Archives January 2026

Before we excuse ourselves from serving God because of our many flaws, we should remember the people that God used mightily were also flawed. And they were used while still full of faults. (God did not endorse their sin. But He also did not refuse to summon them until they had purified their own lives.) The Lord met them where they were. Consider with me just a few examples:

1) Rahab – This woman is introduced not as a moral example. She is presented to the reader as Canaanite prostitute living in a condemned city (Joshua 2). She is triple marginalized: by occupation, by ethnicity, and by gender. What is striking is that God does not reform Rahab before using her to help others. He first reveals Himself to her. Rahab’s journey begins not with covenant knowledge, but with fear-informed faith. Listen to her:

For the LORD your God,
He is God in heaven above
and on earth beneath.
Joshua 2:11

She does not yet possess Israel’s law, worship, or moral framework. What she possesses is a growing conviction about who God is — and the courage to act on it at great personal risk.

2) Gideon – Although many commentators find fault with this man for his repeated requests for proof, God does not reprimand him. Gideon was raised in a household of idolatry and needed time and mentoring to come out of Canaanized thinking. God met Gideon where he was – fearful, secretly threshing wheat in a wine press, and ignorant of what God could do.

3) Samson – Although he had been given great gifts for helping others, this man would not move to help anyone. He was only motivated by self interests. And so God used Samson’s narcissism to nettle the man into the work that was needed by the people. How? When it seemed like all was in ruins, this egotistical womanizer called out to God. And God met him where he was and gave him the strength to die doing what he was supposed to be doing all along. You will reply, “But, he died!” And I will answer, “On purpose! That is, although he had been distracted and nearly destroyed by his own desires, Samson was now focused on striking a blow against the enemies of God and his own people. Yes, he died. But he died in the purpose that God had given him as God met him where he was.”

4) Peter – After his tragic failures, Peter could not bring himself to say that he had agape (ἀγάπη) love for Jesus. So Jesus met the big fisherman where he was and said that if philia (φιλία – brotherly love) was all that Peter could muster, then let it be demonstrated by feeding Jesus’ sheep.

I could go on. But these are enough to show the truth: God is not waiting for you to get it together so that you can live in a way that pleases Him. He is meeting you where you are. How? Through Jesus Christ. The Father has sent the Son into the world to save us (John 3:16). Christ came here to meet us where we are in the human condition (John 1:14). He went beyond becoming a human being to paying the price of our rebellion against God (1 John 4:10). A life of purpose and living effectively, like Rahab or Gideon or Samson or Peter, begins with acknowledging and accepting who God is and what He has done for us.

Rahab did not know a lot about God. But she accepted that He is sovereign and had a right to reign in her life (Joshua 2:11). Next is admitting our great need (Romans 3:23); it is best if we look to the example of children (Matthew 18:3-4; Matthew 19:14). They know they need help. They are ever mindful of their need for help and the possibility of getting help through a parent or guardian. Acknowledge your need and then receive the Son by faith (John 1:11-12) and begin letting Him teach and care for you (Matthew 11:28-30; John 5:24). Under His teachings you will become a blessing to others… like Rahab, and Gideon, and Peter.

In His grip by His grace,
Roderick L. Barnes, Sr.

Before the coming of Messiah there must be the coming of His messenger. This is what the prophecies had foretold and this is fulfilled in a wily wilderness preacher around the time of Jesus.

• The messenger will be a desert prophet (wilderness) crying out for repentance in preparation for the coming of the Lord. (Isaiah 40:1-3; 740 BC – 680 BC) ¹ “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. ² “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.” ³ The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.“

Matthew, the tax-collector-turned-apostle, tells the reader that John the Baptist is the person of Isaiah’s prophecy. The strange prophet in the wilderness crying out for change, according to Matthew, is the prophesied voice. Look at it! In Matthew’s narrative John is referred to as the voice of one crying in the wilderness: this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 40:1-3). The main idea of Isaiah’s prophecy is that the person crying out is trying to get the people ready for the arrival of the Lord. Now think about what John the Baptist, according to Matthew, was saying to the people:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:1)

It is clear that John the Baptist is trying to get the people ready and that Matthew, a Jewish man, sees in the ministry of the baptizer the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

• The messenger will confront evil, call for true righteousness, and then the Lord will come to His temple. (Malachi 3:1; 432 BC – 425 BC) ¹ “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.

The prophecies foretold a person who would prepare the way before the Lord Himself: Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me (Malachi 3:1). That is what John was doing – preparing the way before the Lord. John’s ministry attempts to ready the common people and priests for the coming of the Lord to His own temple. The baptizer had spoken openly and directly to the scribes and Pharisees about their need for repentance (Matthew 3:7-12). John’s denunciation of their ministry was aimed at helping them avoid an unpleasant confrontation by the Lord of the temple. Why? In the previously mentioned prophecy from Malachi there is a prediction that warns the priesthood (Malachi 3:2-3). It says to the religious leaders that the Lord they claim to be seeking will come suddenly or unexpectedly to His own temple. They did not listen to John and the Lord whom they were seeking suddenly came to His own temple (Malachi 3:1). [What Jesus found was precipitated a physical reprimand by the Lord Himself (John 2:13-17). The response of Jesus to uncleanness in the temple was itself a sign. He cleansed it by removing the corruption and chastening the corrupters. See Malachi 3:2-3.] John the Baptist, is a messenger arriving before the Messiah (Jesus of Nazareth) preparing the people and promoting genuine repentance in the priesthood.

• The messenger will succeed in promoting a revival characterized by a turning of hearts Malachi 4:4-6 (432 BC – 425 BC) ⁴ “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. ⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. ⁶ And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

This prophecy from Malachi mentions the return of Elijah. It says that Elijah the prophet would be sent before the coming of the day of the Lord. Both Matthew and Luke provide accounts of Jesus telling people that the Elijah of this prophecy is… John the Baptist (Matthew 11:7-15; 17:1-13; Luke 7:24-29; Mark 9:2-13). In essence, Jesus says that John, if they are willing to receive it, is the Elijah that that was mentioned by the prophet Malachi (Matthew 11:14-15).

¹⁴ And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. ¹⁵ He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matthew 11:14-15)

If you are not willing to receive it, as evidence by a refusal to repent, then John is not Elijah to you; John himself would deny being Elijah when asked by the unrepentant religious leadership (John 1:19-21). To those willing to receive the gracious gift of a warning from God through the prophet in the wilderness, John is Elijah. In person? Reincarnation? No, he is Elijah in spirit (personality type) and power (Luke 1:5-17).

The Relevance

God still works this way. That is, Christ does not come casually into a life, a church, or a community. Before His arrival there will be people who will promote preparation. They are Elijahs if you are willing to receive them. These people will speak unapologetically about repentance, reordering priorities, and truth-telling. These things come before revival; repentance precedes renewal. (Among Gentiles repentance is not the same as among the Jews. John the Baptist could say repent because he is speaking to the Jews. They had been tutored by the law. Paul, an apostle to the Gentiles, starts the spiritual conversation differently. As Gentile they are ignorant concerning the law and the prophets. If he had started with “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” they would have had questions? E.g., repent from what and whose kingdom. For the Gentile a repentance is still needed. But it is from believing in things other than Christ for salvation. After receiving Jesus, Gentiles willing to place their faith in Christ must be patiently taught to live for Him. See Matthew 28:18-20). Repentance is not entry-level Christianity. It is ongoing spiritual realism. It is the ongoing the refusal to make peace with sin wherever it is found.

John’s words to the Pharisees also remind the modern Jesus follower that heritage is not a substitute for holiness (Matthew 3:8-9).

In His grip by His grace,
Roderick Barnes

Galileans Speaking Other Languages (Acts 2:5-6)

⁵ And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

The sound of Jesus’ disciples declaring the wonderful works of God cannot be ignored (Acts 2:5-6,11). When His followers had been baptized with the Holy Spirit they began, as led and enabled by the Spirit, to speak in other tongues – and not too quietly. When the devout Jewish men from every nation under heaven hear their excited voices they respond by going to investigate. As the curious multitude begins arriving on the scene where the sound is coming from it is a bit much to take in. A crowd that has come looking for answers gets something else: confusion. Why? This scene does not make sense. Imagine it. Regardless of where you are from you hear people in this group exalting God in your native tongue. And this is all the more remarkable because the people doing this have a hard time speaking their own language.

The Power of God in a yielded person

works to make them worship and to

make those who watch… wonder why.

How Is This Happening ?(Acts 2:7-11)

⁷ Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”

It does not take long for the arriving observers to take stock of the people making the noise: Look,… all these who speak are Galileans. How did the crowd know that the people speaking were Galileans? There were a few things that may have marked the Spirit-filled group as being from the region of Galilee. Of those things accent ranks foremost. Remember, the multitude was drawn by the sound of their speech. It would be natural as they neared the group to be able to hear them with increasing clarity. Arriving at the place where the apostles and other disciples were speaking in tongues it would have been obvious to people of that time and region; the Galilean accent could not be hidden.

“The pronunciation, the dialect, ἡλαλία of the Galilæans was defective in the utterance of the gutturals, so that no distinction was perceptible between ה ,ע ,א. Besides, the Galilæns also pronounced the שׁ like ח.” De Wette. The pronunciation of the people of Galilee was uncouth and indistinct; hence they were not allowed to read aloud in the Jewish synagogues. The Talmudists relate a number of amusing anecdotes about the curious misunderstandings occasioned by the indistinctness of pronunciation in Galilee. See Friedlieb, p. 84.

Lange, J. P., & Schaff, P. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Matthew (p. 498). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

Galilaean speech was easily recognized because of its loss of laryngeals and aspirates; cf. A. Neubauer, “The Dialects of Palestine in the Time of Christ,” in Studia Biblica, I (Oxford, 1885), p. 51; G. Dalman, Grammatik des jüdisch-palästinischen Aramäisch (Leipzig, 1894), pp. 33–40, 42–51; F. Rosenthal, Die aramäistische Forschung (Leiden, 1939), p. 108 n.; E. Y. Kutscher, Studies in Galilaean Aramaic (Bar-Ilan University Press, Israel, 1976)

Only weeks prior to all of this Peter, in a moment of terrible weakness, attempts to deny association with on-trial Jesus. But try as he might his accent gives the big fisherman away:

And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.” (Matthew 26:73, NKJV)

The onlookers are all amazed and marveling. These devout Jews cannot

• The Numerous Languages – There are fifteen countries mentioned in this list. The people from each country came with their own dialect of common languages (Aramaic) or an entirely different tongue (Assyrian).
• The Notorious Limitations – Without question it is striking that the Galileans are speaking with these other tongues. Although they are considered weak in their language skills they are displaying the power of God for being a witness.

What looked like a horrible handicap was actually God’s plan for ensuring that the disciples understand this simple truth:

The Holy Spirit is Himself the sufficiency

of the weak for the work of being a witness.

9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Let us not miss what it seems that the crowed did or could not observe: There is no mention made of the multitude marveling about the sound of the wind or the divided tongues of fire that sat upon each of the recently baptized disciples (Acts 2:3). While the sound of wind and flames were apparent to the people who were baptized it seems that those who had not received the Holy Spirit either (1) arrived too late to view the tongues of fire or (2) were not able to see the tongues of fire. In either case this sign was not mentioned by the people that entered the company of Jesus’ disciples; it seems that they were only given the words of Jesus witnesses – in their own tongues. These signs are sent to simply to say, “I am with you!” They come to create confidence that Christ is in me. They have indeed been baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16; cf. Mark 1:8 with emphasis on the Spirit).

A Just Man Named Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25)

Introduction

The gift giving of God exceeds our imagination.

Matthew 1:18 – The lineage of Jesus, proving Him to be both a Jew and candidate for the crown, has been presented in the prior text. Matthew now segues into the marvelous manner in which the Son enters the world. A tax-collector-turned-Jesus follower wants his audience to know that the birth of Jesus Christ was nothing short of a messianic prophecy-fulfilling sign.

In the culture of the Hebrews Joseph and Mary are in the first part of wedding — the betrothal (erusin); this period where they are promised to one another and yet living apart is called the sanctification (kiddushin) because in this period the bride is sanctified unto the groom (Wikipedia, n.d.).

Matthew 1:19 – Unknown to a just man named Joseph is the fact that Mary’s pregnancy is not an early insight into immoral character but the handiwork of the Holy Spirit. What seemed to be a problem was really part of the prescription for what ails man most.

A virgin birth, though initially problematic for the carpenter, was an essential element in Heaven’s effort to save mankind.

But God does not tell Joseph about the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. He is left to look at the outworking and draw his own conclusion. He is abandoned by the Almighty to assess unaided the situation and formulate a response (2 Chronicles 32:31). God has withdrawn in order that in the hurt inflicted by Mary the heart of Joseph could be held up for all to see. What are we seeing? To understand what we are seeing we have to refrain from a rush to interpret Joseph’s actions. He is a Jew and has a Jewish culture and an Jewish understanding of who God is and what God wants.

• Key Characteristic of the Creator – (Psalm 89:11-14)
• Majors in the Marriage of the Almighty to His People – (Hosea 2:16-20)
• Expectations on the Nation – (Hosea 12:6)
• The Goal God Gives Each Person – (Micah 6:8)

This just man is the epitome and example of the man described by the prophet Micah:

⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

The New King James Version (Micah 6:8).

Who is the man that would have a hand in raising the Son of God? Who is the man that can be given charge of the greatest of all gifts and provide guidance to the Son of God for living godly. This is the man!

Foremost in my mind, as I examine this passage, is the difference between Joseph’s concept of forgiveness and my own. For me forgiveness is transactional and involves a trade. But if forgiveness is the idea that, after the transaction based on the proper trading, (1) if I can hurt you I won’t and (2) if I can help you I will, the prerequisites are conspicuously absent. He is like the sermon that tells me to love my enemies and the supplication from the cross to forgive the people jeering. Forgiveness here is not a doing that can be derived from a policy but is an emanation from a nature, an expression of my identity, and an outworking of my commitment to be godly.

Forgiveness, as it is seen in Joseph, is not (1) a function of the offenders offer of an acceptable apology and (2) is not based on the behavior of the person that has bruised me or beaten me or crucified me. It proactively protects and promotes when the other person persecutes me, it helps when the other person hurts me. Flowing out of a heart that has been forgiven by God is devotion to doing right by God in a forgiveness that engages the enemy with mercy.

Matthew 1:20-21 – The Comfort of God and Character of Joseph

• Joseph is Calm (Matthew 1:18-19; James 1:19-20) – Jesus grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). Before Jesus would come to clearly understand his identity and calling God would have real manhood demonstrated by a godly man.
• Joseph is Compassionate (Micah 6:8; Matthew 1:19; Leviticus 20:10) – The aim of Joseph is to do justly and to love mercy. He is, by his actions, an effective exhortation toward being both just and merciful.
• Joseph is Considerate (Matthew 1:20) — The carpenter considers his steps. In a sense he measures twice so that he will only have to cut once.
• Joseph is Commandment Keeping (Matthew 1:24-25) — Notice that Joseph is a man of obedience. We see it in three ways: (1) He took to him his wife (Matthew 1:24) and (2) He named the boy Jesus (Matthew 1:25).

Matthew 1:22-23 – The Bigger Picture of Pardon and New Life

Referring to the plural they of they shall call His name Immanuel, Nolland posits the following possible reason:

the plural may be to distinguish the literal naming of Jesus by Joseph from this metaphorical naming; it may be to allow the naming to function as a profession made by people saved from their sins (v. 21) (Nolland, 2005, p. 100)

Though the role attributed to the Spirit has already implied that Mary’s pregnancy is not the fruit of sexual activity, only by means of the quotation is she identified specifically as a virgin. The LXX wording lends itself admirably to Matthew’s interpretation. First it uses παρθένος, which normally implies virginity, where the underlying Hebrew ʿalmâ has no such implication (though a young woman who was a virgin would be quite naturally termed ʿalmâ). Then, it represents Hebrew hārâ with ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει which, while quite a standard LXX rendering, focuses on the state of pregnancy rather than the process of becoming pregnant. The combination of these two features (probably unanticipated by the translator) makes it quite natural to read the text as speaking of a virgin who will be pregnant as a virgin rather than as speaking of one who is a virgin at the time of speaking but who will become pregnant in the normal manner. (Nolland, 2005, p. 101)

1:24–25 Joseph is the first person in the Gospel called upon to commit himself to the significance of Jesus in the purposes of God. ἐγερθεὶς … παρέλαβεν (lit. ‘having risen … he took’) links this episode to 2:13–15, 19–21, where the language recurs (see at v. 20 for other language links). The detail offered here, with its emphasis on full obedience to the angel’s directive, is not repeated in the linked pericopes but is intended to be carried forward from here. (Nolland, 2005, p. 103)

• Tutoring of the Law – Galatians 3:24-25
• The Promise of a New Covenant – Jeremiah 31:31-34
• The Deliverance – Ezekiel 11:19-20
• Receiving the Gift – John 3:16

References

Nolland, J. (2005). The Gospel of Matthew: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 100). W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

Probasco, Jim. (9 December 2022). Average Cost of American Holiday Spending. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1112/average-cost-of-an-american-christmas.aspx

Seeing the Son of David (Matthew 1:1; 22:43; 45)

What is the point of telling me that Jesus is the Son of David? To answer that question we have to look at what the term means to the people of the New Testament. To people living in the New Testament period, the phrase Son of David was loaded. Using it meant that the person was expressing messianic expectations. All by itself the term Son of David is a messianic title. We miss the speaker’s message when we see them refer to Jesus as the Son of David and think of this as merely a genealogical description. Son of David carried royal, covenantal, and eschatological meaning. Those meaning can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures and Second Temple Jewish expectations.

• The Royal Aspect of Son of David – The foundation of regarding the title Son of David is based on God’s covenant with David. The LORD promises King David a line and lasting kingdom through his descendant: “I will raise up your seed after you… and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12–13) Thus, to a Jewish hearer, “Son of David” meant: (1) A legitimate heir to David’s throne,  (2) a king whose right to rule came by divine promise, and (3) a ruler whose kingdom would have enduring, even eternal significance. This title was not merely a metaphor; it was a reference to God’s promise to David — a line and a lasting kingdom.

• The Roles of the Son of David – Most Jews expected the Son of David to be: (1) a national deliverer, (2) arestorer of Israel’s sovereignty, (3) One who would defeat Israel’s enemies (Rome, in their context), and (4) A restorer of justice, law, and worship. How did they get these expections? These expectation were birthed and shaped by texts such as:

• • Isaiah 11:1–10 (a shoot from Jesse)

  • Jeremiah 23:5–6 (a righteous Branch from David)

  • Ezekiel 34:23–24 (David as shepherd-king)

Thus, Son of David implied political restoration, even if Jesus redefined how that restoration would occur.

What follows are my findings on the phrase Son of David in the Gospel of Matthew.

• Matthew 1:1 —² In the opening of the gospel and the beginning of Jesus’ genealogy. We must not miss that the first thing that the author would have us to know about His subject: He is descended from David. In this way Matthew sets out the premise of the book and begins his proof.
• Matthew 1:20 — In the address of the angel to Joseph concerning Mary’s Baby we are told that the angels regard Joseph as a descendant of David. Through Joseph the Baby will inherit a legal right to the throne of David. It is important to note that Joseph is descended from David through Solomon and Jeconiah; this blood line cannot ascend to the throne.¹ Mary is also descended from David through his son Nathan. Through her Jesus receives his blood right to the throne.
• Matthew 9:27 — In the importunate prayers of the two blind men of Capernaum we are told that they regard Jesus as being the heir to the throne of His father. The blind can see who He is, friend!
• Matthew 12:23 — In the question of the amazed multitudes concerning the identity of Jesus, there is the question of whether or not Jesus is the Son of David. The question of the crowd shows that Jesus is viewed through the lens of messianic expectations. To see Jesus properly is not to see him as a son of David (υἱὸς Δαυίδ) (Matthew 1:20) but the Son of David (ὁ υἱὸς Δαυίδ)(Matthew 12:23). Jesus of Nazareth is not merely in the line but is in fact the culmination of the line.
• Matthew 15:22 — In the crying out of the Gentile woman of Canaan as she requested help for her daughter. The Gentiles know that the help of the nations will be a Jew (Matthew 15:27) and that he will be the heir to the throne of David.
• Matthew 20:30-31 — Jesus is referred to as the Son of David twice in the requests for mercy of two blind men. It is not to be overlooked that in each case where he is addressed by the blind that they call him Lord and Son of David.
• Matthew 21:9 — In the crying out of the multitude as Jesus enters the city.
• Matthew 21:15 — In the crying out of the children as Jesus enters the temple.
• Matthew 22:42 — In the answer of the Pharisees to the question of Jesus concerning the genealogy of the Christ.

Besides these occurrences David is mentioned by Jesus in His response to the criticism of His disciples (Matthew 12:2) and in exposing the ignorance of His enemies (Matthew 22:41-43, 45). The first and last mentions of David are key. In the former we are told that Jesus is descended from David. In the latter we are told that the expectation of the Israel was that the Messiah will be a descendant of David. Everything between these two statements serves to show that Angels, Jews, and Gentiles know or expect Messiah to be the Son of David. What is Matthew’s point? For those who are willing to look, the former tax collector would have us to know that Jesus is obviously the long-awaited Son of David. Matthew wants us to see that those who were willing could see it. Even the blind guys could see it (Matthew 9:27; 20:30-31). Do you?

In His grip by His grace,
Roderick L. Barnes, Sr.

Notes

¹ Joseph’s line is considered disqualified from the throne of David because of a specific divine judgment pronounced on King Jeconiah (also called Coniah or Jehoiachin)—a judgment that affects the royal, legal line descending through Solomon (Jeremiah 22:24–30). This is a well-recognized issue in biblical theology and is central to understanding the genealogy of Jesus.

² It has been said that the emdash is a sure sign that content has been generated by AI. In this case the emdashes represent the fact that the author is a nerd and uses them for writing and actually knows the keystroke in Windows to produce the character.