What I Receive I Give

It has been said, "what you do not have, you cannot give away". "What does not belong to you, you cannot give." How true that is. And so some people give that as the excuse for not doing anything. They ask for nothing so that they will not be accused of hoarding and not giving. It is true that you cannot give away what does not belong to you. However, a lot of Christian miss the point that, because of our Lord Jesus' death on the cross, all the promises of the Father are now ours to claim.
Jesus chided His disciple on the night before His crucifixion that they have not asked anything from Him. Wow, what a neat rebuke! "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16: 24)...

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6. Then Peter said, "Silver
and gold I do not have,
but what I do have I give
you: In the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, rise
up and walk."
Acts 3:6 NKJV

7 "Casting all your care
upon Him, for He cares
for you."
1 Peter 5:7 NKJV

Jesus Answers John the Baptist

One of the difficulties for the rabbis in interpreting the Torah was that some of it could really only be understood in the light of the New Testament and the Holy Spirit's revelation to the church. Many priests and prophets of the Old Testament were puzzled with questions concerning the Messiah, since the Scriptures were only filled with bits and pieces of a much larger puzzle.

In Judaism there were different streams of Messianic thought. There is good reason for the confusion, since there are places in the Bible that said Messiah would come and reign as king and others that said Messiah would come and be rejected by His own people and murdered as a criminal.

So John asks "are you the Coming One or do we look for another?" Since John the Baptist knew Jesus would lay down His life and die, he was essentially asking whether or not Jesus was the same person who will also come and set up a kingdom. I am sure John was wondering also about his own fate since there is no mention about the fate of Messiah's forerunner in the Old Testament.

Jesus answers the question brought to him by John's disciples:
"Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
It is interesting that Jesus responded in this way. By hinting at many Old Testament passages regarding the Messiah's first and second coming He essentially answered the question and answered it entirely. Lets look at a few of the verses that Jesus was hinting at:
Note: These are all passages regarded in ancient Rabbinic Judaism as Messianic, and are still held today in Jewish circles.

The Blind See and the Sick are Healed

Isa 29:18-19 "In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. "

Isa 35:4-6 "Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you." Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert."

Isa 42:6-8 6 "I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another."

(to be continued...)