21), they preach truth. Likewise Christians, for we too have the task of announcing the truth of Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection, and His second coming.
            

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Mathew 12:40 “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
       
If the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:40 are taken at face value, then He would have been in the grave for 72 hours after His crucifixion. That means, as some have espoused, that Jesus could not have died on a Friday and been resurrected on Sunday morning as is traditionally celebrated. The time between a Friday afternoon death and an early Sunday morning resurrection is only about half that time. This is why some have advocated that a Wednesday or Thursday death. Yet the Gospels appear to say unequivocally that Jesus died on a Friday sometime around 3:00 p.m. and was resurrected early on Sunday morning (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). This equals three days but not three nights, appearing to contradict Matthew 12:40. Against the notion that Jesus was killed on Wednesday or Thursday are the numerous passages that say Jesus would be raised on the third day after His death. Consider the following:
      

1. Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders… and be raised up on the third day (Matt. 16:21).
2. …and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day (Matt. 17:23).

3. …and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up (Matt. 20:19).
4. Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day (Matt. 27:64).
5. The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day (Luke 9:22).
6. they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise again (Luke 18:33).
7. saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again (Luke 24:7).
8. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened (Luke 24:21).
9. Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day (Luke 24:46).
10. Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19).
11. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible (Acts 10:40).
12. …and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:4).

All passages, therefore, except Matthew 12:40, teach that it was going to be the third day after His death when Jesus would rise from the grave. That means that if Jesus died on a Wednesday and arose on Sunday, He would have risen on the fifth day. Even if He died on a Thursday, He would have risen on the fourth day. This might satisfy those who demand that Matthew 12:40 be fulfilled literally, but it contradicts the other Gospel accounts.
It is certain that Jesus died on a Friday, for the Gospels say that He died “on the day of preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath” (Mark 15:42; cf. Matt. 27:62; Luke 23:54), namely Saturday. John says, “for that Sabbath was a high day” (19:31) because it fell on the day of the “preparation for the Passover” (John 19:14), later confirming that this was Friday since they could not leave the bodies of the dead overnight into the Sabbath, that is, Saturday.
       
What shall we conclude? The analogy of Scripture—comparing Scripture with Scripture—is clear: Jesus died on Friday (the day of the preparation for the Sabbath which is Saturday) and rose on Sunday (the first day of the week). So, as to Matthew 12:40, it seems evident that Jesus was not speaking of three 24 hour days and nights in that passage where He predicts His own death. Even the Jewish Talmud states that the Jews regarded any part of a day as a full day. The conclusion is that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the three days, and each day includes a night by Jewish computation. Jesus thus died on Friday and was raised on the third day—Sunday.

Food For Thought
We can celebrate the death of Jesus because He died for us to save us from the penalty of our sins. Let us celebrate His resurrection, therefore, since He is not dead but alive! His resurrection guarantees our own resurrection from the dead, for He is the first-fruits of those who rise from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20); He is a representation of the many who will also rise from the dead to live eternally with God. Those who do are the massive harvest of souls who placed their faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ!
            

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Matthew 28:5-8 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” 8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
       
Though there had been a severe earthquake near Jesus’ tomb, and though there were Roman soldiers present, it was the angel sitting on the tombstone that was the focus of attention for both the women and the soldiers. His appearance caused everyone at the tomb to shake with fear. But the angel was not there to cause fear; he was there to announce Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and to remind the women that rising from the dead was exactly what Jesus had prophesied He would do, “just as He said.” The angel thus pointed to the empty tomb, saying, “Come, see the place where He was laying.” Mark 16:5 says that upon entering the tomb, the women saw “a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe”—another angel (cf. Luke 24:4-5; John 20:12). They also would have seen “the linen wrappings lying there… and the face-cloth which had been on [Jesus’] head, not lying with the wrappings, but rolled up on a place by itself” (John 20:6-7). This points to a resurrection, for why would a grave robber unwrap the body entirely?
       
In v. 7, the angel told the women to go quickly and tell Jesus’ disciples that Jesus had risen and would meet them in Galilee. Mark 16:7 mentions Peter who was to be told, for he had denied Christ three times (Matt. 26:69-75). In God’s mercy and grace, He had not only forgiven Peter, He also wanted him to be a part of Christ’s great triumph over death. Jesus had prophesied that after His death He would rise from the grave and meet the disciples in Galilee (26:32). It would be in Galilee where Jesus would restore Peter (John 21:15-17). In Galilee Peter would be assured by Jesus that though he had denied Christ, he himself would not be denied by his Lord.
       
The women set out to obey the angel and tell the disciples what they had seen. They “left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy.” Their lives had changed in an instant; their sorrow had turned to joy. They had witnessed the greatest event in the history of the world and were spoken to by a holy angel. They therefore had a message for the most influential men the world has ever known—the eleven apostles. And once the women reported what they saw to them, those men later went out and changed the world. But it all started with those faithful women!
       
It is interesting to note that in all the Gospel accounts the women were the first witnesses to Christ’s resurrection. After all, in Jewish society the witness of women was unaccepted. Therefore, if the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection are myths concocted by charlatans (as skeptics have suggested), then the question is “Why would those concocting such a lie say that women were the first to witness it?” No one would have believed them! The early Church did suffer for this testimony since women were considered ineligible witnesses. But the fact that women were the first to witness it attests to its authenticity since anyone making up such a story would have certainly used men to witness the account. And yet it was women who attested to its truth.

Food For Thought
God revealed Jesus to the world in the resurrection in order to reveal Himself to His creation. The resurrection of Christ is the good news. Without it, Christians are just like all other religions who pay homage to some dead guy. God sent His angelic messenger to announce that Jesus had risen, and angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14). Now let us go and be a ministering spirit to the world about Christ’s resurrection.
            

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Matthew 27:62-66 On the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate: 63 “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64 Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
       
Even after Jesus’ death, the chief priests were still fearful of Him. On the Sabbath (April 4, AD 33) day after His burial—“the day after the preparation,” they went to Pilate and requested a guard for Jesus’ tomb. Knowing that Jesus had prophesied that He would rise from the dead after three days (cf. 16:21; 17:23; 20:18), they were fearful that His disciples would steal the body and tell everyone that Jesus had risen. So a guard was needed to secure the tomb “until the third day.”
       
Pilate capitulated and gave the Jews a Roman “guard” to protect Jesus’ tomb. A “guard” was plural, usually consisting of two groups of four men each. The guard at the tomb was plural since Matthew 28:4 says that the guards who comprised the “guard” were fearful after they saw the empty tomb. This can also be seen in Matt. 28:11-15 which speaks of this guard as a group of men as opposed to a single man. This is a vital fact since it refutes the idea that one man guarded the tomb and was later overpowered by Jesus’ disciples of Jesus who then stole His body.
       
Certainly Rome did its best to protect the tomb. Roman guards were strict in all matters. It is known that if a soldier fell asleep while on duty, he was executed. Yet while attempting to explain away Jesus’ resurrection, the chief priests conspired to say that the disciples stole Jesus’ body while all the Roman soldiers were sleeping (28:12-13)! It is improbable enough that one solider would fall asleep, but all of them? Clearly, this was another act of God’s providence that further proves Jesus did in fact rise from the dead.
       
The Jews knew that the Roman guard had to be strict in order to keep the tomb from being disturbed. They knew that if word got out that Jesus had risen, then the “last deception will be worse than the first” (v. 64). In other words, even if Jesus rose from the grave, they would not believe but only lament the fact that their plan to murder Him did not ultimately work, at least not for them. In addition to the guard at the tomb, the stone covering it was sealed with the seal of Rome. The seal was a cord that stretched across the stone on both ends with the seal of the king’s signet ring on top of it. Seals were engraved in the presence of Roman guards, who were given the task to watch and protect what was sealed. To break a Roman seal was a crime against the official whose identity was attached—another crime punishable by death.
 
Food For thought
       Many today still strive to squelch Jesus’ influence in our world. Most simply ignore Him, but others spread lies about Jesus, sarcastically insulting Christians and acting as if they know for sure that Jesus did not rise from the grave. Yet as the religious leaders of Jesus’ day failed, so too will all the modern efforts to do the same. After all, if the truth is found in Jesus Christ, and the truth always wins, how can the lies of satanically driven atheists and skeptics prevail? They can’t and they won’t. Let us as Christians therefore praise God that all of His chosen ones will indeed hear the truth and eventually come to saving faith in Jesus Christ—God in flesh, crucified under Pontius Pilate to pay the penalty for our sins, buried in Joseph’s tomb, raised to glory on the third day! Though we weren’t there to witness it, neither were all these modern skeptics. We believe it like we believe other historical accounts: eyewitnesses attest to it. And no one can refute it!
            

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Matthew 27:48, 50 Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink… 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
       
In Psalms 22 and 69 (circa 1000 BC), David penned the prophetic words that Jesus would fulfill on the cross. He cried out to God, saying, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws... You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; all my adversaries are before You. Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (22:15; 69:19-21).
       
The scene David described was played out in Jesus’ passion right down to the letter, fulfilled during the closing moments of His life. Though Matthew does not record it, John says that the reason someone came to Jesus with a sponge filled with sour wine was because He said, “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). Of course Jesus’ thirst is logical. After His vicious scourging, He had endured at least six hours of unimaginable suffering on the cross. Add to that the loss of blood and the shock His body was enduring, Jesus would have been extremely dehydrated. He needed a drink because He had something important to say before willingly giving up His spirit.
       
Jesus was no feeble man robbed of His wits. In fact, He was controlling each moment of His suffering. While His followers mourned, thinking that their Messiah and Lord was leaving them, He was working for them! John 19:28 says that Jesus knew that “all things had already been accomplished” (cf. 17:4). This is an odd thing for John to write with a past tense verb given that Jesus had not yet died, risen from the dead, or ascended into heaven. But John knew, in hindsight, that God’s will is accomplished even before it has come to completion in man’s eyes.
       
The only thing left for Jesus to do at that time was die. Before doing so, He announced that He was thirsty in order to whet His whistle, have sour wine offered to Him (Ps. 69:21), and cry out one final proclamation. Though the Synoptics do not record what Jesus said, John’s Gospel says Jesus exclaimed, “It is finished!” (Gr. tetelestai)—literally paid in full. So, in calling for a drink, Jesus put in motion the fulfillment of Psalm 69:21. Having previously refused the dulling sedative of wine mixed with myrrh (Mark 15:23), now, in order to fulfill David’s prophecy and reveal Himself as the Christ, Jesus drank the sour wine to announce the payment for sin in full.
       
“It is finished” is a perfect tense Greek verb signifying a full completion of a given task with no further work needing to be done. This Greek word has been found in ancient papyri on tax receipts that had been paid in full. Therefore, it was a common word used in Koine Greek to signify one’s full payment of taxes. This is foundational in relation to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, for Jesus paid man’s sin debt in full! So Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient and lacks nothing. His shout was the triumphant cry of victory from the God-man, Jesus Christ, who had fully accomplished the work of man’s redemption—having lived man’s life and died his death. So in His death Jesus willingly gave up His spirit in His perfect time.
 
Food For thought
       What an insult to God to assume that we can add to Christ’s finished work! It is finished means that we can add nothing to what Christ did for us. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins in full with His death. There is nothing to add to it, and the very idea that we can add something to it actually cheapens it. We simply receive Christ by faith for salvation. No works are needed, and none are accepted. Whatever we offer God beyond our faith is simply worship. So let us offer our lives as a living sacrifice unto God for what He has done for us through Jesus Christ!
            

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Matthew 26:26-29 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
       
On Thursday evening Nisan 14 (April 2, AD 33), the day before Jesus was crucified, He and His disciples celebrated the Passover with a feast that commemorated Israel’s exodus from Egypt 1,500 years prior. The bread they ate in v. 22 was Jesus’ body, and the cup was His blood—the blood of the new covenant which made the old covenant obsolete. In the OT blood ratified a covenant made between two people. God did this with Noah (Gen. 8:20), Abraham (Gen. 15:9-10), and with Moses (Ex. 24:8). When God brought reconciliation between Himself and man He always did so through the shedding of blood, for “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). God ordained that animals, instead of men, had to not only be killed, but their blood had to be shed. Leviticus 17:14 says, “The life of all flesh is in its blood.” So, in order for a life to be truly sacrificed, and for sin to be atoned for, its blood had to be spilled.
       
Now when Jesus took the bread and said, “This is my body” he clearly was not speaking literally, no more so than when He said, “I am the vine” (John 15:5) or “I am the door” (John 10:7, 9). John reports that Jesus was misunderstood earlier in His ministry and ridiculed greatly when He spoke of His flesh as real food and His blood as real drink (John 6:55-56). But even Jesus clarified that these words were spirit, not literal (John 6:63). So, in Mark 14:22 the reader must not mistake Jesus’ words as literal. Jesus, in equating bread with His body and wine with His blood, was instructing the disciples to partake of His death through memorial (cf. 1 Cor. 11:24-25). In the same way that the unleavened bread signified leaving evil influences behind in Egypt during the first Passover, and in the same way that the red wine symbolized the shedding of the lamb’s blood painted on the doorposts so that the death angel would “pass over” them (Ex. 12:13), so too are the bread and wine in the ordinance of the Lord’s supper only symbolic of Christ’s body and blood which were given as a once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant with the bread and wine—a covenant ratified in His blood. The old covenant required the blood of animals, but that was an inferior covenant. Now the perfect Lamb, Jesus Christ, was to shed His blood one time for all people. Because of His atoning and perfect sacrifice Jesus is now the Great High Priest who offered one sacrifice on behalf of all—Himself. His blood was “poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (v. 28).

In v. 29 Jesus knew that He would be resurrected and drink this cup again with His disciples. From that day forward the Passover celebration ceased, and the Lord’s Supper replaced it. Today it serves as a reminder, not only of Christ’s perfect sacrifice for sins but as a reminder that He will return and eat it again at the marriage supper of the Lamb (cf. Rev. 19:7-9).

Food For thought
       What we learn from the Lord’s Supper (aka, Eucharist, Communion) is that Jesus celebrated Israel’s Passover as any good Jew does. After all, Christ is our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7); He has the power to “pass over” our sins since He has forgiven those who trust in Him. Christians today celebrate the Lord’s Supper like Jesus celebrated the Passover—looking backwards to a time of deliverance from bondage. We thus eat the Supper and look back at Christ’s death which delivered us from the bondage of sin. But we also eat it looking forward to His return!
            

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Matthew 21:18, 23 Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city… 23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”
       
It was on Wednesday morning April 1, AD 33 of Jesus’ passion week that the events of Matthew 21:23-27 unfolded, continuing through 26:5 (cf. Mark 14:2; Luke 21:48). The previous day Jesus had come to the temple and rebuked the merchants for turning God’s house of prayer into a den of robbers (21:13). After retiring to Bethany for the night, Jesus returned the next day, where the temple courtyard was apparently now calm. In this new setting, Jesus “was teaching” a crowd that had gathered around Him. Matthew does not say what Jesus was teaching, but Luke’s Gospel says, “All the people were hanging upon His words” (19:48).
       
As Jesus taught, the “chief priests and elders of the people” (v. 23) approached Him. This group included Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and was likely accompanied by the former high priest Annas and his son-in-law, the acting high priest, Caiaphas (cf. Luke 3:2). The temple police were probably with them as well. These groups were often at odds with each other, but one thing they shared in common was their hatred for Jesus. Having met together after Jesus cleared the temple of its merchants, Mark 11:18 says, they “began seeking how to destroy Him.”
       
Coming to Jesus, the chief priests and elders of the people asked Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” They wanted to know who Jesus thought He was coming into the temple, receiving praise from children and disrupting their business. Of course Jesus, the Son of God, had been given “authority to execute judgment” (5:27) by His Father as well as “authority over all mankind” to grant eternal life to those His Father gave to Him (17:2). Jesus even had authority over His own life, “to lay it down,” and over His own resurrection, “to take [His life] up again” (10:18). He even had authority to forgive sins (9:2-8), a trait reserved for God alone.
       
Whereas the religious leaders had, in their own minds, the authority to oversee Israel, its temple, and its doctrine, who was this lowly carpenter from Nazareth? They thus interrupted Him as He taught and asked Him a question so as to trap Him, hoping that He would claim His authority was from God. If He did, they planned to arrest Him. But Jesus was wise to their plan.  
       
It is clear that the religious leaders were not questioning that Jesus had power and authority, for that was obvious to all, even them. He had healed the sick, made the lame walk and the blind see. He had even raised the dead, specifically Lazarus just a few days prior (John 11). What they wanted to know was where Jesus got such authority. Previously they had accused Him of acting with satanic authority and power after He cast out demons in their presence (12:24). If He would just admit to acting on God’s authority they could arrest Him, try Him, and put Him to death.

Food For Thought
       Those given great authority are never arrogant with their power. They stand their ground, but they don’t talk down to anyone; they defend the truth mightily, but they never treat anyone cruelly. Though there will always be detractors who seek to trap us like they did Jesus, we still show respect to them as Jesus showed His detractors respect. In our day of tolerance for all things except Christianity, make certain you never compromise your faith, no matter who might be offended. The Christian faith is founded on truth, so it will offend. It’s designed to! We must therefore minister to others within the jurisdiction of God’s authority with true humility. If you know the truth, stand for it, even if it ends friendships—even if it costs you your very life.
            

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Matthew 21:12-13 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
 
Jerusalem was teeming with people for the annual Passover when Jesus “entered the temple” the next day. Pilgrims traveled from all over to offer their lambs (Exod. 12:3-6). Yet those who traveled from far away did not bring lambs due to the travails of traveling with animals; they simply purchased lambs at the temple. The problem was the merchants, under the watchful eye of Annas the high priest, were taking advantage of them. Trade was controlled by the priestly nobility who profited greatly at the expense of the Jews. First, those who needed their foreign currency converted for use in the temple were charged upwards of 25%. Second, those who needed to purchase animals were charged up to ten times the amount of the normal costs. Many who did bring them were denied and forced to purchase animals for sale in the temple. Even those who were poor and could only offer a dove (Lev. 5:7; 14:22) were being bilked. All of this occurred at the Passover, a feast of worship and remembrance of God’s deliverance of His people from Egyptian bondage. Thus, these crooked merchants were interfering with the worship of God. Truly the temple courtyard was filled with corruption and exploitation. Jesus, however, took exception to this wicked practice, and He put an end to it, at least on that day.
       
Mark 11:16 also reveals that some Jews, loaded with merchandise, were taking shortcuts through the temple area and using it as an access road from one part of the city to another. This brought further confusion and chaos to an area that was supposed to be devoted to prayer and worship. So, when Jesus entered the temple on Tuesday March 31, AD 33, having come there the previous day and observed the corruption (Mark 11:11), He was livid. In vv. 12-13 Jesus is seen driving out everyone there who was corrupting the temple. He overturned the tables of the merchants and the seats of those who sold doves. And He refused to allow anyone to use the temple courtyard as a shortcut to the other side of the city. The entire wicked and widespread operation came to a sudden halt. On that day at least, Jesus shut down Annas’ corrupt bilking of the Jewish people for his own wicked profit. This is why he sought Jesus’ death (Mark 11:18).
       
Jesus cited two texts as the basis for His attack on the temple merchants. First, he quoted Isaiah 56:7, reminding them that God’s temple was to be a place of worship for all nations. Second, Jesus cited Jeremiah 7:11, where Jeremiah condemned the notion that the temple provides protection for the Jews in their sin. On the contrary, God would destroy His own temple (Jer. 7:3-15), fulfilling this text some 37 years later when the Romans demolished the temple. Jesus simply called attention to the fact that God was angry with how His people treated Him.

Food For thought
       There is no temple in Jerusalem today. The temple of God (1 Cor. 6:18-20; Rom. 12:1-2) is the body of each believer. Our church buildings are still “houses of prayer,” but they are just buildings. We as Christians comprise God’s temple. Now just like the temple that Jesus angrily cleansed of its corruptions, our bodies too become corrupted when we fill our minds with filth, selfishly pursue wanton pleasure, and fail to glorify God with our bodies. It was Martin Luther who came to hate the indulgences of his day—the supposed buying and selling of God’s grace. His disdain for this practice ushered in the Protestant Reformation and moved people back to the study of the Scriptures. We too should cry out today for Christ to expose our sins and cleanse us just like He did in the temple so long ago. Only then can we truly reap God’s eternal blessings.
            

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Matthew 21:1-5 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
       
As Jesus approached Jerusalem, where He would be crucified four days later, He first came to Bethphage and Bethany, about a mile from the city. Everything Jesus has done up to this point during His three-plus year ministry has led to this day. The 70-sevens (490 years) that Daniel 9:24-26 prophesied were being fulfilled right down to the day, for on this particular day, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem came at the end of 69 of those 70 sevens (483 years). Previously, circa 550 BC, God told the prophet Daniel that from the time a decree was issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 586 BC), 69 of those seventy sevens (483 years) would pass. At that time the Messiah would be “cut off” (Dan. 9:25-26). That specific decree went out in 444 BC, given by the Persian king Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:1-8). From that day until the time Jesus came into Jerusalem in Matthew 21:1-11 it had been exactly 483 years, the final “seven” unfulfilled.
       
It was on that day, specifically March 30, AD 33 that Jesus came into Jerusalem “mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden” (v. 5). This was the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, dating to 520 BC. Knowing He was the Messiah, and planning every move He made in keeping with His sovereign plan, Jesus sent two disciples into a nearby village to fetch this young donkey for Him to ride into Jerusalem. The two were directed to go into that town, untie the animal, and bring it to Jesus. Jesus directed them to tell anyone who asked what they were doing to say, “The Lord has need of them.” Mark 11:5-6 (cf. Luke 19:33-34) says that some did question the two men but allowed them to take the donkey and colt just as Jesus had said. The colt was what Jesus wanted, but it would not have cooperated without the presence of its mother. Thus, in His omniscience Jesus knew just where these animals would be.
       
In addition to fulfilling Daniel 9:24-26 and Zechariah 9:9, Jesus would also fulfill the prophecy of Genesis 49:11 which speaks of the coming Messiah: “He ties his foal to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes.” This signifies great wealth, fertility in the land, joy, and peace—all of which describe the Messiah and His kingdom. Now it would appear more appropriate that a king would come into the great city of Jerusalem mounted on a warhorse, not a colt. Though it was a lowly beast of burden in Jesus’ day, it signified that the Messiah was coming into his kingdom. This was Jesus’ way of not only fulfilling the prophecies about His coming but also that He was the King of the Jews. That Kingdom will be realized at His second coming (cf. Matt. 25:31ff.).
       
Mark 11:11 says that on the day Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, “it was already late.” So, Jesus merely “came into the temple, and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the Twelve.” It was a quiet ending to the day, but it was merely the calm before the storm—a storm that had been brewing against Jesus by His enemies for at least three years. The next day Jesus would clear the temple and rebuke the religious leaders (Matt. 21:12-13). Game on!

Food For Thought
       Jesus turned out to be a huge disappointment to the masses who hailed Him as the Messiah. He simply didn’t fulfill their expectations of conquering Rome. But Jesus’ first coming was not in power; it was in humility. Even today people reject Jesus out of disappointment. This often occurs because we don’t present Jesus according to truth. He’s offered today as a cure-all and rejected when all isn’t cured. We must not only maintain our relationship with Christ during the difficult times of life, we must also present Jesus to others for who He truly is. People have always rejected the truth in light of their own ideas of what they think the Messiah ought to be. But we must trust in Jesus today for who He really is—the humble Savior of the world.
            

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Hebrews 11:13-16 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.
           
Pausing for a brief moment to look back upon the list of great men and women he has highlighted for their faith, the author notates what is evident in “all these who died in faith”: they all passed from this earth not receiving the promises of God on this side of glory. Now since Abel, Enoch, and Noah were not promised what Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob were promised, the author’s comments in vv. 13-16 are specific to them, not Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Abraham et al.’s “dying in faith” is equated with their not yet having received God’s promises, for the author understands that faith is in essence forward-looking, not present possessions.
           
Verse 13 presents a tension between that which is seen and not seen. The patriarchs saw God’s promises with the eye of faith and thus “welcomed” them “from a distance.” Yet they never experienced their fulfillment. Although they “saw” (i.e., believed) that God would fulfill His promises to their descendants, they did not believe they would actually see His promises fulfilled in their lifetimes. Notwithstanding, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all settled down in Canaan and made it their home country. In spite of this, transience and uncertainty were always present among them. How? They recognized quite clearly that “they were strangers and exiles on the earth”—a persistent theme even in the NT for Christians (cf. Phil. 3:20; 1 Pet. 1:1, 17; 2:11-12). France says, “Here, ‘on earth’ could be translated ‘in the land’ (of Canaan) as in v. 9, which was of course the literal situation of the patriarchs, but the way the author will go on to expound the idea makes it clear that for him this is a model of the situation of all God’s people as ‘citizens of heaven’ on their way home and therefore always ‘aliens’ on earth.”
           
For “those who say such thigs” (v. 14) refers, firstly, to the patriarchs, but they represent all who believe the same way, namely that while on earth, we are “strangers and exiles,” aliens sojourning our way in faith. Abraham, for example, departed his former life in Ur (Mesopotamia). Had he been disappointed at not receiving God’s promises in Canaan, he could have returned to Ur—his “country” (Gr. patris). The option of returning there remained open to both him and his offspring, yet it had no desirability for them (v. 15). He was clearly thinking of a better patris—a city built by God with foundations (v. 10; cf. Rev. 21:1-2, 14).
           
As v. 16 attests, Abraham and his faithful offspring were not looking for riches and power on earth; they were following God’s lead looking for a “better country… a heavenly one.” It is true that Canaan was the earthly place of God’s leading, and it is true that this location on the earthly map is God’s Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex. 3:8; Num. 14:8). Abraham et al. was looking for the eventual possession of Canaan along with a new status within it—all of which was, and is, promised to them by God. Ultimately, this promise is fulfilled in Canaan but under the dispensation of Jesus Christ’s reign upon the earth itself—the heavenly Zion (cf. 12:22-24). This follows His return to the earth (Rev. 19), a regathering of the Jewish people as believers in their Messiah—attested to throughout the OT prophets, and a setting up of His earthly millennial kingdom, complete with the heavenly city of Jerusalem descending from heaven to set itself upon the renewed earth (Rev. 21:1-2).

Food For Thought
Reading the life of Abraham and his travels from Ur to Haran to Canaan to Egypt back to Canaan reveals a nomadic life. In this, we see an illustration of God’s people not being at home, not yet at least, not even for Christians. The tragedy of it all stems from the fact that God made the earth and has promised all of His saints an eternal bliss on the earth—the new earth (Rev. 21:1). This present world was turned over to Satan, the ruler and god of this world (John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4). Why? Because mankind demanded it! From the Garden of Eden being forfeited (Gen. 3) to the new earth after the Flood (Gen. 11)—man has demanded his own way under his own gods. But when Jesus returns, He will be King on this earth, and everything God promised to Abraham and those whose faith resembles his will enjoy for eternity the full measure of God’s promises fulfilled—both earthly and heavenly. We as believers look forward to that, not to the transient blessings of this present world. For here we are aliens. In heaven we are citizens!            

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Hebrews 11:11-12 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
           
Having highlighted the great faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham (vv. 4-10), a somewhat surprising example of faith is given in Sarah in 11:11-12—the once-barren wife of Abraham. R.T. France says, “The inclusion of Sarah’s ‘faith’ was a sort of footnote to the main focus of this passage, namely, the faith of Abraham. If Sarah was old, Abraham was still older (Gen. 17:17), though ‘as good as dead’ (cf. Rom. 4:19) rather exaggerates the point in view of his subsequent exploits and eventual death seventy-five years later (Gen. 25:7)! Unlike Sarah, Abraham believed God’s promise from the first (Gen. 15:6), and it was to be abundantly fulfilled, as our author reminds his readers…”

The reason Sarah’s faith is surprising in Hebrews 11 is that the narrative from which the author draws from is Genesis 18:10-15 where Sarah is skeptical and unbelieving. The author claims that Sarah “considered [God] faithful who had promised” in Hebrews 11:11, yet in Genesis 18:12, she laughed out loud at God’s promise that she would bear a child at the age of 90 and Abraham 100 (cf. Gen. 17:17; 21:5). Moreover, the Genesis 18 narrative clearly does not present Sarah as laughing out of pleasure but with cynicism, as any 90-year old woman would laugh if told she would bear a child. Abraham’s faith in the narrative shines through brightly, for he believed God, even rebuking Sarah for her temporary unbelief in the matter (Gen. 18:13-15).
           
Yet as the Genesis narrative unfolds, when Sarah does indeed become pregnant and bears a son (Isaac), her skeptical laughter turns to laughter of great joy, for Isaac (Heb. Yitschaq) means “he laughs.” The Genesis narrative, however, gives no indication that Sarah’s change of heart was the result of faith but only of the undeniable evidence of being pregnant. It therefore appears that the Hebrews author has mercifully judged Sarah by her entire ordeal, not simply the one incident recorded in Genesis 18:10-15. In his mind, the woman who once laughed at God’s promise came to not only trust God personally but proclaim Him loudly. After initially taking God lightly, she learned to take Him seriously. Perhaps this is why the author says, “even Sarah,” revealing his own admiration at how Sarah transformed from a skeptic to a believer. Sarah thus joins the ranks of the faithful women of the Bible, along with Moses’ mother (v. 23) and Rahab (v. 31), representing women of great faith in the OT. Peter likewise highlights Sarah in 1 Peter 3:5-6 as the representative of the godly wife, one which Christian wives are to emulate.
           
The “therefore” that begins v. 12 draws a conclusion concerning Sarah’s faith. That conclusion is that through her faith and the “one man” Abraham’s faith, who was himself an old man “as good as dead,” God worked what was impossible for them to work—the birth of a son from a barren 90-year old woman and a 100-year old man way past his prime! Thus God’s original promise to Abraham to make his name great and make his descendants “as the stars of heaven in number and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore” (Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 32:12) was fulfilled through their faith—both Sarah and Abraham.

Food For Thought
            Thankfully, once our faith in Christ is expressed, God doesn’t hold our previous skepticism against us. Like Sarah, we are counted faithful in spite of how we once failed to believe. Our lives are therefore not judged by God in our worst moment but for our belief—our faith. The object of our faith is of course Jesus Christ. Belief in Him is our salvation, God’s grace to us.
            

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Hebrews 11:10 …for [Abraham] was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
       
What must Abraham have thought after God appeared to him in Ur, promising him a land where he would be blessed and where his name would be great (cf. Gen. 12:1-3)? Since it is known through archaeology that Ur of the Chaldees where Abraham lived was a thriving metropolis, Abraham must have imagined an even greater land in Canaan! After all, God was calling Abraham out of his pagan land and perhaps into a divine land, commissioning him to make a journey of over one thousand miles. What must Abraham have thought during his journey there?
       
Now after God called Abraham, his initial response to God appears to have been met with some trepidation. Genesis 12:1 reveals that God called Abraham out of Ur in Mesopotamia while he was worshiping foreign gods (Josh. 24:2), and He told him to not only depart from his home country but also to leave his relatives behind. Yet not only did Abraham take his father Terah with him, he also took another relative named Lot with him, along with his wife Sarai, and they did not travel to Canaan initially but to Haran. Abraham was 75 years old at that time (12:4), so he had 75 years of accumulated possessions to leave behind, not to mention friends and family. After his father died in Haran, perhaps at his father’s behest and God’s prodding, Abraham obediently traveled to Canaan (Acts 7:2-4) with both his wife and his nephew Lot. Why Abraham took his father and his nephew is not stated nor does Scripture reveal why they stopped in Haran and for how long. But if Abraham had left Ur when God initially called him, and if he truly believed that the land of Canaan was some Paradise on earth as Hebrews 11:10 reveals, we have to wonder why he delayed as he did and why he took family members after having been told to leave his relatives behind.
       
At any rate, by the time Abraham did begin making his way to the land of Canaan, Hebrews 11:10 reveals exactly what he was thinking. If the city of Canaan was as wicked as it would later become, its reputation had to have been known to Abraham. If so, he must have wondered why the Almighty God would want him to live there among such pagan idolators. After all, he had left such a land in Ur. Though we might assume that Abraham was thinking that God was going to make him into some sort of king in Canaan, Hebrews 11:10 reveals something else. In truth, Abraham had come to believe that Canaan was just a land; the ultimate land Abraham was looking for was a city whose “architect and builder is God,” not Nimrod who had built great cities (Gen. 10:8-12) and not Canaan, the wicked grandson of Noah (10:15-20). The city Abraham imagined was “the city which has foundations.”
       
The Apostle John, who lived circa 2000 years after Abraham, writing the vision that Jesus Christ gave him in the Book of Revelation, spoke of the heavenly city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven in the future to rest upon a renewed earth (Rev. 21:1-2). John describes this city as having “foundations”—12 foundation stones (21:14). Of course these “foundations” are referring to stability in contrast to the tents Abraham and his sons were accustomed to on earth. Therefore, what Abraham was “looking” for, in contrast to simply a new home in Canaan, was a special city whose “architect and builder” was God. Abraham was ultimately looking for his final resting place—the heavenly city and the “rest” it symbolizes for both him and his offspring.
       
Although God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants as an eternal inheritance, during his lifetime and that of his sons Isaac and Jacob, God “gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground” (Acts 7:5). In fact, the only land Abraham ever owned in Canaan during his lifetime was a tomb he purchased for his deceased wife Sarah from the Hittite people near Hebron—(Gen. 23). After almost 100 years of living in Canaan, this was all Abraham and his sons actually owned. Abraham, however, hoped for much better things!

The point is that Abraham’s faith was not in the land of Canaan per se but in heaven. He was thus patient while in Canaan, waiting on God, believing He would be true to His word. The ultimate Promised Land was heaven, then and now. This of course in no way minimizes the importance of the actual land as part of God’s promise to Abraham and his offspring—both physical and spiritual. The land of Canaan in Abraham’s day was simply the near fulfillment of what God will ultimately fulfill—the new Jerusalem on the new earth: “But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity” (Ps. 37:11). “Blessed are the humble, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).    

Food For Thought
What was true for Abraham is also true for Christians. We too have God’s promise of land —even the land of Israel where we will reign with Christ on a new earth in the heavenly city of Jerusalem. Our calling is to trust and obey Christ and look forward to that land. By faith we thus live as aliens and sojourners on this earth, living in constant dissonance with the world as we await our ultimate inheritance. So, be careful of trying to make this world your final destination!
            

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Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
           
The faith of Abraham in the OT is both legendary and emblematic. He simply believed God (Gen. 15:6)—trusting what God told him was true in spite of how impossible God’s promise to him seemed. But about ten years prior to this time referenced in Genesis 15:5-6, when Abraham was 75 years old in Genesis 12:4, God spoke to him instructing him to depart from the land of Ur in Mesopotamia where he and his family were living and go to the place where God would lead him and bless him (Gen. 12:1-3), namely Canaan. Notably, Abraham (then called Abram) was not familiar with Yahweh, but like his father Terah was a worshiper of pagan gods (Josh. 24:2).
           
While in Mesopotamia God “appeared” (Acts 7:2) to Abraham in some form and gave him instructions to leave his homeland and his family behind (Gen. 12:1). He apparently did not need much persuasion, for he simply acted on God’s instructions. Hebrews 11:8 comments on this saying, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.” All God told him in Genesis 12:1 was “Go forth… to the land which I will show you.” After departing, his first stop was 750 miles north along the Euphrates to the city of Haran. After his father died in Haran, he and Sarai and his nephew Lot traveled another 450 miles south into the land of Canaan—the land God promised to give Abraham and his descendants forever (Gen. 12:7; 13:14-17; 17:8).
           
When Abraham arrived in Canaan (modern Israel-Palestine), God appeared to him again reiterating His promise concerning the land of Canaan as his eternal inheritance (Gen. 12:7). Of course when he arrived the land was occupied by Canaanites. Commenting on this, Hebrews 11:9 says, “By faith [Abraham] lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents…” In other words, God did not lead him to Canaan to become a king or to instantaneously take over an unoccupied land. God led Abraham to a land where he “lived as an alien”—one word in Greek, paroikeō, meaning “to reside as a foreigner.” This “land of promise” where he lived as an alien, however, was pledged to him and his future offspring by God.
           
At the time of Abraham’s arrival in Canaan at the age of 75 (Gen. 12:4), he had no children, for his wife Sarai was barren (11:29; cf. 16:1). By the age of 86, however, with Sarai’s blessing he had a son with Sarai’s handmaid, Hagar. They named Hagar’s son Ishmael (16:16). But God’s promise to Abraham of him having numerous offspring (15:5; 22:17) would not come through Ishmael but through Isaac (17:19; 26:4) and later through Isaac’s son Jacob (25:22-26; 27:28-29; 28:13-15) whom God would rename “Israel” (32:28; 35:10). These two patriarchs, not Ishmael and not Abraham’s other sons through his later wife Keturah (25:1-4), were and continue to be Abraham’s “fellow heirs of the same promise.”
       
Hebrews 11:9 specifies Isaac and Jacob were Abraham’s specific “fellow heirs,” for while Abraham was an alien in Canaan, he was “dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise.” In v. 10, it is said that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in tents in Canaan as a daily reminder that they were not yet at home in their promised homeland. Though heirs of the land, they had God’s promise without the ultimate reality. And this is precisely the point that the Hebrews author is making—to look to the promised future rather than at the inferior present.

Food For Thought
Our life of faith in Christ in this world demands that we live contrary—in dissonance, to the unbelieving world that surrounds us. R.K. Hughes, says, “A life of faith is not anti-cultural, but countercultural. Thus, a vibrant faith is always matched with a sense of dis-ease, a pervasive in-betweenness, a sense of being a camper. This does not mean, of course, that Abraham was separate from culture. To the contrary, the Genesis records reveals he was deeply involved in the politics of the land. But there was always that dissonance. He was never at home!”
            

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Harvest Bible Church
14954 Mueschke Road
Cypress, TX 77433