Day 19 – Lenten Devotional

LENTEN DEVOTIONAL – DAY 19 – WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019

Jesus teaching was Theological

Mark 1:21-22 “They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach.  They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority,”

Jesus was a teacher of theology; the greatest theologian there ever was because what He taught was the very TRUTH of God.  The word theology is from two Greek words, θεός (theos) meaning God and λογία (logia) which means “to speak of.”  Theology is “speaking of God” and a theologian is “one who speaks of God.”  Now think about it.  Who could possibly be the best theologian ever?  The source Himself, God.  Distinguished Son of God the logos (word) made flesh (John 1:14).  He is the one who temporally spoke of God during His brief three year ministry on earth and eternally spoke and continues to speak the truth of God!

One can argue that all of Jesus teaching involved theology to some degree.

• In His speaking of the Old Testament He draws us in to the truth of the redemptive history of God’s work in Luke 24:44  “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 
• When He speaks of salvation He calls for the lost sheep to hear only His voice in John 10:3-4 “…and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out… and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” 
• Jesus counsels against listening to false theologians in Luke 12:1, “…He began saying to His disciples first of all, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.’ ”   
• The true sheep are those who listen to the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd and mighty Theologian and not to those who would lead them astray in John 10:5   “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

REFLECT:  Jesus said to His Father in Heaven while praying for His apostles, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)  Jesus word is the truth of life, salvation, holiness and more. Don’t buy into popular modernism of “relativistic truth,” the idea that…
“My truth is my truth and your truth is your truth.  I won’t tell you what to believe and don’t tell me what I should believe; because truth is relative to each person.”
I hope you understand that this is a lie from the pit of hell that permeates our world today.  In fact, there IS ABSOLUTE Truth given by God Himself; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

REPENT:  Change your ways. Are there false prophets with competing truths steering you away from the absolute truth of God?  Have you bought into various ideas that are apart from God’s Word?  Ask God to forgive you for turning to the left or right and not following His path for you; Pro 4:26-27,  “Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.”

RESTORE:  Jesus teaching through the gospels uses the foundation of Scripture to show the great plan of salvation that the Father willed for you and me to be reconciled to Him, ultimate theology!  Faith in Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).  His plan is not what the mind of man could devise.  Jesus theology was a theology of absolute truth.  As the Son of God, the Word made flesh, how could it be otherwise?

1 Corinthians 1:18-19 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written, “I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.” (Isaiah 29:14)

Blessings,
Pastor Tom Bellhy