PSALM 11

PSALM 11

s [superscription] – chief musician to David

a. 1, I trust, my soul

  b. 2, wicked

    c. 3, what can righteous do?

      d. 4a, LORD is in His temple, His throne is in heaven

      d’. 4b, His eyes behold and tried the children of Adam

    c’. 5a, righteous is tried 

  b’. 5b-6, wicked

a’. 7, the LORD loves the righteous

In the times of David there were worship in the hills. That’s why “you/they” suggest that his soul should flee to the hills.

It is not obvious in English translation but “the wicked” is plural. “They” are wicked. Wicked set the bow and arrows to shoot the upright in the heart – cp. Ephesians 6:16, arrows of the wicked. What defends from the arrows? Using the shield of faith – creed.

What can righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?

Flee to the LORD

Who is in His Holy Temple, while His throne is in heaven (v. 4).

The LORD tries the righteous – righteous goes through training, development, and path of maturation. Cp. James 1:12.

The wicked is caught by snares, burned by brimstone, and dismissed by the wind (spirit), cp. Ps.1:4.

The LORD is righteous, Loves the righteous deeds, and the upright looks at His face, cp. Num. 6:24-26. We are not hiding from God, unlike Adam (or sons of Adam, see v. 4b). We are righteous in Christ and through Christ – the second Adam, therefore we can trust in the LORD, Who rules from His heavenly throne.        

Sermon: 1st Sunday of LENT

 Date: March 9, 2025                                                                                                       Text: Luke 4:1-13

Scavenger Hunt

(video can be found here go to 42:08)

I. Intro

What is a scavenger hunt? It’s a game where participants go through a set of different challenges (usually in different places) to reach a final destination to obtain a prize.   

With some limitations, we can see that the Temptations of Jesus is a scavenger hunt. Think about it – right after His Baptism He is led by the Spirit to the wilderness for 40 days, he is tempted by the devil – honestly – throughout these 40 days. Then, by the very end, devil through at Him three more challenges Jesus needs to overcome. Spoiler alert, He won!   

 

II. Text – Luke 4:1-13

a. Stone into bread

b. Glory of the kingdoms vs. faithfulness to God

c. Premature victory vs. fighting to the end

 

III. Take away

It would not be a sermon if I would stop here – it would be a TED talk.

What makes it a sermon – let us read carefully the very end, v. 13. What is an opportune moment? Passion time:

a. He shares the bread even with Judas

b. He stays faithful even begging to find another way

c. He proclaims the completion of the mission

He came to the world to restore our relationship with God based on His righteousness – righteousness of forgiveness and righteousness of active vibrant Christian live. When we are guided by the Spirit throughout the days of our earth wilderness.  

NEWSLETTER: March - THINKING of LENT

Faithfulness to the Lord, loyalty to the Church

Dear brothers and sisters,

The time of Lent is upon us. Thinking of Lent, there are a few layers to consider. On March 9, the first Sunday of Lent, we’ll read Luke 4:1-11. Allow me to explain these layers based on the Gospel reading: First, the time of Lent reminds us of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. Right after His baptism, Jesus was led into the wilderness where natural dangers were testing His will, and when the absence of food, comfortable sleep, and the lack of joyful fellowship with other people reached its peak, the supernatural temptations came to surface.  The devil came, trying to penetrate the guard of the Son of Man. Everything began as a simple earthly question: what about this bread, the basic means to survive? The same questions we have here at Zion: what about the money, paying the bills, etc. All of them are reasonable and should concern a genuine believer, but the focus should stay on the LORD who generously provided in years past. 

PSALM 11

PSALM 11

s [superscription] – chief musician to David

a. 1, I trust, my soul

  b. 2, wicked

    c. 3, what can righteous do?

      d. 4a, LORD is in His temple, His throne is in heaven

      d’. 4b, His eyes behold and tried the children of Adam

    c’. 5a, righteous is tried 

  b’. 5b-6, wicked

a’. 7, the LORD loves the righteous

In the times of David there were worship in the hills. That’s why “you/they” suggest that his soul should flee to the hills.

It is not obvious in English translation but “the wicked” is plural. “They” are wicked. Wicked set the bow and arrows to shoot the upright in the heart – cp. Ephesians 6:16, arrows of the wicked. What defends from the arrows? Using the shield of faith – creed.

What can righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?

Flee to the LORD

Who is in His Holy Temple, while His throne is in heaven (v. 4).

The LORD tries the righteous – righteous goes through training, development, and path of maturation. Cp. James 1:12.

The wicked is caught by snares, burned by brimstone, and dismissed by the wind (spirit), cp. Ps.1:4.

The LORD is righteous, Loves the righteous deeds, and the upright looks at His face, cp. Num. 6:24-26. We are not hiding from God, unlike Adam (or sons of Adam, see v. 4b). We are righteous in Christ and through Christ – the second Adam, therefore we can trust in the LORD, Who rules from His heavenly throne. 

Advent Readings: Luke 17

Luke 17

The chapter begins with a warning about temptation to sin – a believer should be prepared that it is not “if,” it is “when” the temptation will come into his or her life (Lk. 17:1). On the other hand, a brother who sins against you, asking for repentance, should be forgiven (Lk. 17:3-4). This leads to an increase of faith – faith of a size of a mustard seed can move mountains (Lk. 17:5-6).

To illustrate this point, Jesus teaches a parable of unworthy servants (Lk. 17:7-10). We’ve talked about some parables of Jesus in our previous devotions. Now, let us reflect on a real situation that happened in the life of Jesus and His disciples. On the way to Jerusalem, He was met by ten lepers… (Lk. 17:11-19). They would acknowledge Him as Master. And Jesus, having pity on them, sent the lepers to the Temple – to show themselves to the priest. Two things should be said here: first, the leprosy of Jesus’ times is not the same sickness we know it today. It is a skin disease, something like psoriasis. It is a sign of uncleanness, very often used by God as a punishment for a rebellion (cp. Num. 12:10). Being unclean, sick people would be separated from the worshiping community of believers (Lev. 13, Lk. 17:12, note that lepers stood at a distance).   

Second, Bible doesn’t have a cure from the sickness. A person either has it or it is gone, by the will of God. This will can be “stated” by the priests. Therefore, when the 10 go to Jesus as the Master of their lives, they cling to the right source. He is merciful and sends them to be pronounced cleansed (Lk. 17:14). All ten went on their way, yet one of them came back to Jesus. Now, being cleansed, he has a chance to be a part of the worshiping community. And as a worshiper he goes to the source of salvation with the words of thanksgiving (Lk. 17:16).

To give thanks in Greek is Eucharisteo, a formative element for our theology of the Lord's Supper. The act of partaking of His Body and Blood is a sign of our highest reverence and thanksgiving for all His gifts and mercies to us.