Harmony #67: The First Shall Be Last (Luke 13:10-30)

Last week, we looked at the parable of a struggling fig tree assumed to be useless that was rescued by the one who has not given up on that tree’s future. Cue the story of Jesus healing a woman on whom society had given up.

 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and a woman was there who had been disabled by a crippling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, “Dear woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”

Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water? Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?”

We are still talking about the hypocritical nature of the Pharisees, as we have been for several weeks. This is all variations on a theme.

• Chapter 12: they could read the physical/earthly seasons but not the spiritual/heavenly seasons.

• Chapter 13: they were worried about physical death but not about their own spiritual death.

• Now, they would loose their donkeys on the Sabbath to get water but not loose a ‘daughter of Abraham’ from the power of Satan.[1] (Look for Abraham to get a shout out again shortly.) The spiritual leaders of the people have not been giving their people the spiritual food or moral leadership they need.

When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.[2]

Being a follower of Jesus does not always mean trouble and persecution. It also includes the rejoicing of those around us as the goodness and provision of the Kingdom of God spills over into the world. Jesus, his disciples, and the early church experienced both of these realities. Generally speaking, the average person seems to have been attracted to this loving, generous, transformed new Kingdom community. It’s why the church grew at a near miraculous rate. Generally speaking,those in the halls of power hated them. The loving, generous provision of those with servant’s hearts committed to a spiritual Kingdom with God as their King undermined the power and coercion of the Empire. Something to watch for:

• When people in the halls of power love us followers of Jesus, we should consider that perhaps we aren’t spiritually subversive enough when we offer a biblical, counter-cultural way of life.

• When our neighbors hate us instead of rejoicing that we are near, we should consider that perhaps we aren’t being ‘the hands and feet of Jesus’ in a way that reveals the heart of Jesus.

It turns out that people like to know they are worth caring about. One thing that strikes me in Jesus’ ministry as how he led with care that matched the situation: practical, emotional, spiritual. Someone once gave me a sign to put up in my office that read, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Point taken. The Pharisees mockingly called Jesus a “friend of sinners” because He spent so much time with them - even having meals with them (which was a huge gesture of the honor and friendship). May we all earn the same label they gave Jesus.

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

In both cases the beginning is small. The mustard seed was considered ‘the smallest seed you plant in the ground’ (Mark 4:31). The yeast is only a tiny part of the dough. Both of them grew: the seed developed into a tree in which birds could take refuge (the Gentiles? The citizens of the Kingdom?). The yeast will double the size of the dough. #justaguess

This is how the Kingdom works: small beginnings, a few disciples, one life changed at a time. But, as Zechariah 4:19 says,  “Who dares despise the day of small things?” From this has grown the global Kingdom of God of which millions and millions have participated.

Don’t despise the small prayer. Don’t despise the small act of service. Don’t despise small times of devotions. Don’t despise the small act of kindness. Don’t despise small steps forward. Don't despise small victories in yourself or others.

You want to get ripped? One day at a time. Even small workouts. Get smart? The small moments of each day are filled with opportunity. Play an instrument? The small moments of practice matter. Strengthen friendships? Small acts of connection. Go deeper in Scripture? Any act of study is good. Have a stronger prayer life? Small prayers are fine. Fix your eyes on what Paul calls the “prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus,” and then take one right step at a time.

Then Jesus traveled throughout towns and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”

Okay, Jesus has just talked about the Kingdom of Heaven as small. This tracks with Jewish belief.[3]  Jewish people expected a banquet for the righteous few in the next age of God’s kingdom (Isaiah 25:6). Meanwhile, guess who that righteous few were? With a few exceptions, it was all the Jewish people. Jesus is about to upend this notion. The Gentiles will participate in the blessings of the kingdom even as some of the Jews do not.

So he said to them, “Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door (straight gate), because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, let us in!’ But he will answer you, ‘I don’t know where you come from.’

Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know where you come from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out.

Then people will come from east and west, and from north and south,[4] and take their places at the banquet table in the kingdom of God.  But indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

I think the first key to understanding this parable occurs here: “when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.” Jesus is talking specifically to the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, who assumed they would enter the kingdom. I suspect he is even more pointedly talking to the Pharisees, the ‘first’ part of group that was the ‘first’ (and perhaps the exclusive) recipients of the Kingdom.

Jesus shows them knocking at the door of the kingdom (they can see it: they are so close!) but they can’t access the Kingdom even though they (literally) ate and drank together with Jesus[5], and he literally talked in their streets.

It turns out that it will be those assumed to be unwanted or rejected who have really understood and responded to who Jesus is. #thewomanatthestartofthispassagewhopraisedGod

I think the second key is to ask when and where the Kingdom is. In just a couple chapters, Luke records Jesus making it very clear:

 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21)

The Kingdom had already started. The feasting had already begun.[6] And…oof…the Pharisees are missing out.

* * * * *

There are three other passages in which Jesus uses some of the same language and imagery.

In Matthew 7, Jesus used a similar analogy about a narrow path/door; in the context, it’s the path of humility, repentance and grace filled with people who will “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (7:12)

In Matthew 8, after a Gentile Roman centurion’s profession of Jesus’ authority and power when Jesus healed his son, we see familiar language. Jesus remarks on the centurion’s faith and says,

Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.[7] But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12) 

Matthew 19:27-20:16 uses familiar language and includes a whole parable. After the Rich Young Ruler refuses to follow Jesus because he loved his money, Jesus gave a teaching to his disciples on the dangers of wealth. He assures them there is a reward for following God (eternal life!), and then warns them that wanting to be ‘first’ – the best, the most favored, the elite – is going to mean they will be the last to appreciate the good gifts of life in the Kingdom. At both the beginning and the end he reminds them, ”The last will be first, and the first will be last.[8]

• In Matthew 7, the narrow gate/road is something chosen now. Missing the Kingdom now means missing out on the riches of the kingdom: salvation, repentance (and forgiveness), grace, truth, real communion with God. Plus, a community of humble and generous people, who are committed to love, whose lives are defined by the Golden Rule. #lifemoreabundant  

• In Matthew 8, kingdom life is now (the faith of the centurion and the healing of his son) and later (“many will come”) - the “now and not yet” aspect of the Kingdom. In this situation, the frustration and anger felt by the religious leaders seems to be the fact that they can see people living in the Kingdom of God right in front of them, but they can’t seem to experience it themselves.

• In Matthew 19, it’s about something later, a future kingdom reality.

So, the “not yet” part of the Kingdom of Heaven is - obviously - yet to come, but the feasting had already begun. It’s happening now. Remember what Jesus told his disciples last week: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

After a short interlude in which Jesus is warned that Herod is looking for him, he gives what seems to be his closing thoughts on the previous several chapters of material.

(Luke 13:34-35; Matthew 23:37-39)

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!

Look, your house is forsaken and left to you desolate![9]  [The Shekinah – the glory of the Lord - has vanished from you now.[10]] For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ “[11]

May I point out the hope in today’s passage? It’s not just for those of who are like the woman whose story opened this section. It’s for us Pharisees.

In the Matthew 19 parable, Jesus called them all ‘friends’ even as he warned the grumbling ‘firsts’ that they would be the last to enjoy the goodness of the Kingdom. Today’s parable didn’t say, “The first don’t stand a chance.” It implies they will enter, but they will be the last ones to enter, perhaps “as those saved through the fire.”[12] Pride, power and hypocrisy are a tough combination to give up and replace with humility, servanthood, and integrity.

But remember last week when we talked about the farming analogy of Israel being grafted back into the Kingdom even after it had been cut off? Romans 11 again:

“Branches… were removed because they did not believe… If those branches that have been cut from the tree do not stay in unbelief, then God will carefully graft them back onto the tree because He has the power to do that...”

Hope remains. The people may be forsaken and desolate, but Jesus - the blessed one who comes in thename of the Lord -  will not leave them forsaken and desolate. Just because it’s their history doesn’t mean it’s their destiny. One day they will have the opportunity to say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Some commentators suggest he’s just pointing toward the moment when he enters Jerusalem to the Jewish people saying that line. Maybe, but I agree with the commentators who suggest this is primarily about the moment when people genuinely see who Jesus is, and recognize the goodness of salvation and life in the Kingdom offered on the other side of the cross and the empty tomb.[13]

God intends for His Kingdom to come, and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. It begins now with our repentance, God’s forgiveness, and the resulting salvation as we are delivered from spiritual death and from chains of sins and given the freedom of life in Jesus with the family of God, the community of the church.

How does God intend that to look? Love. Care. Provision. Hope. Joy. Peace. Patience. Gentleness. Goodness. Kindness. Self-control. (You might be recognizing the fruit of the Spirit.) Being in a community of brothers and sisters united by Jesus who are committed to loving each other.

I invite you today to enter the Kingdom of God if you haven’t. Give your heart, soul, mind and strength to Jesus, and embrace the Kingdom of God in its life-changing beauty.

It is here, now.

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[1] The verb for “set free” concerning the woman is the same word used for untying the donkey (luō). (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament) 

[2] The next chapter in Luke has a very similar story. (Luke 14:1-6) “Now one Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely. There right in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. So Jesus asked the experts in religious law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, “Which of you, if you have a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” But they could not reply to this.”

[3]  “The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of only a few... . Many have been created, but only a few shall be saved.” (2 Esdras  8:1–3) 

[4] “They shall come from the east, and from the west” points to Isaiah 49:12; Isaiah 14:6.

[5] See my earlier footnote on Luke 14:1-6.

[6] “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Luke 12:32

[7] Remember: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

[8] “That would be more similar to a saying found in the rabbinic literature: “Some obtain and enter the kingdom in an hour, while others reach it only after an lifetime” (b. ʻAbod. Zar. 17a).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[9] The language of being forsaken and desolate seems to refer Jeremiah 12.

[10] The Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges likes that as the translation.

[11] A quote from Psalm 118.

[12] 1 Corinthians 315

[13] “It is a most frivolous interpretation of these words to make them merely refer to the Hosannas of Palm Sunday (Luke 19:38)…They clearly refer to the future and final penitence of Israel. Hosea 3:4-5; Psalm 118:26 (Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges)

Bengel’s Gnomen sees his triumphal arrival in Jerusalem as “not the full and exhaustive fulfillment…the time is yet future when the Jews, according to Psalm 118:22; Psalm 118:26, Zechariah 4:7; Zechariah 12:10, shall recognize Him...”

“The promise… can only refer to the far future, to the day of the penitence of Israel…when the people shall look on him whom they pierced, and shall mourn. But that mourning will be turned speedily into joy.” (Pulpit Commentary)

Harmony #65: Don’t Worry (Luke 12:16-32; Matthew 6:25-34)

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. For there is more to life than food and more to the body than clothing. Look at the birds in the sky, the ravens[1]:

They do not sow, or reap, or gather into storerooms or barns, yet God your heavenly Father feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? If worrying can’t accomplish a little thing such as that, why are you worried about other matters?

Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these![2]  And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith?

The ravens and the grass are purposeful images. Ravens were unclean, lazy birds in the eyes of the Jewish people. If God “provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call” (Psalm 147:9; Job 38:41), how much more will he provide for His children? If grass is so weak and yet God clothes grass with the glory of flowers, how much more will he adorn His children with good things? Back to the text…

So then, don’t be overly concerned or worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For all the nations of the world pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Worry accomplishes nothing. Tony Evans has a great analogy:

“Worrying is foolish because it cannot bring about change to your situation. Think of it as a rocking chair: it will get you moving, but it can’t take you anywhere.”[3]

It’s one thing to be aware and make a wise plan; it’s another thing to worry, which carries it with it the idea of this nagging, consuming crisis mindset. It’s not just worry about day-to-day things: it’s worry about anything, whether it’s out of your control or in your control. I can worry about my health future, some of which I can control (#KFC) and some I can’t (#genetics). What good does the mere act of worrying do? It just adds stress, which my body does not love.

 I had to deal with that after my heart attack. My world shrank in the months that followed: I didn’t want to be anywhere not close to a hospital just in case. I didn’t hike; I didn’t fly; I didn’t want to drive down the interstate. I had to make some choices. Was I going to make reasonably good health choices and enjoy life, or was I going to obsessively worry and be controlled by “what if”?

So, for all us, we have to make choices as well.

· The economy is going to go up or down, and our finances might be impacted by it no matter how much we plan. Do we believe God is still good, and that He watches over His children with care and love?

· The election is going to go one way or the other. Then what? Are we consuming news that escalates our anxiety about the impending downfall of our civilization, or do we believe God is preparing his church for whatever awaits us, and that He watches over His children with love and care? 

· Everything is getting more expensive. The more wars rage in countries rich in oil and grain, it’s going to get worse. Okay. How does losing sleep help? How does stewing in fear help? It just ruins our physical and mental health. God is still good, and He still watches over His children with love and care, yes?

Instead, above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

At this point in the story, Jesus is giving this teaching specifically to the disciples, not the whole crowd. I think that’s important. Those disciples set businesses aside, literally following him instead of making money. Meanwhile, he kept sending them out on short missions with hardly anything. My sense is that Jesus is reassuring them in particular about their very practical provision as they follow him. Jesus called them into His mission in that season, and He had a plan. Because of this, the disciples could concentrate their focus and energies on the interests of that kingdom.

If we are to make a broader application, we need to do so in light of the rest of Scripture and the history of the church. While church history is full of stories of miraculous practical provision (#GeorgeMueller), it’s also full of stories where Christians really struggled in poverty, persecution and starvation. The early church letters talk about churches going through extreme poverty. Not long after Jesus’ death, tens of thousands in Rome died of starvation in disease.[4]Did the Christians impacted by this lack faith? I don’t think so. Hebrews 11 has something to say about this:

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised;

who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.

They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated -  the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith… (Hebrews 11:32-39)

How do we balance these two seemingly contrasting pictures of God’s care and provision for those who seek the Kingdom vs. the dire circumstances of those being commended for their faith?

First, as I pointed out last week, the early church was radically committed to meeting the financial and physical needs of everyone in the church. If everyone was seeking the Kingdom and the righteousness of God, they would have committed to this generosity whole-heartedly. Truly, there was no need for anyone to worry in the regular course of life if they lived in Holy Spirit led community. God had a plan for provision – His people. That’s what happened in Acts; that’s what happened in the NT letters when one church was in dire need; that’s the ongoing plan for all church communities.

Second, God knows more than we do what we need in this life, and He has the provision to give us what we truly need to sustain us through this life and into the life to come. I suspect there is a deeper spiritual teaching here, as the Bible talks a lot about spiritual clothes and food.[5]  When Jesus asked, "Is not life more than food?" I think he’s pointing them toward the kind of food that matters most.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the original language carries the idea of eternal nourishment: “Give us that which we need to sustain us both today and for eternity.” Material provision is not unimportant, but it’s not of eternal importance. There is nothing that can separate us from the eternal provision found in the love of Jesus.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39

Notice: we will have trouble, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, the sword. In all these things we will have victory, not because they are absent, but because the strength of God’s love holds us close in the midst of all of them.

* * * * *

Some say the theme of this chapter is summed up in Jesus’ closing words to this section: 

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)[6]

Do you hear the tenderness and the love? “Little flock.” Literally, “little, little flock.” It was God’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom. What does that look like? Here’s two snapshots of the Kingdom.

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. (Romans 4:17-19)

 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17-18)

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid!” so many times during his life on earth.[7] He came to redeem, to save, to heal, to give hope and life, to demonstrate the love of God in the flesh. We read so many times in Scripture about how God intends to do us the favor of Fathering us like a perfectly good father is meant to do, which includes caring for us deeply and relentlessly.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your cares (anxiety) on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”  (Psalms 55:22)

“Blessed be the Lord, Who daily bears our burden, the God Who is our salvation.” (Psalm 68:19)

“Be careful for nothing: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall watch over your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

When Jesus said, “Take no thought for the things of tomorrow,” this encouragement broadly covers all the things we worry about: jobs, health, family, relationships. Everything that keeps us up at night. The things that give us anxiety and fear. If you have struggled with anxiety and worry, I don’t have to convince you it’s a terrible thing to be overwhelmed by anxiety.

The past year has held a lot of anxiety for me. It is God’s timing that I have begun to remember and process some very traumatic things that happened to me when I was a child. Part of what has happened is that I experience quite a few moments in life through the lenses of a 10-year-old traumatized boy. I had forgotten how big and scary the world can be, both literally and emotionally.

God has provision for me. Good friends, good counselors, the Holy Spirit, His Word. I have been forced to press into all of them in humbling and healing ways. One image of God that I have been clinging to is the image at the end of the passage we read today. If I may paraphrase how this image of God has landed in my life this year:

“Do not be afraid, little one, for your Heavenly Father is deeply pleased to give you the goodness of life in His kingdom.”

I have experienced God’s comfort and provision; I have also been grounded by studying Scripture as well as the insight from other followers of Jesus. I’ve already offered a number of Scripture. I offer this commentary for your consideration also.

“But He cares for us. My soul, has not Jesus proved it? Did He not care for you when He embarked in the work of your salvation? Did He not care for you when you were dead in trespasses and in sins? And when the Holy Spirit convinced you of sin, and broke your heart, and led you in holy contrition to the cross, did not Jesus manifest His care for you then by raising you up from His feet, enfolding you in His arms, and applying His atoning blood to your conscience, saying to your tempest-tossed spirit, 'Peace, be still,' and there was peace? The Lord cares for you still. He cares for your needs, for your trials, for your temptations, for your sorrows. Still more, He cares for… the doubts and fears and tremblings which sometimes assail you--for the darkness which often enshrouds you--for the loneliness and solitude of the way by which He is leading you home to Himself.”  - Octavius Winslow

“Treat cares as you treat sins. Hand them over to Jesus one by one as they occur. Commit them to Him. Roll them upon Him. Make them his. By an act of faith look to Him, saying, ‘This, Lord, and this, and this, I cannot bear. Thou hast taken my sins; take my cares: I lay them upon Thee, and trust Thee to do for me all, and more than all, I need. I will trust, and not be afraid…’"  -  F.B. Meyer

“You are staggering beneath a weight which your Father would not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden, would be to him but as the small dust of the balance… O child of suffering, be thou patient; God has not passed thee over in his providence. He who is the feeder of sparrows, will also furnish you with what you need. Sit not down in despair; hope on, hope ever… There is One who careth for you. His eye is fixed on you… He, if thou art one of his family, will bind up thy wounds, and heal thy broken heart. Doubt not his grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that he loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness… He has never refused to bear your burdens, he has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God.”- Spurgeon

Be your frame low, your heart dead, your faith weak—arise, and draw near to God… you feel as if there existed in this wide world no heart, no spirit, no mind that responded to, or that chimed and blended with your own. Yes; there is One!—Jesus cares for you.  – Octavius Winslow

SOME RECOMMENDED SONGS

·  Selah – I look To You

· Kari Jobe – I am Not Alone; Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest)

· Laura Story –He Will Not Let Go; Perfect Peace

· Needtobreathe – Lay ‘Em Down

· Finding Favour – Cast My Cares

· Alisa Turner – My Prayer For You

· I will Arise and Go To Jesus  (Julie Miller)

· Psalm 23 (Keith Green)

· I Trust Jesus (Matthew West; Jenn Johnson)

· I Will Fear No More (The Afters)

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[1] Ravens were unclean to Jewish people ((Lev 11:13–15; Deut 14:11–14),

[2] 1 Kings 10:4-5  “When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.”

[3] Tony Evans Study Bible

[4] “In A.D. 51, the emperor Claudius barely escaped a hostile crowd during a grain shortage and resulting famine that left Rome with only a fifteen-day supply of grain. During their revolt, the Jews in Jerusalem experienced great famine. Thousands died as relatives fought over… food. The most horrific example involved a young mother named Mary of Bethezuba who, because of her hunger, tore her baby from her breast and roasted it, devouring half the corpse. This abomination of infant cannibalism horrified both the rebels and the Romans.” - How To Read The Bible Book By Book
“In 65 when Nero was persecuting the church, a plague broke out in Rome killing 30,000 residents. Pestilence also broke out in Jerusalem due to overcrowding during the Roman siege in A.D. 70.” N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone

[5] Isaiah 61:10-11, 11:5; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; Revelation 19:8; Psalm 132:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Job 29:14

[6] Africa Bible Commentary

[7] Check out how often this phrase is used in the Bible at “Do not be afraid.” https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/HaveNoFear.html

Harmony #64: Choosing Between Two Masters (Luke 12:13-21, 33-34; Matthew 6:19-21, 24)

Then someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But Jesus said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator between you two?” Then he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. ”He then told them a parable:[1]

“The land of a certain rich man produced an abundant crop, so he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God.[2]

“Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out—a treasure in heaven that never decreases, where no thief approaches to break in and steal, and no moth or rust destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”[3]

* * * * *

 The Bible has a lot to say about money.

• Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables Jesus told deal with money and possessions.

• 10% of the Gospels deal directly with the subject of money.

• The Bible has 500+ verses on prayer and 500 - verses on faith, but 2,000+ verses on money and possessions. There are a LOT more sections addressing poverty/the poor.

So, let’s talk about how to see and use money through the lenses of Scripture.

1. The Money We Have Is From God’s Provision

“Every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to use it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:19)

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 18:17-18)

2. We Are Stewards

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.  Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.  Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand… Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. (1 Chronicles 29: 10-16)

3. Money’s Has The Potential To be Destructive

• Mark 10:24 - “How hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!”

• Matthew 13:22 - “…the love of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word of God, and he becomes unfruitful.”

• 1 Timothy 6:10 - “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith…"

• Hebrews 13:5 - “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have…”

• Ecclesiastes 5:10 “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”[4]

Christian singer Steve Taylor wrote a song called Cash Cow. It’s a strange mini rock opera, to be sure, but you don’t hear many popular Christian songs calling out the danger of money. Here’s a taste.

It was a morning just like any other morning ...in the Sinai Desert ...1200 B.C. It glistened, it glowed, it rose from the gold of the children of Israel (and most of the adults): The Cash Cow.

The golden Cash Cow had a body like the great cows of ancient Egypt and a face like the face of Robert Tilton[5] (without the horns). And through the centuries it has roamed the earth like a ravenous bovine seeking whom it may lick. 

From the Valley of the Shadow of the Outlet Mall to the customized pet-wear boutique; from the trailer of the fry chef to the palace of the sheik, the Cash Cow lurks.

Who loves you, baby? Who'll give you good credit? Who says you'll regret it? "I was young and I needed the money." "I had money, and I needed more money." "I was filthy rich--all I wanted was love. And a little more money..."

Woe to you, proud mortal, secure in your modest digs. You think you're immune? I, too, was hypnotized by those big cow eyes the last time I uttered those three little words, "I deserve better!"

What are the warning signs, that money is becoming a problem? I like Tim Keller’s list.

You can’t give large amounts of it away. You get scared if you might have less than you’re accustomed to having.  You see people who are doing better than you, even though you might have worked harder or might be a better person, and it gets under your skin. And when that happens, you have one foot in the trap. Because then it’s no longer just a tool; it’s the scorecard. It’s your essence, your identity. No matter how much money you have, though it’s not intrinsically evil, it has incredible power to keep you from God.  – Tim Keller

4. Money Has Great Potential For Good

“Now, my brothers, we must tell you about the grace that God had given to the Macedonian churches. Somehow, in most difficult circumstances, their joy and the fact of being down to their last penny[6] themselves produced a magnificent concern for other people. I can guarantee that they were willing to give to the limit of their means, yes and beyond their means, without the slightest urging from me or anyone else.

In fact they simply begged us to accept their gift of supporting their brothers in Christ. Nor was their gift, as I must confess I had expected, a mere cash payment. Instead they made a complete dedication of themselves first to the Lord and then to us, as God’s appointed ministers.

 I don’t want you to read this as an order. It is only my suggestion, prompted by what I have seen in others of eagerness to help, and here is a way to prove the reality of your love. Do you remember the generous grace of Jesus Christ, the Lord of us all? He was rich beyond our telling, yet he generously became poor for your sakes so that his poverty might make you rich." (2 Corinthians 8:1-9)

When we realize that others are in need, and we have the resources to alleviate that need, we should generously and joyfully do so. It is a sign of the reality of our love for God and others. God does not prosper us so we can indulge ourselves. God prospers us so we can extend the gift of generous grace to others.

“All the believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of his possessions were all his own, but they shared everything they had...it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”  (Acts 4:32-35)[7]

This is not government-mandated communism or socialism; this is Holy Spirit inspired, voluntary communalism. This is the financial implication of covenant community. We are part of a community that needs our contribution from the blessing God has given us. That could manifest in many ways, but here we see one clear and practical way: take care of each other’s physical needs.[8] The early Church Fathers were uncomfortably blunt on this issue.

• Didache (100s) “Share everything with your brother. Do not say, “It is private property.” If you share what is everlasting, you should be that much more willing to share things which do not last.”

• Irenaeus (130-200) “Instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide everything we have with the poor. And he said to love not only our neighbors but also our enemies, and to be givers and sharers not only with the good but also to be liberal givers toward those who take away our possessions.”

• John Chrysostom (300s) “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs.”

• Basil the Great (300s) “The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the man who has no shoes; the money which you put into the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help but fail to help.”

• Ambrose (300s) wrote, “The things which we cannot take with us are not ours. Only virtue will be our companion when we die…The bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever... You are not making a gift of your possession to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his.”

5. Generosity is meant to be an act of worship, not a legalistic transaction followed by angry, begrudging givers. We will either worship wealth, or worship with our wealth.  Here’s how to worship with our wealth.

 “The important thing is to be willing to give as much as we can—that is what God accepts, and no one is asked to give what he has not got. Of course, I don’t mean that others should be relieved to an extent that leaves you in distress. It is a matter of share and share alike….

At present your plenty should supply their need, and then at some future date their plenty may supply your need. In that way we share with each other, as the scripture says, ‘He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack’…

Let everyone give as his heart tells him, neither grudgingly nor under compulsion, for God loves people who give cheerfully. After all, God can give you everything that you need, so that you may always have sufficient both for yourselves and for giving away to other people. As the scripture says: “He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.”

The more you are enriched by God the more scope there will be for generous giving, and your gifts, administered through us, will mean that many will thank God. For your giving does not end in meeting the wants of your fellow-Christians. It also results in an overflowing tide of thanksgiving to God.

Moreover, your very giving proves the reality of your faith, and that means that people thank God that you practice the Gospel that you profess to believe in, as well as for the actual gifts you make to them and to others. And yet further, people will pray for you and feel drawn to you because you have obviously received a generous measure of the grace of God. Thank God, then, for his indescribable generosity to you!” (Excerpts from 2 Corinthians 8-9)

6. In giving back to God, we reorient our hearts.

The NT does not mandate a tithe amount. Along with its many encouragements to be generous, it says this about the heart of the giver:

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

God’s not interested in a legalistic approach to generosity. Setting a number like 10% too easy; it lets us avoid our hearts. I suspect that God wants to use our relationship with our money like a fire in our lives (to use imagery from last week.  Do I think of what I have as mine, or am I a steward of what is God’s? Is my money merely for me and my family, or have I been given a resource that has communal obligations attached to it?  What does it look like to simultaneously be responsible for myself and my family while trusting God that I can be generous in ways that might even make me financially uncomfortable at times?  What should bring me greater joy: watching my retirement account grow, or watching my financially desperate brother and sister have their needs met?

“I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. If our giving habits do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we want to do but cannot do because our giving expenditures exclude them.” – C.S. Lewis

This, I think, is where our hearts get exposed. We love the stories of followers of Jesus who were radically generous with their money, trusting God to take care of them. We know it’s admirable. It’s just….really, really hard to think of doing that ourselves.

But God does a fiery work of purification through our love of generosity and kindness. There is something soul-transformative in giving. It frees us from the power of money, and it frees us to celebrate how God’s provision for His people (as a group) helps us to take care of each other.

I think we learn something about the heart of God, who is lavishly generous to us, when we are generous to others. Some ideas for generosity:

• the church (for our spiritual mission and our benevolence fund)

• your neighbor (Who is your neighbor? Everybody.)

• missionaries/missions organization (His House, VidaNet, Esperanza, Sal, Heather and Mila Sanchez, the Ducrozet family)

• organizations that work with those in need (locally, think Goodwill Inn, Father Fred, Single MOMM, Thrive, Freedom Farm and Affirm Ministries, Peace Ranch, Touching Hearts, Thomas Judd)

It doesn’t have to be much compared to others around you. We all have different amounts of resources. But being generous is part of God’s good plan to bless His people, both the giver and the receiver. 

___________________________________________________________________

[1] This parable has a parallel in Ben Sirach 11:18–19: “One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial, and the reward allotted to him is this: when he says, ‘I have found rest, and now I shall feast on my goods!’ he does not know how long it will be until he leaves them to others and dies.” (NIV First Century Study Bible)

[2]  Scripture warns against merely storing grain when others were hungry (Pr 11:26).

[3] The Testament of Judah 19:1 (second century b.c.) reads, “My children, love of money leads to idolatry, because once they are led astray by money, they designate as gods those who are not gods. It makes anyone who has it go out of his mind.”

[4] Proverbs 11:28 - “He that trusts in his riches will fall…”

Psalms 62:10 - “If riches increase, don’t set your heart upon them.”

Luke 18: 24-25  Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Hebrews 13:5-6  “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have because He has said, “I will never leave you; I will always be by your side.” 6 Because of this promise, we may boldly say, “The Lord is my help - I won’t be afraid of anything. How can anyone harm me?”

[5] A prosperity gospel televangelist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tilton

[6] Deuteronomy 15:11 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.

[7] Perhaps they were taking their cue from Proverbs: One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. People curse the one who hoards grain, but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell. (Proverbs 11:24-26)

[8] “The Dead Sea Scrolls community also tried to live simple lives, and they were critical of wealth. Josephus claimed not one member of the sect had greater wealth or possessions than another. Upon joining the community, a person’s possessions were handed over to the leaders and became communal property.” (NIV First Century Study Bible)

Harmony #63: The Fire of God (Luke 12:1-9, 11-12; 49-56; 6:40; Matthew 10:17-20, 22-36)

Meanwhile, when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Do not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear in private rooms, proclaim from the housetops.

I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body,[1] and after that have nothing more they can do, because they cannot kill the soul. But I will warn you whom you should fear: Fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body[2], who has authority to end them both in Gehennah. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God, or falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. In fact, even all the hairs on your head are numbered. So do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man, will also acknowledge in the heavenly court before the angels and my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven and before his angels.”[3]

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves. Beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils and bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, and flog you in their synagogues. And you will be brought before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles.

But when they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers and the authorities, and hand you over for trial, do not worry about how you should make your defense or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say. For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.[4]

All the nations will hate (denounce, persecute[5]) you because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Whenever they persecute you in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.[6]

A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave greater than his master. It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. Everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they defame the members of his household!”

I have come to bring fire on the earth—and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism (of suffering) to undergo, and how hard pressed I am until it is finished![7]

Do you think I have come to bring peace (wholeness[8]) on earth? No, I tell you, my arrival is bring disunion of opinion and conduct![9] I have not come (to help everybody smooth over their differences), but to wield a sword (of the Spirit, the word of God.)[10]

For from now on there will be five in one household divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his household.[11]

* * * * *

There are multiple points to be made this week. Apply as needed :)

Guard against hypocrisy. I feel like we covered this last week.

We are sheep, not wolves. Watch out for the wolves; identify them, and don’t be like them. Jesus then identifies the wolves: councils, synagogues, rulers, authorities, governors and kings. Those with power. Religion has never done well when wedded with power; Judaism and Christianity are no exception. I think one reason is that it takes wolves to keep power – or maybe power makes us wolfish. God does not intend for us to go into hostile spaces and fight with the weapons of the hostile.

 The Good Shepherd’s Sermon on the Mount is the template for us sheep. Poor in spirit; mourning our brokenness; meek/gentle; hungering for righteousness; merciful; pure in heart; peacemakers; willing to endure persecution. (Matthew 5) That’s how sheep go into the territory of wolves. It feels so opposed to what we want to do, but it’s the path the Good Shepherd gave to us.

Proclaim truth boldly, show wisdom/sensibility, and live blamelessly. Representing Jesus well calls us to a faithful attitude, a discerning presentation, and a righteous lifestyle. First, we ought not be embarrassed or cowardly about our faith. We don’t have to be obnoxious, but Jesus said, “Acknowledge me before others.” When we have light for the darkness, we make sure it shines. Second, we need to pray for Holy Spirit help to ‘read the room’ when we present or defend our faith. What do people need in the moment? Not every field is harvested the same way; don’t take a combine to a melon patch. Third, we need to make sure we live in habits of faithfulness and righteousness. If faith without deeds is a dead faith, surely the presentation of our faith without the commentary of our deeds to accompany it is equally problematic. Our actions and words should tell the same story.

Truth is divisive. Expect pushback and persecution. Your translation might say, “All the people will hate you.” I think the better translations use “nations.” Jesus’ language clearly wasn’t meant to apply to every individual. The early church grew very, very quickly. Jesus is simply noting that everywhere they go, there will be pushback and minimum and persecution at maximum from somebody. I’ve talked with some followers of Jesus who just assumed that the larger amount of people who disliked them, the more faithful they must be. That… might not be what’s happening. The early church exploded because so many people really liked what they heard and saw in the first followers of Jesus.

That sword Jesus brings is elsewhere called “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) that “is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) The message and means of peace with God was a foolish stumbling block for some. (1 Corinthians 1:23) Just like the same light can illuminate or blind, the same truth can land very differently in the eyes of different people.

If God’s truth divides us from others or brings disdainful attitudes on us, so be it. Let’s just be sure we don’t give reasons other than God’s truth for those things to happen.

Disciples of Jesus need not be afraid of the One who truly deserves their fear/awe/reverence.[12] Within the space of a paragraph, we read “fear God/don’t fear God.” I think that contrast is purposeful. We are supposed to wrestle with it. So here’s where I wrestled to J We are so used to being afraid of power, because so often power has been used to abuse. But God is Great AND God is Good (as we used to sing before meals). Jesus, right in front of them, is showing that God is using His power to save the world. Jesus is watching sparrows in person. The power is stunning; so is the love and provision. Peter will be a recipient of this. Even after denying Jesus and bringing on himself the punishment of a traitor, Jesus draws him back. When Jesus resurrects, he tells people, “Don’t be afraid.” He wasn’t on a revenge tour. He was there to seek and save the lost.

God’s Spirit will empower you. You don’t have to have perfect preparation or extensive training to represent Jesus. You just need to be faithfully present. Preparation is not a bad idea: “Be ready always to give a reason for the hope that lies within you, with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15) Just remember that when we are weak, He is strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9) We won’t ever stand in front of the Sanhedrin, but we will stand in front of family members, and co-workers, and classmates. Be wise and gentle, but be bold. God’s Spirit is with you.

‘Baptism by fire’ is part of God’s plan. It will purify us.

The fire of God is a beautiful and terrifying gift. The imagery is used generously throughout the Bible.

OLD TESTAMENT EXAMPLES[13]

·  “For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.” (Psalm 66:10-12) 

· “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.” (Proverbs 17:3)

· “Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel…” (Proverbs 25:4)

· “I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.” (Isaiah 1:25)

· “The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: ‘Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?’ He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil.” (Isaiah 33:14-15)

· “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10)

· “And it shall come to pass in all the land, says the LORD, that two- thirds in it shall be cast off and die, but one-third shall be left in it; I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; and each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God'” (Zech. 13:8-9).

· “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” (Lamentations 3:22)

· “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10).

·“Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?” (Jeremiah 9:7)

·  “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver…. ‘So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.’ (Malachi 3:2-6)

NEW TESTAMENT EXAMPLES

· “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[14] His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12)

· “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)

· “ Their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work… If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire. ” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15)

·  And have mercy on those who waver; save others by snatching them out of the fire.” (Jude 1:22-23)

· “Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns.” (1 Peter 1:7)

· “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

· “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12) 

· “And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ Everyone will be salted with fire.” (Mark 9:47-49)

So…. when the Bible talks about fire in this life, be it real or metaphorical, it always does two things: fire judges and purifies. The judgment of that which is evil also purifies the land or the person by getting rid of that which is destructive and evil.[15] The fire of judgment is a mercy to the victims of evil; the fire of purification a gift to the one doing the evil.

In the In the New Testament’s unveiling of the New Covenant, this fire seems to be two key things, both of which offer a judgment (by revealing what it pure and good) and a purification (since what is left is pure and good).

God’s Word

“’For what has chaff to do with wheat?’ declares the Lord. ‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:28-29)

Foresters will occasionally do a “controlled burn” for the health of a forest. It gets out dead grass and trees, fallen branches, and thick undergrowth.

“By ridding a forest of dead leaves, tree limbs, and other debris, a prescribed burn can help prevent a destructive wildfire. Controlled burns can also reduce insect populations and destroy invasive plants. In addition, fire can be rejuvenating. It returns nutrients to the soil in the ashes of vegetation that could otherwise take years to decompose.

 And after a fire, the additional sunlight and open space in a forest can help young trees and other plants start to grow. Some plants, such as certain pine species, require fire before the cones or fruits containing the seeds can release them. These cones or fruits need fire to melt a resin that holds the seeds inside. As a result, without fire these species cannot reproduce.”

Apply these principles generously to the fire of God’s Word in our lives. God’s word will bring life, but there will be a prescribed burn. It’s taking up our cross to follow Jesus. It’s “dying daily,” like Paul described his life.  It’s being pruned. If God’s word does not at times feel like a fire burning away your sin, we aren’t taking the Bible seriously enough. Let’s try a couple verses.

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (1 John 3:17)

Trials/Tests

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

Greek scholar, Kenneth Wuest, provides a beautiful illustration of God’s refining fire.

“The picture here is of an ancient goldsmith who puts his crude gold ore in a crucible, subjects it to intense heat, and thus liquefies the mass. The impurities rise to the surface and are skimmed off. When the metalworker is able to see the reflection of his face clearly mirrored in the surface of the liquid, he takes it off the fire, for he knows that the contents are pure gold. So it is with God and His child. He puts us in the crucible of Christian suffering, in which process sin is gradually put out of our lives, our faith is purified from the slag of unbelief that somehow mingles with it so often, and the result is the reflection of the face of Jesus Christ in the character of the Christian. This, above all, God the Father desires to see. Christlikeness is God’s ideal for His child. Christian suffering is one of the most potent means to that end.”

Why did Jesus bring a fire to the earth? Because the fire of God produces purified men and women of God. Because God is a Good Father, he desires the best for His children. He desires us to flourish as transformed image bearers living in the path of life, expanding the Kingdom of God wherever we go.

 ________________________________________________________________

[1] In 4 Maccabees, a first-century Jewish text about the martyrdom of a man named Eleazar and his seven sons, we read, “Let us not fear him who thinks he is killing us... . For if we so die, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will welcome us, and all the fathers will praise us.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[2] “The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.” (Isaiah 8:13)

[3] “Before that glorious throng of heavenly beings, whose existence was a part of the creed of every true Jew; before the mighty angels, the awful seraphim; before that countless crowd of winged and burning ones who assisted at the awful mysteries of Sinai, would they who witnessed for him, and suffered because of him, be acknowledged by him. Their sufferings…would be recounted before the angels by the same King of heaven, when he returned to his home of grandeur and of peace in heaven.” (Pulpit Commentary)

[4] An example is seen in Peter’s testimony in Acts 4:8-12.

[5] https://biblehub.com/greek/3404.htm

[6] How could this happen in their lifetime? Many commentaries agree with the ESV Reformation Study Bible: “The ‘coming’ refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70 as an act of judgment against the nation of Israel. This understanding retains the note of urgency and fits the experience of the church prior to a.d. 70… That event was terrible in intensity and fell on what had been the central visible symbol of God’s presence, the temple.

[7] “If Jesus refers here to the “baptism” with fire he may be suggesting that he will first experience the judgment in others’ place.” (NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[8] “Wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together (HELPS Word Studies)

[9] Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. This is the only time this word is used in the New Testament.

[10] Ephesians 6:17)

[11] “The passage recalls Micah’s description of the social disintegration in Israel leading up to the Assyrian conquest, when “a man’s enemies are the members of his own household” (Mic. 7:6). The rabbis interpreted this Old Testament passage with reference to the great time of crisis before the coming of the Messiah, when “children shall shame the elders, and the elders shall rise up before the children.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[12] The Greek word for “fear” can mean the obvious “afraid”, but also “awe and reverence”. We can see which meaning is intended based on the context. Luke 12:4-7 is Jesus telling the listeners to whom they ought to owe allegiance; instead of revering human rulers, who do not control the afterlife, we ought to obey God, who does. (Expositors Bible Commentary)

[13] Moses saw a burning bush from which God spoke. (Exodus 3:1-3)  A pillar of fire led the people of Israel from Egypt. (Exodus 13:20-22)  A fire hovered over the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:38) – the same fire that hovered over the converts in Acts, identifying people as the temple of God.

[14] Probably a reference to the event in Acts when the Holy Spirit appeared like “divided tongues of fire… and rested on each one of them.”(Acts 2:3)

[15] “It is difficult to determine the precise meaning of "fire" because the word can signify either judgment or purification. The immediate context suggests judgment; while Jesus came to bring salvation rather than judgment (Lk 4:19; Jn 3:17), his coming also meant judgment (Jn 9:39). But it may also signify purification. John the Baptist promised that Jesus would "baptize . . . with the Holy Spirit and fire" (see comments on 3:16). It is possible that this fire was to be "kindled" by the baptism of the Spirit (Ac 2:1-4), something that could only occur after his own "baptism" of death (v.50), the thought of which distressed him greatly.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

Harmony #57: The Sending Of the 70/72[1] (Luke 10:1-16)

In the last installment, we read about the response of three potential followers of Jesus, all of whom had something that got in the way. Today, we will see the obedient response of 70 of Jesus’ followers (Luke 9:57-62).This is not the first time Jesus sent a group of his disciples on a focused mission. 

In the chapter just before this one, Luke records Jesus sending out 12 disciples, the number of tribes in Israel, to Jewish towns. Most commentators see this as symbolically reaching all of Israel with the good news of God’s coming Kingdom.

Today, Jesus sends out 70 disciples to Gentile towns. Why 70? Genesis 10 gives a list of the descendants of Noah’s children: "from these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.” Guess how many nations? J[2]  This, then, is an inauguration of what will be a call to all of us to spread the Gospel to all the nations of the earth.[3]

* * * * *

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. Go! I am sending you out like lambs surrounded by wolves.

“Do not carry a money bag, a traveler’s bag filled with extra coats, or extra sandals,[4] and don’t get distracted by lengthy, time-consuming greeting with people you meet on the road.[5]

Whenever you enter a house, first say, ‘May peace be on this house!’ And if a peace-loving person is there, your peace will remain on him, but if not, it will return to you.  Stay in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the worker deserves his pay. Do not move around from house to house.

“Whenever you enter a town and the people welcome you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in that town and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come upon you!’  But whenever you enter a town and the people do not welcome you, go into its streets and say,  ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this: The kingdom of God has come.’

 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say,1 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’  I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

 “Woe/alas[6] to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida![7] For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you[8].  And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades[9].

“The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

Today, we have a smorgasbord of points. Fill up your plates as you wish.

1. The 70 R US.  Some commentators point out that in Exodus 24, Moses chose 70 elders who went up Mt. Sinai with Moses and were filled with Spirit such that they prophesied (think ‘spoke inspired truth’). They became leaders of God’s people pointing them toward truth. Jesus now sets up the priestly/prophetic role of those who will bring the good news to all the nations – which will be all of us, not just those 70.  

“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation… that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:5,9)

2. We should ‘pray’ and ‘go’ into the field.[10] Notice we pray and go. Prayer is not the equivalent of washing our hands of responsibility or engagement. ”Thoughts and prayers” for a harvest is not enough. We must go.

Where is the harvest field? Everywhere. All the time. Even the smallest moments are opportunities.[11] Just remember: We don’t save people. Free yourself from that pressure. But we do introduce people to the one who does. We plant truth; then we nurture the environment into which truth has been planted.

3. Dear sheep: expect the wolves. There should be no expectation that conditions will be safer or easier for us than it was for them.  They, like us, ought not expect to be liked, admired, or supported; rather, we should expect to be ignored, mocked, persecuted and even killed. We have to embrace the reality that in this world, there will be trouble, and some of it is because we are faithful witnesses.

This is not all the time, of course. The early church exploded because so many people liked the message and the messengers of Christianity. But that was always mixed in with trials and persecution.

I read too many news stories where Christians in the United States are shocked and scared when something happens that makes life hard because they are Christian.

· My Bible Study club at school got cancelled.

· That social media platform is censoring me.

· My workplace won’t let me put up Christian symbols.

· When I post Bible verses people mock me.

· I’m called all kinds of phobic just because I want to be faithful to biblical teaching.”

What did we expect?

Outrage is not the righteous response. Remember, the disciples wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan town that rejected them. Now Jesus is sending them to that town (among others). The response to trials is meant to be outreach. We are meant to invite even the wolves to meet the transformational power of Jesus so the sheep multiply.

4. Jesus deliberately ensured community. The 70 didn’t have money, extra clothes to keep them warm at night, or food. They could not live in isolation. This forced them into community.There may be an added element here of letting go of the need to be comfortable (or avoiding the appearance of displaying wealth), but I’m leaning toward the idea it was primarily to make community inescapable.

I wonder what it looks like to organize our lives and priorities such that we make life in Christian community such a priority that we can’t  imagine doing life without it. I’m not entirely sure what that looks like in our setting, but it seems important. If we take nothing else away from this, just remember that we are designed to rely on each other.

5. Kingdom-minded people have generous hospitality of mind, heart, and resources.[12]  We see clearly how this looked in the early church. The first followers of Jesus took this very seriously – and literally.

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.  There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. (Acts 4:32-34)

This ties back in to the community focus. Clearly, they lived in a rhythm of asking for help and giving help. This isn’t some woke Marxist utopia; this is Kingdom generosity. “They shared everything they had…there were no needy people among them”!  

6. We are to prioritize the mission. The Middle Eastern custom of greeting honored others, but prophets on mission were given an exemption in the Old Testament. he 70 had a narrow window of time for their particular mission, so they were laser focused.

I think it is a reminder to never forget that we are on a mission, and it needs to be prioritized. We just saw potential disciples give excuses about why they had to postpone the mission (“I have to bury my father; I need to say goodbye.”) As Dr. Seuss would say, “The time has come, the time is now, Marvin K. Mooney will you please go now!”

For the 70, this was a short window of time. Almost certainly they went back to long greetings when appropriate. It’s not that the greetings were bad. It’s about having the wisdom to prioritize the rhythm of the Kingdom in favor of the mission of the Kingdom.

7. The response to inhospitality is loving witness. Jesus told the 70 that if they go into a town and are welcomed, they should a) take care of their practical needs on God’s behalf (cure the sick miraculously) and b) tell them the Kingdom has come near. It’s not either/or; it’s both/and. 

But if they were not welcomed, they were to wipe the dust off your feet and leave - but still tell those who were hostile that the Kingdom has come near.  How were the 70 to respond to rejection and hostility? With witness!

If you experience rejection or hostility for being a follower of Jesus, don’t pray that God rains down fire. The door to the Kingdom is still open for all, and we should remind people of that no matter what they think of us or our message, God invites them into His Kingdom.

8. Honor people. They were not to move. This might characterize them as those who are shopping for the most luxurious accommodations when they should live simply and gratefully. This levels the socio-economic playing field. The disciples aren’t jockeying for the tastiest food and softest beds or wittiest company. They aren’t going to curry favor while in a town so they become upwardly mobile in society. They might get bread and water when they could be getting caviar and Verners somewhere else, but they will be content.

This seems really relevant. We are not called to continue to seek the bigger stage, the brighter lights, the trendier audience, the cooler venues, the more powerful and beautiful peers. It’s a trap. It’s a distraction. It’s also turns the people with whom we started into stepping stones on our way to “something greater,” which is almost always greater by Empire standards, not Kingdom standards.  

Sometimes, ministries grow organically. I’m not talking about that. I mean, if the disciples were staying in a house with someone who was just about to move into a much nicer place, it’s not like they couldn’t move with them J Sometimes, there are righteous reasons for moving to a different place of ministry. I don’t mean to imply that moving on is inherently wrong. But there is a difference between chasing bigger and better from a bad heart vs. stewarding what God gives us to steward.

Jesus is clear in this instruction: don’t chase comfort or status. As a picture on our wall said when I was a kid, “Bloom where you are planted.”

9. Accept what you are given. A joyful acceptance of hospitality, no matter how small or bland or unusual, goes a long way toward building relational bridges - especially if what someone offered was modest. The disciples’ response really mattered. Likely, the humble host is already self-conscious that Billy and Sarah up the street could give them smoked brisket instead of spam. How the disciples responded to their hospitality mattered a ton for the sake of the Kingdom.

10. Do the work of a missionary: heal and proclaim. In Luke 9, Jesus sent the twelve out to “proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal.”  In Luke 10, he sent the seventy out to “cure the sick…and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” At this stage of his ministry,  Jesus’ disciples do the same things they have seen Jesus doing: healing people and telling them about the Kingdom.  

“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people” (Matt. 4:23)

Later on, after his death and resurrection, he will give them further instructions, but for now this was enough: heal people; do it as a sign that God’s kingdom is on its way into the world.[13]

For us, I think that bringing healing to people is a both/and: both prayers for supernatural healing (which shows the care and power of God in a supernatural way) and doing the work of bringing medical, emotional, relational and financial healing to all places of sickness in the world (which shows the care of God and the power of the church’s presence).

Friends oversees have told me that their church planting in new towns started with a year of establishing things like drug rehab clinics and orphanages. They healed the sick. When they proclaimed “The Kingdom of heaven is here,” the people had already seen what it would look like in a very practical sense.

I worry that we can overlook the importance of practical care as a sign of God’s love and provision. Helping the needy/sick/poor is not wokeness or a distracting social gospel; it’s a lifestyle that ought to be embedded in the DNA of the Christian.[14]

We can learn a lot from the “show and tell” we did in school. We don’t just show; we don’t just tell. It’s both J

11. Remember the message: The kingdom of God has come.   The “kingdom of God” in this present age is the rule and reign of God in people’s hearts and lives. In Luke 17:20-21 Jesus said,

“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed (like Rome), nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”[15]

In other words, God is here. Now. Meanwhile, the Jewish people were expecting the Kingdom of God to do the following:

· bring peace by ruling the world (through the Zealot’s warrior/political messiah)

· bring righteousness by restoring the glory of the Temple (the Sadducees’ Torah/Temple Messiah)

· bring about socio-economic justice by ‘turning stones into bread’ (the Pharisee’s People’s Messiah)

Jesus addressed peace, righteousness and justice, but not like they expected.

· The Kingdom brings peace between us and God (through salvation and reconciliation) and peace with others (#newhumanity #nobarriers[16]) through Jesus.

· The Kingdom brings righteousness by cleansing our hearts, renewing our minds, and healing our souls.

· The Kingdom brings justice (just living) as God’s people bring a full range of provision and healing to the world as a demonstration of God’s care for “the least of these.”

This is the Kingdom, and it is here. Let’s ‘show and tell’ everybody.

____________________________________________________________________________________

[1] It’s a Hebrew/Greek thing, like 666 vs. 606 in Revelation. When the Hebrew was translated into Greek, 70 was translated as 72.  In both cases, Jesus sent out as many disciples as there were nations in the ancient world.

[2] Some commentators point out that in Exodus 24, Moses chose 70 elders who went up Mt. Sinai with Moses and were filled with Spirit such that they prophesied (think ‘spoke inspired truth’). The Numbers 11 account notes two additional men besides the 70 were with Moses, Eldad and Medad, who also received the spirit and prophesied as the other elders did. So were there 70 (on the basis of being on Mt. Sinai with Moses), or 72?

[3] “The 12 and the 70,” biblehub.com

[4] Extras denoted wealth. Also, this meant they had to stay at a house, because they would be too cold to sleep outside. It forced relationship and community.

[5] “Greetings were socially mandatory, except on an urgent prophetic errand or mission as in 2Ki 4:29.”  (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[6] A “woe” is an exclamation of grief, similar to what is expressed by the word alas. 

[7] “The condemnation of these towns would be based on the revelation they’d received. Capernaum, in particular, had witnessed many of Jesus’s miraculous works (see 4:31-41; 7:1-10), yet the majority of the city’s inhabitants rejected him.” (“Ministry on the way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51–19:27)”, biblestudytools.com)

[8] “Chorazin and Bethsaida have been so thoroughly destroyed that their exact location is not definitely known today.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[9] An allusion to the fall of Babylon noted in Isa 14:13, 15.

[10] Bonus point: Governments/institutions/systems take a position either for or against the Kingdom. This is what we mean when we talk about “systemic” problems. Sometimes, it’s more than individuals who oppose God’s Kingdom. It’s entire structures of society. We talk about corporations that we support (or don’t support, perhaps) because they have corporate policies that we believe promote virtue or vice. It happens in countries where religious freedom is more or less allowed. I offer this to note that “all of creation groans” as it awaits redemption. The fallenness of individuals will manifest in the things those individuals build. It’s important to “pray and go” to both individuals and the cities/countries/industries/businesses in which they live. Everything needs Jesus.

[11] “My (Paul’s) job was to plant the seed, and Apollos was called to water it. Any growth comes from God, so the ones who water and plant have nothing to brag about. God, who causes the growth, is the only One who matters.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

[12] You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. ”For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, He will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. 2 Corinthians 9:7-12 NLT 

[13] This list is a combination of lists found at “On The Road With Jesus: The Mission Of The Seventy,” goodfaithmedia.org. and a list at Believer’s Bible Commentary.

[14] I think that’s what the foot-washing ad during the Superbowl was trying to convey.

[15] I believe that’s the best translation.

[16] Ephesians 2:14-15

Harmony #56: The Cost of Following Jesus (Luke 9:51-62; Matthew 8:19-22)

Now when the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus set out resolutely (“set his face”) to go to Jerusalem.

In both Matthew and Luke’s Gospel, this incident is placed on the heels of Jesus doing the kind of miraculous things that drew a large crowd (even though the incidents are different). In Matthew’s gospel, he is trying to get away from large crowds when this incident happens.

It’s no surprise, then, that these three conversation reflect a Jesus who wasn’t interested in people following him because he was popular, or because they thought it was cool, or believed they could follow Jesus when it was convenient. Jesus demonstrated over and over that he wasn’t interested in numbers for numbers’ sake. He didn’t want Himself or His Kingdom to be trendy.

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus had just finished talking to his disciples about his upcoming death. Consider the grim circumstances as we see Jesus’ response to three potential followers. He knows what’s coming; he knows what his disciples are going to go through. They have no idea that he is literally going to be taking up a cross, and that they will follow him to Golgotha. The metaphors are about to become reality.

  He sent messengers on ahead of him. As they went along, they entered a Samaritan village to make things ready in advance for him, but the villagers refused to welcome him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem.[1]

Now when his disciples James and John[2] saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you belong to. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them,” and they went on to another village.

There was a reason Jesus had not sent the 12 to Samaritan villages yet. They weren’t ready. First, they took this insult way too personally. It wasn’t a secret that Samaritans did NOT worship in Jerusalem. This was part of the animosity between Jews and Samaritans. When the Samaritans found out Jesus was going to the Temple in Jerusalem, of course they weren’t going to help. To them, that was enabling false worship. Their response should not have been a surprise.

The disciples could have said, “Well, we tried. The worst they could do was say no.” Instead, they decided the best response would be to kill everyone – without having to get their hands dirty. Could God do it for them? Did God feel the same way about these Samaritans as they did?

The answer is, of course, no. “You do not know what kind of Spirit you belong to.” That was not the heart of God for the Samaritans. Don’t forget, this is right after all this teaching on forgiveness. Yikes. Tough crowd.

“Whatever…errors may be in religion, we must never persecute [those who believe them]. Let us, if needful, argue with them, reason with them, and try to show them a more excellent way. But let us never take up the "carnal" weapon to promote the spread of truth. Let us never be tempted, directly or indirectly, to persecute anyone, under pretense of the glory of Christ and the good of the Church. Let us rather remember, that the religion [professed] from fear of death, or dread of penalties, is worth nothing at all, and that if we swell our ranks by fear and threatening, in reality we gain no strength… The appeals that we make must be to…consciences and wills.”      - JC Ryle

Let’s pick up from there.

As they were walking along the road, an expert in the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”[3]

Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

* * * * * *

The first man seems to be sincerely eager to be a part of what Jesus is doing. After all, he just saw some amazing things. Who wouldn’t want to be closer to that? I think Jesus’ response is similar to the response Jesus gave the Rich Young Ruler who also wanted to follow him.[4] Jesus said to that ruler, “Go get rid of all your money.” Jesus identified the idol that had to go.

To this man, Jesus uses an image from nature to point out that there is no expectation of comfort. I mean, they had just been denied access to town to spend the night. They were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be killed and his disciples scattered.

My sense is that Jesus jumps straight to his vulnerability, his idol: the desire for comfort, maybe even popularity. “People won’t like you. They will reject you. You may even be denied ordinary, normal things by those who reject you. Follow me, and you might become deeply unpopular, despised, rejected, even unable to have the material comforts others enjoy.”

We should expect to be made uncomfortable as followers of Jesus. And our response should not be longing for God to judge them, but to save them.

* * * * *

The second man makes what seems to be a reasonable request (burying his father), but there is more going on here than first appears. Several options have been offered.[5] I think one stands out, but you will see the others in commentaries, so let’s take a look at them.

The first option is that the guy’s father had died and Jesus was telling him not to go help bury him. This is the least likely. In Judaism, someone who died had to be buried the same day.[6]There was no way that man would have been hanging out with Jesus. It was a really big deal to honor your parents with a proper burial. It’s also likely the father was not sick and close to dying, or the man would have asked Jesus to heal him.

The second option is that this was an expression meaning that he had to stay with his father as long as his father was alive. G. Campbell Morgan refers to a traveler in the Middle East who was trying to enlist a young Arab man as his guide. The man replied that he could not go because he had to bury his father. When the traveler expressed his sympathy, he learned that the young man’s father had not died; he was waiting to be a guide until he no longer had to take care of his father. So perhaps this man was saying, “After my father is gone, I will follow You.”[7]

[Another layer: the man would likely receive his inheritance when his father died. Leaving him might cause him to lose out on his share of his father’s estate.[8]]

The third option is that the man is waiting for the time a year after the body was first buried when the bones of the deceased were placed in an ossuary box and interred with other deceased relatives.[9]

Depending on which option is correct, it will change how you view what Jesus meant when he said, “let the dead bury the dead.”

Options #1 and #2 implies,

• “Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead; let those not yet alive to the claims of the kingdom bury the naturally dead.” [10]

• Some wonder if this is about the vespillones, the corpse-bearers who carried out the bodies of the poor at night; in Hebrew phraseology, they were “the men of the dead.”[11]

Option #3 would read more like, “Let the already dead (the ancestors) take care of their own.”[12] After all, the man’s father had been honored in the burial already; the second step was tradition, and it was not an insult to his father not to observe it. I favor this reading.

“Jesus was saying in essence, “Look, you have already honored your father by giving him a proper burial in the family burial cave. Instead of waiting for the flesh to decompose, go preach the kingdom of God and tell the people that faith alone in Christ is the only true means of atonement.” (“Let The Dead Bury Their Dead - Meaning.” Alice Anacioco. biblical-christianity.com)

* * * * *

The third man’s request also seems reasonable – he’s going to follow, but he needs to say his goodbyes. This is not unprecedented in Jewish teaching.

Earlier in Luke 9, Jesus had already been connected with Elijah several times. Near the end of Elijah's ministry, God told him to call Elisha to take his place. Elijah found Elisha plowing a field with twelve yoke of oxen and placed his cloak on the younger man's shoulders. Elisha knew what this meant and asked permission to say goodbye to his parents, which Elijah allowed. Only then did Elisha follow Elijah (1 Kings 19:19–21).  So far so good. Reasonable request. But….

“’To bid farewell’ signifies to set apart or assign, as a soldier to his post or an official to his office, and later to detach soldiers. Hence to dismiss one with orders...the man desiring to return home, not merely to take formal leave, but also to give his final instructions to his friends and servants.” Vincent's Word Studies

In other words, it sure looks like the man has a back up plan. Whatever happens to him while following Jesus, Plan B is waiting for him if necessary. Jesus responds by playing off this same Old Testament text, since Elisha was plowing in his family’s field when Elijah met him:

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

I like the careful wording of this verse in Meyer’s NT Commentary:

“No one who has offered to labor in my service, and, withal, still attaches his interest to his earlier relations is well fitted/adapted to labor for the kingdom of the Messiah.” 

The farmer must keep looking forward in order to plow a straight furrow. Likewise, a disciple constantly distracted by past associations cannot provide effective service for the kingdom of God.[13]

* * * * *

Jesus tells these three would-be disciples that a true disciple…

1.    Risks rejection by the world (57-58). Disciples do not put attach their hearts to earthly material comforts: wealth, comfort, reputation, tradition. “Don’t pity Jesus for having no place to rest his head. Pity the man so chained to his mortgage that he can’t respond to the call of Christ. Don’t pity Jesus for sleeping by the campfire. Pity the woman so sold to her career that she cannot follow Christ to a foreign land. Don’t pity the disciples who are called the “scum of the earth.” Pity those who are enslaved to the opinions of the world.“[14]

2.    Makes proclamation a priority (59-60) In the OT, only prophets were permitted to neglect funeral customs in order to reveal God’s revelation. So, Jesus’ call to ignore funeral customs signals that an important period of time has arrived on the divine calendar.“Nothing should delay or stop us from spreading the good news that the Kingdom is here, not even good obligations and attachments.” (Daniel l. Sonnenberg)

3.    Leaves the old life behind (61-62) It is not an emotional, spur-of-the moment decision. It is not a decision that can be postponed till later. It is not a phase we go through while we keep our options open. Following Jesus means signing away the rights to your own life. You sign on the bottom line and let him fill in the details. It means Jesus first. No conditions. No delays. No buts. No excuses. A disciple cannot trust Jesus halfway. “Christ must reign in the heart without a rival. All other loves and all other loyalties must be secondary.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

* * * * *

So, how do we summarize the lesson today?

I wonder: what is really first in your life? Are we saying to Jesus, “I will follow you,” but adding our qualification, our disclaimer under our breath, perhaps hoping Jesus won’t hear? God first…but really being successful first, career first, financial well-being first. God first…but really being a good citizen, or being nice and well-liked first. God first…but really comfort and safety and security first.

When God calls you, and you say yes to following Jesus, what are the “buts” that are on the tip of your tongue, or muttered under your breath, or the truth you really mean instead? How do you finish this sentence to Jesus, “I will follow you, but first let me…” what?

Jesus tries to convey to us a sense of urgency. The good news doesn’t have time to wait. The world needs the message of Jesus right now. Look around. Look at the news. Look at the headlines. Look at our nation. Look at our community. Look at our congregation. Look at your own life.

We need the message of Jesus, the news about God’s reign on earth, the good news of God’s grace and favor and God’s way that rejects the ways of greed and selfishness and oppression and we need it now. And so Jesus needs disciples, messengers of the good news right now. People who are ready to say “But first you God, and then everything else can come next.”

 – Beth Quick, bethquick.com

________________________________________________________________________________

[1] The Samaritans probably rejected the messengers because Samaritans did not accept Jerusalem as the place of worship (see John 4:20)

[2] James eventually gave his life as a martyr; John became known as the Apostle of Love.

[4] Mark 10:17-27

[5] I’ll add here in the footnotes that it is possible that Jesus, who is about to take a Nazarite vow, is giving this man a heads up: if he truly follows the example of Jesus, he would not be able to bury his father when it was time.‘All the days of his separation to the LORD he shall not go near to a dead person. He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.” (Numbers 6:6-8)

[6] “In Jesus’ culture, the obligation to bury one’s father took precedence even over saying the Shema (The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is by N.T. Wright)? So how could Jesus tell His disciples not to go bury their fathers?According to first-century Jewish burial customs, when a person died, they were normally buried immediately (usually on the same day) in the family burial cave that had been hewn out of bedrock. This custom is based on the injunction found in the Mosaic Law not to leave the corpse of an executed person on the tree overnight (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).” (Let The Dead Bury Their Dead – Meaning,” Alice Anacioco, biblical-christianity.com)

[7] As cited by Steven Cole at preceptaustin.com

[8] “He wanted to make sure he received his inheritance. Then, when his circumstances were secure, he’d be equipped to be a disciple.” (Tony Evans Study Bible)

[9] “After the body was placed in a burial cave and is left to decompose, the family will separate itself and mourn for seven days. This initial mourning period is called shivah which is followed by a less intense 30-day period of mourning called shloshim. However, the entire mourning period was not fully over. The final act of mourning is when the family would return after a year to gather all the bones and place them with the bones of other family members on another shelf or the floor. This is now the secondary burial, also referred to as ossilegium. In the Jerusalem Talmud, it says, “When the flesh had wasted away, the bones were collected and placed in chests (ossuaries). On that day (the son) mourned, but the following day he was glad because his forebears rested from judgment” (Moed Qatan 1:5). (“Let The Dead Bury Their Dead” Meaning. Alice Anacioco.) biblical-christianity.com)

[10] Blessed Theophylact gives a concise explanation: “He is saying, “Let your dead relatives, that is, those who do not believe, take care of your unbelieving father in his old age until death.” To bury means here to bestow care on him even to the grave. Even in common parlance we say, “So and so buried his father,” which means not only that he placed him in the ground when he died, but that he also did every other good thing for him that was necessary, caring for him until his end and his burial.” (Let The Dead Bury Their Dead,” Fr. John Whiteford, OrthoChristian.com)

[11] Expositor's Greek Testament

[12] “The phrase “own dead” indicates the inclusion of the fathers among the dead.
“He's essentially making a joke, saying, "Your dad's bones aren't going anywhere. They are safe in the family tomb with all your other ancestors. I'm sure they'll keep him company"; in other words, "Let the dead (your other ancestors in the family tomb) take care of your father's bones until someone else in the family shows up to bury them." (“Let The Dead Bury Their Own Dead,” http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2018/07/let-dead-bury-their-own-dead.html)

[13] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament

[14] The Three Rookies: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Convenient Excuses.” Ray Pritchard

Harmony #44: The Yeast of the Pharisees (Mark 8:13-21; Matthew 16:5-12)

Then Jesus left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. And Jesus ordered them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod/Sadducees!” So they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “Is it because we brought no bread.” When Jesus learned of this, he said, “You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand?

Have your hearts been hardened? Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? Don’t you remember? “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Twelve.” When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Seven.”  

Then he said to them, “Do you still not understand? How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

“They they understood.” Ah hah! I love the disciples. They are so ordinary. Peter: “Guys, we forgot the bread. Again.” John: “It’s fine. I have some crumbs in my pocket he can multiply.” Andrew: “I was responsible for bread last time. This is on Thomas.” James: “I wonder if we should have brought unleavened bread if it's a yeast issue.”

Thank you, gospel writers, for giving us all permission to be ordinary. If this is where the bar is for following Jesus, I can clear it, and so can you. And if Jesus can put up with those kind of disciples, so can we.

Now, to the yeast.

* * * * *

Pharisees and Sadducees emerged when the Jews left their exile in Babylon. The Essenes and Zealots popped up later, but the Pharisees and Sadducees were the two main parties. Think Republicans and Democrats, but there is still the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, etc. There were key differences.

• Pharisees dominated the synagogue (spiritual community center), Sadducees the temple (rituals of worship).

• Pharisees acknowledged all the books we know as the Old Testament; the Sadducees highly favored the books of Moses (the Law) and basically ignored the prophets.

• Pharisees acknowledged an oral tradition passed down by the rabbis; Sadducees rejected the oral tradition.[1]

• The Pharisees believed in the supernatural; the Sadducees didn’t.

• Pharisees were the party of the people; the Sadducees of the elite.

• The Pharisees kept Rome away; the Sadducees collaborated.

The “yeast of the Pharisees” and the “yeast of Herod/Sadducees” is different.  In fact, they are so different they are each going to get our focus for a week. This week, let’s look at the Pharisees.

When Jesus called out the Pharisees, their hypocrisy was a common theme.[2] Here’s just a sample:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matt. 23:23-24)

 “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Mark 7:6-7)

Notice that Jesus wasn’t calling out the yeast of Plato, or Simon the Sorcerer. I think he expected people to see that for what it was. Magic is bad. Rome’s Pax Romana (peace by the sword) is not a Kingdom value any more than the very immoral culture surrounding Roman temple worship. He’s calling out the ones who are supposed to be safeguarding truth and righteousness who had become “the blind leading the blind.” (Matthew 15:14)

These are the kinds of verses that keep me up at night.

Since people are the same everywhere, Jesus would call out the same thing in some of us that he called out in them. So, here we are J

I went online to see what people were saying about modern-day Pharisees. And let me tell you – people have a LOT to say about Pharisees. I was a little worried that if I come up with the list on my own, you might be thinking, “That felt really personal!” and wonder if I was crafting my sermon around you!  Heads up: I hope it feels as personal to you as it did to me.  So, let me welcome you to my holy discomfort.

 1. Pharisees Are All Talk And No Action

Jesus said the following concerning the Pharisees:

“So do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger” (Matt 23:3-4).

We know how this works.

• The environmentalists who flies a private plane everywhere and leave a huge carbon footprint with their mansions.

• The free speech advocate who practices “cancel culture” with those who disagree.

• The person with the co-exist bumper sticker who attacks those who disagree with them on particular issues.

• The politician who campaigns on family values while having a year’s long affair or getting kicked out of a theater for public make-out session with someone not their spouse.[3]

• The new face of the fight against the sexual exploitation of children who is revealed to have sexually exploited the women who helped him do undercover stings.[4]

The Pharisees talked a good game, but they were not the real deal. They were all talk. This creates such cynicism and distrust in those around them. If they can’t or don’t live up to their own words, why should we? Either they are lying or they don’t care enough for it to change their lives. 

Being all talk and no actions is why…

2. Pharisees Major in the Minors

For the Pharisees, everything was a big deal except the things that really matter. They tithed herbs meticulously while ignoring justice and mercy. It’s so much easier to look good in minor things than it is in major things. Shockingly, the major things are harder J If we look at that too much, we might have to address weakness, flaws, and even sinful failure. And that will not be okay to a Pharisee.

I’m not quite sure what our modern equivalents are to tithing mint. All I know is that Pharisees make light things weighty and weighty things light. It’s like a football team spending all its time nailing down the color scheme on the uniform while neglecting working out.  

• You’ve spent years finding a version of the Bible and put it on a hill on which you will die while your family lives with your toxic attitude.

• You start every day reading Our Daily Bread before going to work and mistreating your employees.

• You never swear, so your constant gossip is PG.

• You tithe 10% while the love of money overpowers the kind of generosity you could be showing with what God has given you.

It’s not that the minors are bad. But Majoring on the Minors lets you keep a tally of how good you are doing while avoiding the rottenness in your heart. It makes it easy to do the following…

3. Pharisees Care More About Looking Good Than Being Good

They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad (they carry more Scripture with them!) and their fringes long (they really remember the law!) and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. (Matt 23:5-8).

 I’ve been in many different churches, and these phylacteries and fringes seem to creep in everywhere.

• The size of a head covering.

• The wornness and amount of highlighting in your Bible.

• How you dressed on a Sunday to honor God.

• How much of the Bible you had memorized.

• How expressively you worshipped.

• What gift of the Holy Spirit you appeared to have.

• How impressively you could pray.

It’s not that the things on the list are bad things. It’s that you could look good in all these areas and not be a good person. Your Bible can be falling apart from use, you can dress to the 9s, you can the entirety Scripture committed to memory, you can dance without fear, you can speak with the tongue of men and of angels, you can pray as people think a mighty river has rolled into the room, but… if you don’t have love, if you neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness, it’s just empty show.  

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matt 23:25-28)

Jesus is talking about integrity: the integration of our exterior and interior lives; the alignment of our heart and hands. We should be what we do. Since what looks good is so important to a Pharisee…

4. Pharisees convince themselves they don’t have any “serious” sin to repent of.

“The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector’.” (Luke 18:11)[5]

Pharisees have a reputation and status to maintain. Acknowledging sin issues would involve vulnerability and weakness, neither of which a Pharisee can afford to have. Repentance is for broken, unhealthy people, not for them. If they have to put on a facade of repentance to look good to others, they usually talk about things in the past, but never in the present. All their struggles are apparently behind them.

Once Pharisees have convinced themselves that they are not part of sick who need the Great Physician, they will be full of disdain and lack empathy for those around us who are struggling.“What is their problem? Why can’t they be as spiritually mature as I am?”

This is why…

5. If someone tries to correct Pharisees or point out flaws, they get angry and offended.Pharisees see any rebuke as a personal attack and circle the wagons. Pharisees will always have an excuse. It’s never their fault. They were pushed into some corner, or somebody pushed their buttons. They lack the self-awareness to see themselves as others see them; even if they did, they lack the humility to take it seriously. They will always turn the interrogation spotlight on others and never let the light that others shine on them do the work it’s meant to do. This is why…

6. A Pharisee’s friends primarily look, act and think alike.

Pharisees are exclusive. This makes sense, since everyone else is far less righteous and much more sick. These less righteous people might even be openly repenting – in front of others, mind you - and asking God to search their hearts.  Pharisees are really uncomfortable when they are around people who practice true honesty or humility, because who knows where that might lead?

If there are conversations about sin and its impact in the world and the importance of the transformation that happens on the other side of repentance, it’s always going to be about others who are ruining the church or our culture.

If Pharisees have a small group that does a book study, and they have to choose between one in which ‘judgment begins in the house of God’ vs. one in which looks to call down fiery judgment on the Samaritans around us, it will always be about the Samaritans.

The danger is always “out there” in another group. It’s never in their circle, and certainly not in them. Because they need their circles to be homogenous and safe…

7. Pharisees believe church outsiders should conform to a certain lifestyle before they are accepted as “Christian.” They can’t be “part of the group,” unless they meet your criterion: “Stop the drinking and smoking, don’t wear that Deadpool t-shirt to church (#trueevent), and those sleeve tats are making me nervous.” Pharisees insist that people follow their way of doing things. Fellowship with a Pharisee will always be on a Pharisee’s terms.  Maybe another way of saying it is this: You might be a Pharisee if you can’t accept those God accepts, on God’s terms.

So what’s the cure?[6]

Honesty

Practice self-evaluation.

1. “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

2. 1 Corinthians 11 tells us to examine ourselves before we share communion: “If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged by God.” (27-32)

Embrace trustworthy feedback. "To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction." (Proverbs 12:1)

See ourselves as God sees us: image bearers in need of a Savior.

1. “And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:10)

2. “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:49)

Live Transparent Lives. Without a willingness to be transparent, we cannot bear each other's burdens (Galatians 6:2); comfort one another (2 Corinthians 1:4-7); encourage each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11); forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32); care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25); nor weep or rejoice with each other (Romans 12:15).[7]

Humility

Charles Spurgeon once said,

“If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be. If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be satisfied, for if he knew you better he might change the accusation, and you would be no gainer by the correction. If you have your moral portrait painted, and it is ugly, be satisfied; for it only needs a few darker touches, and it would be still nearer the truth.”

This doesn’t mean we beat ourselves up constantly. Self-loathing is not a fruit of the Spirit. This doesn’t mean we should think more lowly of ourselves than we should, but we shouldn’t think more highly of ourselves than we should. We could simultaneously be worse than other people know, and more glorious than they realize. Humility simply means we are to do an honest assessment of both.

Repent.

“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Luke 3:8)

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” (Revelation 2:5)

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:19)

Repentance involves turning around, going the opposite direction. It’s not just words; it’s a heart change demonstrated by a life change.

Ask forgiveness.

“If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

Aaron Lewis and Willie Nelson have a song called “Sinner.” One of the verses goes like this: My eyes are open; now I can see all of the damage brought on by me.” That’s why we ask forgiveness. We have done damage. We want others to know that we see what we have done and how it has landed on them, and we want to make it right if we can. In asking forgiveness, we validate the dignity and value of those we have wronged. They are not just something to damaged and forgotten – they are imago dei, and one does not vandalize that which bears the image of God. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are temples of the Holy Spirit, and one does not simply vandalize a temple and act as if nothing is wrong.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Interestingly, this makes the Sadducees theologically conservative (safeguarding the foundation and being very skeptical of anything new) and the Pharisees theologically progressive in their time.

[2] Because the Pharisees were so highly respected, Jesus labeling them “whitewashed tombs” (Matt. 23:27-28) would have gotten people’s attention.

[3] True stories breaking this past week L

[4] The man whose story was told in Sound of Freedom left O.U.R. under the cloud of 7 women accusing him of sexual exploitation while on undercover operations. His former organization has released this statement. "Tim Ballard resigned from O.U.R. on June 22, 2023… O.U.R. is dedicated to combatting sexual abuse, and does not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination by anyone in its organization.”

[5] E. Stanley Jones notes, “The measure of my spirit of criticism is the measure of my distance from Christ.”

[6] I got the lists of the problems and the cures from these websites: https://godtv.com/6-signs-modern-day-pharisee/, also https://firstcenturyfaithtoday.com/pharisees-5-signs/, as well as https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/warning-signs-of-a-pharisaical-heart.html, and https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/02/15/6-signs-that-you-might-be-a-pharisee/, oh and https://www.christianpost.com/news/5-signs-you-are-becoming-a-pharisee.html. Oh, and don’t forget https://outreachmagazine.com/features/22092-modern-day-pharisee.html

[7] Thanks for that handy list, smallgroups.com. https://www.smallgroups.com/articles/2010/benefits-of-transparency.html#:~:text=Without%20a%20willingness%20to%20be,(Romans%2012%3A15)

Harmony #42: Crumbs Of Faith (Mark 7:24-30; Matthew 15:21-28)

It’s been a minute since I preached last in this series, so let’s do a quick recap. In the preceding incident, Jesus challenged the Pharisees’ fixation on ritual purity laws to show that defilement comes from within us, not from outside of us. This is important to clarify, as he will be in places that the Jewish people considered unclean as he begins to move into his ministry to the Gentiles through Gentile regions.

In today’s episode, he will demonstrate to his disciples that Gentiles are not unclean as his ministry points toward the Gentiles.[1] The heart of today’s passage is a much discussed one.

She [a Gentile] came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!” Jesus replied, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right to take the children’s [Israelites] bread and to throw it to the little household dogs [Gentiles].” “Yes, that is true, Lord,” she replied, “but even the little dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs that they make fall from their masters’ table.”

Did Jesus just call a woman a dog? Well, yes, but there’s more going on here than meets the eye.

* * * * * *

First, let’s talk about dogs. We generally love dogs in our culture. They are our ‘best friend’. I love dogs, probably going back to a time my pet dog in Alabama saved me from a rabid rat that attacked me in our front yard. When Jesus was alive, dogs weren’t always the family pets like they are today in the United States. That’s not to say people didn’t bond with them; plenty of Greek and Roman records survive that show that dogs were often well loved. You see it in a lot of the literature and even tombstone inscriptions.

“My eyes were wet with tears, little dog, when I bore thee (to the grave)... In a resting place of marble, I have put thee for all time… sagacious thou wert like a human being. What a loved companion have we lost!"[2]

In the Jewish world, while dogs were domesticated, they generally represented uncleanness, rebellion, or savagery. It’s fair to say that while at least some Jewish people individually cared for dogs, corporately, they had a much lower view of dogs than did the Greeks and Romans.[3]

·     [Goliath] said to David, "Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?" And David said, "No! Worse than a dog!" (1 Samuel 16:43)

·    Hazael said, "How could your servant, a mere dog, do this monstrous thing?" (2 Kings 8:13)

·    “Dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet.” (Psalm 22:16)

·    “Don't give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.” Matthew 7:6

·    Rabbinic tradition explains that ‘as the sacred food was intended for men, but not for the dogs, the Torah was intended to be given to the Chosen People, but not to the Gentiles.’[4] 

So, the Jewish community that saw dogs as a symbol for the unclean, animal side of humanity lived within in a bubble in a broader culture that saw dogs in a much more positive light. While there is no way that calling a person a dog was a compliment at that time, what Jesus’ disciples heard and what the woman heard were different. More on that in a bit.

Second, let’s talk about Tyre and Sidon.

These cities were filled with descendants of the Caananites, cousins of the Israelites driven out of Canaan because of their terribly violent idolatrous practices (child sacrifice, etc). While they had been assimilated into the empire that ruled the Israelites, you could still cut this old family tension with a knife.

To make it worse, they apparently flourished in part at the expense of the countryside, whose resources they exploited. Economically, Tyre took bread away from a food-rich Galilee while Galileans went hungry (see Acts 12:20). To connect the dots with my opening discussion about dogs, there is reason to believe they had a popular proverb about not giving food to their children first and then letting dogs eat the crumbs. In their proverb, the dogs were likely the Jewish people.

This is modern Israel and Palestine perhaps, with a history of land wars; if you like Appalachian history, maybe it’s the Hatfields and McKoys. Those aren’t perfect analogies, but I hope it captures the idea. The disciples would not have thought of them any more kindly than they did of Samaritans - and the disciples wanted to call down fire on Samaritan towns.

When this story begins, imagine how the disciples must have felt going into this territory with Jesus. This is not just a Gentile area, which poses problems for them staying ceremonially pure (I’m assuming they were still processing Jesus’ teaching on that). This is the enemy.[5] These are people who have caused suffering to them and their families.  The testing and highlighting of a woman’s faith in this story occurs in this context.

After Jesus left there, he went to the region of Tyre and Sidon (a Gentile region with some of Israel’s “most bitter enemies”[6]).[7]When he went into a house, he did not want anyone to know, but he was not able to escape notice. Instead, a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek (Canaanite), of Syrophoenician origin.

She cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!” But Jesus did not answer her a word.  Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away,[8] because she keeps on crying out after us.”  So Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [I have come to feed my children.]But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!”

 [He responded with a saying she recognized:][9] “Let the children be satisfied first[10], for it is not right to take the children’s bread and to throw it to the little household dogs.[11]” “Yes, that is true, Lord[12],” she replied, “but even the little dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs that they make fall[13] from their masters’ table.”

Then Jesus answered her, “Dear woman[14], your faith is great! Because you said this, you may go and let what you want be done for you. The demon has left your daughter.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.  She went home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

First, this story in context applauds Jesus as just and the woman as virtuous.

When we read other healing miracle stories, Jesus never treats someone who asks with disrespect. That gives us good reason to think that if this story comes across that way, we might be missing something important. This quote might be a little bit literature nerdy, but it matters to understand what’s happening here.

“[This story] fits a type common in ancient literature wherein a subject approaches their leader with a request, which is initially dismissed, but later conceded to. In the exchange, the leader is shone to be just and fair, and the subject is judged virtuous. Both receive public honor, a win-win situation which was uncommon in the zero-sum game of honor/shame that structured the ancient world’s social customs… this encounter fits a pattern whereby a ruler who had every social right to ignore a plea was nevertheless shown to be compassionate by acceding to his subject’s wishes.”[15]

This is where I do a brief aside about the importance of studying context. We want to hear and see what the first audience heard and saw as much as possible whenever reading Scripture. When seen in this light, what at first glance presents a rude and insulting Jesus talking to a demeaned woman is revealed instead as a scenario in which the worth of the woman and the goodness of Jesus are revealed.

A common saying was refurbished to show that though she is not one of the children of Israel and is not part of the fellowship around the table, her persistent request is rewarded and her character is applauded (no doubt much to the surprise of the disciples).[16]

“The dialogue presented the woman a chance to gain honor. She pursued the virtuous course, and with the occasion to speak (and model) uprightness publicly, she earned the highest prize in antiquity - honor. She also secured Jesus’ highest praise, “Woman you have great faith.”[17]

Second, this reveals a God whose compassion is scandalous.

Remember, he has just called out the Pharisees who drew really sharp lines between clean and unclean, holy and unholy, Jew and Gentile.

·    He heads to a Gentile place (ceremonially unclean) to recover from ministering to his own people.

·    It’s Canaanite folk: distant, idolatrous relatives; enemies (spiritually unclean)

·    It’s a place full of people who harmed his children (economic exploitation)

·    A woman approaches him in a culture where only men should do that (culturally offensive)

·    Odds are good that she had tried the gods of her people (which were part of the problem) so that wasn’t going to work. Jesus likely wasn’t her first resort, but he was the one to whom she turned now.

And then Jesus tells her that her faith is great. This, in contrast to the times Jesus has told his disciples that their faith was struggling. 

 It’s a great reminder that Jesus came to offer Himself and His Kingdom to all people groups, all statuses, all ethnicities, all levels of rich and poor, educated or uneducated, sick or healthy, happy or depressed, in-group or outcast.

Notice how quickly he sent his disciples out – first the 12, which we already saw, and soon the 70, and then the Great Commission into all the world. Part of their training, no doubt, was to watch him respond compassionately to those his disciples were least likely to feel compassionate toward. If first Samaritans and now Canaanite enemies have access to Jesus, then there are no untouchables, no one so unclean that God’s grace and truth cannot impact their lives, no sinner outside of the length of Jesus’ reach.

Later in Matthew’s gospel, we will hear a parable about a seemingly sketchy group invited to a wedding banquet after the invited guests fail to respond (22:1–14). All along, Jesus has been welcoming outsiders and disenfranchised people such as tax collectors, prostitutes, and “unclean” people. Who can come to Jesus? Anyone.

It’s a good reminder that the light of Christ shines into surprisingly dark places. No way did the disciples expect to go to Canaanite Tyre and find someone ready to kneel at the feet of Jesus.

This is why we never write off a people or a place. This is why we go into all the world to preach the gospel. We may be shocked at how hardened those with access to Jesus have become – and how ready are those who seem to us to be far from Him.

Third, even the crumbs of the gospel are amazing and good.

"Not of the children? True…. [but] one crumb of power and grace from Thy table shall cast the devil out of my daughter."(Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

I had not thought of that before studying this. Freeing someone from demonic possession is a crumb from the feast of the Kingdom. Remarkable. It’s a pretty incredible crumb. Of all the types of healing and deliverance recorded in Scripture, that seems like the ultimate example of God’s good power bringing healing from the bondage of spiritual wickedness in high places.

Other stories of signs and wonders that Jesus performs in us as recorded in Scripture and throughout history. We see all kinds of ‘crumbs’ that are good for the world. Matthew has recorded this story between the Feeding of the Five and Four Thousand, so talk of “bread” and “crumbs” brings to mind how the leftovers were collected after everyone in Jesus’ audience had eaten his or her fill.

The woman appeals to Jesus’ love and generosity: “All right. I am not one of your children at the table, but what’s on that table is good, and there’s more than enough on that table for everyone.” The Africa Bible Commentary notes, “By faith, she saw herself, as a Gentile, benefiting from the blessings of Israel.”

My sense is that she arrived and left a God-fearer[18] like Cornelius but not a worshipper of Jesus.[19]  I don’t think this is a conversion story. I think it’s a provision story, because it doesn’t stop Jesus from providing for her need from the Kingdom storehouse.  Consider this tory from the Talmud:

“There was a famine in the land, and stores of corn were placed under the care of Rabbi Jehudah the Holy, to be distributed to those only who were skilled in the knowledge of the Law. And, behold, a man… clamorously asked for his portion. The Rabbi asked him whether he knew the condition, and had fulfilled it, and then the supplicant changed his tone, and said, ‘Nay, but feed me as a dog is fed, who eats of the crumbs of the feast,’ and the Rabbi hearkened to his words, and gave him of the corn.”[20]

The language of crumbs and dogs was applied within the Jewish community; Jesus applied it to the Gentiles as well. Here, I think, is the fullness of the Gospel:

• Jesus came to earth to save, deliver and heal first in the hearts and souls of humanity and second in the entirety of a creation that groans as it awaits redemption.

• His life, death and resurrection have confirmed that the King has arrived to establish His Kingdom in the midst of fallen empires.

• The church establishes outposts, oasis…es, fighting spiritual principalities and powers, and taking cups of water and Living Water to the spiritually and physically thirsty; bread and the Bread of Life to the spiritually and physically hungry, clothes and clothes of righteousness to the physically and spiritually naked; practical provision to the economically poor and riches of Christ to the spiritually bankrupt; doctors and the Great Physician to the physically and spiritually sick; declaring freedom to those in spiritual bondage and working for freedom for the physically oppressed.[21]

• Jesus, the Bread of Life, the fountain of Living Water, offers the nourishment of life everlasting, with even the crumbs and the sips of his grace and goodness pointing toward the deep, deep love of Jesus.

The Gospel begins with God so loved the world that He gave His son, and whoever believes on him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).  The Good News does not end there. God is at work through Jesus mending all that is broken. And when that happens, it’s a signpost pointing toward Jesus. The Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven touches every part of life. Nothing is outside of its scope. It changes our hearts and then guides our hands.  “The least of these” around us should be rejoicing when Jesus brings us sinners into his family, because that means their lives are about to get better. These crumbs leave a trail that points to the feast.

But…they are crumbs. Delicious, to be sure, but crumbs. But a trail of bread crumbs can lead hungry people to the Baker, right? What did Jesus tell the demon-possessed man after he healed him?  “Go and tell people about this crumb of the gospel.” Crumbs remind people that there is a feast. To where do the crumbs lead?

·    “The bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” John 6:33

·    “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” John 6:35.

·    “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” (John 6:51)

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[1] NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

[2] (https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html)

[3] Here’s a concise overview of dog ownership in Judaism. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/judaism-dogs/

[4] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Of The New Testament

[5] She was a descendent of those seven nations of Canaan. (Pulpit Commentary)

[6] Per Josephus (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[7] Elijah had also helped a non-Jewish woman in this area (1 Kings 17:8). 

[8] “The disciples used [the language of] releasing someone from prison or from a debt…or a painful condition. Likely, they were not asking that Jesus… grant her petition to keep her quiet.” https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/jesus-and-canaanite-woman/

[9] In his answer Jesus was probably quoting a popular proverb. (New Bible Commentary)

[10] “First” implies that this is not the final word, especially since the people of Israel just ate with much left over (Mark 6:42–43) (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[11] The Greek word includes the nuance pets.

[12] “Lord” seems to be a respectful title rather than a divine one. (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

[13] “Not merely the crumbs which by chance fall… but morsels surreptitiously dropped by the children to their pets.” (Expositor's Greek Testament) “[Jesus is] likely referring to how Greeks view dogs… that’s clearly how this Greek woman interprets Jesus’ words.”  https://www.rethinknow.org/jesus-and-the-canaanite-woman/

[14] The same word by which he addressed his mother, Mary. It’s a term of tenderness.

[15] From “The Canaanite Woman of Matthew 15” by Lynn H. Cohick, https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/the-canaanite-w.  “A similar story is told by Dio Cassius about a woman who calls out a request to the emperor Hadrian. At first he said he hadn’t the time, but when she declared “Cease, then, being emperor” he stopped and granted her a hearing.”

[16] https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/jesus-and-canaanite-woman/

[17] https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/the-canaanite-w

[18] “In the New Testament and early Christian writings, the Greek terms God-fearers and God-worshippers are used to indicate those Pagans who attached themselves in varying degrees to Hellenistic Judaism without becoming full converts…” “God-Fearer,” Wikipedia

[19] She does not identify herself as one of the children. Jesus doesn’t disagree. He doesn't say her faith has saved her as he does in some other places. He says her daughter will be healed.

[20] Ellicott’s Commentary For English Readers

[21] The early church modeled it: they helped not only the spiritually lost and sinfully broken by introducing them to the saving power of Jesus, they also addressed injustice by helping the poor, the homeless, the sick, the imprisoned, the abandoned. They eventually built hospitals and schools and established economic safety nets.

Harmony #40: Hypocrites (Mark 7:1-13; Matthew 15:1-9)

By the time Mark and Matthew wrote their gospels, the new followers of Jesus had already spent some time wrestling with the changes in how they now should relate to God and live righteously in His world.  For the Jews in particular, who were very concerned about being pure in line with the Old Testament’s guidelines, they had questions about things like clean and unclean foods (see Acts 10:9-16; 11:5-10; Romans 14:13) and meat offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8-10) and the necessity of doing the rituals of ceremonial cleanliness.

We will see here two of the gospel writers record how Jesus made it clear that being spiritually pure or clean was not about following the ceremonial laws for physical cleanliness; it was about the status of their hearts.[1]

Now the Pharisees and some of the experts in the law who came from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, holding fast to the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches.)

The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with unwashed hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’

Having no regard for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition. You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up your tradition. For God said through Moses, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’

But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ (that is, a gift for God),  then he does not need to do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

If something was corban, it was an offering devoted to God. That’s a good thing. However, these Pharisees would declare their money to be corban in order to avoid giving financial help to parents who were in need so that they could give it to the temple instead. This would impress people with their apparently generous support of God’s work, when actually they were cheapskates avoiding family obligations, which in the Jewish community was one of the highest obligations God commanded. You honored your father and mother by taking care of them.

In Jewish tradition, those who forsake their parents deserve the same penalty as blasphemers. Basically, dishonoring one’s parents was like dishonoring God.[2]

In addition, they could keep the money and use it in business until they decided to give the initial amount to the temple.[3] So….greed, hypocrisy, dishonoring of parents, pride. The list goes on.

Keeping traditions are not markers of holiness. We can keep traditions that look righteous to everybody else and be terribly corrupt inside. We can find loopholes in our humanly generated systems of that can allow us to indulge the worst parts of our nature instead of challenge us to grow in Christ-likeness.

If we were in the Orthodox or Catholic family of churches, here’s where I would talk about liturgy and symbolism (like making the sign of the cross or using incense). We are not that kind of a church, so I will leave that message for the preachers in those places. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about the kind of traditions I grew up with that were not necessarily bad but were not revealed truth from heaven. Then, I ‘m going to look at CLG’s history before we get personal.

Traditions I Had Growing Up

·      Keeping the Sabbath holy meant we didn’t work at all on Sundays; we were encouraged to do as little as possible, even when it came to recreation.

·      We weren’t supposed to play cards, drink, go to movies, own TVs, listen to music not made by Christians. These were all associated with being worldly.

·      We carried a physical Bible. The kid who won the Sword Drill was impressive.

·      Women wore head coverings (churches split over this issue); men didn't wear ties.

·      We sang acapella hymns (though that changed over time) because instruments were too worldly for worship.

·      Church went like this: opening devotion for everybody, age-specific Sunday school, singing, then sermon. Always. 10:00 to 12:00.

·      The offering was public – we passed the plate.

·      We dressed nicely for a Sunday service.

·      Services three times a week: twice on Sunday and then Wednesday evening.

·      We saved altar calls for week-long revivals, which needed to happen at least once a year, ideally with other churches in a tent.

·      We dressed modestly (boys wore long sweats to play basketball; girls wore long coulots to play sports).

·      We weren’t big into patriotism (we would never have talked about the Revolutionary War on the 4th of July, or talked about Memorial Day or Veterans Day. There were no veterans in my church, as we were pacifist Mennonites.)

·      We celebrated Christmas but did not participate in Halloween festivities even to hold an alternative party. For many, having a tree at Christmas was too secular.

·      We didn’t dance at weddings. We didn’t dance at all. It was too likely to inflame the passions.

There’s nothing in that list that is bad or wrong in and of itself. My only point is that they were traditions, not biblical mandates.

I wasn’t here for half of CLG’s 50 year life, but I know there were traditions embedded here at CLG, and as they have changed over time it’s been hard to see the change of traditions  (the way we are supposed to do things) as just that: the change of traditions.

Changing Traditions At CLG

·      Style and length of musical worship has changed over time and probably will again at some point.

·      The time and place in which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are exercised has changed over time.

·      Bringing a physical, well-worn Bible – reading the screen – bringing a phone to look up the Bible.

·      Dress up - dress down – just be dressed.

·      Altar calls every week – altar calls occasionally

·      Extravagant programs on holidays – much simpler gatherings

·      Changing focus of small groups: discipleship, friendship, Bible study…

·      2 hour services - 1 hour service with classes.

·      We’ve never had Sunday evening services here like I just assumed everybody did growing up.

As far as I can tell, nothing in these lists was inherently less holy or more holy. It was a way of doing things, and when done properly in a way that matched who we were (or are) as a church, it’s great. There is a beautiful range of flexibility in things like this in the Kingdom of God.

It’s when these things became markers of holiness or treated as if they were sacred writ that traditions becomes a trap. Looking good by the markers of church traditions can begin to subtly become the thing by which we gauge our holiness, our spiritual progress, or our standing before God. Looking good must mean we are good. And when that happens, it also becomes a thing by which we judge the spiritual progress or maturity of others.

·      I won Sword Drills more than once because I was fast, not because I loved God’s word.

·      I carried a physical Bible to church for years simply because somebody would call me out or look at me with judgment, not because it was precious to me.

·      I worked for years to say publicly impressive prayers so that people around me would be impressed, because surely spontaneous prayers that roll off my tongue are a sign of deep faith.

·      I’ve had break myself of thinking, “Oh, a great worshiper looks like that person!” when we are singing, especially as I’ve realized that the least involved person may be full of far more godly character than the most expressive one.

It turns out that, like the Pharisees, we can go through all of the currently approved motions of religiosity and have a deeply wicked heart.

Jesus called this hypocrisy. Think of hypocrisy as “the distance between one’s heart and one’s hands.” The Pharisee’s outward appearance of faithful piety was a lie, because it was not accompanied by a life and a heart committed to loving God and loving others. Matthew records another time Jesus criticized the Scribes and Pharisees for the same thing:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!”

You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (23:23-24; 27-28)

There is a famous passage in Isaiah 58 in which the prophet spoke on behalf of God and gave a very specific example:

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’ Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

The prophet Amos didn’t pull any punches either:

There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground…There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth…You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain…

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts… Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy…

I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.

Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5)

Holiness involves integrity: the consistent integration of our lives in the service of Christ, from the little things to the big things.

Jesus’ 2,000 year old warning is timeless. Hypocrisy has plagued the church throughout its history.

John Dickson wrote a book called Bullies and Saints. As you might guess by the title, he addresses both the bullies and saints in church history. It’s a sobering and hopeful book, and I highly recommend it. Close to the beginning, he summarizes where he is going this way:

It is clear that “love of enemies” and “the image of God” drove much of what was unique in the history of Christianity, as even the most begrudging historians and philosophers will acknowledge. The church is at its best, in history and today, when it performs these melody lines contained in its founding documents.

Reminding ourselves of the moral logic of Christ and the New Testament makes the story I am going to tell all the more tragic. The bigotry, selfishness, and violence of the church, whether in the Crusades, Inquisitions, wealth accumulation, or the horrors of child abuse, are not only departures from broad humanitarian principles. They are a betrayal of the specific mandate Christ gave his movement.

His book covers church history in general. I’ll just note just a few things we have seen in our own country’s history as a warning of how easily we can slide into hypocrisy.

·      The Puritans journeyed to America in pursuit of religious liberty — but only liberty for their very particular exercise of faith. They were very harsh to those who disagreed, including fellow Christians.

·      Christians in the antebellum South engaged in passionate worship and showy revival meetings while owning other people and then later denying basic rights to people they wished they still owned.

·      The church has often called out sexual exploitation in the culture - and too often covered it up at within the church.

·      We have stressed the importance of truth, honesty, kindness and godly character but have endorsed and even applauded American leaders of deeply sinful character who lie boldly, cheat freely, and constantly attack and belittle others.

God forbid we be “whitewashed tombs,” appearing externally “righteous” while being internally “full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:25-28). Holiness involves integrity: the consistent integration of our lives in the service of Christ. God forbid that our assemblies are a stench rising to God rather than sweet incense.

And now, for the part where I step on our collective toes.

Signs of Hypocrisy

·      You talk a lot about generosity and how the church should be taking care of the poor, not the government, but you give money to God and his kingdom begrudgingly or not at all.

·      You denounce human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of those trapped in it while using pornography, which is founded on the sexual exploitation of people.

·      You love the Great Commission when we get to go there and do ministry on our terms and our schedule, but get really uncomfortable when they come here and need ministry on their terms.

·      You fast with your belly to honor God but won’t fast with your budget.

·      You call out the coarseness, rudeness and vulgarity of culture while supporting public figures who are course, rude, and vulgar.

·      You say ‘all lives matter’ and then don’t care about or do anything for the lives of people who are in groups you fear or dislike.

·      You talk about how amazing grace is while constantly rendering judgment on those around you.

·      You say you don't worship money but you give a way as little as you think you absolutely have to and order your life around financial security.

·      You loudly denounce the sexualization of society while clicking on those articles with pictures that objectify men and women.

·      You say you love God but don’t love others. All the others. “ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4:20) 

·      You sing with gusto Sunday morning and go home and ridicule your spouse and demean you kids.

·      You take communion in memory of a God who has forgiven your offense and refuse to forgive those who have offended you.

·      You denounce the after school clubs run by Satanists but do the work of the Father of Lies by spreading gossip, lies, and slander on social media.

·      You love to quote Scripture that you never apply to your own life.

·      You prepped this sermon thinking, “Thank God I’m not part of the problem. I hope everybody listens this morning!”

·      You are sitting here thinking, “Thank God I’m not part of the problem. I hope everybody else is listening this morning!”

I don’t want to resolve this today. Next week we are going to talk about an antidote to hypocrisy, so think of this as Part 1 of 2. I want us to take a week to pray and seek God about this. Are there areas of our life in which we are honoring God with our lips but our hearts are far from Him? And if so, let’s take a week to repent and mourn, and regather next Sunday to move forward more in tune with the melody line of Christianity.
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[1] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[2] NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

[3] Thanks for the context, Believer’s Bible Commentary!

Harmony #39: Bread of Life (John 6:22-71; Matthew 14:34-35; Mark 6:53-54)

 After they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and anchored there. As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized Jesus. The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake realized that only one small boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.

Other boats from Tiberias came to shore near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

“When did you get here?” There’s some FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) going on here, but not so much about Jesus as the goodies he apparently hands out.

I feed my chickens snacks that they love. As a result, they follow me around the yard and up onto the deck and hang out with me. It’s adorable. But…I know it’s not because they want to be around me because they like me so much. They like the treats they get in my presence. Now, because they are chickens, I don’t care. If that’s what it takes to get them to hang out with me, cool. I am not bothered by the sincerity of my chickens’ hearts toward me. But if my kids did that, that would feel different. If AJ only invited me down to Grand Rapids because I was going to bring BBQ ribs and leave $50 bucks on the table when I left, that’s not a relationship. That’s a transaction.

Jesus ignores the spoken question and cuts right to the heart of the issue: you’re here because you’re selfish and you simply want me to satisfy your appetites.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted.  Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life—the food which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”[1]

So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires/approves?” Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires—to believe in the one whom he sent.”

 “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” sounds a lot like the question Nicodemus asked: ”What must I do to be saved?” Jesus answered that there is only one work, so to speak – to believe that Jesus had been sent by God, which would mean He is the Messiah, and that has implications for our lives.

The “work” is not something we typically associate with doing as ‘work.’ Biblically speaking, the work is kneeling before Jesus in wholehearted surrender. One of the hardest pieces of advice to accept when you want to so something to fix yourself is  “Don’t do. Just rest.” I’ve become something of an expert on spraining and straining things. One of the worst ones was a calf muscle tear. What could I do? Nothing. No PT. No stretches. I had to rest. It was in the rest that I found healing.

 Jesus didn’t need people who tried to do something to impress him or earn their salvation – he needed people who were ready to rest in him, who were looking to give their lives to him because they believed he was the Messiah, and that His Way was the path to life.  The ‘work’ a surrender, letting go our autonomy and receiving the Holy Spirit. It’s tapping out in a spiritual struggle. “What must I do to be saved?” Give up. Let Jesus not only take the wheel, but own the title to the car that is your life.

So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform[2], so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”[3]

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. ”So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”[4]

This was an image not unknown to Jesus’ Jewish audience.

 "Many affirm, says Rab. Mayemon, that the hope of Israel is this: That the Messiah shall come and raise the dead; and they shall be gathered together in the garden of Eden, and shall eat and drink and satiate themselves all the days of the world. There the houses shall be all built with precious stones; the beds shall be made of silk; and the rivers shall flow with wine and spicy oil.

He made manna to descend for them, in which was all manner of tastes; and every Israelite found in it what his palate was chiefly pleased with. If he desired fat in it, he had it. In it, the young man tasted bread, the old man honey, and the children oil.

 So shall it be in the world to come, (i.e. the days of the Messiah.) He shall give Israel peace, and they shall sit down in the garden of Eden, and all nations shall behold their condition; as it is said, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry.”[5]

It’s in their own literature, this vision of the Messiah’s kingdom being characterized by delicious food. They are just stuck on the literalness of it.  When Jesus said he was the bread, he was using symbolic language. Think about how Jesus said he was a “door”. No one tried to oil his hinges. In the same way, no one should try to take a chunk out of him.

 “The ideas of eating and drinking are here borrowed to express partaking of and sharing in. Spiritual happiness on earth, and even in heaven, is expressed by eating and drinking (Matthew 8:11; Matthew 26:29; Luke 14:15; Luke 22:30; and Revelation 2:17.) Those who were made partakers of the Holy Spirit are said by Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12:13, to be made to drink of one Spirit. (Adam Clarke)

Jesus was simply identifying himself as the point of the symbolism:

o  In the past, the bread was manna – now the bread is Christ.

o  Neither group deserved this gift, but God gives abundantly.

o  In both cases, the bread comes from heaven.

o  In both cases, the bread nourishes them.

o  In the past, the food would satisfy them temporarily – now the food will satisfy them eternally.

Back to the text.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.[6] But I told you that you have seen me and still do not believe. Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.[7]

For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. Now this is the will of the one who sent me—that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father[8]—for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Jesus replied, “Do not complain about me to one another. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me. (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God—he has seen the Father.)

“I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.[9] This is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began to argue with one another, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.[10] The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.[11] For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ate, but then later died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”

What did the Israelites do with the bread Moses gave them? They ate it. That’s what you do with bread. Studying the recipe is not going to do it. Watching the Great British Bake Off episode on bread is not going to do it. The only way to take advantage of the benefits of bread is to internalize it.

When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Satan brought up how God fed his people wandering in the wilderness and told Jesus to basically do it again right there. Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD”. What did John call Jesus in the opening of his book? The Word. Jesus was the very Word of God. Our flesh needs the food that goes in our stomach, but our spirit needs the nourishment that comes from God.

“To eat of this bread means to appropriate Christ as one's life. It is a figure of speech for believing, for no one will eat what he or she cannot trust as edible. Eating a meal implies that it is wholesome, nourishing, and real.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

Jesus was not suggesting cannibalism. He was describing wholehearted commitment. “Don’t just watch my tricks. Don’t just listen to my teaching. Do it. Be it.” There was some movie about ants that I used to watch with my kids where the ants made a ball to bust out of something, and they were supposed to “Be the ball.” That’s the idea. “Be the disciple.”

James would later say that anyone who listened to (or read) Jesus’ words and didn’t do what he said was like someone who stared in the mirror endlessly and forgot what they looked like. Jesus was saying the only way you will benefit from me is if you stop being a consumer and internalize what I’m telling you. And in your “eating”, you will become like me in your actions and motivations.

 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, said, “This is a difficult saying! Who can understand it?” When Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining about this, he said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended?"

Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”

(For Jesus had already known from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) So Jesus added, “Because of this I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come.”

After this many of his disciples quit following him and did not accompany him any longer. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!”

I want to finish this morning by reminding us all of what we mean when we talk about salvation. If you want the fancy theological word, it's the doctrine of soteriology. The final point is going to be “we are nourished by the bread of life,” but we are going to have to work our way there.

 The person who is saved is:

Drawn by the Father (who draws everybody)[12].  Jesus said, “If I am lifted up, I will draw all people to me” (John 12:32), he’s referencing an incident in the Old Testament where Moses was instructed to make the image of a serpent to put on a pole, so that all the Israelites who were being bitten by a swarm of snakes could be healed. They just had to look up. It’s an odd story, but in literature it’s called foreshadowing. The Old Testament constantly uses physical events to foreshadow important spiritual truths in the New Testament.

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:14-17)

God initiates or reaches out to everyone so that they have an opportunity to respond. This is through His Word and/or his Holy Spirit, though we often have the privilege of being the vehicle of His word (think of the disciples passing out the bread and fish). God draws all people to himself through Jesus by the Holy Spirit so that they can see what God has to offer to them.

God, through what is called prevenient grace[13], enables every person to choose to come to Christ or not. God breaks through to us when we are dead in our sins.[14] God enables all to see him through the revelation they receive from Him. Then, they can choose to either reject the truth or embrace it.

“For this is the will of my Father--for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life…." (John 6:40)

 “…people who suppress the truth…” (Romans 1:18)

Like when Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, all who chose to look to the source of their salvation would be healed; not all did. Because Jesus has been lifted up on the cross, all can see and be saved; not all do.

 If we accept the truth of Jesus and his offer of salvation, we are justified. There’s a TV show called Justified in which a law enforcement officer named Raylan is put in situations over and over in which the viewer is supposed to wrestle with whether or not he was justified in responding the way he does. Ideally, Raylan’s choices would defend his integrity. Realistically, they often didn't.

All our lives, we are put in situations where we hope our choices defend our integrity such that we are justified in doing what we do. Unfortunately, that’s not working great for us. However, there is good news.

Justification is the doctrine that God pardons, accepts, and declares sinners to be "just" on the basis of Christ's righteousness, which makes them right with God (Romans 3:24-26; 4:25; 5:15-21).

“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:18)

This results in us being at peace with God (Romans 5:1).[15]

Because of Christ, we are saved from the penalty, power, and eventually the presence of sin. We are saved from the eternal PENALTY of sin when we surrender our lives to God. This doesn’t mean we won't reap what we sow in this life; God and others can forgive us for our sins, but that’s different from a very practical harvest that involves penalties. We are talking here about what is happening spiritually. A debt we build all our lives can be covered because the Lawgiver has taken the penalty for Lawbreaking upon himself in the person of Jesus.

Because of Christ, we are being saved from the present POWER of sin. Because the Holy Spirit is now in us, we have God’s power to break what the Bible calls the bondage of sin. We will struggle with temptation, but the Holy Spirit at work in us has given us the power to withstand. The sin which defined us or formed us does not need to continue to define or control us.

One day, we will be saved from the PRESENCE of sin. In heaven, the peace of shalom will be restored.  The New Heaven and New Earth will not be broken, and neither will we. 

God begins a process of regeneration. Regeneration is the spiritual transformation brought about by the Holy Spirit that moves us from spiritual dead to spiritual life. Regeneration is a reminder that salvation is more than what happens in a moment; we are being saved[16]. God has begun a good work in us. It’s ongoing. It will be complete in the world to come. You’ve probably seen the memes: “Be like the roads in Detroit. Never stop working on yourself.”  Think of us as the roads, and God as the one who continues a good work in us. And yes, it’s a lifelong construction project :) Maybe we should all be wearing “Under Construction” T-shirts to remind each other what’s happening.

God also begins a process of sanctification. This literally means "to set apart" for special use or purpose, which is very similar to what it means to be holy. It’s both a state and process that begins at the point of our surrender (salvation) and continuing throughout our life.

“God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6)

We are doing baptisms in two weeks. Maybe think of the act of baptism as a public proclamation that these people have been set apart for God’s good purposes. The old self has been put to death; a new self is arising. That symbol reminds us of a truth about the life of follower of Jesus. We are always set apart and being set apart for God’s good purposes.

We are nourished by the bread of life. This means our spiritual nature finds sustenance in the person of Jesus and all the truth that comes from him, specifically with what has been revealed in Scripture. Once again, this is more than just head knowledge. It’s more than just observing and giving a formal assent to the truth about who Jesus is. Is allowing the entirety of our lives to be changed.

It’s interesting: modern food studies are talking about how our diets affect our epigenetics; that is, how our food changes how the genetics we have are expressed. In other words, what we eat changes us. It’s not a neutral force in our bodies. Our lives change because of what we eat.[17]

This is true spiritually as well. Our lives change because of what our souls consume. Nothing lands in us neutrally. We know that we have eaten the bread of life when who we are changes. It might be slow, it might be fast, but we cannot eat the Bread of Life without becoming something new. 

This sustenance enables us to persevere in the faith, so that in the end we are made a partaker of eternal life.[18]

______________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Similar to the reply given to the Samaritan woman at the well, who needed water “so that I may never thirst again.”  Here, we have "food that endures to eternal life." 

[2] “Even miracles are lost on persons whose hearts are fixed on the perishing things of the world, and whose minds are filled with prejudice against the truth.” (Adam Clarke)

[3] Implying that bread from heaven was more impressive than multiplying the boy’s lunch.

[4] “Jewish expositors had already often used manna as a figure for spiritual food, God’s law, or Torah/Wisdom/Word. Ancient writers also often used water or drinking figuratively (including Jewish teachers using it for Torah or Wisdom)...Sirach 24:19 portrays Wisdom as saying, “Come to me . . . and eat your fill of my fruits”; in Sirach 24:21, Wisdom cries, “Those who eat of me will hunger for more, and those who drink of me will thirst for more.” But Jesus… shows himself greater than Wisdom; he emphasizes the satisfaction of those who eat and drink from him (John 4:14).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Of The New Testament)

[5] As cited by Adam Clarke

[6] This should sound familiar. Remember he said the same thing to the woman at the well?

[7] “Shall come to me — All that are drawn by the Father, John 6:44, i.e. all those who are influenced by his Spirit, and yield to those influences: for as many as are LED (not driven or dragged) by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God, Romans 8:14… And though Christ would have gathered them together, as a hen would her chickens under her wings, yet they would not. Matthew 23:37. Those who come at the call of God, he is represented here as giving to Christ, because it is through his blood alone that they can be saved... I will in no wise cast out. — The words are exceedingly emphatic - I will by no means thrust out of doors… Our Lord alludes to the case of a person in deep distress and poverty, who comes to a nobleman's house in order to get relief: the person appears; and the owner… receives him kindly, and supplies his wants. So does Jesus. Never did he reject the suit of a penitent, however grievous his crimes might have been. He is come to the house of mercy… the Master not only grants his suit, but receives him into the number of his family: he alleges his unfitness, his unworthiness, his guilt, his crimes, his ingratitude: no matter, all shall be blotted out through the blood of the Lamb, and he be put among the children, and on none of these accounts shall he be put out of the house.” (Adam Clarke)

[8] “Far from any person being excluded from his mercy, it was the will of God that every one who saw him might believe and be saved. The power, without which they could not believe, he freely gave them; but the use of that power was their own. God gives the grace of repentance and faith to every man; but he neither repents nor believes for any man.” (Adam Clarke)

[9] “It was an opinion of the Jews themselves that their fathers, who perished in the wilderness, should never have a resurrection. Our Lord takes them on their own ground: Ye acknowledge that your fathers who fell in the wilderness shall never have a resurrection; and yet they ate of the manna: therefore that manna is not the bread that preserves to everlasting life, according even to your own concession.” (Adam Clarke)

[10] Figuratively, Jesus could be identified with the Passover lamb (Ex 12:8). Because the law forbade drinking blood, including that of the Passover lamb (Lev 17:10), a stronger analogy is with divine Wisdom.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[11] “By comparing this verse with verse 47, it can be definitely shown that to eat His flesh and to drink His blood means to believe on Him. In verse 54, we learn that whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life…. To eat His flesh and to drink His blood is to believe on Him.” (I lost track of my source here L.)

[12] Revelation 22:17; John 12:32

[13] Grace that precedes and prepares for conversion. Prevenient is from Latin, meaning grace that comes (venire) before (prae).

[14] Ephesians 2:5

[15] Thanks, Theopedia, for that helpful summary of justification.

[16] 1 Corinthians 1:18

[17] Check out Scientific American’s article “How Diet Can Change Your DNA.”

[18] A paraphrase of Adam Clarke’s words.