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Zechariah 6:12-13

Jesus is the Branch and the Builder

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 15, 2022

Much of the book of Zechariah has to do with the coming reign of Christ on the earth. In the New Jerusalem there will be the temple of God. But I’m thinking we should not think of it as a temple similar to what the Israelites had in the Old Testament. Zechariah 6:12-13 reads, “And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne.” It was in Matthew 16:18, that Jesus made it clear that “he” would be the builder as Zechariah said. It reads, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Now, i’m pretty confident that the old testament phrase the “Temple of the Lord” is taken over by the New Testament writes to speak of a spiritual structure consisting of all believers in Jesus. It won’t be just a Jewish temple. It will contain all believers alike. Paul says this in Ephesians 2:19-22, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

Notice that the Zechariah passage calls the builder “The Branch.” It’s a mixing of metaphors I know but that’s not bad grammar in this case. It’s intentional. Jesus is going to be the fulfillment of both images. He’s the builder and he’s the Branch. Thus, the two figures of speech both point to Jesus. The agricultural imagery can be confusing at times because when Jesus speaks of it, he calls his followers the “branches.” In John 15:4-5 he says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches.” Jesus is the “root” of Jesse as well as Isaiah says and Paul quotes in Romans 15:12, “And again Isaiah says, ‘The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” The root of Jesse, the main branch from the house of David, will grow naturally as it spreads across the earth. But the product is seen as the “abiding place” of God. The builder then constructs the temple consisting of human branches that are referred to as stones. There is no doubt that it’s the Lord Jesus, himself, who is building his house! He is building his holy temple out of spiritual stones that are imperfect but he makes them perfect. He promised a greater Builder and a greater Glory, One who would far surpass in workmanship any of the structures erected by man. Living stones cut from the quarries of human nature and polished to excellence and perfection by the Spirit of God were to be built by Him into a holy temple in the Lord. The temple Christ builds is constructed from perfected lives, every stone bearing evidence of the character and nature of the Builder Himself. Both images are appropriate.

The Psalmist, David who long to build a temple for God but was denied that privilege says in Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” But the building of the “dwelling place” (Temple!) of God was not to be out of stone stones! He would use living stones and that’s what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:4-5, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Rolls concludes, “The temple Christ builds is constructed from perfected lives, every stone bearing evidence of the character and nature of the Builder Himself. The inter-relationship of redemption is to be centered in eternal fellowship. The dedication of this temple when completed will mark the brightest and most blessed day that ever dawned; for it ushers in a reconstituted kingdom (Zechariah 6:13), a reconfirmed victory (14:4) and a regenerated world (14:9). Then we shall rightly adore the Builder for His wisdom, will and work, while angels wonder and worship (Ephesians 3:10).”1

1 Charles J. Rolls, The Indescribable Christ: Names and Titles of Jesus Christ: A-G (Loizeaux Brothers, 1984).

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Psalm 96:9, various

Jesus is our “Holiness”

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 14, 2022

The Psalmist exhorts his readers in song in Psalm 96:9, “Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!” I’ve always been afraid of the Biblical exhortations for me to be “Holy.” I know that I’m not! Moses told the people in Leviticus 19:2 what God told him to say; “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” To make the matter worse, Peter quotes from this passage and reinforces the command to us. In 1 Peter 1:14-16, he writes, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Pondering on Psalm 96 that says holiness is beautiful, I have struggled with understanding what holiness really is. Whatever it is, it must be beautiful. The English Standard Version translates this passage in Psalm 96 as, “Worship the Lord in the Splendor of holiness.”

I think we’ve misunderstood the idea of holiness. It seems i want to associate it with some kind of grimness! Steadman has it right for me, “We think of holy people as those who look as if they have been steeped in vinegar or soaked in embalming fluid. I used to think of the word that way, and holiness was not attractive to me at all. It repelled me.”1 One of the things I really like about my Logos Bible Software is that I search every word in the English bible and trace it back to it’s original language manuscript form but then take that form back to the “lemma.” That’s the form of the word that you would look up in a dictionary. If you ran across the word “loved” you wouldn’t look up “loved” you would look up “love.” Love is the Lemma of loved, lovely, lovable etc. All of these forms come for a single root word and I can search for the root word also. Without going through a lot of linguistic gobble goop, let me say the “holy, holiness, etc” all come from the root word that means “whole.” I wonder if Ray Steadman has the same software because he writes, “This is the word wholeness. So that holiness means ‘wholeness,’ being complete. And if you read wholeness in place of holiness everywhere you find it in the Bible you will be much closer to what the writers of that book meant. We all know what wholeness is: It is to have together all the parts which were intended to be there, and to have them functioning as they were intended to function.”1

Now, that would be a beautiful thing! Let me continue Steadman’s quote: “That is what God is talking about. He says to this people, ‘you shall be whole, because I am whole.’ God is complete; he is perfect. There is no blemish in God; he lives in harmony with himself. He is a beautiful person. He is absolutely what a person ought to be. He is filled with joy and love and peace. He lives in wholeness. And he looks at us in our brokenness and says to us, ‘You, too, shall be whole.’” Then comes Jesus to make us whole! Jesus was the subject of the book of Leviticus in the sacrificial system that manages man’s brokenness. Jesus is our guilt offering. our peace offering our trespass offering or our sin offering. In Him we can find “holiness.” If we think of “holiness” as related to our own righteous behavior, we are lost and discouraged. But when we realize that Christ’s holiness can be ours through faith in him we hear “good news.” Isn’t that what the Gospel is? But, I don’t feel holy or “whole”. Right, but Jesus is. Through faith in Christ we are grafted into Him. This is what Paul meant when he wrote in Romans 11:15, “If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.”

1 Ray Steadman, Leviticus Commentary, n.d.

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Jeremiah 8:22, various

Jesus is the Balm of Gilead

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 13, 2022

Paul Robeson was a negro bass soloist and sang with many famous bands and performed in many movies as well. He makes “Ole’ Man River” come alive! But my favorite of his songs is “There is a Balm in Gilead.” I’m sure the title of that song comes from Jeremiah 8:22 where the prophet asks, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” The song answers Jeremiah’s question. It says, “There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.” I’ve looked in vain to find Gilead on the map. There’s no such place today and it’s even confusing as to where it was in Jeremiah’s day. We have no idea what kind of balm it was or how it was made. Ryken says, “Gilead was the land just east of the Jordan River. It was known for its healing balsams. When Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he was sold to a caravan taking balm from Gilead down to Egypt (Genesis 37:25). Scholars have been unable to determine how the balm of Gilead was made, but it seems to have been a soothing, aromatic resin made from a tree or plant. It might be compared to aloe vera. The balm of Gilead was useful in keeping wounds from putrefying.”1 But Jeremiah wasn’t talking about a physical sickness. He was addressing the disease of their sins. It was the “soul-sickness” that the people of Judah needed a physician for. According to Jeremiah and other prophets the sins of the people are “putrifying” or are already “putrefied” and they needed immediate attention. The saying “There is no balm in Gilead” has taken on a meaning in and of itself. According the “Manners and Customs of the Bible,” “Today the expression is sometimes used to mean there appears to be no healing or comforting to be found anywhere. It’s an expression of near hopelessness and despair.”3

Augustus Toplady understood the “balm of Gilead” as being the proclamation of the truth of Jesus Christ. To him sound doctrine and teaching was what could heal a soul. He says it’s originally the Apostle Paul that says this. Toplady writes, “He (Paul) calls the system of gospel truths, sound doctrine: ὑγιαινουση διδασκαλια, salutary, health-giving doctrine; not only right and sound in itself, but conducing to the spiritual strength and health of those that receive it: doctrine, that operates like some efficacious restorative or an exhausted constitution; that renders the sin-sick souls of men healthy, vigorous and thriving; that causes them, through the blessing of divine grace, to grow as the lily, and to cast forth the root as Lebanon, to revive as the corn, and to flourish as the vine, to diffuse their branches, and rival the olive-tree, both in beauty and fruitfulness.3

What the people of Judah needed was someone who could heal all their diseases. To finish Ryken’s quote, “They needed a Great Physician. What they needed, of course, was Jesus Christ. They needed the Christ who, like Jeremiah, wept over the sins of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). But Jesus did more than weep for his people. The Scripture says that he went around “preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23). More than that, he died to heal them from the wounds of sin. Jesus Christ is the balm in Gilead. He is the physician who heals the wounds of God’s people.”1

1 Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 169–170.

2 James M. Freeman and Harold J. Chadwick, Manners & Customs of the Bible (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), 369.

3 Augustus M. Toplady, The Works of Augustus M. Toplady, vol. 3 (London: Richard Baynes, 1825), 13.

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1 Timothy 6:15, Various

Jesus is King of Kings!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 12, 2022

In 1 Timothy 6:15 Jesus is called “he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords…” This description of Christ is used several times in the New Testament and refers to His 2nd coming when he will return to earth to set up His eternal Kingdom. It appears twice in the book of Revelation. The first time is in 17:14, “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” But Paul in his letter to Timothy and John in his writing down as instructed his visions of the future did not make up this title. It’s part of the prophetic message of the Old Testament regarding the coming accomplishments of the Messiah. I believe these passages is what led the Jews, to a large degree, expect a military Messiah who would destroy Rome and it’s legions on their behalf. I believe the misunderstood the nature of the battle. It’s in Ezekiel that the prophets says that God will come against the enemies of God’s people “the kings of Tyre and Babylon.” God will send (Ezekiel 26:7), “the king of kings, with horses and chariots and a host of many soldiers.” The Psalmist sang songs about this sovereign king. Psalm 136:2-3 says, “Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever.” In the book of Daniel 2:37, Daniel calls Nebuchadnezzar “King of Kings.” But, as Yarbrough points out in his commentary, “… in the same verse he continues: ‘The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory.’ There are earthly potentates like Nebuchadnezzar. And then there is God over all. Later in the same conversation Nebuchadnezzar exclaims to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings’ (Dan 2:47). Other OT passages call God ‘Lord of lords’ (Deut 10:17; Ps 136:3).”1

That Jesus is the one being referred to in these Old Testament is clarified for us in the New Testament. As the “Blessed and only Sovereign.” King of Kings and Lord of Lords is actually his name. Revelation 19:15-16 says we’ll all see and everyone will acknowledge this when he returns. It says, “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” Don’t be like the Jewish people and misunderstand what Jesus came for! Yes, indeed, Jesus came to defeat our enemies but as Paul tells the Ephesians in 6:12, “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Don’t look at Jesus as an instrument of temporal salvation! He has not come to make you rich! He has not come to wipe out all your earthly enemies, he has not come to make life a prosperous or pleasure filled venture for you — he has come and he offers himself to you and to me as the King of kings and Lord of Lords, who has come to save us from our sins! And that is what really matters in the long run. He’s the key to knowledge, the wellspring of wisdom, the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of peace and the roadway to righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness and the gateway to glory. He’s the master of the mighty. He’s the captain of the conquerors. He’s the head of heroes and the leader of legislators and the governor of the governors. He’s the prince of princes, the king of kings, and the lord of lords. We can trust him. His office is manifold, his promise is sure. His name is matchless, his goodness is limitless, his mercy is everlasting, his love never changes: it endures forever, his word is enough, his grace is sufficient, his reign is righteous, his yoke is easy, his burden is light. And I want you to know – we can trust Him!

1 Robert W. Yarbrough, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, ed. D. A. Carson, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; London: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2018), 331.

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Genesis 22:1-2, Hebrews 11:17-19

God is Able!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 12, 2022

In Genesis chapters 20 and 21, God brings about by a miraculous conception the birth of the promised son, Isaac! Sarah at 90 years of age and Abraham at 100 years of age. No wonder they named him “Laughter” that’s what Isaac means! Earlier in the book there was the question that expected a negative answer. It was, “is anything too hard for God?” The expected answer from both Sarah and Abraham is “No, of course not! With God all things are possible.” In this case it applied especially to the conception and birth of a 90 year old woman by a 100 year old man. Abraham and Sarah had trouble believing that and did so many things to bring about their own heir. Abraham identified Eliezer, his servant since he was childless. God said, “no!.” He tried to name Lot as his heir. God said no and separated the two of them. He and Sarah colluded to have Ishmael with a surrogate mother, Hagar! God said, “no.” It’s possible that Abraham and Sarah attempted to get a child from Pharoah and Abimelech. God said, “Absolutely not!” Sarah and Abraham were left without any means of making the heir happen on their own. They needed a miracle. Of course, God gave them one!

The after about 17 years God decided to see if all the doubts and fears of Abraham were settled and that he would no finally trust God. It required a test. Genesis 22:1-2 is the record of that test. It says, “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ God said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’” Abraham did what God asked! But what was he thinking? Hebrews 11:17-19. It says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” Abraham had indeed learned the lesson of “faith.” He trusted God!

It’s in the time of testing that our faith counts. Do you really believe God has your best interest foremost in mind? Do you really believe that God is trustworthy? Do you believe that enough to obey him? Do you really believe nothing is too difficult for God? Do you really believe God can and will raise the dead? This is what Darby says, “In offering up Isaac there was that absolute confidence in God which, at His command, can renounce even God’s own promises as possessed after the flesh, sure that God would restore them through the exercise of His power, overcoming death and every obstacle.” But most of all I hope you don’t fail to notice something most profound in this story. Hacking puts it this way, “Significantly, Abraham’s supreme test was on a mountain top not far from where Calvary stood (vv. 17–19). There he offered back his son, a moving story where faith and love battled hard. In the event, Isaac was not sacrificed, but a ram took his place, another of those biblical signposts towards the cross.”2

1 J. N. Darby, Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: Colossians to Revelation. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 377.

2 Philip H Hacking, Opening up Hebrews, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 73–74.

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John 3:29-30, Isaiah 54::5, 62:5

Jesus is the Bridegroom!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 11, 2022

John the Baptist is the first New Testament figure to present Jesus as the “Bridegroom.” In John 3:29-30 when asked if he was the Messiah, he replied, “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” When challenged by the religious leaders for feasting with his disciples, Jesus answered by comparing their situation with that of a wedding with himself as being the bridegroom. In Matthew 9:15 he says, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” All believers look forward to what is known in eschatological circles as the “marriage supper of the lamb.” This is the great feast that is described and will take place upon Christ’s return for the church in the future. Jesus as the bridegroom and the church, all believers, as the bride is well attested to in the New Testament. But the writers didn’t make this up to illustrate the situation. No, indeed.

John the Baptist and all the New Testament writers were referring Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. When Isaiah addresses God’s people, Israel, he says to them in Isaiah 54:5, “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.” Looking to the coming of their Messiah Isaiah says in 62:5, “…and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” It’s everywhere in the Old Testament. Boice remarks, “From this point on the comparison occurs more frequently, several times in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, for instance. Finally, the entire personal story of Hosea and the opening chapters of his prophecy are based on this theme. In all of these books God is the faithful lover and husband. Israel is the unfaithful wife and bride.”1

John the Baptist was the son of a Priest and was well acquainted with the Old Testament Scriptures. He didn’t make up the allusion of Jesus as the bridegroom. He recognized it clearly as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophecy. He pointed to Jesus as said, “Behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” Boice closes his discussion on this and says, “He knew that Israel was the bride and Jehovah was the bridegroom. Now Jesus appears, and John immediately casts him in God’s role. In mathematics, whenever you have two equations like “A equals B” and “B equals C,” it is always possible to make a third equation which says that “A equals C.” The rule is that things equal to the same thing are equal to each other. In the same way, if Jehovah is the bridegroom and Jesus Christ is the bridegroom, it follows that Jesus is Jehovah. Is he your God? Is he your bridegroom.”

1 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 260.

2 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 259–260.

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John 6:33-35, Amos 8:11-12

Jesus is the Bread of Life

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 10, 2022

Jesus is referred to as true “bread” often in the bible. He’s the bread of life. He’s the real manna that came down from heaven. John 6:33 puts it this way.,“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” To get the context of Jesus’ words you should remember that he had just finished feeding 5000 or more with a couple fish and a few small loaves of bread. He then walked on water to the other side of the sea of Galilee and the crowds found him there the next day. Jesus confronted their motives saying “you follow me, not because you believe in me, but because you want the bread.” Not only did they want the bread but they wanted to learn the “trick” of the bread so they could do it themselves. Jesus explained that the bread was a “work” of God. They asked “what must we do to do the works of God.” Jesus then explained something very simple yet very profound. He said, Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?” I think they were wanting to know what his connection with God was that enabled him to do such things so they could do it also. But Jesus went on, “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Everyone knows immediately that Jesus is not talking about literal bread here. That kind of bread is grown from various seeds planted in the earth. We take that nourishment from the ground from which our bodies were actually taken as described in Genesis. Our bodies come from dust and will return to dust. We nourish them and keep them alive with the food and drink we enjoy in this life. Bread may not be the main staple for us today but it is still significant. Further, the Greek word for “Bread” is sometimes translated as “Food.” But there is another kind of existence we have that comes from being made “in the image” of God. I have often argued that the whole Bible is about Jesus. His acts as recorded in the Gospels are acts that fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament. His teaching is does the same thing. In regard to this passage on Jesus being the “true bread of God” he is looking back at another lessor known Old Testament Prophet. Amos 8:11-12 describes the situation into which Jesus came. It also describes the hearts of all men in rebellion to God. He writes, “Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.”

The late James Montgomery Boice applied this situation well. Speaking of the Amos prophecy he writes, “This is a horrible prophecy. But in some ways it is even more horrible to have the Lord Jesus Christ, the bread of life, available (as he is today) and yet have men refuse to come to him. Men have great hunger—a hunger for truth, righteousness, peace, joy, spiritual satisfaction, and other things. Jesus is the answer to this hunger. Yet the tragedy is that men will not come to him. Jesus showed the wisdom of coming when he told the people who had followed him to Capernaum in Galilee, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”1 Just as bread (food) is necessary for physical life, so too is Jesus necessary for spiritual life! You wouldn’t do without food, would you?

1 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 476.

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Jeremiah 33:15, various

Jesus: the righteous branch!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 9, 2022

Part of the Old Testament figurative language that refers to the Messiah’s coming is the word “branch.” Several prophets refer to the coming Messiah as “a branch.” In Jeremiah 33:15 we read, “…in those days i will cause a righteous branch to spring up.” Isaiah 11:1 says, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” Jeremiah 33:15 also, speaking for God says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”

Let me get “Grammatical.” There is a difference between “a” branch and “the” branch. The indefinite article “a” leaves the identity up for grabs. It could be anyone. But the definite article “the” identifies the one and only of a kind. That’s why Ohio State insists on being “The Ohio State.” A branch will be raised up and that branch will be the messiah. Zechariah, a not frequently quoted Old Testament prophet, says in 6:12, “And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Earlier in Zechariah 3:8, the prophet is speaking to the High Priest at the time whose name is “Joshua.” That’s the Hebrew for of Jesus. He says, “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch.”

Let’s look at what the Bible means in these passages where it speaks of “Righteousness.” When we read the first part of the Jeremiah 33 quote we see that the branch will “execute justice and righteousness.” I’d argue that from many other passages in both the Old and New Testament that the “branch,” the messiah, Jesus is the only fully just and fully righteous. We can find a personal righteousness not in our own efforts but in Him alone. That’s the why Jeremiah closes this short passage with telling us the name by which the Messiah will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.” You know that it was when Martin Luther saw Romans 1:17 in a different way that the reformation began! This passage speaks to us of the “power” of the Gospel is in this phrase: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Luther realized that God was the subject of “righteousness.” It was “HIS” righteousness that saves, not his own, and it’s not our own. Jesus is the complete righteousness of God. Why are still struggling to demonstrate our own righteousness instead of focusing our attention on Jesus and His righteousness. Religious people in Jesus day didn’t get that. Paul tells us in Romans 10:3-4 “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” We say we get that! But why do we live like we don’t?

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