The two divisions in our Bible should be labeled The Old Covenant and the New Covenant, not the Old and New Testament. --When the Jewish rabbis translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek roughly 200 years before Jesus, they had two Greek words from which to choose in translating the Hebrew word for covenant, -------, -briyth-- -------, -suntheke-, and -------,-diatheke-. --In Luke 22-5, the haggling negotiation between Judas and the Temple leadership is rightly referred to as -They agreed -covenanted- to give him money,- using the verbal form of -suntheke-. -Suntheke- implies a negotiation, debating back and forth in order to come to an agreement. --But the Hebrew word for covenant does not involve negotiation. God does not negotiate- he imposes the terms of salvation. That's why the rabbis chose the Greek word -------, -Diatheke- for -------, -briyth-.--Luke 22-29 contrasts the negotiated covenant with Judas by using the verbal form of -diatheke-, where it is used twice and should be translated- -And I covenant -verbal form of -diatheke-- to you a kingdom, as my Father has covenanted to me.---The Father's covenant with the Son takes place in eternity, but it points in time first to God's having made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15-18, where God called down damnation on his own head if the promise to Abram failed -Genesis 15-8-17-. --God fulfilled this promise when the Lord Jesus hung on the cross -Psalm 22-1- Matthew 27-46- Galatians 3-10-14-.--Why do Abraham's natural children, those who are of the Islamic and Jewish faiths not understand this- 2 Corinthians 3-14-17 makes it very clear.

When is a star not a star--When it disappears and reappears, and then moves directly over a house -Matthew 2-9-10-.--Who was Herod the Great--He was a descendant of Esau and the son of Antipater, the friend of Julius Caesar. Herod was declared -King of the Jews- by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C. He backed Mark Antony, but after the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C., Herod switched his support to Octavian -Caesar Augustus-.--Herod was a megalomaniacal, paranoid madman who was so addicted to power, he murdered his own wife and some of his sons. He was the quintessential politician -Matthew 2-7-8-.---Politics is the art of appearing candid and completely open, while concealing as much as possible- -Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson -2001-. -States- The Bene Gesserit View,- -Dune- House Corrino- -New York- Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.-.- -The story of kingship is rooted in rejecting God's protection as the Divine King. It stretches from Saul and to the dynasty of Herod -1 Samuel 8-6-9-.--The seeds of justifying murder are in all of us, as we see in King David's justification for the murder of Uriah -2 Samuel 11-14-25-.--Jesus is the only just king is history, the truly honest political leader who puts other people above himself -Mark 10-42-45-.

God gives us his law because---I. We need to know how to live -Deuteronomy 6-1-.--We have upended G. K. Chesterton's statement --Trust God and doubt yourself- and replaced it with, -Trust yourself and doubt God.---II. We need to know what or whom to fear -Deuteronomy 6-2-.--II. A. This fear is not the same as terror -1 John 4-18-. Terror is only for unrepentant sinners.--II. B. This is similar to the time I -Bryan Rhodes- was invited to eat at the High Table at Oxford University.--II. C. This is similar to when I got married this past year.--III. We need to know who is watching us, because we pass on our faith to others by how we live -Deuteronomy 6-2-.--IV. Our lives depend on it -Deuteronomy 6-3-.--Hear God's Word, speak God's Word to others, and walk in God's Word. His perfect law gives us liberty -James 1-23-25-.

The elderly Simeon recognized the 40-day-old baby as Israel's Messiah when the Lord Jesus was presented in the Temple -Luke 2-25-26-. Because he knew the Lord and knew where he was going when he died -cf. 2 Timothy 1-12-, Simeon looked forward to his -dismissal- -Luke 2-29-.----But he had a penetrating prophecy regarding the division this child would bring among those who professed to be the Lord's people -Luke 2-34-35-. He spoke of a sword in words similar to Hebrews 4-12-13.----But he spoke in particular to Mary, whose heart would be pierced over and over again.----How stinging the Lord Jesus' actions -Luke 2-41-48- and words must have been when his parents returned to Jerusalem- -Luke 2-49-----Or consider his response to his mother's loving concern, in effect rebuking her for not being a true follower -Luke 8-19-21-.----But the greatest sword thrust of all came at the foot of his cross, when Mary witnessed the torture of Rome on her first child.----Mary was not yet a true disciple, nor were Jesus' half-brothers, so Jesus lovingly commits her care and nurture to his most compassionate and loyal disciple, the Apostle John -John 19-25-27-.----The end result is that she and her other children became disciples after Jesus' resurrection and ascension and awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit along with the 120 -Acts 1-12-14-.

This is a meditation for our Christmas Eve Service.--I am indebted to my friend, Will Varner, for some of the ideas expressed in this message, particularly his chapter, -A Not so Silent Night,- in his -Anticipating the Advent- Looking for Messiah in All the Right Places-. Dr. Varner and I studied Greek together beginning in 1965, and he was a groomsman in my wedding.--'Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, -Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased--' -Luke 2-13-14, NET Bible-.--Dr. Varner comments- 'In the Garden, He acknowledged that He had a spiritual army ready to be called to active duty- -Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels-- -Matt 26-53-. In other words, Satan had his legions and Jesus had His legions. Is it a stretch to think that the legions of angels ready to do the bidding of their Commander in Matthew 26 are identical to the legions of the heavenly host --stratia-- that evening outside Bethlehem- To borrow a modern expression, I think that the song sung to the shepherds the night of Jesus' birth was the celestial version of -Hail to the Chief.- In other words, that so-called -Silent Night- was the beginning of war-' -William Varner, -Anticipating the Advent- -Dallas, TX- Fontes Press-, pp. 63-64.-

Anna was an old woman. Was she 84, or had she been a widow for 84 years- There is ambiguity in the Greek text because the Holy Spirit wanted us not to know for sure.--Unlike most people, she had not grown increasingly bitter as she aged. Instead of becoming a defiling root of bitterness -Hebrews 12-15-, in her old age, Anna became pregnant with expectation and contagious thankfulness -Luke 2-38-. She was an evangelist and one of the great women prophets.--She was a widow, but instead of being a bitter old woman, she bubbled over with life and was devoted to serving God and his people -Luke 2-36-38-.--Providing for the genuinely needy is a fundamental Christian virtue. Charity begins at home. Though your church is absolutely essential, your family is even more important -1 Timothy 5-3-8-.

This is the first lecture given at the Nursing School of Louisiana Christian University -formerly Louisiana College- in Pineville, Louisiana.----It is part of a symposium for future nurses entitled- -Understanding Demon Possession in the Context of Religion and Mental Health.-

The Blessed Virgin Mary was a remarkable person. She is an early teen determined to obey God's messenger, the Archangel Gabriel, no matter the cost, no matter the risk.----Twice in Luke, she is called -Blessed among women- -Luke 1-28, 42-, an ascription found of only one other woman in the Bible, Jael, who -nailed- Sisera, the enemy of God's people -Judges 5-24-. How happy and prosperous are these two women who were used by God to deliver his people from their enemies-----Mary's cousin, Elizabeth, exclaims that Mary is the mother of her Lord -Luke 1-43-. Mary is the Theotokos, the -God bearer,- the Mother of God, Mater Dei, not of Jesus' divine nature, of course, but only of his human nature.----Because the Holy Spirit came upon Mary as the Shekinah Glory of God just as he had the Tabernacle -Exodus 40-34-35-, the Lord Jesus can be called the Son of God -Luke 1-35-.----But in his human nature, the Lord Jesus is legally the Son of David through his legal father Joseph -Luke 1-27-, and biologically through his mother, he is both descended from King David -1-32- and the High Priest Aaron -Luke 1-5, 36-.

Luke's Gospel is an orderly account, grounded in historical events such as the priestly division of Abijah and the death of Herod the Great -Luke 1-1-5-. This led the former archbishop of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom, to calculate the birth of the Lord Jesus as taking place on December 25, 5 B.C.----Zechariah was an old man when the lot was cast for his once-in-a-lifetime experience- to offer incense before the veil connecting the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies -Luke 1-8-10-. Both he and his wife Elizabeth were direct descendants from Israel's first high priest, Aaron -Luke 1-5-.----He and Elizabeth had begged God for a child for many years, but their prayers had not yet been answered, and so he no longer prayed with expectation his prayers would be heard. This can be demonstrated by his questioning the Archangel Gabriel -Luke 1-18-20-.----If we would ever see our prayers answered- -1- We must believe God exists, and -2- we must believe that he rewards those who diligently seek him -Hebrews 11-6-.----Zechariah believed in God, but he no longer expected his prayers would be answered, so when he asked for a sign, Gabriel struck his mouth- Zechariah could not speak until after he named his son -Luke 1-18-22-.----Inasmuch as the Virgin Mary was a relative of Elizabeth's -Luke 1-36-, it means that she was a direct descendent of Aaron, too, along with being a direct descendent of King David -Luke 1-32-.----Her response to Gabriel's announcement was couched in humility and submission, not unbelief, as can be seen in Gabriel's response to her -Luke 1-34-35-.----As we pray, may we be like Mary and not like Zechariah.

Continuing our look at the interceding martyrs in heaven -Revelation 6-9-10-, we considered how different their prayers in heaven are from when they prayed on earth -Acts 7-60-.----We focused on the Lord Jesus' response as he stands at the right hand of the Father -Acts 7-55-56-.----When his people suffer, the Lord Jesus suffers with them. The Apostle Paul understood that his own suffering was part of the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ.----While in no way denying the sufficiency of the Lord's substitutionary, once-for-all death on the cross -Hebrews 9-24-27-, the suffering of the Body of Christ is completing Christ's own suffering -Colossians 1-24-.----That is why Paul cheerfully endured suffering- His suffering was a means God used to save his own elect -2 Timothy 2-10-.----Now is the time to intercede for loved ones. Now is the day of salvation -2 Corinthians 6-2-.