John 5:16-18
God is Always at Work
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
John 1:1-18
The Word of God
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Luke 2:21-40
Jesus Presented in the Temple
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
John 19:28-37
The Death of Jesus
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
Matthew 5:17-20
The Fulfillment of the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus teaches us that His Father is always at work...And for believers who believes that He controls the universe, He is at work today...
There are two periods when some think or believe that God was or went silent...The years are called the Silent Years or the Silent Periods of God...These two periods are when many people believed that God was silent...These are the years between the Book of Malachi and the Birth of Jesus...The other time where many people think that God was silent was when His people were in Egypt and slaves and in bondage to Pharaoh...Some thought God was not hearing their cries of bondage and their slavery...These periods were around four hundred years each...But these Silent Periods are really only times when God did not have a prophet writing, speaking, or someone from the Old Testament bringing people His Word...God was working then during these eight hundred years...He is always working...
When God feels hidden from us we can feel lonely, alone, and incomplete...But God never did leave His people or us...During these two four hundred year periods God was there...Two of God's greatest servants would come after these so-called Silent Years...Moses would meet God, know God, and lead's God's people out of Egypt...
Then after the second Silent Period the Ultimate Word of God was coming...The Ultimate Word of God is God in the flesh...One who would make His dwelling among us...The One who is full of Truth and Grace...And many times when we think of Jesus and relate Him to our faith, we think and focus on the cross and how He died for our sins -and this is of the utmost importance...Yet, other things like His birth, His life, His resurrection, the forty days after He rose and taught more to His disciples and offered convincing proofs to them that He is alive, and then His ascension into heaven -are also vitally important to our faith...
In these so called Silent Periods, God was not silent...He was working to bring us closer to Him, because that is what He does...There was no Scripture written during the time of Abraham, and the Patriarch period...Abraham was born at approximately 2166 b.c...Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, and was not born until approximately 1525 b.c...God was not at all silent during the Patriarch years of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's Sons...The Word and the Sacred Words would have been passed on orally...And believers in the second Silent Period would have also continued to believe...We know that Simeon was older, righteous, and devout and was waiting for the Messiah to come before He could be dismissed as a servant into the peace...And the prophetess Anna was a widower for eighty four years, before getting to meet Jesus eight days after His birth...So Simeon and Anna would have been born during the second Silent Period, and God was at work in them and luring them into a deeper relationship and in helping others, as they awaited the birth of His Son...
The Ultimate Word is God in the flesh...Once we believe in the Ultimate Word, then we better see that Jesus is the entire Bible...The Ultimate Word is a Person, with the name of Jesus Christ...He did not come to take away anything that was written by Moses, the Prophets, or any of the other sacred authors...The Ultimate Word did not come to lessen the importance of Scripture, but came to fulfill all of Scripture, which He does...