Luke 19:41-42

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-- but now it is hidden from your eyes”

From Background Notes [BN] for November 3^rd & 4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Further, Bonhoeffer explains:

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…

From Background Notes [BN] for November 3^rd & 4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

In the Talmud,(1) times of official mourning for the dead fall into four periods:

Matthew 5:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 3^rd  & 4^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

In Isaiah 61, a passage we considered last week, God’s Messiah promised to bring “comfort to all who mourn (61:2).” Israel, God’s ancient people, knew a great deal about loss through slavery, deportation, and exile.

Isaiah 55:1

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

 

From Background Notes [BN] for October 27^th & 28^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Salvation is first of all about admitting that we are spiritually poor and desperately in need of God’s mercy and grace. That’s a hard admission, filled with the acknowledgement of our own inadequacy — something that self-assured human beings hate to do. We know that we are thirsty for something.

Hebrews 5:2

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness

From Background Notes [BN] for October 27^th & 28^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The context of Hebrews 5:2 is Hebrews 4:14-5:10, an extended discussion that compares “Jesus the Son of God” (4:14) to the office of High Priest in Israel, the most powerful position in Second Temple Judaism. Originally created during the days of Moses, the office of High Priest, held by Aaron the brother of Moses, symbolized God’s desire to remain connected to His people through carefully planned rituals that gave extraordinary access to God.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 27^th & 28^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Frankly, the whole idea that weakness somehow was good upended Paul’s culture where things like weakness and poverty were signs of God’s disfavor and people’s dishonor.

Matthew 5:3

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

From Background Notes [BN] for October 27^th & 28^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

God is dynamically sovereign, and in the words and deeds of Jesus he makes a royal announcement — Good News — that this reign of God now breaks into the world with fresh power and life.

Matthew 5:3

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

From Background Notes [BN] for October 27^th & 28^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Jesus did not intend to demonize the rich and confer sainthood on the poor. However, as we shall see in what follows, he honored the poor by telling them the Good News that they were not trapped in their poverty, while warning the rich that their riches are unreliable unless they are put to good use on behalf of the poor.

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

 

From Background Notes [BN] for October 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

We need to remind ourselves from time to time that the Beatitudes represent signs of those who are truly Christ's disciples.

 

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

At the heart of the sayings at the beginning of the Sermon in Matthew 5:1-16 is the notion that the blessings of God are greater than status above others. These verses are called the "beatitudes" for a reason! Derived from the Latin, beatitude and beatus, the idea forms the root meaning of our English word "happy.” Further…

Matthew 5:4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

From Background Notes [BN] for October 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

5:1-12 comprises what we commonly call "The Beatitudes", pithy sayings which explain what the "blessed life" looks like, and how we can achieve it. To Jesus' audience, to be "blessed" meant to live in the favor of Yahweh. Israel had a problem with that. Jewish people feared that they did not live in God's favor, but were, in fact, still in exile and under judgment for past sins.

Matthew 5:3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

From Background Notes [BN] for October 20^th & 21^st  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Several years ago, Robert Schuller published his book, The Be (Happy) Attitudes (1985), which tackled the question, “Where does happiness come from?” Seizing the verbal trick found in the word “beatitude,” the writer extracted the idea of “attitude.”

2 Chronicles 33:1-6

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.  He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 

Psalm 62:1 (KJV)

Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

Proverbs 19:20-21 (NLT)

Get all the advice and instruction you can,
so you will be wise the rest of your life.

You can make many plans,
but the LORD's purpose will prevail.

2 Chronicles 31:3-5

The king contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals as written in the Law of the LORD. He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD. As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything.

Have your fields produced?  Been blessed??

Haggai 2:23

 “‘On that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”

From Background Notes [BN] for October 6^th & 7^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

In the present context, the purpose of the signet ring was to authenticate legal documents, identify property, or authorize proxy, functioning much like our signature (Jeremiah 32:10-44; 1 Kings 21:8). If one person gave another person his seal, then he thereby conferred authority and trust. God is making Zerubbabel the equivalent of a seal in this sense.

Haggai 2:23

“‘On that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”

From Background Notes [BN] for October 6^th & 7^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Because Zerubbabel showed himself as a servant for the Lord’s building project, God reaches out and takes hold of him with sovereign love and promises him something new.

Jeremiah 7:3-7

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!” If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 6^th & 7^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Notice how the mantra in 7:4 was really a deception. The temple could not make an unholy people holy.

Haggai 2:13

Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?” “Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”

From Background Notes [BN] for October 6^th & 7^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Our initial reaction to the two questions and their answers might be: It doesn’t take much for unclean things to make other things unclean, whereas becoming holy doesn’t happen by second-hand contact with another holy thing.

Haggai 2:12

If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’” The priests answered, “No.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 29^th & 30^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Now, according to Jewish practice, the meat originally became holy because it was brought to the Great Altar as a “peace offering” (Hebrew: šelāmîm) and thereby dedicated to God for a special use.