A Voice in The Desert Podcast

The Biblical Evidence

The biblical evidence  of Justification by faith in Jesus Christ.

FIRST SIGHT OF THE CROSS: Mark 10:46-52

FIRST SIGHT OF THE CROSS: Mark 10:46-52 It is hard for us to imagine the anticipation of the crowds that followed Jesus as he went up to Jerusalem for the last time.  The buildup of their expectation was something you could almost feel. There was electricity in the air.  Everyone knew that something special was about to happen. Great crowds of people were streaming towards Jerusalem for the yearly celebration of the Passover. Jesus was also going there to celebrate the festival with his disciples.  However, he was also going there for another specific reason. Earlier, Jesus told his disciples, “We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law.  They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” Jesus plainly told his disciples why he was going to Jerusalem for the last time, but the disciples really did not understand what he was saying. They couldn’t see what Christ was talking about. They were spiritually blind when it came to the teaching of the cross. As the Lord begins his final approach to Jerusalem, he comes to the great city of Jericho. This was an ancient city with a long history. It was about 20 miles northeast of the capital.  Here, at Jericho, we see even more pilgrims joining Jesus and his group.  Now, the crowds really swell. It becomes a triumphal procession as they move through the great city down the main street. It is like a grand parade with Christ leading the way. But then, something happened. It was such a trifling incident, but no one ever forgot it. A blind man lived in Jericho; Bartimaeus was his name.  He was a beggar who sat on the main street every day asking for money. Somehow or another, this blind man heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming through his city and was about to pass by. Evidently, Bartimaeus knew who Jesus was and why everyone was so excited by his arrival.  He had probably heard about the many great miracles Christ had performed. Therefore, Bartimaeus now begins to shout at the top of his lungs, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Jesus, Lord Messiah, help me!” Repeatedly he shouts this out. And Bartimaeus must have had a loud voice because those in the crowd near him finally said, “Hey, you old bum, shut up! Be quiet! You’re spoiling the whole parade.” Mark says, “Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” Bartimaeus saw his chance and he was not about to quit.  Jesus was coming and he knew that it was now or never. When Christ came to the place where Bartimaeus was seated, he suddenly stopped.  He stood still and the whole procession behind him stopped as well. The whole show came to a grinding halt.  Silence fell so that the shouting of Bartimaeus became even more obvious. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” was ringing through the crowded streets of Jericho. “Call him,” commanded Jesus. The people then told Bartimaeus, “Cheer up, old fellow!  On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, Bartimaeus jumped to his feet and was escorted over to where Jesus stood in the street. And so, with the great crowds as spectators, these two men faced each other, the beggar with no light in his eyes and the man who was the Light of the World.  Then, the question from Jesus’ lips, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus simply says, “I want to see.”  You can almost feel the pain of being blind for so many years in those simple words. “I want to see. I want to be healed. I want to be made whole and restored.  O Lord Jesus, help me!” Christ sees the faith that Bartimaeus has. This is a faith that believes Jesus is the Messiah sent by God. He is the promised Son of David. He is the Lord who has compassion upon those who are suffering, and he has the power to heal and help and make all things new. What follows now is interesting. No anointing occurs; there is no laying on of hands. But there are only the simple words of Christ which say, “Go, your faith has made you well.” Immediately, Bartimaeus receives his eyesight back.  The Lord speaks his Word and the blind man is healed. Just like that! Here, we see how God’s Word is a Word of healing. It is a Word of salvation and restoration. Literally, Christ says, “Go, your faith has saved you.” Salvation brings healing and hope. Christ makes all things new.  Faith believes this. Faith receives the gift of salvation and renewal to be found in Jesus the Messiah. Mark tells us, “Immediately Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” That’s how it is.  We receive the gift and then we respond in faith. We are healed and then immediately follow Christ along the road.  That is what Bartimaeus did and that is what we do as well. We follow our Lord on the road to Jerusalem; we follow him into his suffering and death and into his resurrection. Think about what probably happened to Bartimaeus after he was healed. We don’t know for sure, but we can probably guess he joined the crowds going up to Jerusalem.  He surely continued to follow this extraordinary man who had just healed him so miraculously. With seeing eyes, he joined the great procession as it left Jericho behind. Imagine the joy and wonder of Bartimaeus as he looks for the first time upon the majestic city of David.  Did it take his breath away to see the great city of God, to see the huge temple complex? Did he stay with the pilgrims who came up to celebrate the Passover at Jerusalem? Did he see Jesus ride in triumph on Palm Sunday?  Did he witness how Christ cleared the temple of the moneychangers? Did he hear about how Christ had been betrayed, arrested and taken away? Did he learn about how Jesus was put on trial and unfairly condemned as a criminal?  Did he watch as Jesus was led out by the Romans to be crucified? Was he there at Golgotha on Good Friday? Was he there in the crowd, watching the slow and terrible death of Christ on the cross? I think it’s quite possible. Bartimaeus may have seen Jesus on the cross.  He may have seen with his own eyes how the Lord suffered and died. He may have witnessed how Christ shed his holy and precious blood. Many people did that day.  Imagine what that must have been like for Bartimaeus to witness all these things.  Imagine watching the Lord who had just opened your eyes being put to death by crucifixion.  Imagine seeing the Son of God dying on a cross. And yet, that is exactly what we have to see. We need to look with the eyes of faith and see our Savior on that cross.  The truth is we will never truly understand why the Son of God came into this world until we see him on that cross outside of Jerusalem.  God has to open your eyes so that you can look with the eyes of faith and see your Lord on that cross. Then, you discover how he takes all your sins upon himself and he carries them all down into his terrible suffering and death. Christ takes all of our guilt and sin down into his eternal death and there they die forever. They are put to death and are now gone forever. In Christ, you are forgiven! You are healed and restored. “By his wounds, we are healed.” Christ makes all things new (and that includes you!) When we see that, then we can say along with the Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I now live for God.” That is what Bartimaeus could say.  He could say, “I know my Savior loves me. He not only opened my eyes, but also he loved me and gave himself on the cross for me.  And he has given me my sight back so that I could follow him. I now see with the eyes of faith that he truly is the Son of God. He is my Messiah!” Look now with the eyes of faith and you will behold Jesus. Look and see how he is full of mercy and compassion. He cares about you and he wants to heal you and restore your sight so that you can look into the face of your Savior. Do you see it? You can cry out to him in your suffering and distress. You can shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me! Lord, help me in my time of need!” And he will answer, “Cheer up! On your feet! What do you want for me to do for you?” Then you answer, “Lord, I want to see! I want to witness the power of your cross at work in my life.  I want to experience your love and grace and be made new. O Lord, I want to see!” And Christ says, “Go! Your faith has saved you. You are healed and made new. Come now and follow me! Know that I am always with you; I will never leave you or forsake you.  Together, we shall journey along the way until you enter the majestic city of God, the New Jerusalem that awaits all who trust in God’s mercy.” Amen! My name is Cesar and I’m A Voice In The Desert 

Who Is Christ?

Who Is Christ?   In the person of Jesus God physically entered into our world. An infinite God came to live in a finite world. The one who knew exactly how things were supposed to be came to a place where things obviously weren’t. In Jesus God and man became one person, a person unlike anyone else the world has ever seen or will ever see. Jesus Christ was, and forever will be, fully God and fully man in one person. And that one person changed the course of history forever.   Jesus—Fully Man   Jesus was fully and completely human. He was conceived in the womb of his mother by a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. This is made clear in Matthew 1:18: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” While many things could be said about this, one thing is clear: Jesus was born of a human mother. His ordinary human birth affirms his humanity.

What Is Sin?

What Is Sin?   Sin disrupts everything. We don’t live the lives we were originally designed to live, and we don’t live in the world we were originally designed to live in. Sin mars the image of God in us; we no longer reflect the perfection God created us to reflect. Because of sin, things simply aren’t the way they were originally meant to be. The story of the human race, as presented in the Bible, is the story of God fixing broken people living in a broken world. It is the story of God’s victory over the many results of sin in the world.   What Sin Is   Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature. God sets forth his moral law in many places throughout the Bible. One such place is the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20:1–17. If sin is any action contrary to God’s moral law, it makes sense that Exodus 20:13 says, “You shall not murder,” and Exodus 20:15 says, “You shall not steal.” But sin is also found in attitudes contrary to God’s moral law. This is why Exodus 20:17 says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” Sin is also found in our nature—the internal character that is the essence of who we are. This is why Paul says that those who reject Jesus are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3).   God is eternally good in his character; all that he is conforms perfectly to his moral law. Therefore, anything contrary to his moral law is contrary to his character, that is, contrary to God himself. God hates sin because it directly contradicts everything he is.  

What Is Man?

What Is Man?   After God created the plants and animals on the earth, he had one more thing to create, the pinnacle of his creation: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:27–28)   God did not create us because he was lacking or needing anything. He wasn’t lonely, nor did he need someone or something to bring him praise or give him glory. But he still chose to create us, and we do bring him glory. In Isaiah 43:7, God says, “Everyone who is called by my name … I created for my glory.” Although this fact is supposed to give our lives significance, unless we understand what it means, it can seem empty and meaningless. To give God glory means to give him great honor and praise, and we can do that in various ways.  

What Are Angels, Satan, and Demons?

What Are Angels, Satan, and Demons?   Up to this point, when discussing God’s creation, we have limited our discussion to the physical realm. But there are also spiritual creatures God has created called angels and demons. Satan, a demon himself, is considered the head of the demons.   Angels   Angels are created spiritual beings with moral judgment and high intelligence but without physical bodies. They are God’s warriors and as a group are often referred to as the host (or armies) of heaven. They have not always existed; they are part of the universe God created. Ezra affirms this when he says of God, “You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host” (Neh. 9:6).   Since angels are “spirits” (Heb. 1:14), they do not have physical bodies, for as Jesus says, “A spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). Therefore, angels cannot ordinarily be seen unless the Lord opens our eyes (as he did with Balaam in Numbers 22:31) or they take on bodily form to appear to us (as happened at Jesus’ tomb in Matthew 28:5). Normally, though, angels are invisible as they perform their ordinary activities of guarding us in all our ways (Ps. 91:11) and joining us in our worship of God (Heb. 12:22). Angels demonstrated moral judgment when “they sinned” and were cast out of heaven (2 Peter 2:4). They demonstrate their intelligence through speaking to humans (see Matt. 28:5, for example) and singing praise to God (see Rev. 4:11, for example).  

What Is Prayer?

What Is Prayer?   One of the ways God allows his creation to stay involved with him is through prayer. Prayer, which is personal communication from us to God, not only helps us know about God but also helps us truly know God. Through prayer we can communicate our requests to God, confess our sins to God, and give adoration, praise, and thanksgiving to God.   The Reason for Prayer   God does not want us to pray so that he can find out what we need, for Jesus said, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt. 6:8). Instead, God wants us to pray so that our dependence on him can increase. When we come to him in prayer about something, we express a trust in him, a trust that he will hear and answer our prayers. That is why Jesus compares our prayers to a child asking his father for a fish or an egg (Luke 11:9–12). As a child trusts and expects his father to provide for him, so we ought to expect, in faith, that God will provide for us. That is why Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Matt. 21:22).

What Is Creation?

What Is Creation?   Where did the universe come from? And what is its purpose? Should we think of the creation as good or as evil? In this chapter we seek to understand how God created the universe, what kind of universe he created, and how we should think of the creation today.   The Created Creation   God created the universe out of nothing; nothing but God existed before the universe was created. All things—what Genesis 1:1 calls “the heavens and the earth”—were created by God. John 1:3 affirms this: “All things were made through him.” And in Colossians 1:16 we read, “By him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.” And as we saw in the previous chapter, all the members of the Trinity were involved in this process.   God spoke all of creation into existence—from land and waters to plants and animals (Gen. 1:3–25)—that is, all of creation except for man. Both man and woman were created by God’s very hands and received life from God’s very breath (Gen. 2:7, 22). This intimate, special creation is one sign of the special place God designed human beings to have within his creation. In addition, human beings are the only ones that God made “in his own image” (Gen. 1:27). To be in God’s image means to be like God and to represent God. As God’s image, man is the pinnacle of all creation, more like God than any other creature, and the only one appointed to rule over the rest of creation as God’s representative (Gen. 1:28–31).

What Is the Trinity?

What Is the Trinity?   Sometimes people use three different names when referring to God: God or Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. But these are more than simply different names for one person; they are, in fact, the names of three very distinct persons. But even though God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit have eternally existed as three distinct persons, there is only one God. This is called the doctrine of the Trinity. The idea of three persons and only one God is difficult to understand completely. Even so, it is one of the most important ideas of the Christian faith.   The Bible’s View of the Trinity   The word “trinity” is never found in the Bible, but the idea represented by the word is affirmed in many places. For instance, in Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” His use of “us” and “our” implies that more than one person was involved in creation. The only other beings that God could possibly be referring to are angels, but we are not made in the image of angels but “in the image of God” (Gen. 1:27), so this verse must imply that there is more than one person in God.   When Jesus was baptized, “the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and … a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ ” (Matt. 3:16–17). At this moment, all three members of the Trinity were performing three distinct activities: God the Father was speaking, God the Son was being baptized, and God the Holy Spirit was resting on the Son.   Similarly, when Jesus sent his disciples out to do their work, he commanded them to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). In saying this, Jesus is affirming that all three members of the Trinity are distinct in their personhood (the Father can’t be the Son, for example). Jude 20–21 also affirms the three distinct persons in the Trinity: “Pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

How to be saved?

How to be Saved,   To be reconciled to God, we must choose Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior; we must believe that he is the only begotten Son of the Father (John 14:6). When he came to earth, he was born of a virgin, being entirely God and entirely man. He lived among us, being tempted in all points as we are, yet untainted by sin. In this way, he became an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of man. God sent him because he loved the world, and he still does. This means that he loves you, and he sent his Son to lay down his life so he could restore and fulfill yours! God was burdened with an unquenchable love for the whole world. For this love, Jesus died an excruciating, reprehensible, and utterly denigrating death. He was beaten, and his hairs were plucked from his face. A crown of thorns was twisted around his scalp, rupturing blood vessels so that the blood poured from his head. He was beaten with a cat-o’-nine-tails: a whip with nine strands, often containing shards of metal, bone, and glass. The stripes upon his back were not merely from bruised or bleeding skin. His flesh was voraciously torn from his back, and the muscles and bones were left totally exposed. After the soldiers were finished, the skin and muscle that was still attached to his body hung in ribbons.