TU‘APULELULU MA‘ASI 13, 2025

RESPECTING THE TEMPLE

FAKA‘APA‘APA‘I ‘A E TEMIPALE

LUKE 19:45-48

"He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, "My house shall be a house of prayer," but you have made it a den of robbers.’ And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words." 

LUKE 19:45-48

45 Pea ne hū ki he Temipale, ‘o ne hanga ‘o kapusi ‘a kinautolu na‘e fai fakatau ai; 46 ‘o ne pehē kiate kinautolu, Kuo tohi, Pea ‘e tu‘u hoku fale ko e falelotu; ka ko kimoutolu kuo mou ngaohi ia ko e ‘ananga ‘o ha kaiha‘akau. 47 Pea na‘a ne ‘i he Temipale ‘i he ‘aho kotoa pē, ‘o faiako. Pea ko e hou‘eiki taula‘eiki mo e kau sikalaipe na‘a nau feinga ke tāmate‘i ia; pehē foki mo e kau tu‘ukimu‘a ‘o e kakai: 48 ka nau fiu‘a fili pe ko e hā ‘anautolu ai ‘e fai; he ko e kakai kātoa na‘e mātu‘aki tukutukutāupe honau loto kiate ia ‘i he‘enau fanongo ki ai.

From the beginning of His life, the Jerusalem Temple was significant to Jesus. When He was a baby, the elderly Simeon had taken Him in his arms and declared - When the temple courts to be the wonder of God's salvation (Luke 2:25-35). As a twelve-year-old boy, Jesus had sought out His Father's house and engaged in conversation with the religious leaders (v 46-49). Jesus' comfort in and love of His Father's house was palpable and therefore so was His grief when He discovered irreverent behavior in that holy place.

The temple in Jerusalem was the place where God met His people. So when Jesus encountered an irreligious marketplace set up in its courts, He was justifiably grieved and angry. The individuals responsible for the disrespect in the temple were the same who had jeered at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They didn't bat an eye at exchanging money on the temple floor for an inordinate profit and deeming people's offerings of creatures "unacceptable" in order to sell them "acceptable" offerings at unfair prices. The way the temple courts were being used was so far removed from His Father's intentions that Jesus, as the Great High Priest, inevitably needed to come set it right. Jesus' knowledge of Old Testament prophecy allowed Him to speak with ultimate authority and remind the people of the temple's holy purpose, referencing Scripture that they knew and could not contest: "My house shall be a house of prayer" (Isaiah 56:7; see also Jeremiah 7:11).

Jesus' next action - using a whip made out of cords to drive out the livestock and stop the bazaar in its tracks (John 2:15) - was certainly justified. Zeal for His Father's reputation consumed Him (v 17). And yet we know that these were people over whom Jesus had wept (Luke 19:41-44). That whip was held by a Savior who had tears in His eyes.

Jesus is the perfect Son, who cares more than anything about bringing glory to His Father and who is angered more than anything by lies, greed, and pursuit of power that comes between His Father and sinners in need of grace. He looks at those who reject God and weeps, because He knows how far they have fallen. He looks at those who place barriers in the way of others meeting God and is angry, because He longs for His Father to receive the praise He is due and for people to be saved. We, too, would do well to weep over the lost and be angry over those who twist truth for their own ends. We would do well to pray for the same zeal for God's glory, even as we give thanks that Jesus came not only to reveal His zeal for His Father but to be the means by which we can dwell in His house forever.

ISAIAH 56:1-8

Bible Through The Year: Job 22-24; 1 Corinthians 8

 PULELULU MA‘ASI 12, 2025

IN HEAVEN HE STANDS

‘OKU NE TU‘U MA‘AU ‘I LANGI

HEBREWS 7:24-25

"He holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them." 

HEPELU 7:24-25

24 Ka ko e toko taha ni, ko e me‘a ‘i he‘ene tolonga ‘o ta‘engata, ko ia ‘oku ‘ikai liua ‘ene lakanga taula‘eiki. 25 Ko ia ai foki ‘oku ne mafai ke fakamo‘ui opeope ‘a kinautolu ‘oku ha‘u ki he ‘Otua ‘iate ia, ko ‘ene mo‘ui ma‘u ai pē ke hufekina kinautolu.

Jesus' sacrificial work as our High Priest is a finished work, a once-and-for-all accomplishment with regard to sin. There is no need for repetition and no possibility of addition. But why is it, exactly, that He is able to "save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him"?

Because, first, Christ's role as our Great High Priest is the solution to our rebellion. Deep down inside, each of us knows that we have rejected our dependence upon God, instead making a bid for independence. In trying to live our lives independently, we reveal that our stubborn hearts are curved into themselves. We pridefully think, "I don't need an advocate. I don't need anybody to do anything on my behalf. I can handle this myself."

But despite the fact that we have rebelled against God, amazingly, He seeks us out and saves us. Jesus brings about reconciliation by dealing with our alienation from God, which is two-sided: we are alienated on our side by our sin and on God's side by His wrath. Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins; He has satisfied God's wrath by offering Himself as an unblemished sacrifice.

Second, Jesus saves "to the uttermost" because He has destroyed the leverage that the Evil One uses to fill us with fear. In Hebrews 2, the writer explains, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (v 14-15). Through His own death, Jesus has set us free from Satan's grip, liberating us from what ought to be our greatest fear: death itself. When Satan seeks to accuse us before the Father, Jesus is, as it were, able to point out that his words are empty - that he has nothing to say against us. And Jesus' priestly work still continues in His continual intercession on our behalf. In Jesus we have a Priest who sheds His grace on our lives day by day through His heavenly mediation. As Jesus enjoys being in His Father's presence today, right now, He is not offering a sacrifice, but rather speaking as our advocate before the Father. We may picture Him standing by His Father, saying, That one is mine. I died for her. She is covered by my blood and is clothed in my righteousness.

So, "When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of my guilt within / Upward I look and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin." Therefore, "I know that while in heaven He stands, no power can bid me thence depart." Jesus, your Priest forever, stands in His Father's presence today, speaking of you and for you. There is nothing to fear.

HEBREWS 7:23 - 8:6

Bible Through The Year: Job 20-21; 1 Corinthians 7:20-40

 TUSITE MA‘ASI 11, 2025

QUIT YOUR HURRYING

TUKU HO‘O FAKAVAVEVAVE

PSALM 18:30

"This God - his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true." 

SAAME 18:30

Ko e me‘a ki he ‘Otua–ko hono ‘alunga ‘oku haohaoa: Ko e folofola ‘a e ‘Eiki kuo ‘osi-‘a-sivi ia; Ko e fakaū ia ki he kakai ‘oku hūfanga kiate ia.

God is never in a hurry. He's never late. His timing is always perfect. Yet so many of us spend so much of our lives hurrying from place to place, anxious to make things happen when we think they should happen.

Consider Esther 6 as an example. There's a lot of hurry-up in this one chapter. It's not the hurry-up of God, though, but the hurry-up of humanity.

Haman woke up and hurried off to see the king about hanging Mordecai (Esther 6:4). When King Ahasuerus requested that he hurry with the king's robes to exalt the person the king delighted to honor (v 10), it was no problem for Haman to do so, assuming that the honor was intended for himself. Later we see Haman hurrying once more - but this time it is to his house in shame (v 12), embarrassed at being ordered to honor his most hated enemy, Mordecai. He didn't want anyone to see him. He covered his head, like an arrested criminal trying to shield himself from the gaze of the TV cameras. He was a picture of disappointment and pain.

Mordecai, however, was not in a hurry. He had been overlooked. His warning of an assassination plot had been significant, yet apparently nobody cared about it, not least the very king who was the beneficiary of what he had done. Four or five years had passed without any honor or recognition (Esther 6:3), and still Mordecai patiently and faithfully continued to do what was right. He trusted in God and His timing. He knew that "this God-his way is perfect."

Derek Kidner writes that "all God's delays are maturings, either of the time ... or of the man. " The psalmist says, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word" (Psalm 119:67). Like the psalmist, our default is to just do our own thing and wander any way we want. But when God in His providence makes us wait longer than we might like or even brings disappointment, pain, and heartache into our lives, we are given the opportunity to pay attention to His words and to trust that His plan is unfolding perfectly.

We are called to believe that God's way is perfect and His word is true - not just when His favor is evident but when the wheels are falling off and the good that we've done, which is deserving of honor and acclaim, is largely ignored. Do you believe that? Remember that even God's ultimate plan of salvation did not require hurry: "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6. emphasis added). God's ways are perfect and His timing impeccable. Set aside your hurry, then, and give up your anxiety, learning instead to trust God to do His work at the right time.

PROVERBS 3:5-12

Bible Through The Year: Job 17-19; 1 Corinthians 7:1-19

 MONITE MA‘ASI 10, 2025

RIGHTEOUSNESS IN ACTION

KO E ‘ATA KITU‘A ‘A E MO‘UI MA‘ONI‘ONI

EPHESIANS 5:8-10

"At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." 

‘EFESO 5:8-10

8 he neongo ko e koto po‘uli kimoutolu ‘i mu‘a, ka ‘i onopooni ko e koto maama kimoutolu ‘i he ‘Eiki: mou laka ‘o taau mo e fānau ‘a maama; 9 (he ko e fua ‘o e maama ‘oku fou ‘i he lelei kotoa pē mo e totonu mo e mo‘oni): 10 mo mou sivi ‘o ‘ilo, pe ko e hā ‘a e me‘a ‘e hōifua ai ‘a e ‘Eiki.

Being made righteous should lead to us living righteously.

We trust Christ alone for our righteousness and never our good works. We must never lose sight of that. But we must also realize that the righteousness Christ gives us inevitably manifests itself in righteous deeds. Paul puts it this way: as believers, we are to "walk as children of light." And why? Because "the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true." In short, the Lord has made us righteous; therefore, we are to act righteously.

We cannot be the beneficiaries of the objective righteousness of Christ without the evidence presenting itself in our righteous living. Sinclair Ferguson puts it wonderfully when he says that "we are now the recipients of an irrevocable justification (or righteousness) in Christ, which in turn leads to a growth in righteousness in ourselves." Similarly, John Calvin wrote that "the Son of God though spotlessly pure took upon himself the ignominy and shame of our sin and in return clothed us with his purity." Christ bears our sin for us, grants us His unblemished record, and then empowers us, by His Spirit, to "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him" (Colossians 1:10).

The Puritans used to speak in terms of a righteousness that was imputed and then a righteousness that was imparted. They were seeking to distinguish between the objective righteousness that Christ affords us and the subjective righteousness that we enact in our lives in the power of the Spirit. As believers, we are the grateful possessors of both.

Whatever your preferred terminology, this much is always true: the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ isn't simply a free pass that excuses us to do as we please. No, the gospel calls us and empowers us to do what pleases the Lord. The key is that the gospel always turns us back to Jesus. As you look to Christ for your righteousness, He will enable you to "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely" and strengthen you to run the unique race God has set out for you (Hebrews 12:1-2). So today, be sure not to trust in your righteous living to earn you salvation or blessing from the Lord. But equally, be sure not to make the mistake of allowing your salvation to tempt you to be half-hearted in your pursuit of righteous living. You have been made righteous; now go and live righteously.

EPHESIANS 5:8-15

Bible Through The Year: Job 14-16; 1 Corinthians 6

 SAPATE MA‘ASI 9, 2025

BOASTING IN WEAKNESS

POLEPOLE ‘I HE TU‘UNGA VAIVAI

2 CORINTHIANS 10:17-18

"Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord' For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends." 

2 KOLINITO 10:17-18

17 Ka ko ia ‘oku pōlepole, ke tu‘unga ‘ene pōlepole mei he ‘Eiki: 18 he tala‘ehai ko e mālō ia ‘a ia ‘oku ne sani ia ‘e ia, ka ko ia ‘oku sani ‘e he ‘Eiki.

The world has always been quick to encourage people to believe in and boast in themselves. In Paul's day, as now, the more you were able to say about yourself, what you’d done, and what you were planning to do, the greater the possibility that you'd advance your career, be well-liked, and prove yourself a "success." And this thinking, if we are not careful, pervades our perspective on our lives, including our personal ministries. We ask ourselves, "Have I done 'great' things? Am I well-liked? Have I been a success?" But according to Paul, "What you say about yourself means nothing in God's work. It's what God says about you that makes the difference" (2 Corinthians 10:18, MSG).

Paul's second letter to the Corinthian church is part of a very personal correspondence. Part of this letter involves a lengthy defense of his ministry in the face of strong criticism. While Paul isn't concerned for his own reputation, he is concerned for the members of the body of Christ under his shepherding care. And out of that care emerge significant truths concerning boasting and humility, which we must take to heart.

Paul could easily have matched his critics in their own boasting (2 Corinthians 11:21b-23a), but instead he took a different approach (v 23b-29). Instead of bragging about his status and his service to God, he ran through an extensive list of his sufferings and weaknesses. He shared these failures, these weaknesses, because he viewed them as assets, as the key to knowing and experiencing God's power and the ways in which God had weakened him before working through him. The principle here is often lost. We want everybody to know that we have it together, that we're successful, that we don't have any problems. But what are we doing? We're making much of our accomplishments instead of making much of Christ! We're giving the impression of our strength rather than relying on God's. We put a fake shine on our old clay pots (2 Corinthians 4:7), forgetting that the beauty and usefulness come from what the pot holds: Christ's power, which fills and flows over and through our cracks, our weaknesses.

We cannot boast in what God is doing as though we deserve it or boast in what God is doing through us as though we did it all ourselves. There is nothing uglier than spiritual pride - a boasting in something not our own, a boasting in something God-given. Where there is spiritual pride, there is no view of the cross. Make sure that in your successes and in your failings your song remains the same:

Naught have I gotten but what I received;

Grace hath bestowed it when I have believed;

Boasting excluded, pride I abase;

I'm only a sinner, saved by grace!

James Martin Gray, "Only a Sinner" (1905).

2 CORINTHIANS 11:21b-33

Bible Through The Year: Job 11-13; 1 Corinthians 5

 TOKONAKI MA‘ASI 8, 2025

A PATH OF PEACE

KO E HALA ‘O E MELINO

LUKE 19:41-42

"When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, 'Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." 

LUKE 19:41-42

41 Pea ‘i he‘ene ofi atu, ‘o hā mai ‘a e kolo, na‘a ne tēngihia ia, 42 ‘o ne pehē, ‘ē, taumaiā ne ke lavea–kehe ā ho taimi ko eni–‘io, ‘o lavea ‘e koe foki ‘a e ngaahi me‘a ‘oku tu‘u ai ho‘o lelei! ka kuo fufū ‘eni meiate koe. 

Here is an opportunity to look, in the words of some past theologians, into "the human face of God.”

As the Son of God entered the city of God, Jerusalem, He wept. Why? He was shedding tears of compassion for its people, on account of the judgment that awaited them. Jesus loved the city, and He knew that the people who greeted Him did not understand the kind of peace He would bring - the peace that comes with knowing Him and that many would reject Him and the offer of peace that He brought.

It wasn't that the Jews were disinterested in peace. Indeed, they longed for it. But they thought it would come militarily or politically - that Jesus' arrival would bring them triumph over the Roman authorities. They thought the peace they needed most was a horizontal peace. They didn't know that in their desire for that peace they were in fact rejecting the message Jesus was bringing and the offer of a great peace He was making. On account of their ignorance and their blindness, then, Jesus wept.

In many ways, we are no different from the Jews who witnessed that first Holy Week. By nature, we experience the same blindness because of our sin. We tend to think of sin in terms of what we shouldn't have done but have, or what we've failed to do even though we know we should. But in actual fact sin is a condition before it is an action. It blinds us to any awareness that we are at enmity with God. We cannot see our need for peace with God. We cannot see that all the other ways in which we lack peace horizontally stem ultimately from our lack of that vertical peace with our Maker. We cannot see the provision that has been made for peace through Jesus.

This lack of peace pervades individual hearts as well as families, communities, and nations. Only a relationship with the Prince of Peace can show us that He who once came to conquer sin and will come again to rule and reign as King also came as a prophet to speak into our ignorance and blindness.

The Bible says that it is first in knowing peace with God that we discover the peace of God - and that peace has been granted in the person and work of Jesus. So, meditate on the peace that you enjoy with your Creator because of the death and resurrection of His Son. Give thanks that His Spirit has opened your eyes to that which was hidden by sin from the city of Jerusalem. And pray that your heart would be as compassionate as His was, so that you weep over those who are seeking peace everywhere except where it may truly be found, and so that your tears cause you to hold out the offer of the peace that Jesus came to give and died to make.

COLOSSIANS 1:15-23

Bible Through The Year: Job 8-10; 1 Corinthians 4

 FALAITE MA‘ASI 7, 2025

NOT CONTENT TO COVET

‘IKAI FIEMALIE KE MANUMANU

EXODUS 20:17

"You shall not cover your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." 

‘EKISOTO 20:17

‘Oua te ke mānumanu ki he fale ‘o ho kaungā‘api. ‘Oua te ke mānumanu ki he uaifi ‘o ho kaungā‘api, pe ki ha‘ane tamaio‘eiki, pe ki ha‘ane kaunanga, pe ki ha‘ane pulu, pe ki ha‘ane ‘asi, pe ki ha me‘a ‘e taha ‘oku ‘a ho kaungā‘api.

The Ten Commandments do not go easy on us as they come to their close. Each of the four commands prior to the tenth deal primarily (though not exclusively) with our actions. This one takes a different approach, taking aim at our desires and our attitudes. 

When God forbids coveting, He confronts us with a seemingly universal problem - the desire to have for ourselves what God has chosen to give to another. The object of our envy may take any number of forms - prestige, positions, and possessions, to name just a few. The apostle John knew how easily our hearts fall into coveting when he warned us "Do not love the world or the things in the world. All that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world" (1 John 2:15-17).

In addition to understanding what and how easily we are tempted to covet, it's important to acknowledge the ruinous effects coveting has on us. It spoils relationships and lies behind many of our disagreements; it is impossible to love someone while we covet something they have. It makes us selfish. And it causes us to fixate on material things.

All of these effects are touched on by one of Jesus' warnings related to coveting. When a man approached Him with concerns about his inheritance, Jesus bypassed the question to get to the heart of the problem - and the warning is precisely what our covetous hearts need to hear: "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15). How easily we forget this very truth, believing instead that true and lasting joy would be ours if we could only have a little more money, a little more fame, a little more free time, or a little more of whatever else we see others enjoying and covet for ourselves.

So how do we combat this dangerous sin? If coveting is a disordering of our desires, then we must actively cultivate right desires. Through Bible reading and prayer, through worship and fellowship, we can increase our appetite for godly things, all the while purposefully shrinking our appetite for worldly things. These kinds of habits will lead us into lives of contentment, so that we can say with the psalmist, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:25-26).

Do you long for your heart to be content? Do you want to guard against coveting? Then seek and find satisfaction in God alone. Next time you find you are sad for yourself rather than happy for another because they have a blessing that you do not, ask God to enable you to say to yourself, and to mean, "There is nothing on earth as great as knowing God. There is no earthly blessing that can endure to eternity. Therefore, I shall be satisfied in Him, and Him alone."

PHILIPPIANS 4:8-13

Bible Through The Year: Job 5-7; 1 Corinthians 3