Podcast appearances and mentions of jesse david

Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ...  Goliath of the army of the Philistines: I Samuel 17 1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.  

In this episode of Ten Thousand Feet: The OST Podcast, Jesse David, Configuration Services Developer, and Alex Tweedy, IoT Architect, define and discuss digital twins. If you haven't heard this term before, we've got you covered. Learn more about the applications of digital twins, their potential advantages and how to begin engaging with this new technology. Hit the play button and enjoy the episode!

Israel and Judah were exiled from the land, so that the land could observe its Sabbaths -2 Chronicles 36-15-21-.----King Zedekiah was eventually captured by Nebuchadnezzar. The last sight he had before having his eyes put out was to see his two sons slaughtered -2 Kings 25-7-. So came to an end the glorious reign of the sons of David.----Yet, the prophet Isaiah had foretold that out of this seemingly dead stump of Jesse -David's father-, a green shoot would spring forth -Isaiah 11-1-. This branch from David's chopped-down tree would rule all nations and cause them to submit to the God of Israel -Isaiah 2-1-4- 11-1-9-. Then, not only Israel, but all nations, would enjoy the great Sabbath-year Jubilee -Isaiah 61-1-4-. The Levitical Jubilee as but a dim foreshadowing of this -Leviticus 25-.----The Lord Jesus began proclaiming that great gospel Jubilee in his 30th year in the synagogue of Nazareth -Luke 4-16- 21-. At the time of his second coming, he will bring his great work to consummation, and we will live in the new Eden -Isaiah 11-, the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells -2 Peter 3-13-.----In the book of Daniel, the exile of the Jews in the Babylonian captivity and their return to the land of Judah under the Persians is the backdrop of the drama of a greater captivity and a greater deliverance. Through a series of visions, God proceeds to unfold his plan for his people. The 70 years of exile would come to an end with the fall of Babylon, but the true liberation of Israel and the restoration of the fallen house of David would take, not 70 years, but 70 times seven -Daniel 9-.

Israel and Judah were exiled from the land, so that the land could observe its Sabbaths -2 Chronicles 36-15-21-.--King Zedekiah was eventually captured by Nebuchadnezzar. The last sight he had before having his eyes put out was to see his two sons slaughtered -2 Kings 25-7-. So came to an end the glorious reign of the sons of David. --Yet, the prophet Isaiah had foretold that out of this seemingly dead stump of Jesse -David's father-, a green shoot would spring forth -Isaiah 11-1-. This branch from David's chopped-down tree would rule all nations and cause them to submit to the God of Israel -Isaiah 2-1-4- 11-1-9-. Then, not only Israel, but all nations, would enjoy the great Sabbath-year Jubilee -Isaiah 61-1-4-. The Levitical Jubilee as but a dim foreshadowing of this -Leviticus 25-. --The Lord Jesus began proclaiming that great gospel Jubilee in his 30th year in the synagogue of Nazareth -Luke 4-16- 21-. At the time of his second coming, he will bring his great work to consummation, and we will live in the new Eden -Isaiah 11-, the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells -2 Peter 3-13-. --In the book of Daniel, the exile of the Jews in the Babylonian captivity and their return to the land of Judah under the Persians is the backdrop of the drama of a greater captivity and a greater deliverance. Through a series of visions, God proceeds to unfold his plan for his people. The 70 years of exile would come to an end with the fall of Babylon, but the true liberation of Israel and the restoration of the fallen house of David would take, not 70 years, but 70 times seven -Daniel 9-.

One of the reasons that we love Christmas is its paradoxes. At Christmas in particular, we see realities come together that our human instincts do not expect to be together, and then we see, with surprise and delight, that they do indeed fit together, contrary to our assumptions — and it makes us happy. The paradoxes of Christmas expose our false and weak and small expectations. They remind us that we did not design this world. We do not run this world. And we did not design God's rescue of us. And we cannot save ourselves, but God can, and does, in the Word made flesh. Some of our most beloved Christmas songs capture the great paradox of the high and holy God becoming human in a lowly baby born in Bethlehem: 
> Word of the Father now in flesh appearing (“O Come, All Ye Faithful”) Hail, Hail the Word made flesh (“What Child Is This?”) Veiled in flesh the Godhead see Hail the incarnate Deity Pleased as man with men to dwell Jesus, our Emmanuel (“Hark”)
 And of course, the hymnwriters didn't make it up but found the beautiful paradox in Scripture: In the words of the angel in Luke 2:11: “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” In the words of the apostle Paul in Colossians 2:9: “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” I love this great paradox of Christmas, that God became man, and its countless accompanying paradoxes, as in the words of the great Augustine, who said, Man's maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother's breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die. As the late J.I. Packer wrote, The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation. ##Lord, Savior, Treasure Two weeks ago, to begin this Advent series, we considered “Jesus, Our Lord.” Jesus is fully God. He is the towering, all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful God of Isaiah 45. As God, he formed and made all things, and every knee will bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus is Yahweh — the sacred name of God revealed in Exodus. Jesus is creator, sustainer, supreme Lord of heaven and earth, almighty in power, infinite in majesty, our Lord and our God. Then last Sunday, we turned to “Jesus, Our Savior.” Without ceasing to be God, Jesus took our full humanity, flesh and blood, human body and reasoning soul, with human mind and emotions and will, and with all our lowliness and ordinariness. Jesus had a normal name: Yeshua. Joshua. In the incarnation, he added to his eternal divine person a full and complete human nature, and came among us, as one of us, to save us. Now, this morning, we consider “Jesus, Our Treasure,” and to do so, we will linger in the great Christmas paradox of Revelation 5. But before we do, let's not miss the Advent-like moment in Revelation 5, before we see the great paradox. ##Season of Waiting Kids, what kind of season is Advent? (Advent is a season of waiting.) Where are we waiting? (In a land of deep darkness.) What are we waiting for? (For the Light to shine on us.) Advent is a season of waiting, of anticipating, of aching, of longing, of minor keys (like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”). In verse 1, the apostle John looks and sees — in the hand of God, the one seated on heaven's throne — “a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.” These are the purposes of God to be unfolded in history, the judgments against his enemies and salvation for his people in Revelation 6–22. Some speculate that this might be the scroll in Daniel 12:4, where God said, “shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.” John wants to know what it is that God has to say, and he hears “a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break it seals?'” At this point, it can be tempting to run right through verses 3 and 4, and not feel the weight of this moment in heaven. This what we do during Advent: we feel the weight of waiting. Instead of racing ahead to Christmas, we prepare our hearts by pausing to feel some of the longing and ache of what God's people felt for centuries as they waited for the promised Messiah. Advent helps us see and enjoy Jesus as the supreme Treasure he is. So the angel asks, Who is worthy to open the book? And verse 3 says, “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.” No one in heaven. None of the four great creatures around the throne in chapter 4. None of the elders in heaven who lead in worship. None of the angels, in all the heavenly host. Not Gabriel. Not Michael. And not even the one sitting on the throne opens the scroll. Not the Father. Not the Spirit. So heaven waits. How long did they wait? And if no one in heaven, then of course, no one on the earth or under the earth. Kings of earth, beware. None is worthy to open God's scroll. Mere humans like us are not worthy to open the scroll. Satan, be warned, demons, beware, with whatever power you wield for now, you are not able to open the scroll. And so heaven waits. “No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.” John begins to weep. And not just weep, but loudly. Perhaps he even wonders, What about Jesus? Verse 4: “I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.” John doesn't tell us how long he wept, but it must not have been long. He says, “He began to weep.” Mercifully, the announcement soon came. Then in verse 5 — I love this moment — one of the elders of heaven, one of the leaders in heavenly worship, turns to John and says, “Weep no more; behold” — do you know what a Christmas word “behold” is? “behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31) “behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem” (Matt 2:1) “behold, the star . . . came to rest over the place where the child was” (Matt 2:9) “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10) “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many” (Luke 2:34) And here, in Revelation 5, the elder says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” So, now through the lens of verses 5–6, let's look together now at three aspects of the Advent longing fulfilled in “Jesus, Our Treasure.”
 ##1. We long for majesty and might. We long to see and admire and benefit from greatness. And the elder says in verse 5, “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered.” “Lion of Judah” signifies that this is the long-promised king of Israel, the Messiah. In Genesis 49, as the patriarch Jacob neared death, he prophesied over each of his twelve sons, and said to Judah that his tribe would be heir to the throne and produce the kings of the nation: Judah, your brothers shall praise you . . . . Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion . . . . The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. (Genesis 49:8–10) Like a lion, Judah's offspring will rule. Lionlike he will be king, with majesty and might. (And just so we don't get the wrong impression of this rule, Judah received this honor not because of raw strength but self-sacrifice. He stepped forward to be the pledge of safety to redeem Benjamin from prison.). “Root of David” is much the same, prophesied centuries later, in Isaiah 11:1, which we often read during Advent: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse [David's father], and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” So, Jesus is first shown to be majestic and mighty. He is king, ruler, judge. He is sovereign, and fulfills our longings for greatness, for a ruler strong and mighty, to impress us and win our trust and protect us and provide for us and give us life. But we not only long for a great human king. We long for God himself. And as we saw two weeks ago, the Lion of Judah is not just Messiah, a human king. He is God himself. Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) famously spoke of an “infinite abyss” in each of us we try to fill it with all the wonders and the worst this world has to offer. But that ache in us, that restlessness, that infinite abyss in us, can only be filled by the infinite God himself. As Augustine famously said, God made us for himself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in him. Have you found your soul's rest in God, in his eternal, divine excellencies? Are you still searching? Or have you found the place, the Person, in which your soul, in all the ups and downs of life, will be satisfied forever? Or did you learn it in the past but you now desperately need to come back to it? Behold the Lion of Judah. God wired your soul for him. Hard as you may try, you will not be truly, deeply, enduringly happy without him. We long for majesty and might, and Jesus is the Lion. ##2. We long for meekness and nearness. Look at verse 6. Having just heard the announcement in verse 5 about the worthiness of the Lion, John turns, and what does he see? . . . between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain . . . In verse 5, the elder said Lion, but in verse 6, John sees Lamb. And this is no disappointment. This is not a loss. This is gain. This is an addition. Jesus is the Lion of Judah, and no less, but he is also the slain Lamb. The Lion became Lamb, and gave himself to slaughter, that he might rescue his people. His lamb-ness doesn't take away from his lion-ness; it adds to it. Jesus is not only majestic and mighty. He is meek and near, lowly, among us, as one of us. We not only want to see greatness from afar; we want to know greatness personally. We not only want a hero to admire. We want a brother to be at our side, a companion, a friend. And Jesus, as Lamb, is Emmanuel, God with us. With us to be one of us. With us to sacrifice himself for us. With us to shed his own blood that we might be forgiven. With us to befriend us. God designed our souls not only for his greatness, but also his nearness, and his meekness. You might ask, If Jesus is already God, and has been from eternity, what does his humanity have to add to his being our treasure? His divine excellencies are infinite. Yet we are human, and his becoming human exposes to our view glories we otherwise would not see. This is why we love Christmas and its paradoxes. The paradoxes don't take away from his glory; they add to it. In 1734, Jonathan Edwards preached a famous sermon on “The Excellency of Christ.” In it, he says, Christ has no more excellency in his person, since his incarnation, than he had before; for divine excellency is infinite, and cannot be added to. Yet his human excellencies are additional manifestations of his glory and excellency to us, and are additional recommendations of him to our esteem and love [to be our treasure!], who are of finite comprehension. . . . The glory of Christ in . . . his human nature, appears to us in excellencies that are of our own [human] kind, and are exercised in our own way and manner, and so, in some respect, are peculiarly fitted to invite our acquaintance and draw our affection [our treasuring him]. . . . (emphasis added) So, the Lion, in becoming Lamb — the eternal Son in becoming man — while not enhancing his divine worth became even more a Treasure to us, who long for meekness and nearness, for companions and friends. ##3. In Jesus, we have it all in one person. It is one thing to see and enjoy the divine excellencies of unmatched strength and knowledge. And other to see and enjoy the human excellencies of humility and friendship. And then, greatest of all, to see and enjoy divine and human excellencies in one person. Because when majesty and meekness come together in one person they accent each other. As Edwards says, they “set off and recommend each other.” See it first in verse 6: John says he “saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes.” This Lamb is not dead. He is not slumped over. He is not kneeling. He is standing, alive and ready. And he has seven horns — signifying the fullness of his strength. And seven eyes, meaning he sees and rules all. That he is Lamb makes his lionlike work, from Revelation 6, through the rest of the book, all the more glorious. For the rest of Revelation, Lamb will be the main title for Jesus, as he displays his power and strength again and again: We're told it is the Lamb who has conquered to open the scroll and seals, 5:5; 6:1; 8:1 The lowly Lamb ransomed people for God from every tribe, 5:9 The humble Lamb is declared Worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing, 5:12–13 The four living creatures and the elders of heaven fall down and worship the Lamb, 5:8, 14 Unbelievers tremble before the wrath of the Lamb, 6:16 The robes of the saints are made white in his blood; he has the power to forgive, 7:14 His blood conquers the accuser of the brothers, 12:11 With this lowly Lamb are 144,000 strong, who followed him wherever he goes, 14:1, 4 The Lamb conquers those who make war on him, 17:14 And the Lamb, in all his meekness, is not only with the one on the throne (7:9, 10) but in the midst of the throne, 22:1, 3 And of course, we not only admire the Lamb for his lionlike strength and power, but also the Lion for his lamblike gentleness and lowlines, that he gives his own neck for our rescue. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Matthew 12:20; Isaiah 42:3). As Revelation 1:4–5 says, Jesus is not only the lionlike “rule of kings on earth”; lamblike, he is also “him who loves us and has freed us from our sin by his blood.” We admire his greatness all the more in his nearness to us, as one of us. And we enjoy his nearness all the more because of his greatness. Because he is the Lamb, and has drawn near to save us, we can enjoy his lionlike majesty and holiness, without shaking in terror. And because he is the Lion, and wields the very power of God almighty, we can enjoy his lamblike humility and meekness and obedience, as man, to his Father, without worrying that he's powerless to help his friends. God designed our souls for Jesus. Not just a divine Father, and not just a human friend, but God himself in human flesh. God himself, in the person of his Son, becoming one of us — God with us, as fully God and fully man, in one spectacular person. We not only marvel at his eternal divine excellencies that fill the infinite abyss of our souls, but also his human excellencies add to (for our human eyes and hearts) his glory and our joy, and finally his divine and human excellencies “set off and recommend each other to us.” He is not only our Lord. And not only our Savior. He is our Treasure. He is the Pearl of Greatest Price. He is the one of surpassing value, for whom we consider all else loss. He is the Treasure hidden in the field worthy selling all to have. Eternal life is to know him — not only the one true God but Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3). You were not only made for God, but for the God-man, who loved us and gave himself up for us, and rose again to be our living, knowable, enjoyable King. Which brings us to the Table ##Nails, Spear at Advent Critical to Jesus being our Treasure is that he not only came to live among us but — another paradox of Christmas — he was born to die for us. John not only saw a Lamb in verse 6 but the Lamb who “had been slain.” He came lamblike to lay down his life for us, then to rise, ascend, and rule the nations as both Lion and Lamb. He is our Treasure not only because of how he came but also how he saved us. As we pass the elements, we'll sing “What Child Is This?” with its line about his being that slain that might seem out of place during Advent — but it is filled with glory: Nails, spear shall pierce him through. The cross be born for me, for you. Do we really need nails and spear in Advent? Yes, we do. See the glory of our Treasure: God himself, and Lion of Judah, and Lamb who was slain for us.

Find more info by signing up for our Substack or following us on Instagram @buried_and_born Story Series is a walkthrough of a book of the Bible one chapter at a time to learn the greater story that's being told by the author. Understanding the larger arcs, we can better engage our daily reading, deepen our study and enrich our weekly worship. Matthew 1-4: The Introduction Mt. 2 – Jesus Retells Israel's Story 1-12: Matthew outlines the setting of the battle of two Kings/two Kingdoms. (v1) · Small Bethlehem, baby Jesus · Large Israel, Herod the Great The context here is Jesus stepping into Herod's world, but in this timeline Israel has become more like Rome, more like Egypt, having been both subjugated but also complicit in conforming their kingdom after the pattern of this world. Out of Bethlehem would come a gentle King who would “shepherd my people Israel.” (v6) The confirmation of his Kingship. Even the Magi (gentile people) study the Old Testament which points them to Jesus – King of the Jews (v2). All creation, the cosmos (star) and the wise men (nations of the world) are already being to bend toward the weight of the coming of Christ. 13-23: Jesus begins rewriting the human story through a retelling of the Jewish story. Herod isn't really the main protagonist. Pharaoh is. Jesus will convert the kingdom to His own by delivering His people from bondage. · Out of Egypt have I called my son (v15) · Jerusalem is exiled as in Babylon (v17-18) · Nazorean prophecy – there will come a branch out of the root of Jesse (David's father – Isaiah 11) (v23) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/buriedandborn/message

In episode 27, the guys welcome Jesse David Cook M.S. for a great discussion about sleep. Jesse is a Clinical Psychology PHD student at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and a Sleep Research Society Trainee Member at Large. Jesse has spent years studying many aspects of human sleep and the science around it. He explains why good sleep habits are so important for mental and physical well being, and talks about common issues people have with getting good sleep. This episode is no snoozer, and has a lot of great information for anyone interested in a better nights rest. Please join us.

Etter strabasiøs jobbing på Mars-roveren "Perseverance", er Benjamin endelig tilbake! Det jubles i studio og det snakkes WC: Liverpool, City, Keeperrotasjon, Spurs, Must haves og Lingard. Vi har selvfølgelig også Kapteins-tipset. Nuss og klem!

meeting auntie anne, finsta getting hacked, the home edit, "do you have enough light?" - mom

A Sermon for the Second Sunday after Christmas Isaiah 61:1-3 & St. Matthew 2:19-23 by William Klock If Joseph’s hometown was Bethlehem, how did Jesus end up in Nazareth?  Well, St. Luke tells us that at the time he was betrothed to Mary, Joseph was already living in Nazareth.  He doesn’t tell us why.  Maybe it was due to the availability of work, but in the end we’re never told.  Due to the Emperor’s census, he and Mary travelled back to Bethlehem and the Gospels indicate that they stayed there for quite some time, probably about two years, before fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath.  But how did the family end up back in Nazareth?  Enter St. Matthew with today’s Gospel: But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”  And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.  But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.  And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.  (Matthew 2:19-23) This is a continuation of Matthew’s telling of the nativity as read in the Gospel for the Sunday after Christmas and then, following after that, the Gospel for the Feast of the Holy Innocents.  Of course, we didn’t read either of those Gospels this year, but today’s continues the story nevertheless and I’ll give a little recap to give some context. At the beginning of Chapter 2 the wise men arrive in Jerusalem, following an unusual star—some think it may have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn as we saw last week.  In those days the planet Jupiter was associated with kings and many associated Saturn with the Jews.  Seeing their conjunction the wise men—astrologers from the East—concluded that a great king had been born in Israel.  Of course, this is just one explanation.  For all we know the star could have been some other natural phenomenon provided in God’s providence or it may have been an entirely supernatural event.  At the end of the day we don’t know.  But whatever it was, the it signalled the birth of the King of the Jews to these magi.  They naturally went Jerusalem and to the place of King Herod, but he knew nothing about it.  He sent them on their way, but he was troubled.  It’s highly doubtful that Herod would have considered this a serious threat, but he decided to “take care” of any potential problem, just in case.  He asked the wise men to stop on their way home to tell him what they had found.  When they returned by a different route, Herod decided the safest course of action was to murder all the baby boys in Bethlehem, two years old and younger. And so Herod’s soldiers marched to nearby Bethlehem.  There were probably ten to twenty little boys two years and younger in the small town.  They weren’t hard to find.  There having been a census not long before might have made it even easier.  It’s an awful story that the Church commemorates every December 28th.  It’s difficult to imagine soldiers murdering little children, and yet we see it today on the news and on the internet.  Families, fathers, mothers, and little children massacred in war and in genocide.  Sunni children killed by Shia militiamen in Iraq, Christian children cut in two by Islamic State militants, Arab families with their infants burned alive by Jewish settlers while they sleep in their homes.  And lest we think these awful things only happen in far away countries, we have our own atrocities here.  It makes it easier that so many deny their humanity and that we do it in clean medical facilities, but we murderer our own unborn by the tens of thousands every year in this country and millions more do so around the world.  God created us to be his friends and to rule his Creation in his name, but in our rejection of him we have become a cruel and barbaric race, subjecting each other to unspeakable things—the strong running rough-shod over the weak. We wonder how Herod could do such a thing, but just remember that this was a man who murdered his own family just to make sure he had no rivals.  He even murdered his own wife.  As he was on his death bed he issued an order that the leading citizens of Jericho be murdered—so that there would be people crying at his funeral.  He was an evil and brutal man and the people under his rule suffered for it.  When we think of the oppression that the Jewish people lived under in the time of Jesus we usually think of the Romans, but Herod was there too and while the cruelty of the Romans was usually predictable, Herod’s was not—it was often chaotic and arbitrary. When St. John opens his Gospel by talking about light coming into the darkness, this is the sort of darkness he had in mind.  And Jesus was born right in the middle of it.  This is what so many people simply couldn’t grasp.  They expected the Messiah to come as a great warrior—like King David, but much more glorious and powerful—to drive away the darkness.  They expected him to turn the tables.  But that’s just it.  Turning the tables too often results in the oppressed becoming the new oppressor.  Just look at where the current Post-modern philosophy of victimhood is leading our society today.  No, Brothers and Sisters, God had something much better in mind—something to stop the whole cycle of evil and sin.  And so, instead of being born in a palace to people with power, Jesus was born to an ordinary couple in the midst of the chaos and upheaval created by the Emperor’s census and then became a refugee, fleeing the darkness—to Egypt, of all places. Why? Consider the names that the angel revealed to Joseph before Jesus was born.  Joseph was understandably upset when he found out Mary was pregnant.  He was prepared to quietly divorce her.  But then the Lord spoke. “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:20-21) And Matthew comments on this, saying:   All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,   and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:22-23) You shall call his name Jesus.  There was nothing particularly unusual about the name “Jesus”.  It was pretty common, in fact.  In Hebrew it was “Yeshua”, one of several very common variants of “Joshua”.  It means “Yahweh saves”, “The Lord saves”.  And it was such a common name precisely because of the darkness in which the people lived.  They were desperate for the Lord to save them and we know that especially in the time in which Jesus was born the people were particularly expectant—the worse things got, the stronger their hopes became—and things were horrible.  And so as Joshua led God’s people into the promised land, Jesus was sent to lead his people in a new and bigger and better exodus into a new and bigger and better promised land.  In the first exodus the Israelites became a nation and were delivered from the bondage of Egypt; in this new exodus all humanity is to join in Jesus as the new Israel and in him the Lord will save them—save us—from our bondage to sin and death. And yet it’s in Matthew’s commentary that we see the “how” of it all.  This he says is to fulfil what Isaiah spoke: “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son and he shall be called Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’.”  Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7:14.  It’s interesting that no one before Matthew ever seems to have understood this passage as pointing to the future Messiah.  Isaiah had spoken these words over seven centuries earlier and he spoke them to King Ahaz of Judah.  It was another very dark time for the Lord’s people.  The king of the northern tribes of Israel had made an alliance with the king of Syria and they laid siege to Jerusalem.  King Ahaz and his people were scared, but through the prophet the Lord exhorted them to stand firm in faith.  They were to trust him and he would vanquish their enemies and this promised child was a sign.  A young woman—the Hebrew doesn’t demand we translate it necessarily as “virgin”—perhaps Ahaz’s wife or daughter or Isaiah’s own wife, would bear a son and before he’s old enough to know the difference between good and evil the Lord would make good on his promise to deliver his people.  The child was to be prophetically called “Immanuel—God with us”, giving assurance to the people that the Lord had heard their cries from the darkness, that he would visit them, and that he would deliver them. Just as the exodus in the days of Moses became an image of the ministry of Jesus leading his people out of sin’s bondage, that baby—Immanuel—born in the reign of Ahaz became another image of Jesus’ ministry.  In him God once again had heard the cries of his people from the darkness—the darkness of Herod, the darkness of Caesar—in Jesus he visited his people, and in Jesus he delivered them.  Even more so, Jesus is literally “God with us”.  In him God took on our human flesh, becoming one with us.  He was born not in some privileged palace to wealthy or nobles parents, but to a humble couple just as they were being submitted to the indignity of Roman rule.  Almost immediately he was made a refugee by the wicked and murderous King Herod.  In Jesus God is truly with us in every way imaginable, sharing our nature, sharing our life, sharing our pain, sharing our griefs, sharing our humanity—sharing our everything.  Jesus has come into the darkness and into the pain and into the grief.  This is how the Lord saves. Joseph and Mary’s flight to Egypt underscores just how Jesus came into the midst of the darkness and not just that he’s come and joined us in it, but that he’s found us in the darkness and so that he can lead us out.  After telling us about the angel warning Joseph to flee to Egypt, Matthew tells us that this took place to fulfil what the prophet Hosea wrote: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”  But Hosea wasn’t looking forward to the Messiah—to Jesus—when he wrote those words.  He was talking about Israel.  Israel was the Lord’s son and the Lord called that son and rescued that son out of Egypt.  And now Jesus is constituting a new Israel where the old Israel had failed.  He is the Lord’s Son and the Lord will call him from Egypt as he once did Israel.  Matthew points to Jesus as the fulfilment and the culmination of Israel’s story. And then as Matthew writes about the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem, he quotes from Jeremiah’s prophecy: “A voice was heard in Ramah,   weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children;   she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18) It seems like an odd passage to quote.  When Jeremiah wrote those words he was writing to the people of Judah during their exile in Babylon.  It’s a passage, first, of mourning.  The children of Rachel had lost everything.  Think of the darkness of the world.  Israel had lost it all: their land, their prosperity, their temple.  Everything that the Lord had promised and everything that reminded them of their status as the Lord’s people had been taken away—even his presence, that cloud of glory that had rested in the holy of holies was gone.  Had the Lord forgotten them?  That was what they asked as they wept by the river of Babylon.  But Jeremiah then wrote about the Lord renewing his covenant with Israel.  When she had repented he would restore her to the land he had promised and he would make her prosperous again.  Eventually the Lord did restore Israel.  She returned from exile.  She rebuilt Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple.  But the darkness remained.  Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience and they would have seen here again Jesus, the Messiah, coming into the darkness to rescue the people from exile and to restore the Lord’s covenant with them. And, finally, at the end of today’s Gospel we’re told that when the family returned from Egypt and heard that Archelaus was in power, Joseph decided to settle the family in Nazareth—about as far from Archelaus as he could get.  In his providence, the Lord had provided a connection for Joseph with this little, relatively remote village.  And Matthew says in verse, 23, that this was “so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.” Again, Matthew doesn’t use or quote the prophets the way we might expect him to, as if there’s a one-to-one equation between Isaiah or Jeremiah and the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.  Verse 23 continues to raise questions after two thousand years, because there is no mention of Nazareth anywhere in the Old Testament.  None of the prophets says anything about Jesus being a Nazarene.  The most likely explanation is that Matthew was making a word play.  In Isaiah 11:1 the prophet wrote about the Messiah: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,   and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.   They key word is the word “branch”.  In Hebrew the word is nazir, which sounds like Nazareth or Nazarene.  It’s not the sort of thing we would do with an Old Testament text, but it’s just the sort of sounds-like word game that was common then.  The point is that Jesus has a royal lineage.  The Lord had established a covenant with David that his house would be established forever.  In the course of history, David’s house eventually fell.  No descendant of David ever returned to the throne after the exile, but the covenant was still there.  A shoot from the cut-off and seemingly dead stump of Jesse—David’s father— would one day come forth and that branch—that nazir—would bear fruit. Do you see what Matthew is doing here?  Think of the big picture—the sweep of Israel’s story as it’s told in the Bible.  That’s what Matthew is getting at with these quotes from and references to the prophets.  The three key points of Israel’s story that Luke pointed to were God’s covenant with Abraham, the Exodus from Egypt and his covenant at Sinai, and finally his covenant with David.  Israel’s identity was forged in these covenants and in them she found her hope for the future—and in Jesus all three covenants are brought together and fulfilled.  Matthew now does something very similar.  Quoting Hosea he reminds us of the Exodus.  Quoting Isaiah 11—the passage about the branch or nazir from Jesse—he reminds us of the covenant the Lord established with David.  And quoting Jeremiah 31 he gives a vivid picture of Israel’s need for rescue and of the darkness in which the world was lost.  Again, Jesus didn’t parachute into history at random.  Luke and Matthew both stress that Jesus came when the time was exactly right and that he came as the culmination of Israel’s story.  In him all the covenants and promises the Lord had made to Israel are brought together and fulfilled.  Jesus is Israel, which is why St. Paul can talk about Gentiles like us being grafted into Israel.  John the Baptist warned, as he preached the need for repentance in preparation for Jesus’ coming, that the Lord would lay his axe to the dead wood of Israel while raising children for Abraham from the stones. Brothers and Sisters, this means that you and I are now part of this story—the story that goes back to God’s covenant with Abraham, to the Exodus from Egypt, and to the covenant with David.  All those who are in Jesus the Messiah—all those who have turned aside from everything that is not Jesus and instead have laid hold of him in hoping faith with both hands—share in the great story of Israel and of Israel’s God.  As Jesus came to bring light into the darkness—into the darkness of Caesar’s empire and of Herod’s brutal and murderous cruelty, Jesus has come to bring light into our darkness. Listen to the words of our lesson from Isaiah 61:1-3.  These were the words Jesus preached from in the synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry and they were words he claimed for himself.  This is what he came to do.  This is how he came to be light in the darkness. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,   because the Lord has anointed me  to bring good news to the poor;   he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,   and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,   and the day of vengeance of our God;   to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—   to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,  the oil of gladness instead of mourning,   the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;  that they may be called oaks of righteousness,   the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.   This is Jesus—the Lord’s salvation.  This is what it looks like for God to be with us.  He has delivered us from bondage to sin and from the fear of death, its wages.  There’s darkness all around.  Again, all we have to do is turn on the evening news, read the paper, or look on the Internet.  The world is lost in darkness.  We may not have to deal with war and genocide here, but we all deal with the fallout of sin in the world around us and our problems are no less real to us.  We deal with sickness and with poverty.  We deal with difficult jobs, difficult people, with broken relationships and with the loss of loved ones.  We’ve spent the better part of a year living with a viral pandemic, confronted by our mortality and reminded that, because of our rebellion against him, we have been cut off from the life he created us to share in.  We have spent a month with our churches closed and I can’t help but think of Israel in exile, cut off from the temple.  Brothers and Sisters, Jesus has come into the darkness.  He has shared it with us.  He knows and he understands.  And so Jesus speaks good news to us, he binds up our broken hearts.  He takes away the ashes that have been poured on our heads and the sackcloth we’ve been wearing in mourning and gives us beautiful headdresses and garments of praise.  He is light in our darkness.  He is God with us.  Isaiah says that this is so that we will be called “oaks of righteousness” planted by the Lord so that he will be glorified. Having God with us brings amazing transformation.  Imagine the chaos of the world all around, lost in sin, everyone struggling to get on top.  Think of our own suffering and pain and grief.  And then picture what we become when God is with us.  Isaiah says we are oaks of righteousness.  Ordinarily I could tell you to look out the window to the great oaks surrounding our church.  They’re there—on the other side of this wall, hanging over the roof above me.  As our building deteriorated from neglect in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s those trees only got stronger and bigger.  The storms come and go.  Every once in a while one of those big storms damages the church building, but the trees are there as strong as ever.  They’re an illustration of what Jesus has called us to be: light in the darkness, oaks in the storm, standing firm, making him known, providing a place of shelter to any who will come, giving a foretaste of his glorious kingdom and moving everyone around us to give glory to God.  He has not abandoned us.  In Jesus he saves.  In Jesus he has come to be with us—to find us in the dark and to make us light. Let us pray: Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word:  Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Jesse David is the Director of Business Development at WeWork. Jesse began his career as a corporate lawyer before a set of major and exciting life changes had him re-imagine his career. Following his wedding, he traveled the world for a year (more on the lessons on this within the episode!) before rejoining the workforce in a strategic setting within startups. You'll also hear how Jesse and WeWork have navigated the pandemic. His experiment-driven approach to partnerships and business development is exciting, especially when viewed through an industry-changing event such as COVID.

In this episode the ERLC staff explore the story and context of Samuel choosing David to be the next king of Israel. This conversations includes introductions to characters including David (obviously), Jesse (David's dad), Saul (the first king) and Samuel (the judge/prophet who anoints David), and touches on Israel's transition from judges to a king. If you want to read along in your Bible or dig in deeper here are the scripture passages referenced in this episode: 1 Samuel 3:10-11, 1 Samuel 7:12, 1 Samuel 8:1-9, 1 Samuel 8:22, Luke 2:1-4, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, and Psalm 139:1-4 For more information about Elk River Lutheran Church, find us on Facebook or at www.elkriverlutheran.org Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #A-731750

Day 85 of the podcast, reading Ruth 1-4 NET, read along at: https://netbible.org/bible/Ruth+1-4/ This is day 85 of our journey. Today we read the book of Ruth. Ruth appears in the context of the period of the Judges, when Israel was failing without a king to lead them in the ways of God. Ruth is the story of a Moabite woman who, after losing her husband, returns with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to Bethlehem. Ruth gleans in the fields to provide for herself and Naomi. While gleaning she catches the eye of Boaz. He performs his right as kinsman redeemer and marries Ruth. It is a beautiful love story, but more than that, it introduces us to a Godly family that will provide Israel King David, Israel's greatest king. And ultimately, from the line of Ruth and Boaz will come the Messiah to save all people. Join me in Ruth 1-4 to hear a story of love and provision. Key verses: Ruth 1:16 But Ruth replied, “Stop urging me to abandon you! For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God. Ruth 2:12 May the Lord reward your efforts! May your acts of kindness be repaid fully by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection!” Ruth 3:11 Now, my dear, don’t worry! I intend to do for you everything you propose, for everyone in the village knows that you are a worthy woman. Ruth 4:17 The neighbor women named him, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. Now he became the father of Jesse – David’s father! All Scriptures are from the NET.

Take a look at the family history of Jesus which is possibly much messier than you imagined. This week Rick looks at the stump of Jesse: David.

The Names and Titles of Jesus – I Am the Way the Truth and the Life-  Episode 104 This series of the names and titles of Jesus will give us a more in-depth understanding of Jesus Christ our Lord. This is twelfth in the series. John 14(NIV) “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. John 20 30Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Believe John 20:31 Greek (present continual tense) Credence - believing that the facts accepting the truth. Confidence – believing in (trust and obey) Continuance – go on believing (faith& faithfulness) John 20:31 Greek (present continual tense) “Do not let your hearts be troubled” Verse 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me…-- Verse 11: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” Yes. I’m leaving. No. You can’t come with me now. Yes, you will be scattered this night when they strike the shepherd, and I will do this work alone. But don’t let your sorrow . . . Don’t let your fear . . . Don’t let your shame . . . produce an unholy turmoil in your soul. Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust me. Trust God. Why? There will be a place for you in my Father’s house, as my Father’s children forever Matthew 16:13 WHO IS JESUS 13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Today’s logic says that everybody’s right ----Everyone cannot be right Who is this man who calls himself Jesus one of three possibility He is a liar/conman He is a lunatic The Son of the living God Matthew 16:13 WHO IS JESUS 13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” The scandal of Christianity is not Jesus is a truth or a Savior but the truth and the Savior and anyone who contradicts him is lost and that’s why the world hates him and hates us. He’s not just a profit is not like others it’s his uniqueness that brings about his exclusiveness and that’s a scandal to the world. Promises concerning the Messiah Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[c] until he to whom it belongs[d] shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his Daniel 9;24 - 27 the city of Jerusalem was to be rebuilt Malachi 3 and Haggai 2 teach that the Messiah was to come while the second Temple was standing Isaiah 11 says a shoot will spring up of Jesse David’s father but even the root has been destroyed with the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Daniel 9;27 says the Messiah would confirm the new covenant and put an end to sacrificial system the sacrificial Finally Isaiah said the coming of the Messiah would be marked by a ingathering of the nations or Gentiles Jesus is the Messiah and he was not just a man even the Jewish scribes said that the Messiah would not be just a man they said the son of David would be greater than they and that he would be Lord of David Mark 12:35 -37 and Psalms 110 he would be God that became man that’s exactly what happened Mark 12:35 -37 35While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies until I put your enemies under your feet.”’[h] 37David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” Matthew16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. – Matthew 5:48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Luke 10:25–37 25And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27And he answered, s“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and tyour neighbor as yourself.” 28And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; udo this, and you will live.” Justification / Sanctification 2 Corinthians 5 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18Now all these things are from God NATURE – WILL – ACTIVITIES John 14:6 Jesus answered “I AM THE WAY and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” Subscribe to the podcast: {Apple Podcasts}{Stitcher}{Google Play}{IHeartRadio}{YouTube}{Spotify}{CastBox}

Unlike the other sons of Jesse (David and Solomon), Christ shall bear lasting fruit. The effect of His reign shall be life, not death.

Unlike the other sons of Jesse (David and Solomon), Christ shall bear lasting fruit. The effect of His reign shall be life, not death.