Harmony #84: Eternal Life (John 12:20-32)

When I was growing up, I got a lot of really good teaching about the life to come. I read books on Heaven; I read accounts of people who claimed to have visited. The hope of eternal life in Heaven was something to sustain and encourage us as we slogged through life, and rightfully so. The Bible’s image of the New Heaven and New Earth is glorious.

What I don’t remember hearing as much about was how God intended to have us participate in eternal life right now. We would sing, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through,” which suggested life was a frustrating annoyance until we got to the good stuff after we died.

It turns out we are not “just passing through.” Jesus invites us to enter into and experience the life of the Kingdom now in very tangible ways. Life isn’t just an inconvenient means to an end. Jesus invites us to flourish in God’s good creation, filled with His Spirit, invited to become part of the “body” of Christ for the nourishing of the world with the lived out good news that God is love, and His love is for you.

I wish I had heard that more. I wish we had talked more about what that looked like. So, here we go.

Here is today’s text with commentary added to provide the context and subtext. I encourage you to read this passage on your own in its uninterrupted form just to be clear on the distinction J

Now there were some God-fearing Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast of Passover. They came to Philip, who was from the Greek are of  Bethsaida in Galilee[1], with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to observe Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus about the request.

 Jesus granted permission, then spoke to them all. “This is what’s happening. Listen carefully: truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

 Anyone who delights in his life in this world more than in God will lose it, while anyone who thinks so little of his life, and so much of God, that he is willing to sacrifice it all for God, will keep it for eternal life.[2] Whoever serves me must follow me to where I am going; and where I am, my servant also will be.

 My Father will honor the one who serves me. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. This is the fulfillment of the Father’s plan. Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified my name, and will glorify it again.” Some in the crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.[3]

Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine: to confirm you in this great truth, that I am the Son of God, he whom God the Father has sent into the world, by and in whom he designs to bring glory to His name.[4] 

 Now is the time for judgment and condemnation on the power of sin in this world[5]; now the prince of this world will be driven out and decisively defeated for all to see[6]. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will, like a fisherman dragging in his net, drag all the  people[7] of the world to me.”[8] (He said this to show that he would be lifted up by dying on a cross lifted up from the earth.)

* * * * *

Let’s pause for a Biblical Words Nerd Corner Moment.  This isn’t trivia; it’s clarity about the subject matter. The Bible has an interesting way of talking about things that last forever, or things that have ‘eternal life’ or are ‘everlasting’.

·  Animal sacrifices were to be offered “forever”- until the sacrifice of Jesus Christ ended the need for animal sacrifices (2 Chronicles 2:4; Hebrews 7:11-10:18).

·  God planned to dwell in Solomon’s temple “forever” - but it was destroyed (2 Chronicles 7:16).

·  The old covenant of the law is referred to as the "everlasting covenant" (Leviticus 24:8), yet 2 Corinthians 3 tells us it was transitory and has been replaced, and Hebrews 8:13 says, “In speaking of a new covenant, [Jesus] makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

Were the biblical writers confused? I don’t think so. I believe they were inspired to choose even their individual words in a way that captured what God wanted to reveal. So if we assume this was not a mistake, there must be something going on with the language that is important.

In Hebrew, the word translated in 2 Chronicles as “forever” is olam. It's all over the Old Testament. It can mean an ancient time, a future time, a lifetime, a span of time with an uncertain end, an age of the world, a dynasty, an eternity… It’s a very flexible word.

When the Hebrew was translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the (still inspired) writers had to make a choice about how to translate olam. They chose the word aionios.[9] You will usually see this translated in English as ‘eternal,’ ‘everlasting,’ or forever just like olam is in the Old Testament. However, it’s more complex than that.

Its primary meaning is that the end is not known. While in the belly of the big fish, Jonah said the earth bound him forever (olam/aionios), but it was only three days. It was a time span with an unknown end. The end is there; you just can’t see it until its there -– like when you look out over Lake Michigan at the dunes and can’t see an end to the water. It’s a mystery. We might say it goes on forever. A bored child might say, “We’ve been here for ages. When are we going to leave?” Think of the disciples’ question in our passage today:

Matthew 24:3 “Tell us, when these things will be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age (aion)?”[10]

When is this age – this ‘forever’ age? this ‘eternal’ age? – going to end and the next one begin? Clearly the disciples meant something other than ‘eternal’ when used a word often translated as ‘eternal’. They aren’t the only ones.

Hebrews 1:1-2  “…in these last days [God] did speak to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He did make the ages (aion).[11]

Hebrews 9:26 ”…But now He has appeared… at the consumation of the ages (aion),[12] for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”

Ephesians 3:8-9 To me…this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages (aionon) has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:19-20, 26 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross…the mystery which has been hidden from ages (aionon) and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

So there have been ages in world history (not eternities in world history) –and we aren’t done yet.

Ephesians 1:20-21 “…when He raised [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age (aion) but also in that age which is to come.”

Ephesians 2:6-8 “…raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages (aion) he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

So, there have been a few ages; there will be more. The writers aren’t babbling incoherently about one endless eternity after another. They clearly mean something different. Meanwhile, both John and Paul show us what it looks like to talk about something being everlasting, covering all ages.

Revelation 1: 17-18  “I am the First and the Last, and I am the living One[13]. I entered the realm of the dead; but see, I am alive now and to the ages (aion) of the ages (aion) .”[14]

Revelation 22:5  “God’s servants will continually serve and worship Him… by His light, they will reign throughout the ages (aion) of the ages (aion).”[15]

Ephesians 3:21  “..to Him is the glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus, to all the generations of the age (aion) of the ages (aion).”

Clearly, John and Paul write of eternal life in the way we think of it, endless life in the ages of ages to come. But in today’s text, when Jesus said his disciples would get and keep eternal life, he was saying something about aionios life – life in this age, something we have now. How so?

It turns out that this word also describe a quality of life. It’s about who we are and what we do. HELPS Word Studies describes it like this:

An "age-characteristic"…the unique quality reality of God's life at work in the believer… Eternal (aiṓnios) life gives time its everlasting meaning for the believer through faith…thus believers live in "eternal (aiṓnios) life" right now, experiencing this quality of God's life now as a present possession.” (HELPS Word-studies)

When the rich ruler asked Jesus what he needed to do to have “eternal life,” and when Jesus talked to his disciples about eternal life, the phrase is aionios zoe[16], literally: “age life/life in the age,” the kind of life that comes from relationship with God beginning now and enduring throughout the age. They weren’t asking about where they were going to go when they died (though they had questions about that other places). Here, Jesus is talking about the life “more abundant” that Jesus offers us beginning now (John 10:10). A little later in the book of John, Jesus explained:

This is eternal life (zoe aionios): that they may know You, the only true God.”(John 17:3)

Earlier in the gospel, Jesus said:

“He who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life (zoe aionios), and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (John 5:24)

Zoe aionios (“eternal life”) begins now with Christ in us, the hope of glory.[17] Back to the text we read this morning.

 “Anyone who serves Me must follow My path; anyone who serves Me will want to be where I am, and he will be honored by the Father…”

Those who are willing to sacrifice their life to follow Jesus will live in the aionios life God has given to them.

Bottom line: Though spiritual life or death, destruction or reward of the ages to come is always in our spiritual line of sight, we will live in and experience life or death, destruction or reward in this age as well. Jesus told his disciples to follow him now, embrace eternal life now, walk in the light now, in the midst of the darkness of this age.

Okay, we are out of the Biblical Words Nerd Corner.

How do we live in this life? As a response to the love God has shown us through Jesus, we are like the seed that falls to the ground: that which brings death and destruction – sin – must die if we are to rise into aionios life by following the person, teaching and the path of Jesus above all else. 

Dying sounds hard because it is. But we all have to let some things in out life die so that other things can live.

·   If I want to live healthy, I need to let my desire for fried chicken and mac and cheese die.

·   If I want to be a violin virtuoso, I will need to let my desire for 10,000 hours worth of other activities die.

·   If I want to really be known and loved, I need to let my desire to hide die.

 Maybe another way of saying it is that I am going to need to know which things need to be dead to me so that I might live.

If I am going to follow Jesus, my desire for things that compete for my allegiance and worship must die; my desire to be lord of my life must die; my sight must be fixed on that which brings and builds eternal life so that I can taste and see that the Lord and His Kingdom are good.

This dying to self is not simply the way for us to experience the fullness of zoe aionios, the life of heaven in this age.  It’s how we spread it to everyone around us.

Whenever we worship, somebody dies, and it will be either us or others.

If I worship my comfort, I will sacrifice my wife and kids. They will pay the cost of my comfort. “Stop bothering me. We will talk when I’m good and ready. No, you adjust your hopes and dreams and priorities because they don’t match mine.” I will sacrifice my friends. “I need you to show up on my terms.” I remain dead in my selfishness and sin, and I drag down those close to me.

If I worship my reputation, I will sacrifice any of you who don’t make me look good. “You think I’m wrong? You’re an idiot. You are winning an argument with me? I will lash out and try to humiliate you or keep beating this argument to death because I can’t be wrong.”  And I will remain dead in myself selfishness and sin and drag down those around me.

If I worship money, I will choose work time over relationship time and I will choose profit over people.  If I worship my health, I will make everyone else take second place to my diet and workout schedule. If I worship sex, all that will matter is my fulfillment and my happiness, and I will sacrifice the dignity and autonomy of people around me as I manipulate and pressure and use… And I will remain dead in my selfishness and sin and drag down those around me.

You want to know what you worship? Ask yourself whom you are willing to sacrifice; then ask yourself why.

So what do we do if we are caught in this trap? We must become that seed that falls to the ground and dies so it can be brought back to life and bear good fruit. Or, as Paul wrote, we present our bodies as living sacrifices, wholly acceptable unto God (Romans 12:1). Watch for a very important two words to show up J

In the same way you gave your bodily members away as servants to corrupt and lawless living and found yourselves deeper in your unruly lives, now devote your members as servants to right and reconciled lives so you will find yourselves deeper in holy living.  In the days when you lived as slaves to sin, you had no obligation to do the right thing. In that regard, you were free.But what do you have to show from your former lives besides shame? The outcome of that life is death, guaranteed.

But now that you have been emancipated from the death grip of sin and are God’s slave, you have a different sort of life, a growing holiness. The outcome of that life is eternal life (zoe aionios). The payoff for a life of sin is death, but God is offering us a free gift—eternal life through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, the Liberating King. (Romans 6: 19-23)

It begins with a commitment to Jesus. We acknowledge the reality of who Jesus is; we surrender the lordship of our life to Him; we commit to following his path rather than ours. Holy living leads to growing holiness, which leads to experiencing the gift of zoe aionios God has given us.

I remember thinking as a young man that I wanted to make a difference in the Kingdom of God. I really wanted my life to count. I saw some older folks who were godly and whose presence had really impacted my life. I knew it was because of Jesus at work in them, and I wanted that!

I took me years to realize I couldn't just want that. We rest in Christ, but we don’t lounge in zoe aionios; we are invited to participate. A call to follow Jesus will require putting one foot in front of the other in the same direction as Jesus if we want to go with Jesus where Jesus is going.

·  If I wanted the wisdom of aionios life, I had to prioritize certain things in my life that would lead to wisdom, like listening to and reading wise voices instead of entertaining but dumb ones.

·  If I wanted the self-control of aionios life, I had to demonstrate the fruit of self-control that the Holy Spirit was growing on my branches.

·  If I wanted the patience of aionios life instead of the anger that filled me, I had to follow Jesus deeper into understanding myself and maybe to a good counselor who helps me discover God’s healing.

·  If I wanted to move from lustful thoughts to the pure thoughts of aionios life, I had to change what was filling my mind and bring in some righteous material the helped me view people as God sees them.

·  If I wanted my marriage to embody spousal relationships in aionios life, I needed to increasingly learn and do biblical habits of loving and honoring and partnering with my wife.

There was no amount of wishful thinking that was going to change me in those areas.  There was, however, the power of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit as the absolute foundation. Then, participation in aionios life: praying, studying the Bible, seeking counsel both casual and professional that steadied me in the path of righteousness, becoming accountable to others…and putting into practice what I learned.  Holy living, leading to holy maturity, leading me deeper into eternal life.

That is still my challenge and my goal. Every day I need to drop seeds of sin to the ground to die so that I might produce life and not death. Every day, even in small ways, I must willing reject that which brings aionios death and embrace that which brings aionios life.

It is in this path that we begin to truly see how the Kingdom of God, right here and now, is meant for our good and God’s glory. N.T. Wright gets the final word.

“Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven…The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless…God has a great future in store for it.

What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God's future.

These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly…They are part of what we may call building for God's kingdom.

Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion...

The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it.” 
― N. T. Wright

 _________________________________________________________________________

[1] “Philip’s name is Greek; he came from the region governed by Herod Philip… with connections to the Decapolis, which consisted of ten cities that were Greek in character.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[2] Loves his life means “delights in his life in this world more than in God.” Hates his life in this world means “thinks so little of his life, and so much of God, that he is willing to sacrifice it all for God.” (ESV Global Study Bible)

[3] Think of a similar scenario at Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:7; 22:9).

[4] Matthew Poole Commentary

[5]  “By His coming death, Jesus will end the power of sin over Adam’s race, judging and condemning it.” (ESV Reformation Study bible)

[6] “At the cross, the devil will be cast out, that is, decisively defeated (see Luke 10:18; Heb. 2:14–15; Rev. 20:10).” (ESV Global Study Bible)

[7] HELPS Word-studies  3956 pás – each, every; each "part(s) of a totality…each (every) part that applies." The emphasis is on "one piece at a time."  

[8] “There is an allusion here to the ensigns or colors of commanders of regiments, elevated on high places, that the people might flock to his standard.” (Adam Clarke)

[9] There could have chosen a Greek word that only means eternal or everlasting in a way that matches what we think of when we use the English words. That word is aidos. However, it’s only used twice in Scripture, and never in the phrase we translate as “eternal life.”

[10] Some translations say “end of the world.” That makes it sound like the end of time, but aionios points toward a time with an end, not the end of all time.

[11] Some translations say universe, world or worlds. That just…not what it means.

[12] The CEV says “at the end of time”; Webster’s says “world.” That’s not what it means.

[13] Daniel 4:34

[14] This is often translated “forever and ever” captures the intent of “ages” plural. The Aramaic Bible says “eternity of eternities,” which nails the intent,

[15] That’s how a Greek writer described forever and ever. They doubled down.

[16] “All life (2222 /zōḗ), throughout the universe, is derived – i.e. it always (only) comes from and is sustained by God's self-existent life. The Lord intimately shares His gift of life with people, creating each in His image which gives all the capacity to know His eternal life.” (HELPS Word Studies)

[17] “Eternal life is having the kind of life that God has… It isn’t just lasting forever. It’s a quality of life that we come to have by participating in the Kingdom of God.” (Dallas Williard)

Harmony #83: The Word That Endures (Matthew 23-24; Mark 12; Luke 20-21)

Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen a theme.

Jesus cleanses the temple and withers the fig tree (a symbol of Jewish religious leaders) to prophecy the end of the Sadducees as the priestly line, as well as the end of the Jerusalem Temple as ground zero of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom’s mantle will be passed to the church, where all are priests[1] and, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman, you won’t have to ask what mountain to go to in order to worship in the right temple. God’s people will worship in Spirit and in Truth[2] in the new temple: us as individuals[3], and us in community[4].

The Sadducees challenge him. Jesus responds to these three challenges by highlighting why they “withered at the root”:

• compromising relationship with Rome

• lack of knowledge concerning the Scripture

• misunderstanding of the power of God

• · lack of love

Jesus isn’t done. Now it’s time to teach.

 (Matthew 23:1-3, 5-12; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47)

As all the people were listening to his teaching, Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of the experts in the law and the Pharisees who [read the Torah] on Moses’ seat. Pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach.

They devour widows’ property and will receive a more severe punishment. They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they like walking around in long robes, with their phylacteries wide and their tassels long, and as a show make long prayers. They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces.

They love to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ.

The greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

I highlighted Jesus’ conclusion because I’m not sure this is as much about using titles as it is about the danger of pride, of wanting those titles to be exalted. This is a contrast of attitudes, not roles. So, let’s update the list.

• compromising relationship with Rome

• lack of knowledge concerning the Scripture

• misunderstanding of the power of God

• lack of love

• lack of service and humility

Then, in good rabbinic fashion, Jesus points to something happening around them to contrast the Sadducees with an unexpected hero.

 (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4)

Then Jesus sat down opposite the offering box, and watched the crowd putting coins into it. Many rich people were throwing their gifts of large amounts into the offering box. He also saw a poor widow come and put in two small copper coins, worth less than a penny.

He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had.”

True worship will be costly. If we really worship, we will feel it. As David once said, “I will not give God sacrifices that cost me nothing.”[5] Jesus point out a contrast between the widow and the religious leaders living in luxury and making a show of their generosity, which turned out not to be that generous after all. It was nothing to them.

Jesus was going to need spiritual leaders in his new church who knew what it meant to be “broken and spilled out” for those around them. This will come true in the lives of the disciples and the apostles like Paul. Almost all of them will pay with their lives.

There is a place in Paul’s letter to Corinth where we see some exasperation. He is writing about false teachers making a show about how impressive they are: “super apostles” who are great speakers, who elevate themselves, and who evidently get rich off of the people they are supposed to be serving. He says they are “masquerading as servants of righteousness.” Then he basically says, “Listen, if we are looking for pumped up resumes, check this out.” At one point he cites what he has gone through.

“I have been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.

I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” (2 Corinthians 11:23-30)

You would never have heard a Sadducee boast in that. Their boast was in the luxury and comfort that followed their compromise with the Romans. Clearly they were blessed by God because they prospered financially, physically and socially, right? They looked impressive – on Roman terms. Jesus flipped that table when he flipped their physical tables in the Temple. What was the most impressive resume of the follower of Jesus? Worship and love of God expressed in love of neighbor, which was going to look like humble service, often at great cost. Jesus once taught,

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

Notice what people become when this happens.

 “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world… let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (13-16)

What is the light and salt? Good deeds of humble service motivated and empowered by God’s love. Back to today’s text.

(Matthew 24:1-2; Luke 21:5)

Jesus left the temple. As He was walking away, His disciples came up to Him and asked what He thought about the temple buildings. Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. He replied,” Look around you. All of it will become rubble. I tell you this: not one stone will be left standing.”

I think the disciples he was telling them that the Temple was going to be destroyed. It must have been hard for them to wrap their minds around the idea that it would be gone. It had been home base all their lives. Everything centered around the Temple and the Torah. “Are you sure? Look how impressive this is.”

I wonder if we wouldn’t have done the same. The Temple was a massive feat of architecture.[6]The stones were huge. Estimates are that it would take 7 modern cranes to move some of the rocks. No one is quite sure how they moved them – and fit them together as well as modern brick and mortar. It had lots of marble covered with gold. Josephus wrote that it was so opulent that it looked like a snow-capped mountain. “Are you sure, Jesus?”

Matthew 24:3-35; Mark 13:3-31; Luke 21

Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “We don’t understand Your predictions. Tell us, when will these things happen: When will the temple be destroyed? What will be the sign that You are returning in judgment?[7] How will we know that the end of this age is upon us?”

Jesus: “Take care that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name claiming they are the Anointed One, and many poor souls will be taken in. You will hear of wars, and you will hear rumors of wars, but you should not panic. It is inevitable, this violent breaking apart of the sinful world, but remember, the wars are not the end. The end is still unfolding.

Nations will do battle with nations, and kingdoms will fight neighboring kingdoms, and there will be famines and earthquakes. But these are not the end. These are the birth pangs, the beginning. The end is still unfolding.

They will hand you over to your enemies, who will torture you and then kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me. And many who have followed Me and claimed to love Me and sought God’s kingdom will turn away—they will abandon the faith and betray and hate one another. 

The love that they had for one another will grow cold because few will obey the law. False prophets will appear, many will be taken in by them, and the only thing that will grow is wickedness. There will be no end to the increase of wickedness.

 But those who do not waver from our path and do not follow those false prophets—those among you will be saved. And this good news of God’s kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, a testimony to all people and all nations. Then, beloved, the end/the consummation of the age will come.

When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. You will remember that the prophet Daniel predicted this—predicted the abomination that causes desolation[8]—when you see the prophesied desolation of the holy place. (Reader, take notice; it is important that you understand this.) When you see this, let those in Judea flee to the mountains.[9]

 If you are relaxing on your rooftop one evening and the signs of the temple’s destructions come, don’t return to your house to rescue a book or a pet or a scrap of clothing. If you are in the field when the great destruction begins, don’t return home for a cloak. Pregnant women and nursing mothers will have the worst of it. And as for you, pray that your flight to the hills will not come on the Sabbath or in the cold of winter.

They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. For the tribulation will be unparalleled—hardships of a magnitude that has not been seen since creation and that will not be seen again.

 Indeed the Lord God your merciful judge will cut this time of trial short, and this will be done for the benefit of the elect that some might indeed be saved—for no one could survive the depravity for very long.[10]

 I cannot say this clearly enough: during this time, someone will say to you, “Look, here is the Anointed One!” or “Aren’t you relieved? Haven’t you seen the Savior down there, around the bend, over the hill and dale?” Do not believe them. 

False liberators and false prophets will appear, and they will know a few tricks—they will perform great miracles, and they will make great promises. If it were possible, they would even deceive God’s elect. But I am warning you ahead of time: remember—do not fall for their lies or lines or promises.

 If someone says, “He’s out there in the desert”—do not go. And if someone says, “He’s here at our house, at our table”—do not believe him. When the Son of Man comes, He will be as visible as lightning in the East is visible even in the West. And where the carcass is, there will always be vultures.[11]

And as the prophets have foretold it: after the distress of those days, “The sun will grow dark, and the moon will be hidden. The stars will fall from the sky, and all the powers in the heavens will be dislodged and shaken from their places.”[12]

That is when the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. All the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming; they will see Him powerful and glorious, riding on chariots of clouds in the sky.[13] With a loud trumpet call, He will send out battalions of heavenly messengers; and they will gather His beloved faithful elect from the four corners of creation, from one end of heaven to the other.[14]

Now think of the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and greenish, as soon as it begins to sprout leaves, you know to expect summer. In the same way, when you see the wars and the suffering and the false liberators and the desolations, you will know the Son of Man is near—right at the door.

I tell you this: this generation will see all these things take place before it passes away. My words are always true and always here with you. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.[15]

 Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 

Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

* * * * *

Bible scholars generally take one of two views on this text: 

1.) Half of the chapter tells of the destruction of Jerusalem (v.1-35); the other half tells about the final judgment (v.36-51).

2.) The entire chapter deals with the destruction of Jerusalem.

If you click through different translations in Biblegateway.com, you will often see a heading at the beginning of Matthew 24. It will either say “The Destruction of Jerusalem” or “The Destruction of Jerusalem and Signs of the End Times,” or something like that.

There is no doubt that the destruction of the Temple is in view. Both views agree on this point. A.D. 66-70 were a terrible four years. The Zealots defended Jerusalem…zealously. The Romans, equally determined, starved its inhabitants into cannibalism at one point. In AD 70, they destroyed the temple and the city. More than a million Jews died, and more than 97,000 were taken captive. The Romans erected Titus’ Arch in Rome to celebrate the victory.[16]

The document I’ve been using for this Harmony Of the Gospel’s approach has this title: “The Destruction of Jerusalem.” I hold this in an open hand, but here’s a few quick reasons I prefer this view.

In the introductory remarks, Jesus speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem (1-3).

• The gospel was supposed to be “preached in all the world” before “the end” (of Jerusalem), which we see fulfilled in Colossians 1:6,23.

• Jesus said that the sign of the end was ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ in the ‘holy place.’ This is very likely the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, who first filled it with banners containing images of Caesar.

• When that happens, His disciples would know that the fall of Jerusalem was near (32-33), and the people in Judea will flee.

• The things of which He spoke were to come upon “this generation,”  “Generation” is used in Matthew 1:17, 11:16, 12:39, 41, 42, 45, 16:4, 17:17, 23:36, and 24:34. Every other place refers to the generation standing right in front of Jesus. He says to his disciples, “Pray that you may escape.”

• The concern about fleeing “on the Sabbath” is a very Jewish concern as opposed to a Gentile one, so this wouldn’t apply to all the world.

• As a result of Jerusalem’s destruction, those who leave are saved; those who stay die. When the Bible talks about what happens at the end of all things, the opposite is true. Those who stay inherit the New Heaven and New Earth, and those who are taken do not.

• People can flee from this judgment and hide; not so if it's the Final Judgment.

* * * * * 

Two points. The first one is a challenge, the second an encouragement.

I suspect the judgment that fell upon Jerusalem and the Temple was a form of “sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8) What was going on with the leaders? 

• compromising relationship with Rome

• lack of knowledge concerning the Scripture

• misunderstanding of the power of God

• lack of love

• lack of service and humility

First, Israel’s history had shown that whenever God’s people relied on empires like Egypt and Assyria for provision and safety instead of God, the empires always turned on them.

Second, the Sadducees knew better. They should have taken their sacred texts seriously, because they contain that warning.

Third and fourth, what happens when you get to cozy with the Empire? You start to look like the empire, and at that point you stop being salt and light because there are no good deeds that bring glory to God. This list of the sins of the Sadducees could be equally applied to the leaders of Rome. Now, they were just parties competing or power.

And when the Jewish leaders could not control their own people (the Zealots), they found out very quickly that Rome had only tolerated them while they were useful on Rome’s terms.

There is a warning here for the church. The characteristics of the Sadducees (and the Zealots) cannot characterize us. When a coercive, bullying or violent attempt to spread the Kingdom of God combines with a corrupt desire to share the power and luxury of the Empire at the expense of righteous obedience and true worship, we will become full of mold, and wither at the root. It will corrupt us from the inside out, and it will invite a whirlwind of destruction.

Second, I love how Jesus ends with hope. If I were a disciple, I might not have slept well that night considering all the things that were about to land on Jerusalem. But Jesus reminded them of what lasts, what is eternal.

“My words are always true and always here with you. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” 

 “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”(John 6:33)

The disciples need to hear this. The words of The Word will endure. The Sprit and the Life God gives will endure.

Truth will endure.

Hope will endure.

The love of many may wax cold, but yours doesn’t have to.

Many will believe lies, but you don’t have to.

Many will give themselves to wickedness, but you don’t have to.

Many will leave the faith and betray each other, but you don’t have to.

Steady.

Don’t panic.

Through you, the good news of God’s kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all people and all nations.

 ____________________________________________________________________

[1] 1 Peter 2

[2] John 4

[3] 1 Corinthians 6

[4] Ephesians 2

[5] 2 Samuel 24

[6] NET Bible footnotes

[7] “Parousia, commonly denoting presence. Readers with a Jewish background would have taken these words to describe a coming in judgment.” (Gordon Ferguson)

[8] “The abomination of desolation is an allusion to Daniel 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV in 167 b.c., Jesus seems to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment…Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it will not be fully realized until the great tribulation at the end of the age (Mark 13:14, 19, 24; Rev 3:10).” (NET Bible footnotes)

[9] Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5. (NET Bible footnotes)

[10] “In a siege against the city lasting nearly a year, Cestius Gallius, the Roman general, withdrew to Caesarea and brought back a larger army. This break in the battle allowed the Christians who understood Jesus’ prophecy to flee the city. Josephus says that many did, leaving behind the Jews in the city who were determined to fight to the death (which they did).” (Gordon Ferguson, “Matthew 24: End of the World or End of the Age?”)

[11] In other words, when the judgment comes, the location will be obvious.

[12] “An allusion to Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 and Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens, this is not as likely.” (NET Bible footnotes) See also Ezekiel 32.

[13] “See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.” (Isaiah 19:1)

[14] “The reference to the Son of Man coming in the clouds is a figurative reference to Divine judgment upon the nations (Isa.19:1-4; Isaiah 34). And the reference to the angels gathering the elect is symbolic of God’s protection of His people (cp. Rev.7:1-3).” (Lanny Smith)

[15] See Isaiah 40:8. Also, “My words shall not pass away; be vain and empty, and unaccomplished; which is true of anything, and everything spoken by Christ; and especially here regards all that he had said concerning the calamities that should befall the Jews, before, at, or upon the destruction of their nation, city, and temple; and the design of the expression, is to show the certainty, unalterableness, and sure accomplishment of these things.” (Gill’s Exposition)

[16] https://hope4israel.org/jerusalem-70-ad-not-one-stone-left-upon-another/

Harmony #82: “First the Word, then the words.” (Matthew 22:15-40: Mark 12:13-34; Luke 20:20-40)

After Jesus routed the money changers from the Temple, Matthew records three attempts by religious leaders to trap Jesus: a question about temple taxes, a question about the afterlife, and a question about the Law. I am going to lump them together for two key reasons: think Jesus’ answer to the third one gives them the foundational answer to every tension they propose, and Jesus shows us how to pursue wisdom as a community.[1]

In Jesus’ time, there was great debate among the Jewish people: “Do I buy Caesar’s tribute coin and pay tribute to Caesar?” It was a form of taxation, and Judaism had opinions about paying taxes.

“He is king whose coin passes current.”[2]

"A publican, or tax gatherer, that is appointed by the king, whether a king of Israel, or of the Gentiles…it is forbidden to refuse payment of the tax to him, for, ‘the right of a king is right’.''[3]

So I don’t think this was a generic question about taxes in general. That issue had been resolved. But…

• These tribute coins had language about the divinity of Caesar. Marty Solomon has a coin with the inscription “Caesar, son of divine, most high God.” That kind of language was very common.

• There was often an image of a god or goddess on the back.

• The money raised went to the Temple of Jupiter, the center of ancient Roman religion.

• The coin was a receipt that proved you paid tribute to Caesar and to Rome. When you got this coin, you burned incense to worship Caesar. Now it’s not just a tax. It might be idolatry.

So, what should they do?

The Herodians are going to pay. “It’s just part of the Roman world we live in and enjoy. It’s fine. We are supposed to pay taxes. Grab the coin, go through the motions. As much as is possible, live at peace with all people.”[4]

The Sadducees are probably selling the coins at an upcharge and keeping the money. They’re going to say, “Don’t you know what Rome gives us? We’ve worked pretty hard to get this whole political alignment figured out. Keep your head down. Get the coin.”

The Essenes? They’re going to be in the desert. This coin means nothing to them. If they lived in Jerusalem, they would do the opposite of the Sadducees.

The Zealots will buy it, then stab the person who sold it to them, because anybody who offers this kind of idolatrous temple tribute deserves to die.

The Pharisees are going to have an internal squabble because the schools of Hillel and Shammai will not agree about what to do.

• Shammai Pharisees built on the foundational commandments of “Love God and keep the Sabbath.” They were all about obedience and the letter of the Law. They would’ve said, “This is idolatry. Obedience demands we not purchase the coin.”

• Hillel Pharisees built on, “Love God and love your neighbor.” God said of Nebuchadnezzar, one of the most brutal tyrants in human history: “The whole earth is mine and I give it to Nebuchadnezzar.” (Jeremiah 27:6) Hillel said that the ruling authorities, even Rome, were put in place by God. Buying the tribute coin was not idolatry; it was giving back to the ruler what God has decided in His sovereign will to give him in the first place.

Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians out and planned together to entrap Jesus with his own words. They watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They wanted to take advantage of what he might say so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.

When they came they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and speak and teach correctly. You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay tribute taxes to Caesar or not?”

Let’s take the problem up a notch. It was also a politically explosive issue. In Acts 5, we read of Judas of Galilee, who resorted to violence in his opposition to the tax. There was the potential for violence depending on what Jesus’ listeners did with his answer.

If Jesus affirmed the lawfulness of the tax, he would lose any future merit with the Hillel Pharisees, Essenes and Zealots. He would alienate those who already ground their teeth with the need to pay taxes to a foreign occupying army, let alone this blasphemous temple tax.

If he said it was unlawful, the Sadducees and Herodians would present him as an enemy of Rome and hand him over to the Romans for the treason inciting others to dishonor Caesar – which is what they do in Luke 23 when they falsely accuse him of this very thing.[5]Remember, it’s Passover, and Roman soldiers are everywhere to keep an eye on any fermenting violence.

Today we might say he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

But Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and perceived their deceit and evil intentions and said to them “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me?  Show me the denarius (tribute coin) used for the tax.” So they brought him a denarius.

By calling them hypocrites, Jesus is saying they were acting; they weren’t serious. They were playing a role that was just for show – in this case, they were playing the role of pious followers of God concerned about righteousness and pursuing truth. He proves their hypocrisy in a clever way.

Jews were very sensitive about images of emperors. They would not even allow flags or standards bearing imperial images to be carried in Jerusalem. There were cases where they would block the roads so that Rome could not bring images of the emperor into their spaces. It was a big deal.

But…when Jesus asks for the coin, the Herodians and Pharisees start reaching into their robe pockets: “You mean like this one?” Marty Solomon notes, “I picture Jesus like reaching out winking at them. ‘We know where you stand now. Thank you.’”

 He said to them, “Whose image[6] and inscription are on it?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus said to them, “Then give back/return to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Now when they heard this they were utterly amazed at him, and were unable in the presence of the people to trap him with his own words. Stunned by his answer, they fell silent, and left him and went away.

In those days, putting your image on a thing meant claiming ownership of the thing. Jesus is making a contrast: Caesar’s image is on the tribute coin, so he can lay claim to his money; give it back to him. God’s image is on humanity, so he lays claim to the lives of people; give your life back to him. Give back Caesar’s coin, but don’t give him your life or your worship.

Jesus does not resolve this question. They are going to continue to wrestle with those issues. Meanwhile, they are also going to have to do some introspection to determine whose image and whose inscription was most prominently displayed on them.

To whom did they pledge their allegiance? Who had their heart, soul, mind and strength? I was trying to think of something similar today, and it’s not easy to make a clean correlation here in the U.S. What if the government would say, “Have your churches, no problem, but…we’re gonna need everyone to go to the courthouse every year and go on record saying the Pledge of Allegiance.” I think you would see a similar kind of tension, with similar arguments. I suspect Jesus would give the same answer. We’ll talk about why in a moment.

Were they sure that they had not traded in their hope and trust for God and made the things of the Empire a source of their hope and worship? God’s people had a history of turning to Empires for provision when God had promised to take care of them: Egypt, Assyria, now Rome. Did their interaction with Rome reveal an attempt to be neighborly and live at peace with all people, or did it reflect something troubling: giving up on God’s plan and turning to Rome’s? Once again, who had their heart?

Let’s briefly look at the other two tests, then tie them together.

The same day Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him and asked him, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must marry the widow and father children for his brother.’

Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother. The second married her and died without any children. Then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. Last of all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you deceived for this reason, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God? The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.

 But those who are regarded as worthy to share in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection.Now as for the resurrection of the dead, even Moses revealed that the dead are raised in the passage about the bush,where God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Now he is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live before him. You are badly mistaken!”

Jesus calls them out: they don’t understand the power of God and they don’t understand the Scriptures. Ouch. As for their hypothetical, the closest he gets to answering is saying the age to come will be so different in terms or our redeemed nature that this question will seem silly. But his response will likely bring out a response in them similar to how he answered the first question. Back to the text.

Now one of the experts in religious law came and heard them debating. When he saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him a question to test him, “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest, the most important of all?”

Jesus answered him, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and prophets depend on these two commandments. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”[7]

* * * * *

A common thread in all of Jesus’ replies is that he pushes them into the text. That was the Jewish way; that was the manner of rabbinical teaching. The teacher did not necessarily answer their question (though Jesus did in the third instance, while still pushing him back to the text). A good Jewish teacher pushed his students to study, to wrestle, to dig out the treasure from God’s Word, to own their answers for themselves, and to do so in community. First the Word, then the words. First we study the text, then we talk with each other.

With the temple tax, he leaves them with question: what is Caesar’s and what is God’s? What does it mean to return it? Does obedience to God require not using Caesar’s money, or does hospitality and love of neighbor include playing nice with Roman customs to some degree? James would seen teach the importance of keeping yourself unspotted from the world.[8] Paul would soon write that as much as possible, they should live at peace with all people and respect authorities.[9]

Jesus seems content to leave them with debate, as if the process of navigating differences was an important part of doing life together. It was going to press his audience back into the Torah, back into all the Old Testament writings. It was going to push them into the text yet again. Then, they would get together and talk it out. First the Word, then the words.

With the marriage question, he just points out that they don’t understand what life will be like in the age to come because a) they don’t understand God’s power, and b) they don’t know the Scripture. He didn’t answer their question directly. He did give them hints about where they were going wrong. This is going to push them into the text yet again. And then they are going to talk together. First the Word, then the words.

With the greatest commandment question, Jesus gives a direct answer. He sides with Hillel. The greatest commandment does not conclude with honor the Sabbath, but with love your neighbor. Luke 10 records that Jesus already covered this ground once before, and it led to the parable of the Good Samaritan. Who is our neighbor? Everybody, even the most unlikely. And the good neighbor is the one who has mercy on others. (Luke 10:37) Okay but what does that look like practically? Back to the text, and talk yet again. First the Word, then the words.

* * * * *

I have been wondering what kind of questions we would ask Jesus today. How might we try to get him on our side? How might we try to trip him up? How might he point us back to the text? (To be sure, Jesus’ answers would be much more clever than the examples I’m about to give. It’s just an experiment J)

Us: Jesus, Calvinism or Arminianism? Resolve the predestination question!”

Jesus: “Because I have chosen you from the foundation of the world,[10] you should choose this day whom you will serve.[11]”

Us: “So we should choose to be chosen?”

Jesus: (raises one eyebrow)

Me: “Jesus, just how involved can we be with entertainment?”

Jesus: “As it is written, ‘Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine that he drank.’”  (Daniel 1:8)

Us: “But all of his other food was from the king and it didn’t defile him.”

Jesus: “Hmmm.”

Us: “What do you think of our current immigration policies?”

Jesus: “Who is your neighbor?” #goodsamaritanstory

Us: “Both citizen and immigrant.”

Jesus: “What is the most merciful and loving approach for all of them?”

Us: THAT’S THE QUESTION I NEED ANSWERED!!!!

Me: “Jesus, who should I vote for?”

Jesus: As it is written, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn.” (Proverbs 29:2)

* * * * *

I’ve been thinking about what we can learn from Jesus about when to not take sides and when to take sides, when to avoid a question and when to bluntly answer it, and how we live righteously in the midst of tension. Jesus does not give a template; He gives us examples.

The tax issue suggests some issues should be driving all of us back to the text over and over because it’s messy navigating how to be harmless as doves and wise as serpents[12] as children of the Kingdom living in an empire. As I understand it, their answer on the tribute tax would not necessarily place them outside or inside the kingdom of God. I suspect Jesus wanted them to take a stance with ‘clean hands and a pure heart’,[13] not a stance taken from fear of Rome – or love of Rome. Whatever they did, they dare not give to Caesar what ought to be given only to God.

It seems there are questions we will wrestle with as entire communities and perhaps never fully resolve. The Mishnah recorded the conclusions of both Hillel and Shammai, often at odds with each other, on how to live out their faith. Jesus didn’t say it was bad that the camps of Shammai and Hillel both existed. It was an opportunity for iron to sharpen iron[14]. In the end, they would have to study the text over and over, and surrender their hearts for God to search, and then talk. First the Word, and then the words.

The marriage issue suggests we are sometimes just wrong on issues that we feel passionately about because we haven’t studied enough, we have speculated about things we don’t understand, or we don’t understand God. Where was this going to send them? Back to the text, and then talk. First the Word, and then the words.

Once again, Jesus didn’t answer their question. In other cases where being in the kingdom was on the line – “you are making disciples of hell!!!”[15] - Jesus is much more explicit in his teaching. But it seems there are also times when the best solution is to press into the text yet again! JThen, we are better equipped to talk through it with each other.

As for the greatest commandment, Jesus definitively answers this one. I think it’s because if you get this one wrong, you are not going to understand God or the Kingdom of God. Notice, by the way, it’s the greatest commandment, suggesting other really great commandments. Shammai’s emphasis on Sabbath wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t the greatest. All the Law and the Prophets hinge on remembering to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Jesus lists two commandments, but says the Law the Prophets hinge on this commandment (singular), as if loving God and loving others cannot be separated. Love is lived. If we love God, we will live in such a way that His love for all passes through us to those around us. All of those around us.

If we can understand that, that would ground us in the midst of all our differences and questions. It will move us ever closer to or deeper into the kingdom of God as we live the love Jesus has shown us.

 _______________________________________________________________________________

[1] I owe a lot to Marty Solomon’s podcast at bemadiscipleship.com, episode 126, “Trapped By A Question.”

[2]  Hat Tip to Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges.

[3] HT Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

[4] Paul didn’t write that until later, but it seems to fit J (Romans 12:18)

[5] Hat tip to Pulpit Commentary

[6] In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word for image in Genesis 1:26 is the same word. 

[7] Good reminder that knowing the right answers is not the same as being in the Kingdom of God. Perhaps this man is the wedding guest in Jesus’ previous parable, invited to the feast but lacking the wedding garments only the King can provide.

[8] James 1:26-27

[9] Romans 13

[10] Ephesians 1:4

[11] Joshua 24:15

[12] Matthew 10:16

[13] Psalm 24

[14] Proverbs 27:17

[15] Matthew 23:15

Harmony #79: Fruit, Mold and Mountains (Matthew 21:10-22; John 12:17-19; Mark 11:11-24; Luke 19:45-46)

Let’s talk about figs and fig trees in the Bible.

·   “How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger. The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers.” (Micah 7:1-2)

·  “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the ‘first ripe’ in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.” (Hosea 9:10)

·   “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, the teeth of a great lion. He has laid my vine [Judah] waste, and barked my fig tree...” (Joel 1:6-7) 

·   “The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master/lord will be honored.” (Proverbs 27:18)

So, figs and fig trees are used throughout the Old Testament as a symbol for God’s people, and sometimes very specifically the leaders. In addition, sitting under one’s own fig tree became a common OT image of the Israelite enjoying freedom and prosperity in the land (2 Kings 18:31; Isaiah 36:16; Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10); meanwhile, its destruction was a symbol of the nation’s judgment (Jeremiah 5:17; Hosea 2:12; Joel 1:7, 12).

We are going to read an interesting incident in the life of Jesus today, one in which he performs his only recorded “miracle of destruction.” He is going to kill a fig tree. It feels a little jarring because it seems petty and a little mean, like Jesus had a really bad day and he just did not have time for this stupid fig tree!

However, this story wraps around a visit to the temple where the “fig tree” of the leaders of His people are defiling the temple. I am going to suggest that Jesus’ treatment of the fig tree tells his disciples something very important about the future of the Temple and the Sadducees. Let’s read the passage, then talk about what Jesus was doing with the fig tree.

As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” So the crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify about it.

Because they had heard that Jesus had performed this miraculous sign, the crowd went out to meet him. Thus the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!” Then Jesus went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.

Now early in the morning  the next day, as they went out from Bethany and returned to the city, Jesus was hungry.[1]After noticing in the distance by the road a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it.

When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again. Never again will there be fruit from you!” And his disciples heard it.

Apparently, fig trees put out leaves and fruit pretty close together. If it has leaves, it should have some kind of fruit. Even before it is “the season for figs,” there are these little early figs that let you know the harvest will happen (the ‘first ripe’ in Hosea 9). They are like a teaser trailer for the upcoming show. This seems to be what is happening. Not only is this tree lying about its fruitfulness, it’s not going to bear fruit when the season hits.

Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,[2] and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.[3]

Then Jesus began to teach them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have turned it into a den of robbers!”[4] The blind and lame came to him in the temple courts, and he healed them.[5]

But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?”

Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?”[6] The chief priests and the experts in the law heard it and they considered how they could assassinate him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching.

When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there. In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered to the roots.” When the disciples saw it they were amazed, saying, “How did it wither so quickly?”[7]

Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you.[8] For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”[9]

THE TEMPLE AND THE FIG TREES (SADDUCEES)

During Passover, hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims would travel to Jerusalem. They would have to exchange their own currency for temple currency and purchase animals and other items for sacrifices. Guess who controlled this whole process? The Sadducees.

You may remember that ever since the Sadducees asked Herod to be the King of the Jews to appease Rome, the priesthood was a political system controlled by Herod. Instead of priests descending from Zadok (1 Chronicles 24), the empire selected the high priests. As you might expect, this led to bribes and corruption, with the chief priests, captains and treasurers of the temple becoming wealthy and influential families who formed a small, powerful group within society with their own little group of thugs #templeguard to make sure they got their way.[10]

They raised the sacrificial animals, sold them, changed the money (for profit), etc. It was a huge money grift. And they did it in a part of the temple where the Gentiles were supposed to be able to worship.

It seems that Jesus cleared the Temple courtyards twice: once at the beginning of his ministry and once at the end. In Levitical law, there was only one scenario for which God’s people need to do a cleansing twice: mold. If after the first cleansing the priests found no more mold, the house was cleansed again and then the family can move back in. However….

If the mold has spread on the walls, he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town.[11] Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean.  It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place. (Leviticus 14: 39-45)[12]

Or, to use Jesus’ fig tree imagery, it must be withered to the root.

It turns out that Jesus’ triumphal entry took Jesus to the heart of first-century Judaism: the temple, where Sadducee and Temple trees had lots of leaves - and mold, and no fruit. There was nothing to feed and nourish God’s people. It was maybe even toxic and destructive. They were clearly not being the “light to the nations” that God intended of His people.[13]

I believe the destruction of the fig tree was a tangible rabbinic parable that his disciples understood as pointing to the coming destruction of the priesthood and Temple, “withered to the roots.”[14]

This would indicate two things.

• The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem will no longer be a goal of redemptive history. The New Covenant Temple is the church in which all are priests (2 Corinthians 6; 1 Peter 2) and believers in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3).

• What we now call Judaism will no longer be the primary carrier of the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven is here. It’s meant to be the church: the new temple, with a new priesthood.[15] This does not mean we don’t appreciate and learn from the beautiful foundation of the Old Covenant – they were God’s chosen people - but the mantle has been passed, like Elijah to Elisha, to the New Covenant people.

We must take this seriously. We are not immune from the dangers facing the followers of God in the time of Jesus. We are called to ‘be fruitful and multiply,’ to produce fruit of righteousness that draws the nations to Jesus with words and lives free of hypocrisy, greed, and the love of power.

It struck me yesterday that the Jewish people’s greatest threat had never been other nations in the Bible. It was always themselves. Babylon could take their bodies into exile, and Egypt could enslave them, and Rome could kill them, but the mold that withered them to the root came from within. Say what we will about the course of this country depending how elections go and what the future may look like for followers of Jesus, but nothing out there threatens the church as much as the mold of false and corrupted worship threatens the church.

We are called to not only be God’s temple but to keep His Temple, the church, holy: set apart, pure, full of truth and grace, characterized by generosity, humility, and the kind of love that is will to be broken and spilled out for others in honor of our Savior.

We may will need His cleansing power at times to drive out sin from our personal and corporate temples.  The mold has got to go. Pride. Greed. Unforgiveness. Immorality. Gossip. Slander. Division. Judgment. Untruth. Meanness. Pettiness.

Nothing should get between us and our mission: to glorify the goodness of God with the entirety of our lives, and to demonstrate in all that we do the compelling message of salvation, life and hope that is grounded in Jesus and experienced in His church. I like how Adam Clarke summarizes what Jesus was doing here.

“Having condemned the profane use of the temple, he now shows the proper use of it. It is a house of prayer, where God is to manifest his goodness and power in giving sight to the spiritually blind, and feet to the [spiritually] lame. The church in which the [spiritually] blind and the lame are not healed has no Christ in it, and is not worthy of attendance.” (Adam Clarke)

That’s not scripture, but I think it’s inspired in its own way. I know I’m convicted as I apply that to myself.

• When people are around me who are spiritually struggling or lost, are they healed as I show the presence of Christ in me – God’s truth, grace, love, hope, kindness – or are they hurt?

• Did they pick up some mold from being around me? Or do they leave with maybe a little mold gone, or at least some tools to get rid of it, because the Holy Spirit has worked in our time together?

• Am I just leafy – because I can put on a show if I need to – or is the fruit of the Holy Spirit evident such that my attitudes, words, thoughts, and actions nourish those in my presence with the goodness of God’s provision?

I urge you to consider this for yourself. With your family, you friends, at work, when you are here on Sundays and Wednesdays,

What is the fruit you demonstrate in your character or offer as a service to those around you – not as a show, but as a gift of nourishment in Christ?

What might be the mold clinging to you that Jesus needs to cleanse? What needs to be driven out lest you begin to wither?

If you think this sounds like a daunting task, it is. Good news: Jesus tells his disciples what to do right here in this passage. If the disciples demonstrate faith in God – if they live faithfully - they can remove the mountainous problem of fruitlessness and mold.

When rabbis told parables[16], they wanted a physical representation to make their point. Jesus is likely standing on the Mount of Olives with the Herodian and the Temple Mount in sight. He is probably pointing toward one of these. I lean toward the Herodian, but it’s not a hill I will die on J Why? Because “faith” almost always means “faithfulness” – trust in action – and the Herodian gives a prime example of what seemingly insurmountable hurdles can in fact be conquered when we put one foot in front of the other over and over in the service of a cause.

The Herodian was a mountain fortress overlooking the town of Bethlehem built on a mountain Herod had commanded be literally moved from one location to the place he wanted it to be. One shovelful at a time. If you think of faithfulness as “steadfast commitment,” that’s what it took to literally move a mountain.

Jesus once told his disciples that faith as small as a mustard seed could move mountains. He wanted his followers to know that our lived out faith can accomplish far more than the most amazing earthly feats. You’re impressed that Herod, a ruler of the Empire, moved a mountain? Wait until you see what can be moved with the authority and power of the ruler of the universe behind the faithful witness of your life.

You know what’s more amazing than moving a mountain of stone?

• Being freed from addiction.

• Learning how to control your words.

• Having pride replaced with humility.

• Learning how to really, truly love that person.

• Becoming patient when you have been characterized by impatience for so long.

• Learning to see people as imago dei instead of objects of lust.

• Being moved from greed to generosity.

• Replacing a reputation for being caustic and rude with a reputation for being kind.

• Seeing the fruit of the Spirit[17] – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – replace the mold of sin.

To go back to today’s text, what about that mountain of fruitlessness, mold, and hypocrisy? Is it even possible to move that mountain? Yes, and the disciples will show that in the book of Acts. They will faithfully go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Historians believe the Christian population grew by 40 percent a decade: probably about 1,000 Christians in AD 40 to 33 million in AD 350.

Mountains are moved when Jesus works within our lived out faith. I like the old joke, “How do you eat an elephant? One spoonful at a time.” How do we move mountains? One faithful shovel at a time, one righteous moment after another, whether it’s in our individual lives, our church life, or our concern for our nation.

And may God, who is a Good Father, be so good as to cleanse His Temple for our good, the good of the world, and God’s glory.

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[1] “Recalls God’s statement that his bringing Israel out of Egypt was like the joy of finding early figs and his later complaint that Israel’s idolatry and injustice rendered the nation barren and without justice (Hos 9:7–17; Mic 6:1—7:6)…In spite of God’s gift of his law and the land, and his presence now in Jesus, Israel and its leaders have failed to produce the justice and mercy God desires…Jesus, as Israel’s Lord, enacts that image in fulfillment of Malachi’s threatened curse upon the land (Mal 4:6) and hence his following announcement of the destruction of the temple.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[2] The cleansing of the temple by Jesus is reminiscent of how kings like Hezekiah (2 Chr 29–31) and Josiah (2 Chr 34–35) repaired the temple prior to the celebration of Passover. (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[3] This is the second time Jesus has cleansed the Temple courtyard, reminiscent of Jeremiah twice cursing the temple (Jeremiah 7 and 26). There are soooo many Old Testament hyperlinks in the life and teaching of Jesus.

[4] “Perhaps ‘robbers’ should be translated ‘nationalist rebel’ (as in Jeremiah 7:11). The temple was meant to be a house of prayer, but… had become, like the first temple, the premier symbol of a superstitious belief that God would protect and rally his people irrespective of their conformity to his will.” (Expositors Bible Commentary)

[5] “Most Jewish authorities forbade any person lame, blind, deaf, or mute from offering a sacrifice or appearing before the Lord in his temple. But Jesus heals them, thus showing that "one greater than the temple is here" (12:6).

[6] Jesus here quotes the Greek of Psalm 8:2; Hebrew reads “strength” instead of “praise.”

[7] When they say, “How did you do it so quickly?” I tend to think they knew what Jesus was doing and are wondering how the Sadducees will be dealt with so quickly. They will be in AD 70, when the Temple and the Sadducees are destroyed.

[8] The Eastern Orthodox tradition is all in on the literalness of this. “While it is not recorded that an apostle literally moved a mountain, the Fathers are clear that they had this authority if the need had arisen (certain saints did make crevices appear in mountains). Furthermore, not everything the apostles accomplished was written down.” Orthodox Study Bible) I love the “not everything was written down.” This would suggest they might have moved mountains, but it never made it into the historical record, as if moving the mountain was never the point. I don’t prefer a literalist reading of this teaching, but I appreciate their bold and confident perspective.

[9] NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

[10] HT NIV Women’s Study Bible

[11] I suspect the ‘unclean place’ in Jesus time was the Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, which Jesus references multiple times as a place of punishment and destruction.

[12] Side note: Jesus is about to tell some parables that include this kind of cleansing in which people are cast out to places of judgment, very similar to this scenario.

[13] “The tree is fully leafed, and in such a state one would normally expect to find fruit. This symbolizes the hypocrisy and sham of the nation of Israel. The “withered” fig tree likely stands for the nation’s coming destruction.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

“The tree with its leaves had the marks of fruitfulness, but it bore no fruit. Israel was likewise practicing hypocrisy (Mk 7:6)…Jesus might also have been illustrating religious hypocrites like the ones he had thrown out of the temple.” (NIV Women’s Study Bible)

“There were leaves, which speak of profession, but no fruit for God. Jesus was hungry for fruit from the nation.” (Believers Bible Commentary)

[14] HT NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

[15] ESV Reformation Study Bible

[16]  “Many of the rabbins are termed rooters up of mountains, because they were dexterous in removing difficulties, solving cases of conscience, etc. In this sense our Lord's words are to be understood. He that has faith will get through every difficulty and perplexity. Mountains shall become molehills or plains before him. The saying is neither to be taken in its literal sense, nor is it hyperbolical: it is a proverbial form of speech.” (Adam Clarke)

 [17] Galatians 5

Harmony #78: Mary, Martha, and Jesus (John 11:55-12:11; Matthew 26:6-16; Mark 14:3-11; Luke 10: 38-42)

Have you heard the phrase, “Can’t see the forest for all of the trees?” Today’s passage has a lot of trees. We will look at them first, because those trees have something to offer, and then the forest, because the Big Picture matters.

Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, and many people went up to Jerusalem from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse themselves ritually. Thus they were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple courts,“What do you think? That he won’t come to the feast?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should report it, so that they could arrest him.

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he had raised from the dead. While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, they prepared a dinner for him there. Lazarus was among those present at the table with him. Martha was serving, distracted with all the preparations she had to make, while her sister Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. Martha came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.”

This incident apparently happens after Lazarus was raised from the dead. Martha is doing what anyone would do who had a distinguished guest: seeking to honor him by taking care of him. I mean, HE RAISED HER BROTHER FROM THE DEAD.

This was crucial. When Jesus talks with her, his approach suggests he is not mad or scolding. He may even be saying, “I see how much you are worried about honoring me well.” Mary “chose the best part,” as if what Martha chose was good, but not the highest good in that moment.[1]

Today, we might reference a personality test or a love language test to explain their different responses to Jesus. “Oh, Martha is acts of service. Mary is quality time.” Jesus, who knows how to love well, speaks their love language.  What did Jesus give Mary? Quality time. What did and will Jesus give Mary in raising Lazarus and dying on the cross? Acts of service. So I don’t think this is a blanket criticism of Martha. There’s something about the moment, the timing, the opportunity right in front of her.

I wonder if this has something to tell us about “be with” Jesus contrasted with “do for” Jesus. Both are good, but neither is a template for every moment. In that moment, it was better to “be with.”

We must remember that there is a place for “be with” and “do for” as we follow Jesus. Both honor Jesus. Both have an important place. We want to be with Jesus and live for Jesus, right? He’s going to give all the disciples marching orders when he leaves; he’s already sent them out on short missions. “Do for” is a good thing, but it’s not the only thing, and it can’t be isolated from “be with.”

It’s hard not to judge when we see others leaning into one approach when we really like the other. Martha thinks Mary should be “doing for” Jesus just like her, but that wasn’t true. Mary was in the right place. It’s easy to think the focus we choose (doing or being) is THE RIGHT WAY FOR EVERYBODY, but…we don’t know that to be true.

Sometimes, I need to do things for my wife: the dishes, put away my laundry, fix that sink, make smoked wings for the Ohio State game, give her my receipts from Menards so we can get that 11% back. Sometimes, I need to just be with her: watching The Great British Bake-off together, going on a date, collecting rocks at Point Betsie, going to the fair, watching Florida State football so she has a shoulder to cry on.

Both matter.

“Be with” and “do for” are intertwined when you love somebody. So, I think Mary and Martha show us two legitimate responses to Jesus. I wish I knew where to land this plane, but I don’t. Maybe this is a good topic to pursue during lunch today.

Then Mary came with an alabaster jar[2] of three quarters of a pound of expensive aromatic oil from pure nard.[3]After breaking open the jar, she poured it on his head[4] and anointed his feet, as Jesus was at the table. She then wiped his feet dry with her hair. (Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil.)

The Jewish people put nard on those who died to mask the smell, because there was a process of interring the body that lasted long enough to make you want to use nard. In the next paragraph, Jesus will affirm that she was, indeed, preparing him for his burial.[5]

Worth noting: nard in an alabaster jar like this was shipped in from a place that harvested (?) the nard before bottling it and sealing it. This bottle cost a year’s average wages. This bottle represented a plan for someone in the family of Mary. I wonder if it was what they had planned to use for Lazarus, but then didn’t need to. Or… Jesus will say shortly of Mary, “She did what she could.” I wonder if this was set aside for her?

And wiping his feet with her hair? It was unheard of for a Jewish woman to let her hair down in public, let alone wash the feet of a man not her husband, let alone with her hair. There is something going on here, but I am still working on this. This is the second time a woman has dried Jesus’ feet with her hair. (Luke 7)[6]

Whatever the case, Mary communicated something important: she believed Jesus when he said he was going to die. I doubt she anticipated crucifixion, as Jesus was not a Zealot, but she may have been connecting the dots and concluding that she wouldn’t be able to do this later. As Jesus points out, she was honoring him while she could.

Out of love, honor and the knowledge that “the end” was near for Jesus, she offered the lock of her hair with willing abandon to the one who is about to die in order to win the battle on behalf of a world that God loves. Bless the Lord.

But some who were present indignantly said to one another, “Why this waste of expensive ointment? It could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor!” So they spoke angrily to her. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) said, “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?” (Now Judas said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money box, he used to steal what was put into it.)

When Jesus learned of this, he said to them, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a good service for me. For you will always have the poor with you,[7] and you can do good for them whenever you want. You will not always have me! She did what she could. When she poured this oil on my body, she did it to anoint my body beforehand and prepare me for the day of my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

In Matthew’s account of this story, Jesus had just taught them about reward and punishment related to caring for the needy (25:31–46). He concluded with, “Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me.” So it makes sense this was in the front of the disciple’s minds.

Jesus’ response pointed them back to the Torah. They were commanded to take care of the poor; Deuteronomy 15 uses the exact phrase Jesus used. This would probably remind them of not just all the teaching in Deuteronomy 15, but of all the times God told his people to care for the poor. It was baked into the rhythm of their lives. In fact, if they did everything the Old Testament commanded, it would be difficult for someone to remain poor in Israel.

• debts were forgiven every 7 years (Deuteronomy 15)

• land was returned every 50 years (Leviticus 25)

• food was shared (Proverbs 22:9)

• indebted servants were set free with provision after 7 years (Deuteronomy 15)

• the edges of their fields were left for the poor to harvest (Leviticus 23:22)

• fields were unplanted every 7 years so the poor could harvest volunteer plants (Leviticus 25)

• they were to “open their hand wide” to the poor (Deuteronomy 15:11)

• they were to practice generous giving (Psalm 37:21; Proverbs 14:21)

Bottom line: the disciples were not wrong in principle,[8] but in this moment they were wrong in practice. If Mary was preparing him for burial, she should not be criticized any more than we would criticize someone for purchasing a coffin for a loved one, even though there are poor that could be fed with that money.

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

This is when Judas snaps. Different people have offered different reasons since the text leaves space to fill in the blanks.

• I noted last week that I suspect Judas was looking to spark an insurrection. Jesus has apparently resigned himself to die. Dead men can’t be kings. Let’s get this king on the throne before he dies!  Time to start the fight!

• Or….Judas knows Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Huge crowds were there because the word had gotten out. Maybe Judas thought there was nothing to worry about. Get the fight started; Jesus will be fine!

• Or… Judas betrayed Jesus because he had stopped believing in him. Something about what happened here convinced him not to back Jesus anymore.

 Whatever the reason, it’s interesting that this is incident that is the last straw for Judas. Meanwhile, the 30 pieces of silver he received has precedence.

• Exodus 21 demands this as payment if a slave is gored to death by a bull. So, perhaps we could think of this as the Sadducees giving Judas recompense for the person they are about to kill.

• 30 pieces of silver was also the wage paid to the reliable shepherd of God’s people in Zechariah 11,[9] a passage that also talks about throwing the money to a potter. Hmmm. 

These Old Testament connections are, in fact, both true.  Jesus is a duolos, a servant or slave depending on the translation you use. 

[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant/slave (duolos), being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross! (Philippians 2) 

And, Jesus is a shepherd. 

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15) 

Alright, let’s step back from the trees and look at the forest. There is this nagging voice in my head that insists there is a contrast going on, not of a good and bad thing but of a good and better thing. I’m not quite sure how to put words to it.

• The place for the practical (Martha) and the prophetic (Mary)

• The practice of stewardship by fasting (taking care of the poor) and feasting (honoring and celebrating)

• The ‘do for’ (Martha) and the ‘be with’ (Mary)

• Prudence (provision budgeted for charity) and extravagance (provision budgeted for honoring)

I wonder if we are supposed to be reminded that in the midst of a discipleship that is often characterized by prudence and the stewardship of fasting that includes setting up a budget from which we give generously from our resources to those in need, there is always going to be a place in the Kingdom of God for extravagant honor.[10] 

In this case, we see it bestowed on Jesus, and rightfully so. In Mary’s case, it’s an act of worship for Jesus. The King will be honored as a King. Bless the Lord with the best that you have. We can’t honor the physical Jesus like Mary did, but surely this challenges us to ask ourselves if Jesus is honored by the worshipful sacrifices that we do give.

I wonder if we are supposed to be thinking about how to honor the children of the King, too. We can become so caught up in fixing what’s broken in the world that we forget to celebrate what’s right in the world. Like Mary and Martha, this is not either/or. It’s both/and.  

God wants his people to learn how to honor what is good through celebration. God wants his people to know how to throw a righteous party that reminds people that they are precious, valuable and loved, not only by God but by God’s people.

• When I turned 50, friends threw me a party that was wonderfully extravagant. I still think about it. I have posters on my wall from it.

• I have helped friends with projects this summer, and they paid me wages that made me consider that I had undervalued myself.

• I have friends who bless us from their abundance by letting us stay for free in a wonderful Air B and B that brings us rest.

Helping those who are financial impoverish matters. Generous charity should be baked into the rhythm of our lives. But at times, extravagant celebration can be huge for those who are emotionally and mentally impoverished, struggling with all kinds of inner battles, desperately needing provision and rest of a different kind.

It’s the one to whom Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The Holy Spirit ministers in ways we never could; sometimes, gifts that cost time and money remind people that they matter not just in God’s eyes but in the eyes of God’s people. And some days, that’s a game changer, maybe even a life saver.

During our potluck, let’s feast together today in a way that shows the depth and breadth of God’s provision. Let the abundance of food remind us that we all need to experience an abundance of honor, or friendship, of community that reminds us constantly of the value of the imago dei, the image of God in us all.

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[1] “Chosen the good part—not in the general sense of Moses' choice (Heb 11:25), and Joshua's (Jos 24:15), and David's (Ps 119:30); that is, of good in opposition to bad; but, of two good ways of serving and pleasing the Lord, choosing the better.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

[2] “The vessel is likely a long-necked flask made of translucent, finely carved stone standing some five to ten inches high. The perfume is pure nard (see Mark 14:3; John 12:3), an oil extracted from the root of the nard plant grown in India. This is not a typical household oil for anointing, but an expensive perfume oil used for a solemn and special act of devotion. By breaking the flask Mary…is performing the highest act of consecration to Jesus, even to the anointing of his feet (cf. John 12:3).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[3] An average year’s wages.

[4] “Such long-necked containers have been found in tombs from this period near Jerusalem; people apparently lavished the ointment on deceased loved ones. This expensive perfume may have been planned for a funeral, either a future one or one canceled because of Jesus’ healing ministry. Providing a guest with oil to anoint his head could be simple courtesy, but one could also anoint a king in this way (2Ki 9:6).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[5] “The anointing…"prepares" him for his burial after dying the death of a criminal, for only in that circumstance would the customary anointing of the body be omitted.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary) 

[6] Because so much of Jesus’ life and teaching refers back to the Old Testament, here’s a thought. Judges records that after a woman named Jael killed the Canaanite general who was attacking Israel, the Israelites defeated Canaan. The judge at the time, Deborah, and her general, Barak, wrote this song: “When the locks of the women are long in Israel, when the people offer themselves with willing abandon - bless the LORD!  –Judges 4:18–5:2”  Read more at “Extravagant Worship: Mary Washing Jesus’ Feet.” Fruitfullywomen.com

[7] “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:11)

[8] This is how one of the early Church Fathers thought of this scenario. “If anyone had asked Christ before the woman did this, He would not have approved it. But after she had done it, He looks only to the gift itself. For after the fragrant oil had been poured, what good was a rebuke? Likewise, if you should see anyone providing a sacred vessel or ornament for the walls of the church, do not spoil his zeal. But if beforehand he asks about it, command him to give instead to the poor.” (John Chrysostom, quoted in the Orthodox Study Bible)

[9] I told them “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.” (Zechariah 11: 12-13)

[10] I’m thinking now of Ecclesiastes: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born, to die, to plant, to uproot, to kill, to heal, to tear down, to build, to weep, to laugh, to mourn, to dance, to scatter stones, to gather them, to embrace, to refrain from embracing, to search, to give up, to keep, to throw away, to tear, to mend, to be silent, to speak, to love, to hate, for war and for peace.”

Harmony #77: Parable of the Ten Minas (Luke 19:11-28)

While the people were listening to these things (“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”), Jesus proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

Note that he told a parable because a) he was near Jerusalem and b) the people had some thoughts about the Kingdom of God appearing. We will come back to that.

Therefore he said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. And he summoned ten of his slaves, gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be king over us!’

When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much they had earned by trading. So the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And the king said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’

Then the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’  So the king said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Then another slave came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina that I put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’

The king said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! So you knew, did you, that I was a severe man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow? Why then didn’t you put my money in the bank, so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?’ And he said to his attendants, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’

But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!” He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me!’ “ After Jesus had said this, he continued on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

This parable just sits there between the calling of Nicodemus and the entrance to Jerusalem starting the final week of Jesus’ life. It feels awkward and disjointed. But, since Luke committed to writing “an orderly account,” there must be something here that’s an important part of an ongoing bigger story.

On the one hand, there’s a practical reading that looks at stewardship: If God gives you provision and talents, use them to multiply the kingdom. That’s a common teaching taken from this parable. I agree with the principle of that teaching, though I’’m not sure I would take it from this parable.

First, though it’s popular to see Jesus as the king figure in this parable, it is hard for me to conceive that Jesus would be the ruler who has left and then returns. His character and nature are not like the third servant describes (“a severe man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow).

Second, if that ruler is Jesus, the parable suggests that when God gives the gifts of the Kingdom to his children, if they don't double what he gives them, God gets so angry that he destroys them. If Jesus is God in the flesh – so, God is like Jesus - that doesn't track with anything we have seen about Jesus so far.  We just read Jesus saying to Zacchaeus, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” not punish the fearful. 

Third, I'm not sure what to think about the teaching of those having much getting more and those having little losing what they have. Didn’t we just hear about the lost sheep, and lost coin, and the two lost sons, and God pursues and loves them? If the ruler is Jesus, this is joltingly the opposite. He has kept calling his disciples “you of little faith,” and he didn’t throw them away. He discipled them.

The best explanation I have found involves a historical event that happened around the time of Jesus. When Herod the Great died (this is the Herod the Sadducees convinced to be the “King of the Jews” and who controlled the Temple priests), he willed his kingdom to his three sons. The three sons sailed to Rome on three different ships to bring gifts to Caesar and ask him to honor their father’s will. The Jewish Pharisees sent a delegation on a fourth ship to plead with Caesar not to make Antipas king. 

As a result, Caesar decided to name Anitpas a “tetrarch” (just lower than a king).  Antipas blamed the Jews for the decision; when he got back, he made an example of the Jews who were left at home and slaughtered them by the thousands. When Jesus stands in front of Herod in the final week of his life, he is standing in front of (drumroll) Herod Antipas.

I am leaning heavily toward the notion that Jesus is challenging how those who “thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” expected the kingdom of God to appear. I think they wanted him to take it like a Herod would take it, and Jesus is having none of it.

Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem for Passover. He has a huge crowd of disciples, and they lead the adoring crowds in welcoming him into Jerusalem as a king. All the kingly symbols are there:

• the cloaks on the ground (what the people did for Jehu in 2 Kings 9:13–14)

• palm branches (1 Maccabees 13:51 records the use of palm branches in a celebration of Judas the Hammer, a Zealot who led the Maccabean Revolt)

• crying Hosanna (“Help us!”)

• saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (also what they said of Jehu)

• Jesus riding donkey (Zechariah 9:9)

They thought they might finally be getting a King, a deliverer who would set up an earthy kingdom by copying Rome’s pax romana (“peace by the sword”). They didn’t like Rome, but they had no problem with THEIR guy using the tools and method of Rome to bring about THEIR own kingdom. But…this is the thing about Rome.

• Rome destroyed those would not help them expand their empire and the Hellenism of the Greeks. #parablereference

• Rome was violent and merciless to those who betrayed them. #parablereference

• Rome was all about the winners getting more winny and the losers getting more losery. #parablereference

When Jesus sees his people welcome him with a not so subtle reference to take out Rome with Rome’s methods, here is how he responds:

Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. They will demolish you—you and your children within your walls—and they will not leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” (Luke 19:41-44)

Why is this going to happen? They have the wrong idea about what will bring peace because “they did not recognize the time of their visitation from God.” The visitation of God is Jesus; Jesus is telling them what will bring peace, and they are not picking up what he is laying down.

History had shown that, at the end of the day, the Jewish people kept defaulting to the path of the Zealots. When Jesus read from Isaiah in his hometown and declared the year of the Lord’s favor but left off the line about God’s vengeance,[1] his hometown tried to kill him because they knew what he was saying. God’s favor was going to become available to all, and they were not okay with that. God was going to bring peace by reconciling everyone first to Himself and then to each other, and that meant nobody was going to pay for the crimes done against them. 

For many of them (the Zealots for sure), the kingdom of God would arrive by taking the sword to those who hurt them. And that's what a Caesar or a Nero would do. That’s what happened in Jesus’ parable. That’s what Antipas did to those who displeased him. And this is the approach the Jewish people kept revisiting over and over. Even the non-Zealots seemed to keep rallying around the sword to solve their problems and usher in the Kingdom of God.

We've got good biblical reason to believe that this Zealot thread kept running through Jesus’ disciples no matter how often he taught and lived differently.

I’ve noted before that that Judas and Simon were both zealots. Judas had a nickname “Iscariot,” a nickname that seems to place him among the sicarii, one of the "dagger-men" of the Zealots who had committed to killing Roman soldiers whenever he could with his dagger that shared his nickname. I'm leaning more and more toward the idea that when we get to the last week in the life of Jesus, Judas was intending to be the spark that started the revolution.

Judas knew that if he went to the high priests, they would come for Jesus. Remember, the high priests are the Sadducees. They love Rome, and they have been trying to kill Jesus because Jesus is putting their status with Rome in jeopardy. At one point Caiaphas tells the Sanhedrin that it’s better to kill one person, Jesus, than to have them all killed.[2] Judas knows that the Sadducees’ private army of bodyguards will have no problem pulling a sword on Jesus. They had a reputation for doing that kind of thing to those who crossed the Sadducees.

It’s an odd collaboration. The Zealots hated the Sadducees because they were such compromisers. Clearly, Judas is just using them. The text doesn't say this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were Zealots hiding nearby, waiting for the fight to begin. What a shock it must have been when Peter - who brought a sword to a garden prayer time? - starts the fight and Jesus promptly stops it.

Let's fast forward to the trial where Herod does what Herod always did at Passover, which was to offer a released prisoner to the Jewish people. He gives them the option of Jesus the Christ or Jesus Barabbas. The crowd chooses Barabbas, who had been arrested because he had already engaged in violent insurrection.  They want their Zealot who knows how to fight on their terms.

I suspect part of the reason Jesus wept was because he knew what would happen when God’s people try to bring about the Kingdom of God at the edge of a sword. He warned Peter: “You live by it, you die by it.” Why are the Jewish people slaughtered and the Temple destroyed in AD 70? The Zealots keep pushing and pushing and pushing until Rome snapped.

So, full circle back to the parable. I think Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he reminded them of what Herod was like, and how empires work. He will never be that kind of King, and his kingdom should never be that kind of Kingdom.

* * * * *

I've been thinking a lot this week about what principles we take away from this. If you recall, the Jewish people wrestled with three responses to the question, “What do we do with Rome?”

• Compromise, embrace it, learn to love it (Sadducees and Herodians)

• Retreated and just focus on being holy (Essenes and Pharisees)

• Fight Rome with the weapons of Rome (Zealots)

Jesus has challenged all of these approaches throughout the course of his ministry. He doesn't retreat from the culture around him; instead he goes to the Gentiles (Samaritans and Romans). He doesn't embrace the culture; he embraces the people in the culture as individuals and calls them to follow him. He doesn't pick up a sword – unless it’s the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, which he seem him wielding in Revelation. Let’s go back to what characterized Rome and Herod Antipas.

• Rome destroyed those would not help them expand their empire and the Hellenism of the Greeks.

• Rome was violent and merciless to those who betrayed them.

• Rome was all about the winners getting more winny and the losers getting more losery.

  How is Jesus a different kind of King?

·Those outside the kingdom were not destroyed in the process of expanding the kingdom. They were literally still alive to have access to the Kingdom. Jesus just kept inviting himself to the home of the sinner, the Samaritan, the tax collector. He kept inviting people. The banquet table has enough seats for everybody.

On the cross, he asks God to forgive those who crucified him rather than asking him to smite them. He will restore Peter, who might have betrayed him more than Judas when he called down curses and said, “I don’t know my own rabbi.” Okay, important trivia (?) When Jesus rose, the women at the grave were told to take the news “to the disciples and Peter.”[3] It’s only been three days. Why isn’t Peter just assumed to still be a disciple? Because he denied and cursed his rabbi. He was done. There was no coming back from that. When Jesus sees him again, where is he? Back to fishing. He was done. AND JESUS RESTORES HIM. This is not an earthly kingdom; this is a heavenly kingdom.

Jesus was not about rewarding the competent and punishing the incompetent #peteronceagain. Remember the Parable of the Two Brothers (Prodigal Son). Remember the Parable of Workers working all day vs. one hour. Jesus is excited about giving everyone the spiritual spoils of the Kingdom, whether they are crushing it or floundering or lost like that sheep. Everybody sits at the banquet table. Surely there is reward in walking in the Path of Life as we harvest what we have planted, but God is not a stingy and petty God, turning his nose up at the Samaritan and tax collector and prodigal. He came to seek and to save the lost, after all. That’s what he loves to do.

Let's see if we can make this practical for our situation today.

We are not living in a nation that brings a sword against followers of Jesus like Herod Antipas. We do, however, live in a culture that will at times challenge us on aspects of what we believe or how we believe we should live our faith. How do we respond to living in spiritually occupied territory of Babylon/Rome (to use Revelation’s imagery)?

I'm hearing rumbles in some circles that we might be looking at a time that is ripe for a second Civil War. It's often accompanied with the stated desire to get America back to Judeo/Christian roots even if it requires violence, as if we can spread or solidify the Kingdom of God at the point of a sword. That just doesn't sound like Jesus. That sounds like Judas.

But there's also a level to this that stops short of violence physical violence. I'm thinking now of emotional, verbal and maybe even spiritual violence. When we talk about the culture wars, we can mean one of two things.

• We can mean that there is a clash anytime Christians live in spaces with non-Christians simply because we are going to value different things for different reasons,  and we are going to offer our worship and allegiance to different gods or idols. In that sense, yeah, there's going to be a war in the sense that there is conflict and tension. Legit. This has always been true.

• We can also use Culture Wars to mean it is time for us to get out there and fight fight fight – but…. it's not usually accompanied with language asking what it looks to fight like Jesus. It's usually much more pragmatic Zealotry, with a physical or symbolic peace by the sword in that the ends will justify the means if we aren’t careful. A public figure who aligns with Christians noted recently, in reference to the aforementioned culture wars, “We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference — I understand the mentality — but it’s gotten us nothing. Okay? It’s gotten us nothing…”

But here's the reality. The means determine who we are in the end. If we fight like Rome to further the Kingdom of God, the society we usher in will just be Rome by another name. And if this is our hope, we will constantly be searching for peace and not finding peace because we didn't fight like Jesus as we pointed toward Jesus. The apostle Paul – who knew a thing or two about fighting battles in the wrong way - reminded us how to fight like Jesus, for Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone.   No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God: so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground. Yes, stand—truth banded around your waist, righteousness as your chest plate, and feet protected in preparation to proclaim the good news of peace. Don’t forget to raise the shield of faith above all else, so you will be able to extinguish flaming spears hurled at you from the wicked one. Take also the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray always. Pray in the Spirit. Pray about everything in every way you know how! And keeping all this in mind, prayon behalf of God’s people. Keep on praying feverishly, and be on the lookout until evil has been stayed.  (Ephesians 6:10-18)

 ____________________________________________________________________

[1] Luke 4

[2] John 11:45-57

[3] Mark 16:7

Harmony #77: Parable of the Ten Minas (Luke 19:11-28)

While the people were listening to these things (“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”), Jesus proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

Note that he told a parable because a) he was near Jerusalem and b) the people had some thoughts about the Kingdom of God appearing. We will come back to that.

Therefore he said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. And he summoned ten of his slaves, gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be king over us!’

When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much they had earned by trading. So the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And the king said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’

Then the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’  So the king said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Then another slave came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina that I put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’

The king said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! So you knew, did you, that I was a severe man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow? Why then didn’t you put my money in the bank, so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?’ And he said to his attendants, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’

But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!” He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me!’ “ After Jesus had said this, he continued on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

This parable just sits there between the calling of Nicodemus and the entrance to Jerusalem starting the final week of Jesus’ life. It feels awkward and disjointed. But, since Luke committed to writing “an orderly account,” there must be something here that’s an important part of an ongoing bigger story.

First, though it’s popular to see Jesus as the king figure in this parable, it is hard for me to conceive that Jesus would be the ruler who has left and then returns. I recognize that I am in the minority view here. But H=his character and nature are not like the third servant describes (“a severe man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow).

Second, if that ruler is Jesus, the parable suggests that when God gives the gifts of the Kingdom to his children, if they don't double what he gives them, God gets so angry that he destroys them. If Jesus is God in the flesh – so, God is like Jesus - that doesn't track with anything we have seen about Jesus so far.  We just read Jesus saying to Zacchaeus, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” not punish the fearful.

Third, I'm not sure what to think about the teaching of those having much getting more and those having little losing what they have. Didn’t we just hear about the lost sheep, and lost coin, and the two lost sons, and God pursues and loves them? If the ruler is Jesus, this is joltingly the opposite. He has kept calling his disciples “you of little faith,” and he didn’t throw them away. He discipled them.

The best explanation I have found involves a historical event that happened around the time of Jesus. When Herod the Great died (this is the Herod the Sadducees convinced to be the “King of the Jews” and who controlled the Temple priests), he willed his kingdom to his three sons. The three sons sailed to Rome on three different ships to bring gifts to Caesar and ask him to honor their father’s will. The Jewish Pharisees sent a delegation on a fourth ship to plead with Caesar not to make Antipas king. 

As a result, Caesar decided to name Anitpas a “tetrarch” (just lower than a king).  Antipas blamed the Jews for the decision; when he got back, he made an example of the Jews who were left at home and slaughtered them by the thousands. When Jesus stands in front of Herod in the final week of his life, he is standing in front of (drumroll) Herod Antipas. 

I am leaning heavily toward the notion that Jesus is challenging how those who “thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” expected the kingdom of God to appear. I think they wanted him to take it like a Herod would take it, and Jesus is having none of it.

Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem for Passover. He has a huge crowd of disciples, and they lead the adoring crowds in welcoming him into Jerusalem as a king. All the kingly symbols are there:

• the cloaks on the ground (what the people did for Jehu in 2 Kings 9:13–14)

• palm branches (1 Maccabees 13:51 records the use of palm branches in a celebration of Judas the Hammer, a Zealot who led the Maccabean Revolt)

• crying Hosanna (“Help us!”)

• ·saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (also what they said of Jehu)

• ·Jesus riding donkey (Zechariah 9:9)

They thought they might finally be getting a King, a deliverer who would set up an earthy kingdom by copying Rome’s pax romana (“peace by the sword”). They didn’t like Rome, but they had no problem with THEIR guy using the tools and method of Rome to bring about THEIR own kingdom. But…this is the thing about Rome.

• ·Rome destroyed those would not help them expand their empire and the Hellenism of the Greeks. #parablereference

• ·Rome was violent and merciless to those who betrayed them. #parablereference

• ·Rome was all about the winners getting more winny and the losers getting more losery. #parablereference

When Jesus sees his people welcome him with a not so subtle reference to take out Rome with Rome’s methods, here is how he responds:

Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. They will demolish you—you and your children within your walls—and they will not leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” (Luke 19:41-44)

Why is this going to happen? They have the wrong idea about what will bring peace because “they did not recognize the time of their visitation from God.” The visitation of God is Jesus; Jesus is telling them what will bring peace, and they are not picking up what he is laying down.

History had shown that, at the end of the day, the Jewish people kept defaulting to the path of the Zealots. When Jesus read from Isaiah in his hometown and declared the year of the Lord’s favor but left off the line about God’s vengeance,[1] his hometown tried to kill him because they knew what he was saying. God’s favor was going to become available to all, and they were not okay with that. God was going to bring peace by reconciling everyone first to Himself and then to each other, and that meant nobody was going to pay for the crimes done against them.

For many of them (the Zealots for sure), the kingdom of God would arrive by taking the sword to those who hurt them. And that's what a Caesar or a Nero would do. That’s what happened in Jesus’ parable. That’s what Antipas did to those who displeased him. And this is the approach the Jewish people kept revisiting over and over. Even the non-Zealots seemed to keep rallying around the sword to solve their problems and usher in the Kingdom of God.

We've got good biblical reason to believe that this Zealot thread kept running through Jesus’ disciples no matter how often he taught and lived differently.

I’ve noted before that that Judas and Simon were both zealots. Judas had a nickname “Iscariot,” a nickname that seems to place him among the sicarii, one of the "dagger-men" of the Zealots who had committed to killing Roman soldiers whenever he could with his dagger that shared his nickname. I'm leaning more and more toward the idea that when we get to the last week in the life of Jesus, Judas was intending to be the spark that started the revolution.

Judas knew that if he went to the high priests, they would come for Jesus. Remember, the high priests are the Sadducees. They love Rome, and they have been trying to kill Jesus because Jesus is putting their status with Rome in jeopardy. At one point Caiaphas tells the Sanhedrin that it’s better to kill one person, Jesus, than to have them all killed.[2] Judas knows that the Sadducees’ private army of bodyguards will have no problem pulling a sword on Jesus. They had a reputation for doing that kind of thing to those who crossed the Sadducees.

It’s an odd collaboration. The Zealots hated the Sadducees because they were such compromisers. Clearly, Judas is just using them. The text doesn't say this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were Zealots hiding nearby, waiting for the fight to begin. What a shock it must have been when Peter - who brought a sword to a garden prayer time? - starts the fight and Jesus promptly stops it.

Let's fast forward to the trial where Herod does what Herod always did at Passover, which was to offer a released prisoner to the Jewish people. He gives them the option of Jesus the Christ or Jesus Barabbas. The crowd chooses Barabbas, who had been arrested because he had already engaged in violent insurrection.  They want their Zealot who knows how to fight on their terms.

I suspect part of the reason Jesus wept was because he knew what would happen when God’s people try to bring about the Kingdom of God at the edge of a sword. He warned Peter: “You live by it, you die by it.” Why are the Jewish people slaughtered and the Temple destroyed in AD 70? The Zealots keep pushing and pushing and pushing until Rome snapped.

So, full circle back to the parable. I think Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he reminded them of what Herod was like, and how empires work. He will never be that kind of King, and his kingdom should never be that kind of Kingdom.

* * * * *

I've been thinking a lot this week about what principles we take away from this. If you recall, the Jewish people wrestled with three responses to the question, “What do we do with Rome?

• Compromise, embrace it, learn to love it (Sadducees and Herodians)

• ·Retreated and just focus on being holy (Essenes and Pharisees)

• ·Fight Rome with the weapons of Rome.  

Jesus has challenged all of these approaches throughout the course of his ministry.

• ·He doesn't retreat from the culture around him; instead he goes to the Gentiles (Samaritans and Romans).

• ·He doesn't embrace the culture; he embraces the people in the culture as individuals and calls them to follow him.

• ·He doesn't pick up a sword – unless it’s the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, which he seem him wielding in Revelation.

 Let’s go back to what characterized Rome and Herod Antipas.

• ·Rome destroyed those would not help them expand their empire and the Hellenism of the Greeks.

• ·Rome was violent and merciless to those who betrayed them.

• · Rome was all about the winners getting more winny and the losers getting more losery. 

 How is Jesus a different kind of King?

·Those outside the kingdom were not destroyed in the process of expanding the kingdom. They were literally still alive to have access to the Kingdom. Jesus just kept inviting himself to the home of the sinner, the Samaritan, the tax collector. He kept inviting people. The banquet table has enough seats for everybody.

• ·On the cross, he asks God to forgive those who crucified him rather than asking him to smite them. He will restore Peter, who might have betrayed him more than Judas when he called down curses and said, “I don’t know my own rabbi.” Okay, important trivia (?) When Jesus rose, the women at the grave were told to take the news “to the disciples and Peter.”[3] It’s only been three days. Why isn’t Peter just assumed to still be a disciple? Because he denied and cursed his rabbi. He was done. There was no coming back from that. When Jesus sees him again, where is he? Back to fishing. He was done. AND JESUS RESTORES HIM. This is not an earthly kingdom; this is a heavenly kingdom.

• ·Jesus was not about rewarding the competent and punishing the incompetent #peteronceagain. Remember the Parable of the Two Brothers (Prodigal Son). Remember the Parable of Workers working all day vs. one hour. Jesus is excited about giving everyone the spiritual spoils of the Kingdom, whether they are crushing it or floundering or lost like that sheep. Everybody sits at the banquet table. Surely there is reward in walking in the Path of Life as we harvest what we have planted, but God is not a stingy and petty God, turning his nose up at the Samaritan and tax collector and prodigal. He came to seek and to save the lost, after all. That’s what he loves to do.

 Let's see if we can make this practical for our situation today.

We are not living in a nation that brings a sword against followers of Jesus like Herod Antipas. We do, however, live in a culture that will at times challenge us on aspects of what we believe or how we believe we should live our faith. How do we respond to living in spiritually occupied territory of Babylon/Rome (to use Revelation’s imagery)?

I'm hearing rumbles in some circles that we might be looking at a time that is ripe for a second Civil War. It's often accompanied with the stated desire to get America back to Judeo/Christian roots even if it requires violence. That just doesn't sound like Jesus. That sounds like Judas.

But there's also a level to this that stops short of violence physical violence. I'm thinking now of emotional, verbal and maybe even spiritual violence. When we talk about the culture wars, we can mean one of two things.

•  We can mean that there is a clash anytime Christians live in spaces with non-Christians simply because we are going to value different things for different reasons,  and we are going to offer our worship and allegiance to different gods or idols. In that sense, yeah, there's going to be a war in the sense that there is conflict and tension. Legit. This has always been true.

• We can also use Culture Wars to mean it is time for us to get out there and fight fight fight – but…. it's not usually accompanied with language asking what it looks to fight like Jesus. It's usually much more pragmatic Zealotry, with a physical or symbolic peace by the sword in that the ends will justify the means if we aren’t careful. A public figure who aligns with Christians noted recently, in reference to the aforementioned culture wars, “We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference — I understand the mentality — but it’s gotten us nothing. Okay? It’s gotten us nothing…”

 But here's the reality. The means determine who we are in the end. If we fight like Rome and get our way, we'll just be Rome by another name. And if this is our hope, we will constantly be searching for peace and not finding peace because we didn't fight like Jesus as we pointed toward Jesus. The apostle Paul – who knew a thing or two about fighting battles in the wrong way - reminded us how to fight like Jesus, for Jesus.

 Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places.

 And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God: so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground. Yes, stand—truth banded around your waist, righteousness as your chest plate, and feet protected in preparation to proclaim the good news of peace.  Don’t forget to raise the shield of faith above all else, so you will be able to extinguish flaming spears hurled at you from the wicked one. Take also the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Pray always. Pray in the Spirit. Pray about everything in every way you know how! And keeping all this in mind, prayon behalf of God’s people. Keep on praying feverishly, and be on the lookout until evil has been stayed.  (Ephesians 6:10-18)

 ________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Luke 4

[2] John 11:45-57

[3] Mark 16:7

Harmony #76: Zacchaeus - In The Apple Of God’s Eye (Luke 19:1-10)

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. Now a man named Zacchaeus was there; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to get a look at Jesus, but being a short man he could not see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, because Jesus was going to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because I must stay at your house today.” So he came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully. And when the people saw it, they all complained, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

We are going to come back to this story. Meanwhile,

Psalm 17:8: "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me under the shadow of thy wings."

David asked to literally be the "little man of the eye,” the tiny reflection of yourself that you can see in other people’s pupils because you are being watched so closely by that person. David was asking God to be close, to keep an eye on him, to keep him safe. David wanted God to be near him, to focus on David such that his eyes were full of him, and to be for him. Deuteronomy 32:10 uses the phrase this way:

“In a desert land he found him (Israel), in a barren and howling wasteland. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye…”

We land here first. I can’t stress this enough. God is that close to his children. Whether that’s just those who follow Jesus or all of humanity (Paul said at Mars Hill that “we are all his offspring/children/ descendants“ ), God is near and God sees us. You might feel like you are overlooked, ignored, or unseen, but God is “apple of the eye” close. You are not alone. You are seen. You are loved.

It’s got me thinking about an implication of being God’s ambassadors, God’s representatives. We land here second.

We talk about being the hands and feet of Jesus, going places and doing things on behalf of God that reveals that the Holy Spirit has taken up His dwelling in us so that when people experience us they experience “Christ in us” (Colossians 1:27). I wonder, then, if we are meant to represent God by going into the “barren and howling wasteland” around us to guard and care for the “little people in our eyes” as well. If people are wondering, “Does God even see me and care?” that question is often answered when God’s people see them and care.

I’ve been thinking about this recently because of some realities of life that have highlighted the Christian burden of caring. When we are so close to people that they are the “little man in our eye,” we weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15) as we move through this barren and howling wasteland – and everyone weeps at some point. We will help each other carry burdens (Galatians 6:2) - and everyone carries burdens.

Doing this for everyone is an impossible task that only one person in the history of the world was able to do (let alone do perfectly) and that’s Jesus. But we, who as humans are God’s image bearers, and who as believers are ambassadors indwelt by God’s spirit; members of God’s body, the church – we must go into the wasteland and weep for more than our own sorrows and carry more burdens than our own.

But really engaging this can feel…unsettling. There was a reason Jesus’ audience wanted clarification on whom their neighbors were (Luke 10:25-37). The Bible says the man asking this question of Jesus was “seeking to justify himself.” I mean, it was one thing to consider your Jewish friends and family to be the neighbors to whom you extended the kind of love Jesus talked about when he summarized the Law, but….

• that Samaritan (Luke 10)?

• that Roman centurion (Acts 10)?

• that prostitute (Luke 7)?

• that tax collector we read about this morning (Luke 19)?

Yes indeed. That’s what “friends of sinners” do (Matthew 11:16-19). Those using that label thought they were mocking Jesus, but Jesus embraced that term: he was and is a friend of sinners.

So this tension of the Christian call to genuinely care about others including “the other”, to be so close that they take up that “apple” spot in our eyes, often places us in tense spots.

• Samaritans were aligned with blasphemy, and caring about them as neighbors made it look like Jewish people supported blasphemy.

• Roman centurions were aligned with the political oppression of God’s people; accepting them into the church could look like overlooking Roman sin.

• Tax collectors like Zacchaeus were traitorous enablers of economic oppression. Having a meal with them could easily look like enablement.

• Prostitutes were an obvious face of sexual immorality (and often fertility cult worship at that time). Spending time with them looked like you were minimizing or even overlooking their sin.

Yet God has his eye on them; he “came to seek and to save the lost.” And if he was in they eye of Jesus, he should have been in the eyes of God’s people. Wastelands have never been meant to stop Christians, no matter how barren and howling they are.

The God who created us, loves us, and offers salvation to us has a vested interest in His world. It groans because of the devastation that sin has wrought in everything. We are called to collectively groan as a church as we recognize the brokenness that has infiltrated everything God has created. In that shared weeping we represent the Immanuel part of how God is described - God with us, felt strongly because God’s people are with people in whatever wilderness they find themselves.

I have been thinking about this a lot since the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Parts of it were beautiful and entertaining; parts of it were a celebration of Dionysian or Bacchanalian revelries; a part of it (at least initially) seemed to parody Da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper, whether that was the organizers’ intent or not (they claim it wasn’t; some of the actors claim it was).

And I found in my reaction that I was not drawn to think of how I could get closer to people who live in a worldview that to me looks like an extravagant and howling wilderness so that they could see the love of God for them through me.

How do I want to see them? Like God sees them: with the kind of love Jesus showed Zacchaeus. With the kind of love that wants to invite them to leave the wilderness and join the banquet feast of the kingdom.

Where will I have to go? Into even barren and howling wildernesses, places that are uncomfortable and maybe even hostile.

How close will I have to get? Apple-of-the-eye close.

I think of Jesus looking at Jerusalem and weeping that the people keep looking for peace and not finding it. The organizers of the Olympic opening ceremonies have said they were trying to send a message that violence was foolish. It was apparently their (confusing and vulgar) attempt at a call to peace. Yet there will be no peace when the exploitative and even violent legacy of Dionysian revelries sets a moral compass.

So what did Jesus do when the Jewish people got their search for peace all wrong? He invited them to the banquet table.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:10-13)

We also see the heart that motivated him.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.” (Matthew 23:37-38)

He wept for those living in desolation. In fact, He gave His life so they could have access to the peace that eluded them and take their place at the banquet table of the Kingdom of God.

What should we do when cultures or individuals get a search for peace all wrong, perhaps even shockingly so? Weep, and offer our lives to God as ambassadors engaged in a ministry of reconciliation as recorded in 1 Corinthians 5:11-21.

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others…For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all who are dead, which is all of us. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again…

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

That, I think, should have been my first thoughts and emotions. I should have seen an opportunity for a ministry of reconciliation, and prayed that the Dionysian fields within my sphere of influence would be ripe for harvest.

* * * * *

I have been the apple in the eyes of many, thank God. I have had many people be the “little people in my eye.” Some dwell in the land of promise, some in the wilderness. I must choose not to look away. Lots of people should be reflected in my eyes, because they are in the eyes of Jesus. I was writing a list this week at stuff that came into my mind. There is plenty more that could be added.

• God’s people should be able to see those in poverty and sickness in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should be able to see those fighting mental and emotional battles in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should be able to see the reflection of those rejecting Jesus and accepting Jesus and wrestling with Jesus in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should be able to see those who love the church and those who have been traumatized by the church in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should be able to see the immigrant and refugee in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should be able to see the reflection of those dying of starvation, natural disasters, persecution, and wars in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should be able to see those who think Dionysian revelry will bring peace in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should be able to see those who support Trump and Harris and any third party candidate in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should be able to see the reflection of those who are broken or confused or even defiantly sinful as they wrestle with questions of sex and gender in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should work to see the reflection of their neighbors in this church in the apple of their eye.

• God’s people should work to see the reflection of their family members in the apple of their eye.

Why? Because we want to be like Jesus.

Who is my neighbor? Everybody.

We start with family, then friends and church family, but eventually anybody we know is fair game. We are just looking at the world and asking what breaks God heart. We pray. We intercede. We petition God to heal us and our broken land. We move closer to those who are hurting, because it’s hard to carry a burden from a distance.

This is not limited by party, organization, religion, nationality, social status…. I went through my list and color coded the people in my eye: red and blue for situations that, fairly or unfairly, are associated with the Right or Left; purple for stuff everyone agrees on. It’s a mix, because everybody is my neighbor.

Who needs to be “the little people” in a Christian’s eye? Everybody.

We know the power of the gospel. We understand salvation, and healing, and renewal, and grace, and hope, and peace and joy, and the beauty of righteousness. We are outposts of the Kingdom: wherever we go, we take the presence of Jesus and set up camp. And that camp is full of truth, love, and the message of a Creator who is in the business of redeeming broken things. And we can’t do that from a distance.

Choose your analogy: we run to the battle; we go to the fields in need of harvest; we sow the seed of the gospel in every soil we encounter; we love our broken and fallen neighbors just like Jesus has loved us.

Now….we can’t be equally invested in all of these things. God has placed us in certain places or with certain people or given us certain gifts and oriented our broken hearts in certain directions such that some things will move front and center in our attempts to bring gospel healing to the world. We will gravitate more towards specific causes (with the hope that as the church body works together we're covering our ground as a whole fairly well).

We should be careful not to dismiss those in whom God has place a different weight of gospel mourning. Not everybody can or will be in ‘your’ eye they way they are in someone else’s, but everybody should be in the eye of somebody in the church who sees the world with the eyes of Jesus.

Let’s start with us, here, in the church. Can we commit to being engaged with this church family so that everybody here has the privilege of is in the apple of someone else’s eye?

I know we are in that privileged position with God; I also know it feels practically real to me when I experience from the image bearers of God. We can’t possibly engage with everybody in the same way, but we can be praying and watching for opportunity to make sure no one is being overlooked or ignored.

We talk about being the hands and feet of Jesus. Let’s be the eyes of Jesus too. Simply caring for each other is a really, really practical way to embody the presence and love of Jesus.

#75 A Ransom For Many (Mark 10: 35-45; Matthew 20: 20-28)

Once again, we are going to need to remember the context surrounding the section we will be looking at today in Mark 10 and Matthew 20. This context is from Mark’s account, starting in Mark 9.

·  The disciples try to cast out a demon but can’t. This apparently leads to some arguments among them.

·  On the way to Capernaum, they argue about who the greatest one is. Jesus said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

·  Then, Jesus gives the example of becoming like a child. ‘Whoever welcomes one of these in my name welcomes me.”

·  Then: “We saw someone actually being successful in driving out a demon and we told him to stop because he was not one of us.” Jesus: ““If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.” 

·  Then he is challenged about divorce laws (an ongoing argument between Shamai and Hillel). “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife so he can marry another woman?” I’ll summarize Jesus response: No, and focus on serving, not being served. Your hearts are hard if you are wondering what your rights are rather than your responsibilities.

·  Children show up again, and he blesses them. “The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.”

·  Then the Rich Young Ruler shows up (that was the sermon last week), and Jesus finishes his teaching with, “Many who are first will be last, and the last first,” and tells the parable about the workers in the field

We are hitting two themes. First, in the Kingdom of God, there should be no one overlooked and marginalized. Jesus elevates the cultural “lasts” to show their value and dignity. Second, God loves to be generous to all, especially to those who have been overlooked, abandoned, taken for granted, or considered undeserving. We should not be surprised if the next events and teachings continue on this theme.

James & John: Serving vs. Ruling (Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 10:35-45)

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor[1], saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, “Permit these two sons of mine to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in the glory of your kingdom.”

But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?” They said to him, “We are able.”

Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience,[2] but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give. It is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Now when the other ten heard this, they became angry with James and John. Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them.

But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the servant of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.[3]”

HE GAVE HIS LIFE

Empire leadership principles have two main pillars: the ones who are ‘first’ lord your power over others (throw your weight around) and exercise authority - literally, play the tyrant. Kingdom leadership principles have one key pillar: the ones who are ‘first’ take the lead in serving others.[4]

Among the unconverted, great men are those who rule with arbitrary power, who are overbearing and domineering. But greatness in Christ’s kingdom is marked by service. Whoever … desires to be first should become a [servant] to everyone. (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

We live in a world that tells us it is important to be in charge, to be first, to have power, and to wield it. It starts when we are kids and the place of privilege is to be the line leader. Nobody privileges letting everyone else go first. True followers of Jesus learn to love the beauty of humble service.

We must, must resist the urge to fall in love with exercising power. I think Scripture presents power similar to how it presents money: the love of power and money are the problem, not the things themselves. When Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek,” that word means power under control. The image is that of a mighty ox yoked into service.

And let’s face it: we all have some degree of power in that we have an impact on the world. You have physical power and could hurt people or protect and help people. Your words have power; you can hurt people or heal people. Your facial expressions have power; you hurt people or give them hope with a well-placed expression.

We are called to be people who love to use whatever kind of power we have in the humble service of others. In our role as salt and light, we can and should encourage in the church and in our culture those who know how to manage their strength, their words, their presence in such a way that whatever power they have is used in humble service of others to protect, to heal, and to give hope.

Even Jesus, God in the Flesh, was not exempt from the rule of humble service in the kingdom. He is, in fact, the ultimate example of it, especially in his redemptive mission. He did not come as a strongman to demand and control; he came as a servant, giving "his life as a ransom for many."

AS A RANSOM FOR MANY

·  The word translated "ransom" relates to the "redemption" or "release" of Israel's from slavery in Egypt.

·  The phrase "for many" is an Aramaic expression meaning “for all.”[5]

In his death, Jesus pays a ransom. Among different theories of atonement, this is called Ransom Theory. It is a way of looking at what happened on the cross. What happened on the cross if far too complex and deep to be captured in one theory. Ransom Theory was quite popular in the early church and into the Middle Ages, though other ways of thinking of the atonement emerged that displaced its popularity.

However, any way of looking at the Cross that has a biblical foundation has value, and since the idea of Ransom shows up here, let’s look at it more deeply, beginning with Isaiah’s reference to the Jewish people being ransomed from Egypt.

Isaiah 51:10-11  “Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Did you not make a path through the depths of the sea, so those delivered from bondage could cross over? Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return; they will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, happiness and joy will overwhelm them; grief and suffering will disappear.” 

“For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…” (Is. 43:3, 4). 

Concerning their return from captivity in Babylon we read,

"For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he." (Jer. 31:11)

On a more theological note,

"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death" (Hos. 13:14).

 “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” (Psalm 49:15)

Ransom theories focus on the fact that people are enslaved to the wrong master until, through Jesus’ death, they are set free. The dominant image here is “manumission”—the act of setting slaves free.[6] Notice how the Old Testament pairs redeem and ransom in parallel, so we can use them interchangeably.

The Hebrew word for 'ransom' never appears in the New Testament because, well, the NT was not written in Hebrew J However, it uses other words to refer to the same principle. Jesus uses the phrase anti lutron (lutron belongs to a family of words which convey the concept of redemption) to describe his death; Paul uses antilutron for the same purpose.

“The Son of man came ... to give his life a ransom for many.”

“Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all.” [I Timothy 2:6][7] 

The writer of Hebrews uses apolýtrōsis: “redemption – literally, "buying back from or winning back what was previously forfeited or lost."[8] 

“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15) 

There are other allusions to the idea of ransom or redemption without naming it specifically:

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28) 

“You were bought [9] with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23) 

And they were singing a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and bought people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation, and made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9–10)

When we see this term used for what Jesus does, it has to do with a dispossession where someone frees a person from the control of master or owner and brings them into a new place under the Ransomer’s protection and care.

A classic example from the Old Testament involves Boaz and Ruth. When Ruth asked Boaz to be her guardian/redeemer, he had to ‘dispossess’ another in order to bring her under his protection and care as the Kinsmen Redeemer.

I prefer the language of redeemer because the English word 'ransom' brings an image to mind that creates some tensions. A ransom is what we pay a kidnapper in exchange for releasing the kidnapped. This creates a problem: to whom does Jesus pay the ransom?

Is it paid to God? It’s not a good look for God to be a kidnapper needing to pay Himself to release people from Himself back to Himself. The early church never suggested this possibility: they primarily thought it was paid to Satan after Adam and Eve fell into the control of “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Is it paid to Satan? That suggests God had to frustratingly pay Jesus to Satan to cover the cost. Yet Hebrews 2:14 tells us that “through death he destroyed 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.” It sure doesn’t seem like a ransom would have to be paid to someone who has been destroyed.

Is it paid to death or sin? That seems the most likely because that is clearly stated in those two OT verses I quoted, but…those aren’t even ‘things’ that could accept a payment.

Bottom line: To whatever degree it’s a ransom, it’s not an exchange. It’s a deliverance from one kingdom to another. Notice that in the examples I gave, when God ransomed His people, there was a payment, but nobody is listed as receiving a payment. The ransom happened, but nobody was paid off.[10]

 This suggests to me that’s we are meant to focus on the change of possession as God’s people are moved from life in the land of the enemy into life in the land of God. It was costly – really costly – but now they have a new King, a new Lord. They are now children of God.

In the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Redeemer lawfully and properly paid the ransom so we could be His. Jesus dispossessed the owner (Satan, sin death, hell, the grave?), secured us into God’s possession, an dprovided a permanent place of safety

This constitutes the “ransom” aspect of redemption as it is set forth in scripture.[11] A church Father named Eusebius wrote,

The Lamb of God . . . was chastised on our behalf, and suffered a penalty He did not owe, but which we owed because of the multitude of our sins; and so He became the cause of the forgiveness of our sins, because He received death for us and transferred to Himself the scourgings, the insults, and the dishonor, which were due to us… And what is that but the price of our souls?

1 Peter offers a wonderful chapter that captures the beauty and power of what has happened as a result of Jesus paying our ransom.1 Peter 1:3-23

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials.

Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold—gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away—and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are attaining the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully. They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.

They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of.

Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”

And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence. You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed—not by perishable things like silver or gold, but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ...

You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show sincere mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure heart. You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
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[1] If mom is asking, the odds are pretty high that James and John had not yet had their Bar Mitvah, the official entrance into adulthood.

[2] The cup, symbolizing trouble and suffering, is found in the OT (Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17; Jer 49:12; Eze 23:31-34 [see comment on 14:35-37]. Baptism is a symbol of a deluge of trouble (cf. Pss 18:16; 69:1-2). Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[3] “The phrase ‘for many’ is an Aramaic expression meaning “for all.” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[4] HT Africa Bible Commentary

[5] “The expression ‘the many’ is not to be understood in the sense of "some but not all" but in the general sense of "many" as contrasted with the single life that is given for their ransom (cf. Isa 53:11-12).” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[6] “Thinking About The Atonement.” Mennonite Brotherhood Herald

[7] Elsewhere in the New Testament, the phrase is used to describe things like John being unworthy to remove his shoes and Jesus dismissing a crowd after preaching. It is sometimes described as 'loosing' or delivering.'

[8] HELPS Word Studies

[9] “Agorázō is properly, to make purchases in the marketplace ("agora"), i.e. as ownership transfers from seller to buyer. Agorázō stresses transfer – i.e. where something becomes another's belonging (possession). In salvation-contexts, agorázō is not redeeming ("buying back"), but rather focuses on how the believer now belongs to the Lord as His unique possession.” (HELPS Word Studies)

[10] The top possibility, as I see it, is sin, but sin’s not a being to pay off. It’s more like “the wages of sin is death,” and Jesus absorbed that cost to free us from it.

[11] From a post in the Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange

Harmony #71: Always Pray, And Don’t Lose Heart (Luke 17:11- 18:8)

Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went along, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.)[1]

Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to the man, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has saved you.”

Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

This narrative stresses several themes we have been seeing in Luke’s gospel.

·  Jesus has mercy on social outcasts. Jews did not travel between Galilee and Judea by going close to Samaria. Jesus had no problem doing so.[2] Meanwhile, foreigners (allogenēs) were warned not to enter the temple past the outer court.[3] Jesus is sending a pointed message: you stop foreigners from entering the Jerusalem temple, but here is one of them worshipping Jesus, the Son of God.

·  On their way to the priests, the lepers were healed. File away somewhere that Jesus did not require saving faith from them to heal them. He just healed them without commenting on their faith.  So they were healed, but the returning Samaritan was saved: “used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin – and into His provisions (safety).[4]Literally, his response of faith (trust) brought him salvation from his fallen state.[5] He received the greater healing - that of his soul.

·  The Pharisees wanted a grand political upheaval or signs in the heavens – some impressive display of public power. Jesus said, “It’s not like that. The Kingdom doesn’t come with an outward show. It's not a visible, earthly, temporal kingdom which could be pointed out as being here or there.[6]  The kingdom of God, “the dominion of righteousness”[7] was being manifested in Jesus among them, right in front of their eyes. Ten lepers had been cleansed of leprosy, and they basically yawned.[8]  Do you remember Marvin the Martian? “There was supposed to be a kaboom!” They wanted political or cosmic fireworks that unleashed the power of God while failing to see the unleashing of power of God right in front of them.

So, Jesus told them the Kingdom of God had arrived. He followed this up with a cryptic warning/encouragement. This passage has been widely debated, along with the harmony passages in Luke 21, Mark 13 and Matthew 24 - 25. Jesus is talking to his disciples about how to prepare themselves for what’s to come, but his language is highly symbolic while referencing the Old Testament and Jewish colloquialisms.

Commentaries wrestle with whether or not Jesus, when referencing what will happen in “this generation,” was talking about spiritual realities, upcoming events within the lifetime of his audience, future events that usher in the end of history, or all three. I am increasingly of the opinion that he was prepping them for what they and the Jewish people would personally would face spiritually and physically,[9] so that’s how I’m going to approach it this morning.[10] I will include plenty of footnotes. Luke seems to focus on the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection (spiritual realities), while the other gospels land more heavily on the coming destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  We will reference both.

To be cIear, I could be wrong :) . This is a great passage that should lead us into discussion as we strive to understand God’s word together. No matter what, this message would end with the same timeless encouragement, so let’s work our way there.

* * * * *

 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.”

Already, I have questions. Jesus just said the Kingdom is here. Then he told them they were going to long to see the days of the Son of Man, but they won’t, so that must be something different. Clearly, the disciples to whom he is speaking are going to go through a lot of difficulty as they wait for something in the Kingdom that has not yet happened. And yet…

‍Matt 10:23: "But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes."

Mark 14:62, Jesus tells the high priest, “From now on you shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

And here, I think is the interpretive key. Son of Man is a term Daniel is famous for using. Most commentaries will tell you Jesus is wanting his audience to remember this passage from Daniel 7:13-14: 

“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”

When the Son of Man comes in Daniel, he’s not coming to earth. He’s coming to the throne room of God to take his place at the Father’s right hand and establish his heavenly Kingdom. This is not what people expect of a King taking his place on a throne.

People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 

• In Acts 5, Rabbi Gamaliel speaks of two such messianic pretenders: Theudas, and Judas the Galilean, who led a revolt against the Romans.

• In Acts 21:38, Paul is suspected by the Roman temple guard of being the Egyptian who led four thousand Jews to the Mount of Olives.

• Josephus wrote of such prophets and messiahs as dangerous criminals bent on leading the nation to destruction. Josephus claims Felix executed imposters almost every day.[11]

For the Son of Man in his day[12] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

That lighting imagery makes me think of the newly arisen Jesus.

“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” (Matthew 28:2-4)

Back to the text. Jesus must suffer many things and be rejected by the generation of people who crucified him. What will be happening in the world as these things happen? Nothing like some good Old Testament imagery to give them some hyperlinks.

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

 It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

People will be doing ordinary things, going about life, not aware that everything is about to change. In the two examples he gives, a judgment is rendered on the sinfulness of the world. This will happen on the cross. The ultimate judgment is rendered: the wages of sin is death. Of course, the ultimate salvation is offered at the same time: “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)[13] Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, he shows that He has conquered the devil, death, hell, and the grave (1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Revelation 1:18; Hosea 13:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 2:14-15). He takes captivity captive and gives good gifts to mankind (Ephesians 4:8-10). He crushes the serpent’s head (Romans 16:20).

 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife!  Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 

Choices will need to be made. What matters most: the things of this world, or the things of Heaven?  If you try to hang on to this world, you will lose your life. If you let go of this world, you embrace life in the most profound way possible.

I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” “[Taken] where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the eagles[14]/vultures will gather.”[15]

Those being taken are going somewhere with dead bodies and vultures. This is clearly a reference to judgment; the image is certainly not of “heaven.” Commentaries will tell you this is likely the valley of Ben-Hinnom (Gehenna), the city dump used for incinerating garbage, dead animals, and executed criminals. This is also where the poorest of the poor lived, having been denied housing in the city or the outlying villages connected with the city.

“On that day” during the days of the Son of Man, they will have to choose an empire of material things or a kingdom of spiritual things. “On that night,” the consequences of that choice begin. Some will stay and live within the provision of the Kingdom; those who reject the Kingdom will live outside the Kingdom, much to their grief (weeping) and frustration (gnashing of teeth).

The parallel section of Matthew 24-25 ends with the Parable of the Sheep and Goats by concluding, “And [the goats] will go to the chastening/pruning of the Age, but the just [sheep] to the life of the Age.” (Matthew 25:46, DBH translation).  That translation suggests there is something that happens now, in this age, that is a consequence of our choice of whether we want to enter the Kingdom or not. Jesus elsewhere (Mark 9)[16] described Gehenna as a place where “the worms that eat [the corpses] do not die, and the fire is not quenched.”[17] Then he adds,  “Everyone will be salted with fire,” which seemed to include something relevant to present reality if everyone gets it.

I wonder if there is some sense in which we choose our fire. We can accept the fire of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to purify our hearts and minds – and that will be a fire. Repentance and reconciliation when we have sinned against others; practicing humility; embracing truth even if we don’t like it; extending grace even when we don’t want to; practicing the sacrificial lifestyle of agape love; being relentlessly honoring and kind. That will burn through wood, hay and stubble like a fire.  

Or… we can endure the wages of sin, reaping the consequences of sinful choices as we weep and grind our teeth. We can be the prodigal stuck in a sin-filled pig sty eating pig food until we come to our senses. That, too, is a fire. Everyone will be salted with fire.

Lk 18:1 Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart.

They need this right now. Following Jesus is going to be hard. Remember, they will be longing for a glimpse of God at work, to feel God’s presence, to know in the midst of trials that God is with them and for them. History tells us (and the parallel passages break it down more) how brutal life was for the Jewish people leading up to the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70: wars, famine, persecution, natural disasters. For Jewish people following Jesus, they are going to suffer for being Jewish and for following Jesus. Almost all of the disciples will be killed for their faith. They are going to need hope.

  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

 For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, yet because this widow keeps on bothering me (“gives me a black eye”), I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.’ “

And the Lord said, “Listen to what [even an] unrighteous judge says! How much more will God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night.[18] [Like a farmer waiting for a ripe harvest, he will not delay long[19] to help them when the harvest time has arrived]. I tell you, he will then vindicate them speedily.[20]

 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,[21] will he find [the kind of persistent] faith(fullness) in this land[22] that trusts God to [bring justice and vindicate his people]?”

“To show them they should always pray and not lose heart.” The lesson of the parable is not that God is reluctant to be bothered with our needs, so we should keep pulling on his arm going, “Dad, dad, hey dad, daddaddaddaddad” until he annoyingly yanks his arm away and says, “WHAT!?!?” His point is that if an unjust judge would answer the request of a widow he doesn't even know, how much more will a loving, righteous, generous God hear the prayers of his children?

Have times been tough throughout history for followers of Jesus? Have there been times when we have been tempted to lose heart, to wonder why on earth God is not showing up NOW in ways we want God to show up? Will we contribute to the persistent faith(fullness) in our land that trusts God to bring justice, to be faithful, to never leave or forsake us?”

Can we live in prayer-filled hope? The whole section we read this morning tells a crucial message: the Kingdom has arrived; Jesus is Lord; don’t lose hope. Keep praying. Stay in “constant involvement with God as we interpret and deal with the world in which we live.”[23]

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

_________________________________________________________________

[1]  “It echoes Elisha’s healing of a Gentile (2 Kgs 5:1–19a), which Jesus notes at the beginning of his ministry.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[2] As noted in the NIV Women’s Study Bible

[3] NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

[4] HELPS Word-studies

[5]  ESV Global Study Bible. “They all had faith to be healed but only one out of the ten turned back to thank the Lord… Your faith has made you well” suggests that whereas the nine were cleansed from leprosy, the tenth was also saved from sin!” (Believers Bible Commentary)

[6] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[7] Asbury Bible Commentary

[8]  Now, “The kingdom of God is a spiritual reality present within the Christian believer and within the community of the Church.”  (Orthodox Study Bible)

[9] Check out Adam Clarke’s commentary on Matthew 24. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/acc/matthew-24.html

[10]  Jesus constantly references “this generation,” and it’s…that generation J Matthew 24:34  “Truly, I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”  Matthew 11:16 (cf. Luke 7:31) “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates.” Matthew 12:39 (cf. Mark 8:12; Luke 11:29) “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matthew 12:41 “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it…  Matthew 12:42 “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it….”Matthew 12:45 “Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” Matthew 16:4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign…” Matthew 17:17 (Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41) “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? ” Matthew 23:36 “Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Luke 11:50-52 “…so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.”

[11] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament

[12] ‘Notice that in this passage, the "coming" of the "son of man" is not a coming here, but rather a coming before the throne of God in heaven: he is "presented" before God and found worthy of authority. The “coming” described in Daniel 7 is not a descent or “return” from heaven to earth, but the opposite: the “son of man” is carried by clouds into heaven and enters into the holy presence of God, whereupon he receives an eternal kingdom.’ (“What Is The Coming Of The Son Of Man? https://www.mercyonall.org/posts/what-is-the-coming-of-the-son-of-man)

[13] I like David Bentley Hart’s translation: “For sin’s wages are death, but God’s bestowal of grace is the life of the Age in Anointed, Jesus Christ.”

[14] “Sometimes a reference is supposed to the eagle-standards of Rome. (Comp. Deuteronomy 28:49-52; John 11:48.) This is very possible especially as the Jews were very familiar with the Roman eagle, and so strongly detested it that the mere erection of the symbol in Jerusalem was sufficient to lash them into insurrection (Jos. Antt. xvii. 6, § 3).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[15] We find this phrase in Matthew 24 also, which concludes by saying “this generation will not pass away” before seeing the signs of the Messiah. As the Good News translation puts it, “Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died.” 

[16] See notes from that sermon here: https://www.clgonline.org/sermonblog/2023/12/10/harmony-53-who-is-the-greatest-mark-933-50-matthew-181-14-luke-946-50-171-3?rq=salted%20with%20fire

[17] Isaiah 66

[18] Revelation 6:9-11

[19] “In James 5:7 it is applied to the husbandman waiting for harvest. Here it is applied to God’s…coming to the help of tried saints.” (Expositor’s Greek Testament)

[20] Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision points ahead to a time I have appointed; it testifies regarding the end, and it will not lie. Even if there is a delay, wait for it. It is coming and will come without delay.”

[21] “This probably refers to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem - the coming of the Messiah, by his mighty power, to abolish the ancient dispensation and to set up the new.” (Barnes’ Notes On The Bible)

[22] “The discussion had particular reference to their trials and persecutions in that land. This question implies that "in" those trials many professed disciples might faint and turn back.” (Barnes’ Notes On The Bible) 

[23] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass