Tony Pagliarullo

Scripture Reading Isaiah 50:4-11 This is the third Servant Song found in Isaiah. As you read this you probably noticed striking similarities to Jesus' death. Mark reads, "Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him" (Mark 15:15-20). Notice that the servant submits not to the authority of his accusers and oppressors but to the authority of the sovereign Lord. The Servant kn...

Scripture Reading Isaiah 49:1-6 Yesterday we looked at the first of four "Servant Songs" found int Isaiah 40-66. The first one introduced the servant, and we stated that as Christians we have come to understand the Servant of the Lord to be Jesus Christ. The second Servant Song, found in Isaiah 49 captures the thoughts of the servant and Yahweh's response.  As one reads verses 1-4, it is easy to identify with the words of the servant. We feel that we as servants of the Lord were called before we were born (vs. 1), that the Lord has protected us and kept us in the palm of his hand (vs.2), and that at times we feel we have labored in vain for the Lord (vs.4). However, that is where our identification with these verses stops. We must remind ourselves that this is about the Servant of the Lord-Jesus.  The Servant's words have been heard and now Yahweh responds in verses 5-6. In verse 5 there is a description of the Lord-Yahweh that is essentially a summary of verses 1-4. ...

Scripture Reading Isaiah 42:1-4 The second half of Isaiah (chapters 40-66) focuses on the Servant of the Lord. This recurring image has been interpreted in various ways throughout the years. The two main interpretations are to see the Servant of the Lord as a collective group (such as the nation of Israel or a remnant of faithful Israelites) or as individuals (such as Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Jesus). Some scholars suggest that the best way to understand this theme is to interpret it both as a group and an individual.  An important theme found in Isaiah is the idea of a remnant. This represented a group from the nation of Israel that God was preserving even though he was bringing judgment of sin through battles with other nations and eventually defeat and slavery in Babylon. Through all of these difficulties, God was preserving a chosen group for himself. So in one sense, these verses represent the faithfulness of God to use Israel to bring justice and to be faithful to living for...

  Scripture Reading Matthew 28:18-20 What do you do when you find out good news? What is your reaction when something great happens? You tell somebody! Usually the first person you see is the one that gets an earful about that great deal on shoes, the healing of a relative, or the birth of a baby. Can you imagine holding it in? It feels like your going to burst and it is impossible to sit still because you are so anxious to tell people so they can celebrate with you. Celebration...how would you like to celebrate alone? What a horrible birthday party it would be if it was only you. Easter is all about celebration. It is when we rejoice that he lives! We are created to have a relationship with God and with each other. We are created to tell and celebrate the good news of Christ's life, death, and resurrection.  The Great Commission was given to the eleven disciples and it is given to us as well. Tell others! The irony in the lives of so many Christians is that they proclaim that...

  Scripture Reading Matthew 7:21-27 The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who do the will of God the Father. It's interesting that Jesus says that there will be some who will have done miracles, cast out demons, and preached in his name who will not enter heaven because they didn't have a relationship with God. It seems that there are some who will appear to be followers of Jesus but really aren't. Perhaps it is also possible that there are some who by most standards one would not consider a Christian but who are actually busy doing the will of God and thus will be allowed entrance into the kingdom of heaven. It is not left up to us to make those decisions, our responsibility is to be doing God's will as we serve him on this earth.  Jesus illustrates his point by telling the story of the wise and foolish builders. Do you remember the children's song about this story? "The wise man built his house upon the rock/the foolish man built his house upon the sand/the ...

Scripture Reading Matthew 13:44-46; 6:33 Have you ever wanted something so badly that you were willing to give up anything in order to get it? I believe we have all at one time or another used our bargaining powers to get what we want. "You don't have to buy me anything else all year, if I can have this jacket." "I promise these are the only shoes I will ever need." "If I can have a car you don't have to buy me anymore Christmas or birthday presents!" I can vividly remember searching my room to try to figure out what I could sell in order to make money to buy whatever it was that week I just had to have. I was willing to give up everything to get what I saw as something more valuable. But what about eternal things, am I as passionate about them as I am materialistic things? What do we value? What are we willing to do to gain eternal riches?  The characters in this parable went to drastic measures to keep what they found to be the most valuable thin...

Scripture Reading Matthew 13:31-32 Jesus loved to use parables to teach people the truth of the kingdom of God. When Jesus taught using parables he was taking an example from the everyday life of his followers and using it to explain something about heaven or what it means to be a Christ follower.  In this very short parable, which is followed by an even shorter one, Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. As Jesus says in the parable, the mustard seed was the smallest seed used by farmers during that time. The amazing thing about it was that it would grow and become quite large. The comparison that Jesus is making is that the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven starts out small but grows into something very large.  Think about it this way, the kingdom of heaven began with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but through God's plan of redemption through Jesus' death on the cross it has grown to include millions of people throughout the cent...