Note: As I'll be visiting family for the next week, my access to the internet will be sporadic at best. The commentary will resume the following Tuesday evening, 4th October.
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vs 37 - 54
Jesus has had some hard words in this chapter, but they come to their culmination in the last part. A Pharisee that had invited Jesus to dinner made a snide remark about Jesus not washing correctly[1] for dinner.
It looks like this comment is some kind of last straw for Jesus.
There are a lot of things that Jesus hated, but it’s clear that the top of his list of “things I really don’t like” would have been hypocrisy. The worst thing that Jesus ever says to someone is “You hypocrite!”
Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another. Sadly, it’s something we’re all guilty of from time to time. I know that I am far from immune.
Hypocrisy is tied to self-righteousness, in that when you act hypocritically you are trying to appear better to others than you really are. You want others thinking “Gosh, what a good guy/girl!”
It’s worse when we try to fool God. He’s not fooled, and anyway, it’s stupid to try!
Jesus goes off here. I mean, right off.
And the theme is the same throughout this tirade. Always it is the triumph of style over substance.
For many years I, like many Christians, had assumed that the Pharisees were Jesus’ natural enemies. I know differently now. Of all the religious groups in Judea at the time, the Pharisees were closest to Jesus’ own views.
So perhaps the anger he feels here is inspired partially by hurt. Perhaps Jesus is feeling “Of all the people in this world, THESE ones should know what I’m about! Of all people THESE should look after the poor! THESE should care more about what’s inside than what’s outside! THESE should be the ones pointing the way to God – BUT THEY ARE NONE OF THESE THINGS!”
Sometimes we can catch a glimpse of how Jesus is feeling. We all know what it’s like to see a prominent Christian who has said or done something stupid, getting themselves plastered on the headlines for the wrong reasons. I know at times like that, I have felt the intense shame of realizing that another Christian has been the cause of the names of all Christians being dragged in the mud.
Worse than that, though, I have BEEN the Christian who did the dragging. We all have been at times.
How would Jesus react to us?
I think a crucial thing would be our awareness. One attitude that shines through in these passages is the snobbishness of the Pharisee who started the whole thing. There’s a general sense that he doesn’t seem to realize that he has a problem.
Perhaps we need to regard ourselves as being somehow like the people who meet at Alcoholics Anonymous – “My name is Johno, and I’m a hypocrite”. A bit of humility and self-awareness seems to be very much in order.
[1] It’s worth considering here that the Pharisee’s problem was the fact that GOD IN HUMAN FORM didn’t consider it worth going through the motions of symbolic cleanliness. Ironically, he should have been taking notes from Jesus!
25 September 2011
23 September 2011
Chapter 11c
vs 29 - 36
I guess in a sense you could call me a professional non-believer.
See, I’m a science teacher. So not only do I have an instinctive mindset that says “Don’t believe it!”, I teach other people to have that mindset too!
Does this mean that I am one of those people that Jesus condemns in verses 29-30?
I can certainly imagine some of the more cynical atheists I know in the crowd where Jesus was speaking. “Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence,” they would say.
Would Jesus be angry at them for their unbelief? Or would He treat them gently, demonstrating gently that He is who He says He is?
Complicating this matter is that Jesus certainly did BOTH at various times. There are times (such as this one) where Jesus went OFF. He basically gave it to those wanting a sign, saying that they really just wanted a show (the different translations of the Bible use different words for it, but that’s basically what it boils down to). On the other hand, when Thomas doubted Him – someone who’d been in the team, traveling with Him for 3 years, someone who knew Jesus and what He was capable of – Jesus gave him the kid gloves treatment.
What is it about this crowd that got on Jesus’ nerves?
I don’t know, but I have an idea. It’s not so much the ACT of asking for evidence that Jesus targets. My scientific friends would be safe in that respect. What Jesus is targeting is an ATTITUDE.
If you look further down, in verses 31 and 32, what Jesus talks about is the attitude which has people squabbling about the nature of proof required when it is given.
You know, when it all comes down to it, the one attitude God can’t stand is PRIDE. All sins and all bad attitudes seem to stem from this – the basic idea that “I’m the one who’s important here.” And what Jesus is targeting is one outworking of a prideful attitude – the desire to prove that one is right.
We’ve all met them – people who are so concerned to be right, to win the argument, that they’ll do anything.
Met them, huh.
Maybe not a few of us have BEEN them. I know I certainly am. I’m getting better (I think/hope), but I’m still pretty proud. So maybe I’m the sort of person that Jesus is firmly kicking into next week here.
No, my atheist mates would be fine, so long as they’re prepared to accept the evidence that Jesus gives. It’s me that has a problem; I’m the one with a prideful attitude towards God!
An honest curiosity and desire for evidence isn’t wrong, and won’t keep you separate from God. Pride in your own abilities just might if you’re not careful.
I guess in a sense you could call me a professional non-believer.
See, I’m a science teacher. So not only do I have an instinctive mindset that says “Don’t believe it!”, I teach other people to have that mindset too!
Does this mean that I am one of those people that Jesus condemns in verses 29-30?
I can certainly imagine some of the more cynical atheists I know in the crowd where Jesus was speaking. “Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence,” they would say.
Would Jesus be angry at them for their unbelief? Or would He treat them gently, demonstrating gently that He is who He says He is?
Complicating this matter is that Jesus certainly did BOTH at various times. There are times (such as this one) where Jesus went OFF. He basically gave it to those wanting a sign, saying that they really just wanted a show (the different translations of the Bible use different words for it, but that’s basically what it boils down to). On the other hand, when Thomas doubted Him – someone who’d been in the team, traveling with Him for 3 years, someone who knew Jesus and what He was capable of – Jesus gave him the kid gloves treatment.
What is it about this crowd that got on Jesus’ nerves?
I don’t know, but I have an idea. It’s not so much the ACT of asking for evidence that Jesus targets. My scientific friends would be safe in that respect. What Jesus is targeting is an ATTITUDE.
If you look further down, in verses 31 and 32, what Jesus talks about is the attitude which has people squabbling about the nature of proof required when it is given.
You know, when it all comes down to it, the one attitude God can’t stand is PRIDE. All sins and all bad attitudes seem to stem from this – the basic idea that “I’m the one who’s important here.” And what Jesus is targeting is one outworking of a prideful attitude – the desire to prove that one is right.
We’ve all met them – people who are so concerned to be right, to win the argument, that they’ll do anything.
Met them, huh.
Maybe not a few of us have BEEN them. I know I certainly am. I’m getting better (I think/hope), but I’m still pretty proud. So maybe I’m the sort of person that Jesus is firmly kicking into next week here.
No, my atheist mates would be fine, so long as they’re prepared to accept the evidence that Jesus gives. It’s me that has a problem; I’m the one with a prideful attitude towards God!
An honest curiosity and desire for evidence isn’t wrong, and won’t keep you separate from God. Pride in your own abilities just might if you’re not careful.
22 September 2011
Chapter 11b
Jesus’ enemies are desperate. And why wouldn’t they be?
After all, this man who can heal the sick and raise the dead seems to be muscling in on their turf! A conundrum to be sure.
What makes it all the more alarming is that they (most of Jesus’ enemies) saw themselves as the good guys. And quite simply, that must make Jesus one of the BAD guys. . .
. . . Only problem with that – if he’s a bad guy, how come he’s forcing demons out of their hosts?!
This is a big problem, because although Jesus is asserting His authority over anything bigger than a mosquito, the religious leaders REALLY don’t want to hear it. Just remember how intense they got when Jesus’ disciples were just picking grain in the fields!
They’re at the point where they’re ready to believe ANYTHING except the truth. And that’s where you get this bizarre idea – that Jesus is casting out demons with the power of Demons Himself!
Now, at first this seems fairly far-fetched. But take a moment to think about the idea – it’s not as crazy as it sounds!
The idea is that the Prince of demons (to ancient Jews, Beelzebub) had authority over his troops and could stop them at any time. So one way to defeat a demonic attack was for Satan to order it to stop. So there’s the first reason why this idea isn’t as strange as it looks.
Another reason is that the Pharisees, let’s face it, were grasping at straws. Any idea this upstart was go going to deal with all this with a smile? Doubt it! So any idea that was half-way plausible would be pounced on like the last steak in the world being dragged through a dog pound.
Now, we’d never do something like that, right? Attributing to the devil what God has done?
Scary thought – it’s very close to the unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!
Yet putting myself in their place, I think I may well have done similarly. Whatever it is to make people ignore obvious flaws and stick only to their previously held idea, it’s something that may be found in all of us. It’s worth giving ourselves an occasional shake up, just to ensure that we’re thinking straight.
Otherwise there’s every possibility we might be missing something important.
After all, this man who can heal the sick and raise the dead seems to be muscling in on their turf! A conundrum to be sure.
What makes it all the more alarming is that they (most of Jesus’ enemies) saw themselves as the good guys. And quite simply, that must make Jesus one of the BAD guys. . .
. . . Only problem with that – if he’s a bad guy, how come he’s forcing demons out of their hosts?!
This is a big problem, because although Jesus is asserting His authority over anything bigger than a mosquito, the religious leaders REALLY don’t want to hear it. Just remember how intense they got when Jesus’ disciples were just picking grain in the fields!
They’re at the point where they’re ready to believe ANYTHING except the truth. And that’s where you get this bizarre idea – that Jesus is casting out demons with the power of Demons Himself!
Now, at first this seems fairly far-fetched. But take a moment to think about the idea – it’s not as crazy as it sounds!
The idea is that the Prince of demons (to ancient Jews, Beelzebub) had authority over his troops and could stop them at any time. So one way to defeat a demonic attack was for Satan to order it to stop. So there’s the first reason why this idea isn’t as strange as it looks.
Another reason is that the Pharisees, let’s face it, were grasping at straws. Any idea this upstart was go going to deal with all this with a smile? Doubt it! So any idea that was half-way plausible would be pounced on like the last steak in the world being dragged through a dog pound.
Now, we’d never do something like that, right? Attributing to the devil what God has done?
Scary thought – it’s very close to the unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!
Yet putting myself in their place, I think I may well have done similarly. Whatever it is to make people ignore obvious flaws and stick only to their previously held idea, it’s something that may be found in all of us. It’s worth giving ourselves an occasional shake up, just to ensure that we’re thinking straight.
Otherwise there’s every possibility we might be missing something important.
21 September 2011
Chapter 11
There is something fascinating in Jesus’ prayer habits.
What is remarkable to me is that when the disciples looked at Him, they asked Him to “Teach us to pray.”
Do you catch this?
A partial list of what we’ve seen Jesus do since the beginning of Luke:
* Calm a storm
* Heal sick people
* Drive out demons
* RAISE DEAD PEOPLE (Seriously!)
* (most miraculously of all) convince a Tax Collector and a Zealot to be in the same group!
And after Jesus has done all this, what do they want Him to teach them?
How to pray!
What was it about Jesus’ prayer life that seemed so astounding that instead of asking Him to teach them to raise dead people, they asked Him to teach them to pray? I don’t know for sure, but there are a few things that stand out.
Certainly there was real (and obvious) intimacy to the way that Jesus prayed – “Our Father” is a fairly commonly used expression for God today, but in Jesus’ time that was familiar to the point of scandal. It’s like walking up to the Queen and saying “Hey Babe, how’s it going?[1]”
There was also simplicity. In a world where people tended to gabble and use big words as though it impressed God (and no, we wouldn’t do anything like using archaic language in our prayer lives, now, would we?), Jesus simply says to lay your requests before Him, in simple terms, and to not forget our Spiritual needs and the needs of the world in the rush.
There is one other thing in the prayer Jesus taught; something He wouldn’t have needed, but which would have made a real difference to people. It’s confession. People have a deep need for forgiveness, and the idea that one could confess sin to God without sacrificing a sheep every time must have seemed wonderful to 1st Century Jews!
In any case, Jesus teaches His disciples this simple prayer, which has been called “The Lord’s Prayer” by Protestants, and often the “Our Father” by Catholics (who often name prayers after their first two words – sometimes in Latin, in which case this one is the Pater Noster). For nearly 2000 years, it’s been repeated in Church as part of the standard service or mass; In my opinion, that’s kind of missing the point, since it seems to be more of a model for peoples’ prayers, rather than a form letter to God. But in any case, most of us know it.
I will break with tradition tonight and come back to chapter 11 tomorrow night. There’s simply too much in this chapter to leave it here!
[1] The interesting thing about this one is that it’s something that’d be shocking if any of us did it – but for the Queen’s husband, on the other hand, such a remark would be completely appropriate. In the same way, Jesus calling God His “Father” seemed scandalous only because people were reluctant to accept His claims of divinity.
What is remarkable to me is that when the disciples looked at Him, they asked Him to “Teach us to pray.”
Do you catch this?
A partial list of what we’ve seen Jesus do since the beginning of Luke:
* Calm a storm
* Heal sick people
* Drive out demons
* RAISE DEAD PEOPLE (Seriously!)
* (most miraculously of all) convince a Tax Collector and a Zealot to be in the same group!
And after Jesus has done all this, what do they want Him to teach them?
How to pray!
What was it about Jesus’ prayer life that seemed so astounding that instead of asking Him to teach them to raise dead people, they asked Him to teach them to pray? I don’t know for sure, but there are a few things that stand out.
Certainly there was real (and obvious) intimacy to the way that Jesus prayed – “Our Father” is a fairly commonly used expression for God today, but in Jesus’ time that was familiar to the point of scandal. It’s like walking up to the Queen and saying “Hey Babe, how’s it going?[1]”
There was also simplicity. In a world where people tended to gabble and use big words as though it impressed God (and no, we wouldn’t do anything like using archaic language in our prayer lives, now, would we?), Jesus simply says to lay your requests before Him, in simple terms, and to not forget our Spiritual needs and the needs of the world in the rush.
There is one other thing in the prayer Jesus taught; something He wouldn’t have needed, but which would have made a real difference to people. It’s confession. People have a deep need for forgiveness, and the idea that one could confess sin to God without sacrificing a sheep every time must have seemed wonderful to 1st Century Jews!
In any case, Jesus teaches His disciples this simple prayer, which has been called “The Lord’s Prayer” by Protestants, and often the “Our Father” by Catholics (who often name prayers after their first two words – sometimes in Latin, in which case this one is the Pater Noster). For nearly 2000 years, it’s been repeated in Church as part of the standard service or mass; In my opinion, that’s kind of missing the point, since it seems to be more of a model for peoples’ prayers, rather than a form letter to God. But in any case, most of us know it.
I will break with tradition tonight and come back to chapter 11 tomorrow night. There’s simply too much in this chapter to leave it here!
[1] The interesting thing about this one is that it’s something that’d be shocking if any of us did it – but for the Queen’s husband, on the other hand, such a remark would be completely appropriate. In the same way, Jesus calling God His “Father” seemed scandalous only because people were reluctant to accept His claims of divinity.
12 September 2011
Chapter 10
I have never really understood Jesus’ instructions to his disciples when he sent them out. Why impose such difficulty on them as they were off to preach His word? Surely that work is going to be difficult enough! Why make it any harder than it has to be?
Now, some of you may be wondering what I thought would be so difficult. Well, there was the fact that they had to go with no spare clothes or food, for a start. And there was the whole deal of picking one place and staying there until they left town (wouldn’t that get their host annoyed?). And they had to eat whatever they were given (for me, this was a particularly scary concept).
That’s why I was surprised on reading this passage in The Message. For the first time in my life, I GET what Jesus is saying (and before you ask, it’s not interpolation, either – I checked back in the NIV, and it REALLY DOES say this!).
He’s not saying that there’s any need to make the mission hard. He’s not imposing conditions. If anything, he’s making things easy!
Before we go into this, it’s important to remember the traditions of hospitality in the Middle East, both in this time period and today. Hospitality was a sacred duty, and it was seen by the community to be important to look after guests. In other words, you might stay with one family, but you’d be looked after by everyone.
In this context, the idea of the Disciples staying in one place makes a lot more sense – Jesus is just saying “settle down in a town, don’t muck around looking for the classiest digs and the nicest food.”
He’s also telling the disciples to travel light, taking only the bare minimum that they need to live, and to trust God for their needs to be met. In doing this, He’s doing two things. Firstly he is instigating a culture of trusting God to provide. Secondly, He’s making things easier on the Disciples – remember, they’re walking all the way, so even a little bit of extra kit would make things quite difficult for them. By telling them to basically only take what can be held in the hands, Jesus is ensuring that the disciples can move quickly and easily wherever they go.
And that’s another thing – Jesus is impressing on these men the URGENCY of the mission. He doesn’t want them being bogged down in all kinds of unimportant affairs; he wants them preaching the good news to all and sundry, and the best way to do that is to ensure that they simply take the path of least resistance when they enter a town.
It’s interesting the change of pace that happens here. After Jesus has finished describing his instructions to His disciples, we’re immediately brought face to face with the Pharisee who asks “Who is my neighbour?” And, of course, we have the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is a parable on which I have previously written much, so I shall leave it for now.
And then another change of pace. This time we see that Jesus followed his own advice – he settled at the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha in Bethany. Curiously, we can see one of the contrasts that characterize Jesus – although His mission is urgent, He is unhurried, and He encourages His people to have the same attitude.
How does all this affect us?
I think for me, the running theme is “simplicity”. We tend to overcomplicate ministry. I don’t know if you’ve considered this, but in many churches it is now default to use at least 2-3 computers in a regular church service, to say nothing of major evangelistic events!
By contrast, Jesus’ approach is simplicity itself. He simply sends people to preach.
There is certainly room for complex Gospel Presentation events. But let’s not get bogged down. Jesus calls us to get out there WITH OR WITHOUT the complexity.
Now, some of you may be wondering what I thought would be so difficult. Well, there was the fact that they had to go with no spare clothes or food, for a start. And there was the whole deal of picking one place and staying there until they left town (wouldn’t that get their host annoyed?). And they had to eat whatever they were given (for me, this was a particularly scary concept).
That’s why I was surprised on reading this passage in The Message. For the first time in my life, I GET what Jesus is saying (and before you ask, it’s not interpolation, either – I checked back in the NIV, and it REALLY DOES say this!).
He’s not saying that there’s any need to make the mission hard. He’s not imposing conditions. If anything, he’s making things easy!
Before we go into this, it’s important to remember the traditions of hospitality in the Middle East, both in this time period and today. Hospitality was a sacred duty, and it was seen by the community to be important to look after guests. In other words, you might stay with one family, but you’d be looked after by everyone.
In this context, the idea of the Disciples staying in one place makes a lot more sense – Jesus is just saying “settle down in a town, don’t muck around looking for the classiest digs and the nicest food.”
He’s also telling the disciples to travel light, taking only the bare minimum that they need to live, and to trust God for their needs to be met. In doing this, He’s doing two things. Firstly he is instigating a culture of trusting God to provide. Secondly, He’s making things easier on the Disciples – remember, they’re walking all the way, so even a little bit of extra kit would make things quite difficult for them. By telling them to basically only take what can be held in the hands, Jesus is ensuring that the disciples can move quickly and easily wherever they go.
And that’s another thing – Jesus is impressing on these men the URGENCY of the mission. He doesn’t want them being bogged down in all kinds of unimportant affairs; he wants them preaching the good news to all and sundry, and the best way to do that is to ensure that they simply take the path of least resistance when they enter a town.
It’s interesting the change of pace that happens here. After Jesus has finished describing his instructions to His disciples, we’re immediately brought face to face with the Pharisee who asks “Who is my neighbour?” And, of course, we have the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is a parable on which I have previously written much, so I shall leave it for now.
And then another change of pace. This time we see that Jesus followed his own advice – he settled at the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha in Bethany. Curiously, we can see one of the contrasts that characterize Jesus – although His mission is urgent, He is unhurried, and He encourages His people to have the same attitude.
How does all this affect us?
I think for me, the running theme is “simplicity”. We tend to overcomplicate ministry. I don’t know if you’ve considered this, but in many churches it is now default to use at least 2-3 computers in a regular church service, to say nothing of major evangelistic events!
By contrast, Jesus’ approach is simplicity itself. He simply sends people to preach.
There is certainly room for complex Gospel Presentation events. But let’s not get bogged down. Jesus calls us to get out there WITH OR WITHOUT the complexity.
08 September 2011
Chapter 9
So it’s not enough that Jesus has the authority to do pretty much whatever He likes. Now we discover that He can delegate that authority!
Jesus sends out his 12 disciples, and with little fanfare or ceremony gives them the power to perform miracles.
This is one of those ideas to which we become jaded by the fact that we’re so used to it. But I’m fairly certain it’d be far more amazing (and threatening!) if you were one of those disciples! Think about it – you are given the ability to heal the sick, to drive out demons and other kinds of stuff, just with a touch! Just imagine how that would be – knowing that the sick person over there could and would recover if you touched them. It’s amazing!
At this point Jesus looks to have been at the peak of His popularity. And it continues. The 5 loaves and 2 fishes are used to feed a crowd; so now they’re on side (in a shallow sense). People will walk incredible distances just to hear Jesus speak.
With all this going for Him, it’s NOW that Jesus chooses to announce for the first time that “the son of man will be captured and handed over to His enemies.
It’s a little difficult to imagine, but rest assured this would be VERY likely to influence public opinion.
Jesus sends out his 12 disciples, and with little fanfare or ceremony gives them the power to perform miracles.
This is one of those ideas to which we become jaded by the fact that we’re so used to it. But I’m fairly certain it’d be far more amazing (and threatening!) if you were one of those disciples! Think about it – you are given the ability to heal the sick, to drive out demons and other kinds of stuff, just with a touch! Just imagine how that would be – knowing that the sick person over there could and would recover if you touched them. It’s amazing!
At this point Jesus looks to have been at the peak of His popularity. And it continues. The 5 loaves and 2 fishes are used to feed a crowd; so now they’re on side (in a shallow sense). People will walk incredible distances just to hear Jesus speak.
With all this going for Him, it’s NOW that Jesus chooses to announce for the first time that “the son of man will be captured and handed over to His enemies.
It’s a little difficult to imagine, but rest assured this would be VERY likely to influence public opinion.
07 September 2011
Chapter 8
When we do basic Christianity courses such as Alpha or Christianity Explained, one common theme that we need to tackle is the authority of Jesus.
If you are struggling with this concept, you could do worse than to simply read Luke 8.
But be warned – it will strain your credibility to breaking point if you read it correctly.
Jesus is asserting authority over an amazing array of things – death, nature, illness, demons. A synagogue ruler (you’ve probably never thought of that one). His MOTHER (I hadn’t though of that one either until right now!).
This is actually quite hard to accept in a lot of ways. I don’t know if you have ever considered this, but to simply assert one’s authority is not a normal thing you do.
Oh, we DEFY established authority regularly. But to simply and confidently assert your own authority over something is completely different. What Jesus does here is unusual.
To be fair to Him, He backs up His claim with evidence. To claim to have authority over death doesn’t do much unless you can demonstrate such a thing.
Jesus does.
I don’t know about you, but that would scare me. It’d rock my nice, neat and explainable world to its core.
There’s the thing, right there – how do we feel about this authoritative Jesus?
If you find it hard, spare a thought for those who are there. For us it’s just hearing stories about Jesus’ activity. For THEM, of course, it’s right there right now.
How do you react when the nice normal friend you’ve spent so much time with nonchalantly heals a serious illness? Or worse, what about if he walks up to a dead kid and commands him to get up – AND THE KID DOES!
If you are struggling with this concept, you could do worse than to simply read Luke 8.
But be warned – it will strain your credibility to breaking point if you read it correctly.
Jesus is asserting authority over an amazing array of things – death, nature, illness, demons. A synagogue ruler (you’ve probably never thought of that one). His MOTHER (I hadn’t though of that one either until right now!).
This is actually quite hard to accept in a lot of ways. I don’t know if you have ever considered this, but to simply assert one’s authority is not a normal thing you do.
Oh, we DEFY established authority regularly. But to simply and confidently assert your own authority over something is completely different. What Jesus does here is unusual.
To be fair to Him, He backs up His claim with evidence. To claim to have authority over death doesn’t do much unless you can demonstrate such a thing.
Jesus does.
I don’t know about you, but that would scare me. It’d rock my nice, neat and explainable world to its core.
There’s the thing, right there – how do we feel about this authoritative Jesus?
If you find it hard, spare a thought for those who are there. For us it’s just hearing stories about Jesus’ activity. For THEM, of course, it’s right there right now.
How do you react when the nice normal friend you’ve spent so much time with nonchalantly heals a serious illness? Or worse, what about if he walks up to a dead kid and commands him to get up – AND THE KID DOES!
04 September 2011
Chapter 7
An interesting thing here: In chapter 7 we read of three well-know events in the life of Christ, yet they actually come together pretty surprisingly.
Firstly we have Jesus healing the centurion’s servant. No problem there.
Then Jesus raises the widow’s son. Again, no hassle.
Then we have John the Baptist asking if Jesus is the One.
What?!
What was John expecting? Why was he skeptical of Jesus?
Hadn’t his followers told John about the amazing miracles Jesus has done?
Clearly John is more concerned with what he thinks Messiah should look like than what He is doing!
In so doing, though, John has missed the obvious. Really obvious.
This man is RAISING THE DEAD!
It says something for John’s idea of what the Messiah was going to do that he was able to miss that out. Yet I think we all do something similar when we underestimate the grace of God! God is both willing and able to forgive any sin. So why do we beat around the bush?
In any case, Jesus treats John’s struggles with faith in a very gentle way. He simply tells him that “The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth
have God's salvation hospitality extended to them.”
The answer to John’s faith crisis is not to talk about what WILL happen, so much as to discuss what HAS happened.
Jesus has dealt with us all well. When worried about your FUTURE with Him, consider all He has done for you In the past.
Firstly we have Jesus healing the centurion’s servant. No problem there.
Then Jesus raises the widow’s son. Again, no hassle.
Then we have John the Baptist asking if Jesus is the One.
What?!
What was John expecting? Why was he skeptical of Jesus?
Hadn’t his followers told John about the amazing miracles Jesus has done?
Clearly John is more concerned with what he thinks Messiah should look like than what He is doing!
In so doing, though, John has missed the obvious. Really obvious.
This man is RAISING THE DEAD!
It says something for John’s idea of what the Messiah was going to do that he was able to miss that out. Yet I think we all do something similar when we underestimate the grace of God! God is both willing and able to forgive any sin. So why do we beat around the bush?
In any case, Jesus treats John’s struggles with faith in a very gentle way. He simply tells him that “The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth
have God's salvation hospitality extended to them.”
The answer to John’s faith crisis is not to talk about what WILL happen, so much as to discuss what HAS happened.
Jesus has dealt with us all well. When worried about your FUTURE with Him, consider all He has done for you In the past.
03 September 2011
Chapter 6
There are those who say “Jesus didn’t really claim to be God, did He?”
There’s always some kind of question behind that question.
Almost always it’s a matter of Jesus either not meeting or going beyond someone’s expectations. Muslims see Jesus as a prophet, not (repeat NOT) a messiah, and certainly not God; to them, only God is God, and for anyone else to make that claim is simply blasphemy, unless the claim is true. Muslims believe that Jesus is not Allah, so he mustn’t be making these claims. Christians must be lying.
Meanwhile, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons, because otherwise I’ll be typing this all night), meanwhile, would say that for Jesus to make this claim would imply that it was not true of everyone. Part of COJCOLDS theology is the concept of everyone ultimately being promoted to God-status and being given command of their own world. If Jesus claims to be God, he’s kind of puncturing this – if it’s what happens to everyone, why make an issue of it? Christians must be mistaken.
It even gets said by people without too much of an axe to grind, theoretically. Jesus is a pretty awesome guy by ANYONE’S standards, and therefore everyone kind of wants to claim him as their own; and atheists are no exception. But the snag for them is that they don’t believe in God at all – so if Jesus is claiming to be Him, then he’s as crazy as the religious people, right? Christians must be deluded.
Well, if you read here in Luke chapter 6 we have the first of Jesus’ claims to deity. In fairness, it’s a rather indirect one. But the point is that these indirect claims are coming all the time, throughout the Gospels.
This time Jesus simply declares Himself – Twice! – to be the Lord of the Sabbath.
No prizes for guessing that one. That’s an indirect claim, but there is nothing ambiguous about it. He’s claiming equality with God.
Now, the Pharisees are pretty upset. That’s understandable. They’ve spent years working on, refining and defining the concepts of working on the Sabbath (among many other things). They’re the authorities on this topic.
Then a thirty-year-old Rabbi comes along and blithely tells them ‘You’ve got it wrong, I’m the one in charge and I say differently’.
Such an audacious claim, and it’s easily understood that they would be upset.
Perhaps that’s why Jesus (usually very shy about doing miracles just to prove a point) is willing to do one here – needless to say, his audience will require some convincing.
The trouble for them is that they continue being unconvinced (and, dare I say it, stubborn) when Jesus gives them all the evidence they could possibly want.
How foolish; yet could I honestly say I wouldn’t do the same?
There’s always some kind of question behind that question.
Almost always it’s a matter of Jesus either not meeting or going beyond someone’s expectations. Muslims see Jesus as a prophet, not (repeat NOT) a messiah, and certainly not God; to them, only God is God, and for anyone else to make that claim is simply blasphemy, unless the claim is true. Muslims believe that Jesus is not Allah, so he mustn’t be making these claims. Christians must be lying.
Meanwhile, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons, because otherwise I’ll be typing this all night), meanwhile, would say that for Jesus to make this claim would imply that it was not true of everyone. Part of COJCOLDS theology is the concept of everyone ultimately being promoted to God-status and being given command of their own world. If Jesus claims to be God, he’s kind of puncturing this – if it’s what happens to everyone, why make an issue of it? Christians must be mistaken.
It even gets said by people without too much of an axe to grind, theoretically. Jesus is a pretty awesome guy by ANYONE’S standards, and therefore everyone kind of wants to claim him as their own; and atheists are no exception. But the snag for them is that they don’t believe in God at all – so if Jesus is claiming to be Him, then he’s as crazy as the religious people, right? Christians must be deluded.
Well, if you read here in Luke chapter 6 we have the first of Jesus’ claims to deity. In fairness, it’s a rather indirect one. But the point is that these indirect claims are coming all the time, throughout the Gospels.
This time Jesus simply declares Himself – Twice! – to be the Lord of the Sabbath.
No prizes for guessing that one. That’s an indirect claim, but there is nothing ambiguous about it. He’s claiming equality with God.
Now, the Pharisees are pretty upset. That’s understandable. They’ve spent years working on, refining and defining the concepts of working on the Sabbath (among many other things). They’re the authorities on this topic.
Then a thirty-year-old Rabbi comes along and blithely tells them ‘You’ve got it wrong, I’m the one in charge and I say differently’.
Such an audacious claim, and it’s easily understood that they would be upset.
Perhaps that’s why Jesus (usually very shy about doing miracles just to prove a point) is willing to do one here – needless to say, his audience will require some convincing.
The trouble for them is that they continue being unconvinced (and, dare I say it, stubborn) when Jesus gives them all the evidence they could possibly want.
How foolish; yet could I honestly say I wouldn’t do the same?
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