The question above realises that there exists a problem between God and mankind.
The Bible states that this problem is SIN and it separates man from his Creator.
However, the Bible also reveals the solution to this dilemma. The apostle Paul wrote,
‘Therefore being JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ’ – Romans 5:1. Personal faith in the death and resurrection of Christ for
sinners, according to Paul, secures salvation. Nothing more is required. The Catholic
Church objects fiercely to this doctrine. The Council of Trent [1545 -
“How should man be just with God?” -
There has been much written about why Jesus asked to be baptised by John Baptist.
After all, it was a baptism in which people confessed their sins, and as the Scriptures
make clear, the Lord Jesus was sinless. Some have suggested that in His baptism,
Jesus was anticipating His own death. Later on in His teaching ministry, He spoke
of his death using the figure of baptism – “I have a baptism to be baptized with,
and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!” -
John Baptist said, “… are You coming to me?” -
The Pharisees had evil intentions towards Jesus. In their hatred for Him, they planned to entrap Him in the answers He gave to their loaded questions. One such question was, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” If He answered that it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, He would be siding with the Romans against Israel and He would be considered a traitor. If however, He said taxes should not be paid to Rome, He could be accused of being a rebel to the authority of Rome. He asked them to give Him a coin used to pay the tax (a Roman denarius, which bore image of Caesar). With the coin in His hand, He answered. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The very fact that Israel was occupied By Roman forces, indicated the nation had been unfaithful towards their God and had failed to give God His rightful dues!
Jesus said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” -
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While in Caesarea, Paul had been told by Agabus the prophet (Acts 21:10), that he
was to be arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. This pronouncement
caused the Christians to appeal to Paul, “Not to go up to Jerusalem.” This appeal
fell on deaf ears! In the following chapter, the Jewish crowds in Jerusalem seized
Paul and ‘sought to kill him’ but he was rescued by the Roman commander, who allowed
him to address the frenzied crowd. Paul related his blinding encounter with the risen
Christ on the road to Damascus and his subsequent meeting with the disciple Ananias,
who said, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized!” Many today, for whatever
reason, struggle with the truth of baptism. The waters have been muddied by the man-
“And now why are you waiting?” -
It was a godly saint from a past generation, Robert Cleaver Chapman, who said in
a letter to a friend, “We should never be frightened to ask Christ for anything.
We might get more than we ask for.” When the Jewish high priest asked Jesus, “Are
You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”, he got more than he asked for. Christ answered,
“I am”, then added, “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” This is a reference to Daniel ch.7,
and the high priest would know it goes onto to speak of Messiah’s coming kingdom
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“Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” -
The journey from captivity in Egypt to the promised land, should have taken just
weeks, but as we know it took 40 years! Rather than thinking of the land to which
they were going, the people were thinking of the land they had escaped. Their hearts
were hankering for the food of Egypt! “We remember the fish which we ate freely in
Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.” They were
dissatisfied with God’s daily provision for them, i.e. the manna. With tear-
“Who will give us flesh to eat?” -