Tag: thirty Days of Jesus

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Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 23, Compassionate Healer

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

This section of verses that show Jesus’ life are focused on His earthly ministry. We’ve seen Him as servant, teacher, shepherd, intercessor, and now healer.

Jesus healed people of their afflictions and diseases. He healed Mary who had 7 demons. He healed the woman who’d had a blood issue for 12 years. He healed lepers, even touching them, a dramatic departure from protocol. He healed the Centurion’s servant from a distance. Whether with a word or a touch, the power of Jesus to heal was demonstrated. He healed the blind, the sick, even the dead. He healed Peter’s Mother-in-Law. Strangers or friends, he healed. He did this to show who He was who He said He was- from God and Son of God, Messiah, the prophesied one.

He did this to show His omnipotence. He healed to show His compassion. The word Splagchnizomai, meaning compassion, is used 12 times in the New Testament, and each time it’s used it’s Jesus who is experiencing it. Prior to the NT, the word when used meant courage. Splanchnizomai is not the only word used for compassion in the NT but it is distinctly used with Jesus and in the context of His healings.

Jesus took the term a step further and used it to define the attitude that should capture the life of every believer. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the master had compassion and forgave the servant’s debt (Matt. 18:27). The prodigal son’s father had compassion on him (Luke 15:20). The good Samaritan had compassion on the injured traveler (Luke 10:33). Jesus had compassion on the crowd (Mark 6:34). People needing help asked Jesus for compassion (Mark 9:22; cp. Matt. 9:36; 20:34). Source: Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary

People who need help are the ones who need compassion. Jesus is a God of compassion and He demonstrated this in His willingness to heal.

Usage: This word is used 12 times:

Matthew 9:36: “when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted,”
Matthew 14:14: “a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed”
Matthew 15:32: “his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because”
Matthew 18:27: “lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him, and forgave”
Matthew 20:34: “So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately”
Mark 1:41: “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him,”
Mark 6:34: “much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were”
Mark 8:2: “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me…”
Luke 7:13: “Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said”
Luke 10:33: “where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion”
Luke 15:20: “his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran,”

Photo by Karen Maes @karen1974 at Unsplash

“Health is a good thing; but sickness is far better, if it leads us to God.” JC Ryle

Further Reading

S. Lewis Johnson The Healing of the Blind Man

“It’s a picture of an omnipotent Savior, master of human fate, able to heal, able to give forgiveness of sins, able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by him. And when he touches the eyes of our blindness we sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me”

Sermon: Does God Still Heal?

Perspectives on faith healing often seem as varied as the number of faith healers around. Some say God wants to heal all sickness. Others come close to conceding that God’s purposes may sometimes be fulfilled in our illness and infirmity. Some equate sickness with sin. Others stop short of that but still find it hard to explain why spiritually strong people get sick. Some people just flat out blame the Devil, and they think if they can tie the Devil up in a knot and send him off to Tibet or something, everybody’ll get well.

Joni Earickson Tada: A Deeper Healing

He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’  Jesus said to him, ‘Get up and walk.’  I cannot tell you how many times I would lie in that bed, straining to make my muscles move, and I would sing a hymn that I had learned as a child, ‘Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.  While on others Thou art calling, Jesus do not pass me by.’”  But I never got up out of that bed and walked.  And it seemed back then that Jesus had passed me by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirty Days of Jesus Series, Overview-

Introduction/Background

Prophecies:

Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive
Day 2: A shoot from Jesse
Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time
Day 4:  Marry her, she will bear a Son

Birth & Early Life-

Day 5: The Babe has arrived!
Day 6: The Glory of Jesus
Day 7: Magi seek the Child
Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship
Day 9: The Child Grew
Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple
Day 11: He was Obedient
Day 12: The Son!
Day 13: God is pleased with His Son

The Second Person of the Trinity-

Day 14: Propitiation
Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life
Day 16:  Kingdom of Darkness to Light
Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence
Day 18: The Highest King
Day 19: He emptied Himself
Day 20: Jesus as The Teacher
Day 21: The Good Shepherd
Day 22: The Intercessor

Posted in advent, theology

Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 20, Jesus as the Teacher

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

thirty days of Jesus day 20

How can we know God unless He reveals Himself to us? The creation confirms His existence, but what does the creature know of His attributes, Person, or Power? Unless He teaches us about Himself, we will not know. God sent His Son Jesus to earth as a born-babe, to live the full life of sinlessness under the Law, and to teach us about Himself. He was prophesied to die as the atoning sacrifice, and then rise again to receive His people through His work on the cross. Grace abounds.

Continue reading “Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 20, Jesus as the Teacher” →
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Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 17, Jesus’ Preeminence

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

PREEMINENCE OF THE SON, HIS WORKS & MINISTRY

This section of the Advent flow of verses I’ve selected focus Him as the Second Person of the Trinity. Christ is preeminent. Always and forever.

Let us exult in verses which proclaim a truth that should enlarge our heart and shake our soul with wonder.

thirty days of jesus day 17

Further Reading

Grace To You sermon: The preeminence of Christ

He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God. He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity, and only once crossed the boundary of the land in which He was born, and that in His childhood. He had no wealth or influence, and had neither training nor education in the world schools.

His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential. In infancy, He startled a king. In boyhood, He puzzled the learned doctors. In manhood, He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows, and hushed the seas asleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine, and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the country could not hold all of the books about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together.

Desiring God: The preeminence of Jesus for Life

We should talk about Jesus often and be clear about his identity, resisting every temptation to make him peripheral, secondary, or assumed. And we may find that talking about Jesus often brings his preeminence to have a deeper bearing on our lives. It helps to remind us of his role in two things we deeply care about — the gospel and the glory of God.

Institute for Creation Research devotional: Preeminence of Christ
Christ is also preeminent in our reconciliation, “having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself” (1:20), so that He can “make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27).

CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL! Below, Chapter 4 excerpts from Warren Wiersbe’s “BE” series

Colossians 1:13–20

The false teachers in Colossae, like the false teachers of our own day, would not deny the importance of Jesus Christ. They would simply dethrone Him, giving Him prominence but not preeminence. In their philosophy, Jesus Christ was but one of many “emanations” that proceeded from God and through which men could reach God. It was this claim that Paul refuted in this section.
Probably no paragraph in the New Testament contains more concentrated doctrine about Jesus Christ than this one. We can keep ourselves from going on a detour if we remember that Paul wrote to prove the preeminence of Christ, and he did so by using four unanswerable arguments.
He holds all things together (v. 17). “In Him all things hold together” (NIV).
[T]he Christian has an answer: Jesus Christ! Because “He is before all things,” He can hold all things together. Again, this is another affirmation that Jesus Christ is God. Only God exists before all of Creation, and only God can make Creation cohere. To make Jesus Christ less than God is to dethrone Him.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 114–116). Victor Books.

Posted in advent, theology

Advent, Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 15- The Gift of Eternal Life

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Today is a pause for a moment in the progression of verses showing the Life of Jesus from inception to second coming, in order to ponder the incredible gift of eternal life his work from manger to ascension gives us. Christmas means many things. Today let’s think about His eternality.

Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus is God.
Jesus co-existed in eternity with God, perfectly self-sufficient and satisfied with His communion with the other two persons of the God-head.

But God…loved us and He sent His Son Jesus to seek and save the lost, enacting this magnificent plan of the sacrifice, the cross, the resurrection- the Gospel.

Jesus was and is and is to come. He existed before time and He will be living after time ends. His incarnation and life on earth, death, and resurrection means He will be bringing his people into eternity with Him, to live as co-heirs of all there is. Angels aren’t eternal, they had a moment in time when they didn’t exist but then were created. Humans aren’t eternal either, we have a moment when our own creation begins (Adam then Eve, then all of us formed in the womb by the hand of God.)

The verse today affirms these truths. Jesus said “Before Abraham was, I AM.” I am, meaning He is always in the present. All of those who are in Christ Jesus are also given the gift of eternity…to be with Him, to dwell with Him in joyous worship, to serve Him forever.

EPrata photo
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Advent, Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 14, Propitiation

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Propitiation. A hard word to pronounce…and a hard word to understand, but we have to try, since today’s verse of 1 John 4:10 says this is the reason God sent His son.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10).

PROPITIATION: An offering that turns away the wrath of God directed against sin. According to the NT, God has provided the offering that removes the divine wrath, for in love the Father sent the Son to be the propitiation (or atoning sacrifice) for human sin (1 John 4:10). Source: Pocket dictionary of theological terms (1996).

by which it becomes consistent with his character and government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure his love or make him loving; it only renders it consistent for him to exercise his love towards sinners. In Easton’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. (1893)

The Easton’s definition uses the word ‘consistent’. God is able to do anything but it would not be consistent with His holy character to abandon his promise to punish wrongdoers for their sin. He could turn away His wrath by deciding to do so, but it would destroy His perfectly just nature to be inconsistent. No, God is consistent, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8). “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed“. (Malachi 3:6).

So He sent His Son to be that sacrifice and absorb God’s wrath for our sins, though Christ was sinless.

thirty days of jesus day 14 propitiation

Further Reading

GotQuestions: What is Propitiation?
The word propitiation carries the basic idea of appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him.

Ligonier Ministries: What Do Expiation and Propitiation Mean?
Let’s think about what these words mean, then, beginning with the word expiation. The prefix ex means “out of” or “from,” so expiation has to do with removing something or taking something away. In biblical terms, it has to do with taking away guilt through the payment of a penalty or the offering of an atonement. By contrast, propitiation has to do with the object of the expiation.

Bible Hub Topical Bible- Propitiation
That by which God is rendered propitious, i.e., by which it becomes consistent with his character and government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure his love or make him loving; it only renders it consistent for him to execise his love towards sinners.

Posted in advent, theology

Advent: Thirty Days of Jesus, Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The Bible is intentionally blank where Jesus’ boyhood is concerned. After His birth, the Bible is silent on what Jesus was doing. All we know is He lived in Galilee. We know as a child, not a baby, He was taken by his parents to Egypt, to flee Herod’s rage. And now suddenly He is 12 years old and in the Temple.

thirty days of Jesus day 10

With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding (Job 12:13).

Other than the Magi’s visit to the child, this alone stands out as the sole incident recorded in the Bible about Jesus childhood, or even adulthood before the first Miracle at Cana. Since the Holy Spirit chose to include this single event in the boy Jesus’ life, it bears study.

Further Reading:

The Day Jesus Went AWOL
Second, in this account are recorded the very first words of our Lord Jesus. Naturally, no words were recorded from the birth and infancy of Christ. Many of our Lord’s words were recorded from His later ministry. But the words of our Lord in this text are His first recorded words, and very important words they are indeed.

Twelve-year-old Jesus goes to the Temple
After the host of witnesses to Jesus in Luke 1:5–2:40, Jesus now speaks for himself for the first time. This is the literary climax of Luke’s initial section and shows the sense of mission and self-awareness Jesus possesses. Jesus has a unique relationship to God and a clear sense of his calling, one that transcends his relationship to his earthly parents.

The Son of God at twelve years old
This is the only story in the gospels about Jesus between his infancy and his public ministry as a man. Some have argued that the story is a legend created by the early church to fill in some of the gaps in their knowledge of Jesus’ life. What shall we say to this claim?

Posted in advent, theology

Advent: Thirty Days of Jesus, Day 8- The Magi Offer Gifts & Worship

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Many people worshiped Jesus during His earthly ministry. They bowed before Him and called Him the Messiah, Son of God, or other titles indicating they knew they were worshiping the one True God. Some people worshiped extravagantly. We think of Mary with her bottle of expensive nard, or Joseph of Arimathea lavishly preparing His body with the most expensive ointments. Or from the OT, David worshiping God with all his might before the ark processional.

No one came farther or brought more expensive tokens of worship than the Magi, known as the Wise Men from the East. Their journey of about 900 miles was difficult, fraught with danger, and took months. Their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh were expensive. But that was nothing to them. They journeyed, they found the child, they knelt before Him in humble worship. Though they themselves were considered rulers of sorts, when they saw His place they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. (Matthew 2:9). They knelt before a little child and presented their gifts of adoration.

During this Advent, let us do the same. We do not have the blessing of an incarnated Messiah in front of us to bow to, that will happen later, but we can rejoice today with exceeding joy and present to him our precious gift: our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice. (Romans 12:1).

thirty days of jesus day 8

Further Reading:

Grace To You: What the Magi Mean To Christmas
Just exactly who are they and why are they there? Well, the question as to why they’re there is answered in the text, and that is to worship Him. They came to worship. That becomes absolutely clear. In chapter 2 and verse 2, they say, “We have come to worship Him.” That is their point. Herod even acknowledges this in verse 8 and says, “Come back and tell me when you find Him, that I too may come and worship Him.”

Answers in Genesis: We Three Kings
The Magi Arrive
These magi followed the star, which moved ahead of them, bringing expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus—who was now a young child living in a house (Matthew 2:9–11).5
They worshipped the Christ Child (Matthew 2:11).
Jesus is called a “young child” (paidion, Matthew 2) instead of babe (brephos, Luke 2:16) at the time that the magi arrived. Brephos specifically refers to a baby, whether born or unborn, while paidion refers to an immature child, possibly an infant (Matthew 2:11), so we should not be dogmatic about His age.

 Love Worth Finding: The Gifts of the Wise Men and Our Gifts to Jesus
It’s that time of year again…time for gift-buying, gift-wrapping, and gift-exchanging. What are the gifts we could bring Jesus this Christmas? One way we can discover that is to look at Matthew 2:1-12, which tells of the gifts the wise men brought Him on the night when God became flesh and dwelt among us.

Posted in advent, theology

Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 7- The Magi Seek the Child

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

This beginning part of my Advent series is a presentation of 11 verses overlaid on photos depicting the life of Jesus from prophecy to birth and boyhood. There are additional links at the end of each day’s topic leading the reader to credible ministries to further explore the topic of the day.

The next section (#12-16) will feature verses about the Son as an adult God-Man.

From -26 we will survey the Preeminence of the Son, His attributes, and His ministry.

From -36 we’ll look at His Resurrection, Ascension, & Return. Yes we go over 30 days into a postlude that ends before the new year.

All photos are by EPrata unless otherwise noted.

There is no better refreshment for the soul than to meditate on Him. Enjoy!

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. (Psalm 119:15).

Today’s verse: now that Jesus has been born, and the angels had announced His arrival to the Shepherds, who went to see with all haste this thing the angels had spoken of, now Jesus must flee. So we see from the first moments of His life, hatred against Jesus for who He is and what He has come to do. And so it will be for anyone IN Christ, as well. But His flight to Egypt did not happen before others made great efforts to come and see the Babe- namely the Magi from the East. It was their gift of gold which enabled the poverty-stricken Joseph and Mary to fund their flight to Egypt. God’s providence is perfect, and so is His timing.

thirty days of jesus day 7.jpg

Further Reading

Bible Art: Adoration of the Magi by Giotto, 1320


This picture—at once austere and tender—belongs to a series of seven showing the life of Christ. The masterly depiction of the stable, which is viewed from slightly below, and the columnar solidity of the figures are typical of Giotto, the founder of European painting. The impetuous action of the kneeling king, who picks up the Christ Child, and Mary’s expression of concern translate the biblical account into deeply human terms. Though we know from scripture that the Magi did not arrive the night Jesus was born in the stable, but saw ‘the child’ likely at a house, the act depicted of the King from the East kneeling is representative of Jesus’ stature as King of Kings, even as a baby.

GotQuestions: What Does the Bible say about the Three Wise Men (Magi)?
It is a common misconception that the wise men visited Jesus at the stable on the night of His birth. In fact, the wise men came days, months, or possibly even years later. That is why Matthew 2:11 says the wise men visited and worshiped Jesus in a house, not at the stable.

Answers in Genesis: We Three Kings
The original meaning of mάgoi is likely in view here—wise men who interpreted special signs. There are at least three reasons for this identification. First, they acknowledged that they were interested in signs in the heavens.

Grace To You: Who Were the Wise Men?
Vincent, who has written some very helpful word studies, says in regard to this, “Many absurd traditions and guesses respecting these visitors to our Lord’s cradle have found their way into popular belief and into Christian art.  They were said to be kings and three in number.  They were said to be representatives of three families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth and, therefore, one of them is pictured as an Ethiopian.  Their names are given as Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior.” 

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Advent – Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 6- The Glory of Jesus

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We’re in the section of the 30-day Advent flow of the prophecies of Jesus’ coming, his arrival, and his early life. Yesterday’s scripture picture was “The Babe has arrived” and the scripture was from Luke 2.

How can we go any further without pondering that He, the King of Glory, the Infinite, left glory in heaven to be wrapped in human flesh and dwell among sinners? To seek and save the lost, humbling himself not only as a God-Man, but departing His heavenly home of glory where He constantly received His due worship… To be rejected, despised among men, and killed. All for us, rotten sinners.

Our God is truly AMAZING!

thirty days of jesus verse 6

To Know the Love of Christ, by Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)
“Consider Jehovah’s condescending to take upon Him a nature that was inferior to the angelic, so that when the Word became flesh His divine glory was almost completely eclipsed. Contemplate the unspeakable humiliation into which the Son of God descended, a humiliation which can only be gauged as we measure the distance between the throne of heaven and the manger of Bethlehem.” 

Further information-

God’s Glory: Ligonier Devotional
“We turn today to the first verse of the second chapter of James, wherein the apostle refers to Jesus as “the Lord of glory.” Even though this is an acceptable translation of the original Greek text, it is not necessarily the most accurate way to render the verse in English. As the note in the Reformation Study Bible indicates, it is also possible to translate “the Lord of glory” as simply “the glory.” In reality, it does not really matter which one we choose because the two translations are synonymous. However, to say Jesus is “the glory” is a good way to encapsulate a portion of the New Testament’s description of the majesty of Christ.”

Thinking about Jesus: Owen on meditating on Christ’s glory
In his devotional work, The Glory of Christ, John Owen provided five useful helps to meditate on Christ as a divine/human Person. I pass these meditations along to you, hoping that they will increase your devotion to Christ (you can read the full section in Owen’s Works, 1:312-322).

 John Owen’s quotes on Jesus’ glory (Goodreads)
“No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter who does not in some measure behold it here by faith.”

Hearts Aflame: 5 minute devotional from the Puritans by Dustin Benge. Today: The Glory of Christ by John Owen