Rebuilding: A Parable

“Imagine yourself as a living house. 

God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? 

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.  

He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

CHAPTER ONE: The Ruins

You live in a broken, run-down house. You’ve been here as long as you can remember. You know nothing else. For a while you were able to at least keep it looking nice on the outside, but it’s always been falling apart. 

You recently discovered that the foundation has massive cracks, with huge chunks falling out. In some places it looks like somebody just spray painted over some really sandy soil (Matthew 7:24-27) to look like concrete. You don't know much about foundations, but this seems like a problem.

The landlord seemed like a great guy at first (2 Corinthians 11:24). He allowed you to skip rent. He let you host all the parties you wanted – he even helped fund more than one. Sure, your friends trashed the place, but you trashed theirs, so it all seemed fair in a messed up kind of way. 

But you slowly realize that the landlord is a hard owner. You thought he was your friend. He isn’t. That rent you thought you skipped shows up in different fees, and when you think about the math you know the cost is more than you realized.

The landlord keeps promising that you will have a better house and a better life if you will just do one more thing: fix the roof, mend some pipes, hang new drywall, repaint, rebuild the foundation that keeps sinking further into the sandy soil. 

But all those things cost money that you don’t have, so you borrow money from the landlord at what you know is a ridiculous rate, but nobody else will loan you money. But even that growing debt can’t keep you ahead of the decay of this house. The only thing that ever pans out is pandemonium. 

You spackle over holes in the wall when you need a new wall; you wrap duct tape around leaking pipes when you need new pipes; you keep putting new vinyl tile on the floor to cover up the cracks when you need a new floor. Really (and deep inside you know it), you need a new house, because this house is doomed (Jeremiah 19:13).

It doesn’t help that you are really sick (Psalm 38). You feel as run down as your house looks. Maybe it’s the asbestos in the walls, and the ton of lead in all the paint, and what you are starting to think are purposefully leaky pipes in the gas stove. Maybe it’s the hint of sulfur that’s always in the air. 

Maybe it’s the snakes that keeping waiting outside the door to bite your feet (Genesis 3:15). Maybe it’s the parties that trash the whole property, or the foolish things you’ve done thinking they would make the house better when they just made everything worse.

Whatever the reasons, there’s something toxic about this house. It’s killing you. But as far as you know, this is all you have. This is the only place to live. All of your friends live in houses like this; the stories they tell about their landlord make it sound suspiciously like yours. You hate the person you have become in the house you’ve allowed to fall apart.

To make things worse, you realize one day that somebody is following you. Literally. He’s one step behind you everywhere you go. When you are finally able to catch a glimpse in a mirror, you realize… it’s you. 

Not just like you, but a zombie version. This other you looks like one of the Walking Dead. By the end of the day, he’s got a hand on your shoulder. The next morning, he drapes his arms around you and makes you carry him everywhere you go.

 He stinks. He’s dead weight. (Romans 7:24). You call your landlord hoping he can do something, but he already knew. “Yeah, they always show up in my houses.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s you. It’s just the real you. The dead you.”

“Why did it show up just now?”

“Oh, it’s always been there. You’ve been dead for years. You just couldn’t see it. ” 

There’s nothing you can do. The landlord doesn’t care. Most of your friends hang out somewhere else, and the ones that show up get really uncomfortable when you start to talk about it. You aren’t sure if it’s because they don’t see the dead you, or if they have their own haunting them. They just change the subject.

But they are your friends, so they try to help do things like paint the siding that is falling off the side of the house, and you continue to help them too. (Jeremiah 8:11)  It’s tough to paint while carrying death around.

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CHAPTER ONE ENDNOTES 

Among other horrible things that happened during Bible times, captive soldiers were sometimes forced to carry a dead body until the rot of the corpse killed them. The Roman poet Virgil wrote: “What tongue can such barbarities record or count the slaughters of his ruthless sword?
’Twas not enough the good, the guiltless bled,
Still worse, he bound the living to the dead:
These, limb to limb, and face to face, he joined;
O! monstrous crime, of unexampled kind!
Till choked with stench, the lingering wretches lay,
And, in the loathed embraces, died away!” About 100 years later, when Paul was looking for an analogy about how much he hated the part of him prone to sin, he wrote:

“Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24)

Several commentators have noted that Paul was possibly referring to the same thing Virgil did.  

CHAPTER TWO: Bring Out Your Dead!

The next day a man walks onto the porch and crushes a snake twisting up from the steps. “Bring out your dead!” he calls out cheerily (John 11:25). 

You study him for a moment. “Don’t I know you? I do! You offered one time to fix my cabinets and, uh, I didn’t hire you. You’re Mary’s boy, right?” He nods amiably. “Why are you asking for dead? Haven’t you been helping your daddy build houses?”

“I have indeed been about my Father’s business,” he responds, “but there’s more than one kind of house, and more than one way to build them. Bottom line: I am here to help you with your housing situation.”

“What makes you think I need help with my house, and what makes you think there are dead here?”

“I could see it from the road. I can smell it on your breath; I hear it in your words (Romans 3:13); I see it in your eyes. Oh – and it clings to you like a monstrous burden. 

This house has killed you. Your landlord cracked the gas lines and installed the asbestos. Your landlord made sure there are no detectors for smoke or gas. He made sure you owe him so much money that you feel like he owns you. He loads this property up with snakes. 

Your landlord likes to get everything he can from his tenants before leaving them dead. But you were meant to be alive (John 5:21). And I can get rid of that body of death and make this house livable.”

This sounds great, but… “How can I trust you?” 

“Why do you think you even know that death is haunting you? You thought you were tired and sick. But that day you first saw yourself in the mirror, I was the one who showed you what was real. I was the one who opened your eyes. You needed to know (2 Timothy 2:26). You can trust me, because I bring you truth that will set you free (John 8:32).”

”I don't think you understand. It won’t be that easy. I drowning in my debt; I’m dying in my sickness. I’ve explored other options, but as best as I can tell, I’m doomed to live here until this house collapses or I do.     I’m a captive here.” 

He nods. “I do understand. I’ve been in this neighborhood for a while. I actually moved into the area to live with you and your friends. And I’ve got good news: I have a plan to pay for your debt, and I’ve got a pretty good track record of bringing beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3).”

“How will you do that?”

His smile is gentle, and grave. ”It will be…costly. But I will take captive the things that have captured you; I will pay your debt. I will take that load of death onto me so that you can be free from it. I am here to offer you freedom from your landlord and your dead self (Romans 5:6-21).”

“Why me? I’m nothing. Nobody. I’ve done nothing to deserve this.”

“Why not you? I care about you. I am here to seek and save people and situations that seem hopeless (Luke 19:10). Plus, I would actually like to move into this house (1 Corinthians 6:19), and where I am, there is no room for death and ruin (1 Corinthians 15:55).” 

“Where would I go if you move into this house?”

“Why would you want to go?”

You sit quietly for a long time. Your father always said you got what you deserved, and he never helped with your house or your health. Your landlord pretended to be your friend while guiding you down a road to death. Your friends had trashed your house, then had taken their dead selves to their dead parties on dead-end streets.

You look around at the shambles all around you. You remember the landlord’s harsh, condemning voice (Revelation 12:10). You feel the dead weight of your sins, failures and inadequacies on your back (Isaiah 43:24). 

You’ve never known anyone who seemed to care about you and your life. This man is kind (Romans 2:4). He’s generous (2 Corinthians 8:9). He offers a new start. He offers a new identity. Basically, He offers to make all things new (Revelations 21:5). 

Finally you whisper, “I have no future. I have no hope. Everyone offers me death. There is nowhere else to go. You are the only one who has ever offered me life (John 6:68). So…yes. Let’s do this. I and my house are yours.”

The Man stands up, lifts my dead self off my back, and places it onto his. “Well done. You have asked for resurrection, and I will give it. I will get the deed to your house, and when I return, I will show you what life is supposed to look like (Hebrews 2:14-18).”

You watch him until he is out of sight. It takes a while. He stops and knocks at every house. You wonder what he is going to do with all the dead he takes upon himself as he walks through the town. Then you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

When you awake at dawn three days later, you know everything has 

changed.

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CHAPTER TWO ENDNOTES

Christ sets us free from that dead weight that’s been killing us. Why? Because He can, and he loves us.  We just need to ask. Then we are set free from that body of death. Here’s how Paul explains it in Romans 6 (beginning in verse 2).

"We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life… We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin…

CHAPTER THREE: ReOrientation

You have a hard time believing the changes. No more debt. No more creditors knocking at your door – or at least, when they do, this man takes care of them. Now the rain stays outdoors and the plumbing stays in the pipes. Your front door actually latches. The floors seem to be some strange new normal –maybe that’s what people mean by level? It’s…amazing (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This Man – you’ve started calling him the ReBuilder - has a bigger plan than you realized. He isn’t going to just uncondemn the house and sweep up the garbage. He is planning to turn your shack into a mansion. When he first told you, you said, “Awesome! Go right ahead!” 

But the ReBuilder smiled and said, “Not without you. It’s our house. We work together. I’m going to completely remake the foundation(Matthew 7:24-27), and I am taking the lead on the rebuilding so you don’t work in vain (Psalm 127:1), but you need to give yourself to this project” (Romans 12:1).

The first thing you do is take an honest assessment of the mess that your house has become. You forgot how many rooms you had added, locked rooms haunted by the ghosts of the other Dead Yous that you didn’t even realize were there. 

The oldest one was the ghost of Abused You, sealed away, thinking it would stay behind that door but knowing (honestly) that it crept out all the time and hovered over every relationship you had. Then there was the room of the No Longer Innocent You, the room where love began to fade and shame began to grow; the room where Addicted You lost control.

Then there’s the room where Greedy You first learned to trample on others; the room where Angry You still punched holes in the wall and watched the fear grow in the eyes of others; the room of Mouthy You, where you first learned that words can manipulate, control, and wound – and you liked it.

It’s an embarrassing tour. The Rebuilder doesn’t seemed shocked. He keeps an arm around your shoulders as you walk; he lifts your chin up when your shame overwhelms you (Psalm 3:3). When you are done he says, “Has anyone ever killed a fatted calf for you?” (Luke 15:11-32)

“What? That’s…um, no. A fat calf? They once grilled a chicken – poorly, I might add, but they tried. Does a plump chicken and potato salad count?”

He smiles. “Not the same thing. It’s time to throw a celebration party for you.”

“What? This- (you point at the hallway with so many Dead You rooms – this deserves a celebration?”

“No, not that. But you were lost; now you are found (Luke 15:11-31). This deserves a celebration. Something barbecued or maybe even deep fried, and with an onion blossom of some sort. And we’re going shopping. The living do not wear the clothes of the dead (Romans 13:14). Maybe you’ll even get some snakeskin boots.”

You don’t argue. No one had ever celebrated you before. 

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CHAPTER THREE ENDNOTES

Sanctification happens as the Holy Spirit works through Spirit-driven obedience as an act of worship.

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

But a living sacrifice wants to get off the altar sometimes. That old body of death is hanging around. 

“On the one hand, I serve the law of God in my mind; but on the other hand, the carnal side of me follows the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25)

This is an image for the process of sanctification. Initially, we are set apart (“made holy”) when we are justified by Christ. It changes our identity. We are no longer spiritually dead, enslaved to sin. Now we are alive and renewed. In an ongoing manner, the justified person who submits to God's will is becoming conformed to the image of Christ. Colossians 3:1-12 gives a great description of how the process takes place:

“Since you were raised from the dead with Christ, aim at what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Think about the things in heaven, not the things on earth. Your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God.  Christ is your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory. 

So put all evil things out of your life: sexual sinning, doing evil, letting evil thoughts control you, wanting things that are evil, and greed. This is really serving a false god. These things make God angry. In your past, evil life you also did these things. But now also put these things out of your life: anger, bad temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and using evil words when you talk. Do not lie to each other. You have left your old sinful life and the things you did before. You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are becoming like the One who made you. 

This new life brings you the true knowledge of God.  In the new life there is no difference between Greeks and Jews, those who are circumcised and those who are not circumcised, or people who are foreigners, or Scythians. There is no difference between slaves and free people. But Christ is in all believers, and Christ is all that is important.

God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So you should always clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

See this tension? Though we are freely justified, fitting the mold of goodness doesn’t come naturally. God will continue to do a work in us through the Holy Spirit, but we invest sweat equity too. We see this tension other places in the Bible as well.

·      God works in us for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). 

·      God helps us bear good fruit (John 15:4).

·      God equips Christians to do his will (Hebrews13:21). 

At the same time the Bible also states:

·      We must work out their salvation (Philippians 2:12). 

·      We work to supplement our faith with virtue and good works (2Peter 1:5-7). 

·      We commit to abounding in the work of the Lord (1Corinthians 15:58).

CHAPTER Four: ReBuilding

As you work, the ReBuilder gives you all the tools you need – which is a good thing, because it turns our your tool set is part of the problem. He gives you his personally drawn blueprint, a fund to draw from for building materials, expert advice and help, etc. Since he’s the architect, designer, builder and inspector, He is available every day – leading, guiding, protecting, correcting (Romans 8:14).

But you have to set your alarm, get out of bed, put on the tool belt, pick up the lumber, swing a hammer, get splinters, and break and rebuild a few things. You are going to invest some sweat equity into this house (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Some days are better than others. You notice other houses in the neighborhood that are also being transformed by this ReBuilder. As you visit their project and they stop by yours, you build friendships as you listen to each other’s stories and admire the work of the Rebuilder. It is strange to be surrounded by…how would you describe this new feeling?... Hope. That’s it. Hope (Colossians 1:27). 

But you find it’s also easy to be jealous of other houses that look nicer – or to be proud as you compare yours to the ones the look less advanced. The ReBuilder picks up on this and just shakes his head. 

“Focus. Eyes on me. You and I are building your house (Philippians 2:12). You don’t know what kind of house they had before or where we are at in the rebuilding process. Let’s get your own house in order. I’ll worry about the others.”

You get hurt; you get tired; you misread the blueprint and put some walls at the wrong place and tear down others that should have been left alone; you shoot yourself with the nail gun more than once. You learn the importance of safety glasses and noise cancelling headphones, because it turns out guarding your eyes and ears is a thing that matters.

 You question the ReBuilder’s blueprint when it shows that he plans to remodel a part of your old house that you wanted to keep. You argue when He shows you something that is not up to code. He makes you move that foundation off the sand and onto a rock (Matthew 7:24-27), and that is some exhausting work. You never realized how much you had built on a poor foundation.

You occasionally find that your creepy old landlord has slithered off the sidewalk and is crouching outside your door (Genesis 4:7), wondering if he can hang out for a while. “Take a break,” he hisses. “Don’t take life so seriously.” Some days you actually invite him in and you hang out. 

It’s sometimes fun for a while (Hebrews 11:25), but it never ends well. You feel worn down again, almost as if your dead self was back, hand on your shoulder, whispering emptiness and loneliness into your ear. Your landlord always ends up roaring through your house, punching holes in the drywall, unfastening pipes, taking a jackhammer to the foundations - basically trying to demolish everything. (1 Peter 5:8)

But the Rebuilder helps you resist, and the old landlord has to leave (James 4:7). More than once the ReBuilder has picked that sneaky ghost of your Dead Self up by the collar and thrown him out on the street. You apologize to the ReBuilder when this happens.

He hugs you and reorients you. He doesn't yell (1 John 1:9). His forgiveness is just another one of the gift you don’t deserve (Ephesians 1:7). But that doesn’t mean you don’t spend days –even weeks - cleaning up the mess you created. 

You pick up all the stuff you can, and the Rebuilder gets the places you can’t reach and corrects the damage beyond your ability. He helps you make a plan to resist and avoid this situation the next time (Ephesians 4:27; 2 Corinthians 2:11). 

There are some days you wonder why the ReBuilder even puts up with you, but he never leaves you on your own. He remains true to his word. He holds you to the code but patiently helps you when you miss the mark. He teaches you how not to shoot anyone, including yourself, with the nail gun. 

You know you are in this together, that he is for you, that he will restore you and help you even when you are at your weakest (Psalm 51:10-12). So every day you rise and build, and you find increasing satisfaction in the affirmation of the ReBuilder and the pleasure of a job well done (Nehemiah 2:17-18; Matthew 25:23).

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CHAPTER FOUR ENDNOTES

"We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life… We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin... “ (Romans 6:2 and following)

Baptize meant to "put into" or "immerse" so that the thing baptized takes on the properties of the thing into which it was baptized. Garments were "baptized" in dye so that the garments took on the color of the dye. Cucumbers were “baptized” so that they became pickles. Christians absorb the righteousness that comes from Jesus’ death and resurrection. But part of devotion is making a choice about to whom you will offer yourself.

“Surely you know that when you give yourselves like slaves to obey someone, then you are really slaves of that person. The person you obey is your master. You can follow sin, which brings spiritual death, or you can obey God, which makes you right with him. In the past you were slaves to sin—sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully imitated the pattern of our teaching. You were made free from sin, and now you are slaves to goodness.” (Romans 6:16-18)

This “pattern of our teaching” refers to melted metal cast into a mold and conforming to the impression that is sunk or cut in the mold. They used to pour themselves into sin, and they conformed to its pattern. Now they are choosing to pour themselves into the truth about Christ, and they conformed to it. They looked like goodness. 

If we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him…You should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus. So, do not let sin control your life here on earth so that you do what your sinful self wants to do. Do not offer the parts of your body to serve sin, as things to be used in doing evil. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used in doing good. Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law but under God’s grace.  (Romans 6:1-8; 11-14)

 “To live” in something was to be wholly given to it. An ancient writer, Aelian, wrote: “The Tapyrians are such lovers of wine, that they live in wine; and the principal part of their life is devoted to it.”  Not only do we soak up righteousness (which is a passive word of transformation), we can be wholeheartedly devoted (an active verb). 

CHAPTER FIVE: ReBuilt and Alive

It’s not all work. A lot of the time you just spend time with each other. He fishes with you on still waters. You shoot hoops at the YMCA and join friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for March Madness and go to Jonny Lang concerts. Being around him restores your soul (Psalm 23) even while your callouses thicken. You realize that you are absorbing his ideas, his language, his priorities, his way of living life abundantly (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Others join your circle. Some bring their dead; some have already been set free (Mark 2:13-17). Some still live in shacks; others are working with the ReBuilder on mansions. 

The Rebuilder welcomes them all. He didn’t come to condemn the dead to their bare, cold shacks. He came to save them and rebuild their lives (John 3:17). You invite even more to hang out with you (1 John 3:10). Some do; some don’t. You never stop inviting.

And slowly but surely, your house is becoming the kind of mansion that showcases the glorious power of the Rebuilder (Philippians 1:6). You find that you easily congratulate others whose houses are flourishing, and you compassionately help neighbors who are struggling. 

The blueprint makes more sense than it used to. You look forward to your alarm clock. The old landlord still comes around, but more than ever you see through his lies (John 8:44). Your Dead selves that once haunted you so closely stay on the sidewalk, and you notice their numbers have been dwindling. 

You notice a neighbor starting to work on his house by himself. He looks miserable. He is constantly having to redo things that don’t work; he has changed foundations twice, and that didn’t help his mood or his progress. He’s mentioned before that he had noticed the changes in your house, so you swing by occasionally to talk about his project. 

He’s not interested in your advice, so you help him bail water out of his flooded basement and bide your time.You take him some water one blistering day (Mark 9:41) and see that he finally has a blueprint. “Oh,” you say, “Did you meet the ReBuilder?” 

“No,” says your neighbor. “Why would he want to help with my house? It’s horrible. I found this fixer-upper idea from some well-known landlord online – he’s all over Twitter - and I added my own modifications. I think I can fix my house enough so the ReBuilder will notice. Once I make it good enough, I’ll be ready for him. When I meet him, I’d rather start with him being impressed than thinking I am some loser in need of help with everything.” He pauses. “No offense.”

“None taken,” I say. “But I have to tell you that this isn’t Field of Dreams.”

“My favorite movie!” he interjected.

“I figured. But this isn’t, ‘If you build it, he will come.’ It doesn't work that way. Stop trying to do it yourself (Isaiah 64:6). Unless the Rebuilder builds it and shares his tools, your labor is useless (Psalm 127:1). It’s making you angry and annoying your neighbors, and the next big storm is going to put you back at square one (Matthew 7:24-27).” 

“Nah,” he said. “I’ve got this. You’ll see.” He returns to his works. His Dead Self turns and smirks at you as you walk away and hands your neighbor some bottled water from Sulfur Springs, motto: “Thirst. Again.” (John 4:14)

You find that, the longer you work with the ReBuilder, more than a few note how you are continuing to become like Him (Ephesians 5:1). You are humbled and encouraged. Your friends used to comment on the eerie similarity between you and your former landlord (John 8:44; 1 John 3:10).This is much better. 

“But,” they say, “what’s with all the ongoing work? You told us this was a gift, but it’s starting to look like a life-long project.”

“Oh, it is, and it’s fantastic! Working side by side with the ReBuilder is part of the gift (1 Corinthians 1:9). I don't deserve to be his apprentice. Who am I to swing a hammer on this house? Who am I to cut expensive trim, and build a strong chimney? I brought nothing to this project, but he gives me everything I need to build great things (Colossians 3:1-12) on the foundation he has set.

“He has given me far above what I could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). I just want to know Him and understand what kind of person gives grace to the failures and life to the dead (Philippians 3:10).  I just want to be near him and be like him and be part of the work he is doing in the world.

And in that process, all these things (here you wave your hand to show His house, His tools, the work of His hands, the campfire where He sat with his friends) have been added unto me” (Matthew 6:33). This, my friends, is what happens when obedience responds to grace. This is life (John 10:10; Romans 8:12-14).”

Harmony #14: Mercy and Sacrifice (Mark 2:1-17; Luke 5:17-32; Matthew 9:1-13)

Healing & Forgiving a Paralytic – (Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26; Matthew 9:1-8)
Now after some days, Jesus got into a boat and crossed to the other side and came to his own town. When he returned to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 

 On one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 

So many gathered that there was no longer any room, not even by the door, and Jesus preached the word to them. Some men came bringing to him a paralytic, carried on a stretcher by four of them. They were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus.  

But when they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof tiles above Jesus. Then, after tearing them out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on, right in front of Jesus. 

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage son[1], your sins are forgiven.”

Time out. This guy’s friends didn’t knock a hole in the roof for him to get his sins forgiven. He was there so this miracle worker could make him walk again. Yet Jesus offers the best miracle: the forgiveness of sins.[2]

Now some of the experts in the law and the Pharisees were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds: “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 

When Jesus saw their reaction, he immediately realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such hostile thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you raising objections within yourselves and thinking such evil things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic— “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

I’ve noted this before, but it’s worth noting again: Physical miracles serve a greater purpose than simply the healing of the physical infirmity (though that’s also a gift of grace). Ultimately, forgiving sins is a greater act than a healing miracle (“Only God can forgive sins.”) The miracles are meant to reveal the power of God to do the greatest miracles of all in the realms we cannot see: the salvation and restoration of our hearts. Miracles confirm or affirm the Jesus is God, the Messiah, the long-awaited King and Redeemer.[3]

Immediately he stood up before them, picked up the stretcher he had been lying on, and went home in front of them all, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all, and they glorified God who had given such authority to men. They were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen incredible things today. We have never seen anything like this!”

No, they haven’t, but wait until they see what comes next. 

Notice their awe, though. It wasn’t that a man’s sins were forgiven. It was that he could walk again. And they glorified God “who had given such authority to men.” Glorifying God is good, but they still didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah. And they seem far more fascinated by the potential to have physical diseases cured than to have their sins forgiven.

So Jesus is going to make the point really clear. He’s about to transform a man whose occupation made him a social pariah—a known sinner and an associate of publicly known sinners.[4]

Calling Matthew/Levi, Eating with Sinners (Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32; Matthew 9:9-13)
Jesus went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them.  As he went along, he saw Levi, or Matthew, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him, leaving everything behind. 

Jewish people viewed tax collectors as traitors. When harvests were bad, it was not unheard of for the population of an entire village to leave town and start a village somewhere else when they heard that a tax collector was coming. Later rabbis sometimes contrasted Pharisees, as the godliest Judeans one would normally meet, with tax collectors, as the most ungodly one would normally meet.[5]

Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for Jesus, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 

When the experts in the law and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they complained to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 

When Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

So Jesus said to Matthew/Levi – while he was sitting in his tax collecting booth – “Follow me.” And Matthew did. And then threw him a banquet and invited all of his sketchy friends.

THE BANQUET

Table fellowship was an important social and even religious event. Eating with someone established a covenant of friendship, which normally also signified approval.[6] Boundaries designated who was included and excluded and outlined religious and ethical obligations toward the participants.

Within Judaism, the Pharisees were well known for the role that table fellowship played in defining their group identities. They consumed food made sacred through various ritual practices such as ceremonial washings or tithing. Participants needed a prior initiation.[7]

In Judaism a scrupulous Pharisee would not eat at the home of a common Israelite (am ha’aretz, “people of the land”), since he could not be sure that the food was ceremonially clean or that it had been properly tithed. To avoid ceremonial defilement, a guest at the home of a Pharisee would be required to wear a ritually clean garment provided by the host.[8]

THE GUESTS

"Sinners" could have just been those who did not share all the observances of the Pharisees, but it seems to be prostitutes, tax collectors, and other people with publicly bad reputations. The term “sinner” (hamartōlos) was often used by the Pharisees to point to an identifiable segment of the people who were opposed to God’s will, but “sinner” is normally used more generally to designate the person who commits acts of sin defined by the law.[9]

The derision that many felt generally for tax collectors was aggravated because they were regarded as ceremonially unclean due to their contact with Gentiles and their compromise of the Sabbath.[10]

Though eating with them entailed dangers of ceremonial defilement, Jesus and his disciples did so. He became known as "a friend of tax collectors and `sinners" (Matthew 11:19).[11] In the minds of the Pharisees, for Jesus to share a meal with these types of persons indicated that he not only included them within his own fellowship, but also that he condoned their behavior.

But that’s in the mind of the Pharisees. Jesus will clarify what’s actually going on.[12]

THE PHARISEES’ BLIND SPOT

I don’t want to completely throw the Pharisees under the bus. They were trying. If Nicodemus is any indication, there were certainly Pharisees who were sincerely dedicated to pursuing the Kingdom of Heaven. As they understood it, getting all 600+ laws right and following all the details added by tradition were the key. But…they couldn’t see the forest for all the trees.

They had lost a key aspect of the heart of God for the world as expressed in Jesus: mercy.

THE PROVERBS JESUS QUOTES

“Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.”

Jesus' quotes about the doctor connected his healing ministry with his "healing" of sinners. The physically sick need physical healing; the sinfully sick need the spiritual healing of mercy and forgiveness.

“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

This is a quote from Hos. 6:6.  In the context of Hosea, God’s people were keeping up on their sacrificial duties but living terrible lives.

• Mercy here means benevolence or kindness toward others.

• Sacrifices were offerings made to God on account of sin or as an expression of thanksgiving.They were always costly, usually crops or animals. You couldn’t offer a sacrifice without being reminded of what kind of penalty sin deserved.[13]

“I desire mercy and not sacrifice” is a Hebrew way of speaking in which an order of priorities was contrasted with really stark language (like saying you have to hate your family to love God).[14] It means:

"I am more pleased with acts of benevolence and kindness than with a mere external compliance with the duties of religion."

The sense in which Jesus applies it is this:

"You Pharisees are exceedingly tenacious of the "external" duties of religion; but God has declared that he prefers benevolence or mercy to those external duties.” [15]

There is a danger revealed in this story: even those most dedicated to religious observance will fail to see their own need for healing, and thus fail to understand the mercy God has shown them and expects them to pay forward.

The Pharisees were not only in need of the Great Physician, they were nowhere near as healthy as they thought. They had missed the importance of mercy. They didn’t understand how much they themselves still needed it. Jesus was doing more than telling them to be more sympathetic to outcasts; by quoting Hosea, Jesus was connecting them with the apostates of ancient Israel whose worship God rejected.[16]This us why Jesus challenged the Pharisees to "go and learn" what it means to live out what they claim to believe about what kind of people God calls his children to be.

They were baffled that someone demonstrated mercy and compassion to such blatantly obvious sinners while dismissing the "righteous" as hypocrites because they didn't understand that how showing mercy is more important than going through the motions of ritual worship. Your hands can be the most ceremonially clean hands in the history of the world while your heart is desperately unclean.

And what ‘furniture of the heart’ do the Gospel writers spotlight in this incident? The merciful heart of Jesus for sinners that motivates him to go to them. The Pharisees were concerned about righteousness (right living) and holiness (being separate as those called out by God), but they misunderstood what that meant.

Righteousness is not just withdrawal from; it’s active engagement to.

Righteousness is not just walking from sin; it’s walking to sinners.

Holiness isn’t meant to isolate us from the world; it’s meant to preserve us as we go in to the world.

The righteous should be known for modeling Jesus-inspired mercy to the despised, the unclean, the rejected. There is something about that posture that reflects the priority of the heart. Who is today’s tax collector? Who is the person or group of people you think so unclean, so unsavory, so wrong that the best thing to do is isolate them, avoid them, and paint them in the worst light possible when we talk about them? Who are the ones we think don’t deserve the dignity of being treated as image bearers of God?

The Pharisees were known for all the outward conformity that kept them clean through avoidance and distance. They were also known for their haughtiness, isolation, and hardness. They did not understand how God intended all the ceremonial rituals they loved to remind them of their sinfulness, their need, their inability to generate their own righteousness. They were supposed to see the deep and ongoing mercy of a God who continued to offer grace and forgiveness to them. Read Galatians 3. The Law was there to identify sin and constrain its impact. The Law was inspired behavior modification in a world that desperately needed it: it told God’s people what not to do and what to do. They were saved fromand to.

Simultaneously, there had to be a system for forgiveness of sins because nobody has the power to keep the law as God intends for it to be kept. Nobody. Unfortunately, the Jewish leaders thought the solution was to just keep adding details to the Law. And over time, keeping the Law became what we now call “virtue signaling”  - publicly displaying how their personal behavior and opinions deserved the praise of people while totally missing the heart of God for all the people they were throwing under the bus.

 These distortions of what God intended for the Law are tragic, because neither Hosea nor Jesus were saying God desired mercy and NOT sacrifice. The sacrificial system was put in place by God. The Law was from God. They were good things. It was just that if doing the rituals and sacrifices did not lead to a righteous heart of mercy that guided holy hands of mercy, the sacrifices were wasted.

 There are times when the prophets told the Israelites that their sacrifices were a stench in the nostrils of God because their hypocrisy was so bad. They thought going through the motions in the areas that impressed their community would appease God.

 Nope. He wasn’t a pagan God to be bribed, and he wasn’t impressed by the pious holiness that impressed people. He was a holy God to be worshipped with heart, soul, mind and strength.[i] Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 to them. Here are some excerpts about what’s going on with God’s people from Hosea 5:

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… 

For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts… 

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 

Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream… 

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

 God is serious about religious hypocrisy. He doesn’t want us to go through the motions of worship to Him if they are not accompanied by merciful actions to others. Both are good; both are deeply intertwined.

And then notice… Did you see how tax collectors were called out in Hosea 5? And then Jesus quotes Hosea 6 to defend feasting with a tax collector whom he had just called to be a disciple? That, friends, is called “making a point.” The God who demanded justice on oppressive taxation demonstrates through Jesus that God extends mercy toward those on whom justice was going to roll over like a river.

Sacrifice without mercy is no acceptable sacrifice. To love sinners is a better fulfilling of the law than to stand aloof from them.[17]

So, let’s note what Jesus did and didn't do by eating with sinners and scandalizing the Pharisees.

He feasted with them without fraternizing in their sins. Interesting: Jesus was without honor in his hometown, but sat in a place of honor with the despised and unclean. He didn’t help Matthew collect unjust taxes; he didn’t enable whatever it was he and the other guests were doing. He wasn’t there to tell them their lives were just fine. But he did eat a meal of friendship. They were, after all, created in God’s image, and he was there not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.[18] All of Matthew’s sinner friends were introduced to Jesus’ mercy over a good meal.

He invested relational time without compromising His integrity. Jesus wasn't worried about being made impure by being around impure people, as if sin were spiritual Covid. Granted, we have to be more careful about how easily impressionable we are because we are not God in the Flesh. Wise boundaries matter. But there is a principal here” We are not called to withdraw and circle the wagons in the face of an impure culture full of impure people. We either believe God has the power to preserve and protect the sanctity of our souls when we are on mission, or we don’t. And if we do, then we should have the boldness and peace to be sitting around tables, building friendships, investing time with those both near and far from Christ.

He affirmed people’s value as people while calling them to repentance. It is possible to simultaneously validate the worth of people as people without that meaning we have somehow affirmed everything about that person. I have had so many friends who have affirmed me as a human being - and called me to repentance in areas of my life. They love me at my worst - and hold up a mirror (uuuggghhh). We do this all the time with our friends, our family, with each other inside the church. We know what this tension is like. Surely it is possible to do that with those outside the church.  Surely we are not called to be less Christ-like when people are far from Christ.

His message of mercy was effective with those who knew they needed it. I suspect he didn’t have to tell the sinners at the banquet about their sin. I’m pretty sure they knew their reputation. If they were Jewish people living in a Jewish community, they knew. Jesus was there not to condemn them – the Law had done that part already - but to demonstrate that ‘the world through him might be saved.’[19]  

No wonder Matthew was so excited that he threw a feast (with all his ill-gotten gain, I might add). He knew what kind of guy he was. Jesus didn’t need to tell him that he needed help. But who in his adult life had shown him this kind of mercy? Who had treated him like a human being with worth? What rabbi in history had called a tax collector actively collecting taxes to be a disciple? History is not destiny when Jesus is involved.

No wonder Matthew threw a feast and invited all his sketchy friends. People long to be known and loved, and that love is felt strongest when that which is known is the worst.

What has lingered with me this week is the kindness and mercy of Jesus to those who did not expect it. Paul – who also new something about the kindness and mercy of Jesus - wrote about it later:

Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

If we plan to call others to follow Jesus, I suspect this model ought to be formative in our plans. If God’s kindness, forbearance and patience is intended to lead people to repentance, our kindness, forbearance and patience should be on full display when we lift up Jesus to others.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “ In the N. T., pupils or disciples are called children of their teachers, because the latter by their instruction nourish the minds of their pupils and mold their characters.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

[2]  “Jesus was illustrating an OT claim that human suffering rests in separation from God. Thus forgiveness is our deepest need.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[3] It’s also possible that Jesus was making a point that would have established his Messianic claims to his Jewish audience. “In the Talmud, we find a tradition that “a sick man does not recover from his sickness until all his sins are forgiven him, as it is written, ʻWho forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases” (Ps. 103:3).’ ” In another place, the rabbis appealed to Psalm 103:3–4 to explain why the prayer for forgiveness precedes the prayer for healing: “Redemption and healing come after forgiveness.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[4] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[5]  NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[6] NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[7] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament

[8] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament

[9]  Luke 7:36–50; Matt. 26:45

[10] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament

[11] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[12] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament

[13] Having something that could pay the penalty for them pointed to the great sacrifice or offering which Christ was to make for the sins of the world.

[14] Luke 14:26

[15] Barnes’ Notes On The Bible

[16] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[17]  Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges

[18] John 3:17

[19] The Holy Spirit will do Holy Spirit work in people’s lives. Part of the mission of the Spirit is to convict the world of sin. See John 16:8.

* * * *

[i]Here are a couple other times in the Old Testament where the prophets beat the same drum about the foolishness of sacrifice when the heart and hands are compromised.

Jeremiah 6:20: “What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.”

Isaiah 1:11–15: “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations. I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.”

Harmony #13: The Galilee Miracles (4 Stories From Galilee)

As Christians, we are dualists – that is, we think there are two parts to reality in our universe: the natural and the supernatural. We are open to the supernatural as an explanation when things at times happen that are beyond our ability to explain scientifically or naturally. It could be that we don’t understand nature and the “laws” God gave it properly yet….but it could be that the explanation will require something supernatural. These are both live options for us dualists.

Those who do not believe in the supernatural here us say something like this cartoon shows (“Then a miracle occurs.”) They see it as a giving up too easily, or trying to find places for God to fit in a world where science makes God unnecessary.

As  Christians, miracles matter a lot to us. The heart of our faith is the Resurrection. That is the miracle that must have occurred in order for our faith to be valid. For a Resurrection you need an Incarnation – and that’s a miracle.  For the world in which the Incarnation occurs, you need a Creation – and that’s a miracle.  For the new life the Christ offers to all of us – we need a miracle. It’s not just the life of Jesus or what’s recorded in the book of Acts. This has been part of church history for over 2,000 years.

• Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch speak of the miracles

• Origen:  exorcisms, healings, and fulfilled prophecy

• Irenaeus: magic-workers of his day "cannot give sight to the blind nor hearing to the deaf, nor put to flight demons; and they are so far from raising the dead as Our Lord did, and the Apostles, by prayer, and as is frequently done among the brethren, that they even think it impossible."

• Justin Martyr:  his speech to the Roman Senate appealed to miracles done publicly in Rome.

• Tertullian: challenged the local magistrates to work the miracles which the Christians perform.

• Augustine:  wrote a long list of miracles he saw, with names and details, described them as well known, and said they happened within the previous two years.

• Gregory the Great:  told Augustine of Canterbury not to be elated by the many miracles God was doing through him for the conversion of the people of Britain.

• Craig Keener (who we will mention later) has a fantastic two volume set on verified modern miracles.

Unfortunately, we use “miracle” in so many different ways that we can become confused concerning what we are actually talking about.  We talk about the miracle of birth and miracle finishes for sports matches; I use Miracle Grow for my garden. When roundabouts get done 10 weeks early we say, “It’s a miracle!”

Here’s our definition that reflects the biblical view: “A supernatural interaction with the natural world in which an event that would not have otherwise occurred does occur.” Now that we have a definition, let’s look today at three main objections before we move into the stories.

Objection #1: Miracles are so unique, so unusual, so improbable, it is more probable that the testimony against ‘uniform experience’ is false than that the event is true. (#David Hume) It is more likely that the witnesses lied than that the uniform laws of nature were broken. However, uniform experiences (‘laws’) are like an “average”; they tell us a lot about life in general, but not necessarily about life in detail. Here are some actual modern events recorded in Craig Keener’s book:

• Keener tells of of “a young woman on her deathbed, almost completely paralyzed from multiple sclerosis. She heard Jesus’ voice calling her to rise and walk, and she was instantly healed so thoroughly that she didn’t even have to contend with atrophied muscles. All three of her doctors have confirmed the account in writing, laying their own reputations on the line. She lived for 40 more years with no recurrence.”[1]

• Another story he documents is of a woman blind for 12 years, instantly healed during prayer, a fully documented case now written up in a medical journal.

The laws of nature (dead people don’t come back to life; there is no medical cure for MS or blindness) are called laws not because they are actual laws, but because they are so overwhelmingly common that we know what’s going to happen in the ordinary course of human events (people who die stay dead; people who are blind or have MS will always have these things).

However, we reached that conclusion based on observation. If observation were to reveal that there are instances where the dead do, in fact, come back to life, then the ‘law’ needs a new definition, something like this: “Barring supernatural intervention, the dead do not come back to life in the natural course of events.”[2]

C.S. Lewis noted this with Hume’s argument. Not only is experience not his friend, but also there is something illogical in Hume’s argument:

“If there is absolutely “uniform experience” against miracles, in other words, they have never happened, why then, they never have. Unfortunately, we know the experience against them to be uniform only if we know that all the reports of them are false.  And we know all the reports are false only if we know already that miracles have never occurred.  In fact, we are arguing in a circle.”  C.S. Lewis

Objections to Miracles #2: Natural explanations can be provided for most miraculous claims. If not, it’s just because we don’t understand the world well enough yet (i.e., quantum physics).

Say a person is medically documented to have been healed of blindness. I and the person objecting to miracles are both filling in a gap. We both agree the event lacks a known natural explanation; we both are offering a way to fill in that gap with a plausible scenario. Because I believe in God as portrayed in the Bible, I think there are two possible explanations, neither of which should be dismissed out of hand. Miracles are on the table. Tim McGrew[3]gives a great response to the idea that miracles should be dismissed out of hand:

“Deep in the heart of a great forest, a bird who has never seen a human being lives in contentment at the top of a large and flourishing tree. One day he flies miles to the north and spends a day eating grubs in a marsh. The day is clear and fine, with scarcely a cloud. 

 When the bird returns in the evening, the tree where he has lived lies flat upon the ground, neatly severed at the base. Our bird knows that trees with dead branches sometimes snap and fall in the wind or even collapse under their own weight. He knows that severe storms can split or knock down even an apparently healthy tree. 

 But in his experience, without exception, healthy trees do not suddenly fall on sunny days. Yet there the tree lies. What is the bird to think, and what should his skeptical friends think of his testimony that the tree did, indeed, fall? In all of the bird’s experience up until now, man has never played a role.  

But now his world has been invaded by a higher order of being that can make things happen the bird has never experienced or imagined. The generalization he has formed — that healthy trees, left to themselves, do not fall down on sunny days — is true as far as it goes. But this tree was not left to itself.”

I asked a skeptical friend once what it would take to believe miracles. It became clear NOTHING would convince him. No matter how much scientific evidence I suggested or how many eyewitnesses I could produce, he said he would always believe that we just didn’t understand something about the natural world.  No matter what, we have been left to ourselves.

If no natural criteria can explain an event, it’s at least worth considering that a supernatural explanation - something (or someone) - has interacted with our world. We have not been left to ourselves.

Objections to Miracles #3:  Miracles  make the efforts of science useless, because science relies on a predictable, cause/effect universe.

I’ve heard an analogy comparing God’s miraculous intervention in the world to the way events are influenced inside a fishbowl. If someone bumps the fishbowl, the pebbles will shake and the water will ripple.  If the fish are committed to seeking an explanation only inside the fishbowl, they will never find an adequate explanation for what happened. Maybe they think believing otherwise allows for a “God” who violates the laws of the nature in the fishbowl.

We, however, know that if the fishbowl hadn’t been reacted to the bump, laws governing a reality much bigger than just the fishbowl would have broken.  In other words, an orderly and predictable world still demonstrates ‘cause and effect’ when miracles occur.  Had the fishbowl not responded, that would actually be the problem. I like C.S. Lewis’s response from his book Miracles: 

“Miracles, if they occur, must, like all events, be revelations of that total harmony of all that exists... In calling them miracles we do not mean that they are contradictions or outrages; we mean that, left to her [Nature] own resources, she could never produce them… there are rules behind the rules, and a unity which is deeper than uniformity."

I put this foundation in place because the next four stories in the life of Jesus involve miracles (and we’ve already seen the water turned into wine). If we plan to take the Bible seriously, we must take the reality of miracles of seriously. Miracles are foundational to the story line over and over. There are implications for us today (more on this at the end).

I’m putting these four together because as a group they tell us something important about Jesus, as well was as how God works in the world.

Healing the Royal Official’s Son – Cana, Galilee (Jn 4:46-54)
 Now Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official, an officer in Herod’s service, whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die.

So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people in Galilee see signs and wonders you will never believe!”[4] “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my child dies.” Jesus told him, “Go home; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him,[5] and set off for home. While he was on his way down, his slaves met him and told him that his son was going to live.

So he asked them the time when his condition began to improve, and they told him, “Yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon the fever left him.”  Then the father realized that it was the very time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he himself believed along with his entire household.

Jesus did this as his second miraculous sign[6] when he returned from Judea to Galilee.

Calling Four Disciples - Sea of Galilee (Mt 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20; Lk 5:1b-11)
As Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother,[7]casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).

He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing! But at your word I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets started to tear. So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they were about to sink.

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For Peter and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s business partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people. Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” So when they had brought their boats to shore, they immediately left everything and followed him.

Going on from there Jesus saw the two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then he called them.[8] They immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

Casting Out an Unclean Spirit – Capernaum, Galilee (Mk 1:21-28; Lk 4:31-37)
Lk 4:31 Then Jesus and his disciples went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee. When the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people there were amazed by his teaching, because he taught them like one who had authority, not like the experts in the law.

Now in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon,[9] and he cried out, “Ha! Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us?[10] I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”  But Jesus rebuked him: “Silence! Come out of him!” After throwing him into convulsions in their midst, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him, without hurting him.[11]

They were all amazed so that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority and power![12] He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him and come out!” So the news about him spread quickly throughout all the region around Galilee.

Healing at Simon Peter’s House – Capernaum, Galilee (Mk 1:29-34; Lk 4:38-41; Mt 8:14-17)
Now as soon as they left the synagogue, they entered Simon Peter and Andrew’s house, with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law was lying down, sick with a high fever, so they spoke to Jesus at once about her and asked him to help her.

Standing over her, Jesus rebuked the fever, raised her up by gently taking her hand, and the fever left her.[13]Immediately she got up and began to serve them. When it was evening, as the sun was setting,  the whole town gathered by the door.  Those who had any relatives sick with various diseases or demon-possessed brought them to Jesus.

He placed his hands on every one of them and healed them, and drove out the spirits with a word. Demons came out of many, crying out, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

In this way what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled, “He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.”

* * * *  

Through these miracles, Jesus demonstrates his power:

• over death

• over nature

• over evil spirits

• over sickness

All of this to make clear that He is the prophesied Messiah. There is nothing left over which to demonstrate power. He has covered both the seen and unseen world. There is nothing that has been left alone. He also defies being placed neatly in a formula box when he intervenes miraculously in people’s lives:

• Showed power over death to a wealthy despised Gentile[14] who asked for a miracle.

• Showed power over nature to ordinary, believing Jewish laborers (the disciples) who didn’t ask for a miracle.

• Showed power over evil spirits to a demon-possessed man (in a synagogue, no less) who actively tried to push Jesus away.

• Showed power over sickness to an honored woman on whose behalf others asked for a miracle

If I look at these 4 stories and ask myself, “What does it take for someone to experience a miraculous intervention in their life?” the answer is, “Jesus.” He was demonstrating that the Kingdom of God had been inaugurated in Jesus.

I believe God still works miracles today. Many of you have experienced it in your own life. At minimum, it’s the miracle of the new birth and the process of Holy Spirit sanctification. Things have happened in us that could not have happened just in the course of the natural world unfolding. God has not left us alone.

Perhaps you have seen more than that. Perhaps it has been something you could see with your eyes that happened in the ‘seen’ parts of the world, events that demonstrated God’s power and reminded you that God can do miracles in the unseen parts of the world (emotional, mental and spiritual healing of soul and spirit). Even if you haven’t seen those, the Bible records Jesus’ miracles of the seen that demonstrate his power in the unseen, and that alone is a faithful and sufficient witness.[15]

This morning, I want to encourage us to pray for the supernatural intervention of God in our lives and in the world.

• Pray for the war in Ukraine to end.

• Pray for salvation and righteousness for the leaders in our nation.

• Pray for those you know who are far from Christ.

• Pray for your family and friends in all kinds of need.

• Pray for the work of the Holy Spirit to produce the fruit of the Spirit.

• Pray holiness and righteousness to rise.

• Pray for wisdom, patience, peace, joy, love, hope…

• Pray for….

And when we experience in ourselves that supernatural work of God, or when we see or hear of the power of God’s presence at work in others around us, may it remind us that we have not been left alone. The King of the universe is near.

Recommended Resources:

Miracles.  C.S. Lewis.

Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. Craig Keener.

“Miracles: Is Belief in the Supernatural Irrational? “John Lennox at Harvard

“A Defense of the Rationality of Miracles,” Brett Kunkl

MBA Episode 64: Explaining Miracles To Kids with Matthew Mittelberg (Hillary Morgan Ferrer, Mama Bear Apologetics)

“Miracles Are Outlasting the Arguments Against Them.” Craig Keener, in an interview at Christianity Today

Miracles in Church History, by William Young. https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/102-02_102.pdf

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[1] Craig Keener, interviewed at https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/january-web-only/craig-keener-miracles-today-supernatural-god.html

[2] Irenaeus, (late 100s) wrote, “As I said. even the dead have been raised and remained with us for considerable years… Nor does the Church do anything by angelic invocations, nor incantations, nor other perverse meddling. It directs prayers in a manner clear, pure, and open, to the Lord who made all things, and calls upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/102-02_102.pdf

[3] Christian philosopher at Western Michigan University

[4] “In general, we find that the Lord Jesus was not as pleased with a faith that was based on miracles as He was with that which was based on His Word alone. It is more honoring to Him to believe a thing simply because He said it than because He gives some visible proof.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[5] “Long-distance miracles were rare by Old Testament, other Jewish, and Greco-Roman standards; people generally believed prophets and Greek magicians more easily if they were present in person. The rare stories of long-distance miracles suggested to ancient readers that these miracle workers had extraordinary power.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[6] John will record 7 signs.

[7] Andrew and Simon Peter had earlier left John the Baptist to follow Jesus (Jn 1:35-51). This account, appears to be the formal calling of these men… “This is actually the second time Jesus called Peter and Andrew. In John 1:35–42 they were called to salvation; here they are called to service.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary) 

[8] “The normal pattern in Israel was for a prospective disciple to approach a rabbi and ask to study with him. Perahyah said, “Provide thyself with a teacher and get thee a fellow disciple,” which Rabban Gamaliel echoed, “Provide thyself with a teacher and remove thyself from doubt.” At the inauguration of his kingdom mission Jesus establishes a new pattern, because he is the one who takes the initiative to seek out and give a call.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[9] “Judea, in our Lord's time, abounded with demoniacs. First, [the people] were then advanced to the very height of impiety. See what Josephus, their own historian, says of them: There was not (said he) a nation under heaven more wicked than they were. Secondly, Because they were then strongly addicted to magic, and so, as it were, invited evil spirits to be familiar with them.” (Adam Clarke commentary)

[10] “Only God could destroy demons. In Jewish tradition God’s inbreaking reign meant the destruction of Satan and his minions.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[11] Justin Martyr, in the mid 100s, wrote to the Roman rulers: “You may learn from what goes on under your own eyes. For many devil-possessed all over the world, and in your own city, many of our men, the Christians, have exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate. When all other exorcists and sayers of charms and sellers of drugs failed, they have healed them, and still do heal, sapping the power of the demons who hold men, and driving them out.” https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/102-02_102.pdf

[12] Jesus’ authority over impure spirits characterizes his ministry (vv. 32, 34, 39; 3:11, 22; 5:1–20; 7:24–30; 9:14–27; cf. 3:15; 6:7, 13; see note on v. 24) and here reinforces the authority of his new teaching. It demonstrates that he has already bound Satan (3:27) and is “the one more powerful” whose coming John proclaimed (v. 7).” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[13] “Just as Jesus “rebuked” the demon (see 4:35; cf. also 4:41), so now he “rebukes” (epitimaō) the fever. This does not mean that the fever is a demonic presence. Though illness was often associated with spiritual oppression in the ancient world and is sometimes so linked in Luke’s Gospel (8:29; 9:39; 11:14; 13:11), elsewhere in Luke Jesus’ healings are distinguished from his exorcisms (see 4:40–41; 7:21; 13:32).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[14] The commentaries I read believe this man lived among the Jewish people but was not Jewish.

[15] “The most dramatic miracles happen most often (though not by any means exclusively) on the cutting edge of evangelizing unevangelized areas, a setting similar to the one in the Gospels and Acts. They also happen where they are most needed—not to entertain us, not to get us to neglect other resources God has provided, but because of the Lord’s compassion for our need.” https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/january-web-only/craig-keener-miracles-today-supernatural-god.html

Harmony #12: The Year Of The Lord’s Favor - Part 2 (Luke 4:16-30; Matthew 13:53-58; Mark 6:1-6)

 Now Jesus, with his disciples following him, came to Nazareth, his hometown where he had been brought up. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom, and began to teach the people. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release (redemption) to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[1] 

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then Jesus began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”[2] 

Points from last Sunday:

(a) It is possible that really godly people are right in front of us and we don’t see it. (“Surely, God is in this place and I did not know it”.)

(b) The response of wonder at Jesus’ teachings and works was coupled with persistent unbelief and rejection. (Wonder isn’t the same as worship. People can be amazed by Jesus and far from God.)

(c) God has concern for the poor and oppressed of all kinds. (Physical care and spiritual care go hand in hand. #both/and)

(d) Without the freedom Jesus brings, freedoms turn into either indulgence or oppression. (In Christ, we are freed from sin and to righteousness. Our freedom is holy – set aside for God’s purposes.)

This brings us to the 5th and final observation.

It is significant that Jesus stopped reading with the words “ … to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” He did not add the rest of the words from the passage in Isaiah: “and the day of vengeance of our God.”

Eventually, when John the Baptist goes to jail, his disciples will ask Jesus if he actually is the one they are looking for, or if they should look for someone else.[3] This was after JTB had clearly identified Jesus as the promised Messiah already, confirmed with a supernatural confirmation at Jesus’ baptism, let alone all the miracles he surely knew about.

I wonder if they were counting on the day of vengeance. Where was the promised physical freedom, the judgment on the oppressors? Do you remember how the Jewish crowds will eventually choose Barabbas over Jesus? They wanted the Zealot in their midst, someone who had a violent agenda to overthrow Roman oppression.

In a very practical sense, when was John going to get out of jail?  Was there going to be two Messiahs, maybe, a good cop/bad cop team? Why isn’t fire falling from heaven? (Something Jesus’ disciples will request later – and be denied).[4] Here’s what happened in response:

“At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Luke 7:21-23)

In other words, they saw him fulfill Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the Messiah. Why on earth would anyone stumble over this? I suspect it was because the point of his Incarnation was not to bring practical vengeance on Roman oppressors or the final Day of Judgment that John records at the end of Revelation. Jesus came to proclaim that the year of the Lord’s favor had arrived thanks to Jesus coming to earth to fulfill His mission of salvation.

I want to anticipate a response before we move on. This declaration does not mean Jesus’ death and resurrection did away with the need for justice to address sin and evil. John will record Jesus also saying this:

“For judgment[5] (from krino: distinguish; separate; render a verdict) I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” (John 9:39)

So how do we balance “for judgment I have come into the world” with, “God did not send his son into the world to condemn it, but to save it”? (also recorded by John in chapter 3 of his gospel). Well, John helps us in his own text:

“And this is the judgment (same root word): the light is come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.” (John 3:19)

It is inevitable: when light is introduced, it separates light from darkness. This is a principle as old as Genesis 1.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4)

The light was a blessing; but the light is not the darkness (obviously), and the introduction of light makes clear the different nature of light and dark. As it is physically in the Old Testament, so it is spiritually in the new. A new kind of light is introduced, and it clarifies the chasm between spiritual light and spiritual darkness. Those who love the darkness will face judgment not because Jesus forced it on them, but because they have chosen the darkness. Here’s a good explanation for the judgment question from Ellicott’s Commentary:[6]

“The special form of the word rendered “judgment” in this place is used nowhere else by St. John, and indicates that…His coming was a bringing light into the darkness of men’s hearts, a testing of the false and the true, and as people accepted or rejected Him they pronounced a judicial sentence upon themselves. That light judged no one, and yet by it everyone was judged.” (Ellicott’s Commentary For English Readers)[7]

The purpose of His First Coming was to announce that the acceptable year of the Lord, or the year of the Lord’s favor, had arrived. Over and over in his ministry, Jesus pointed toward the goodness of life in the Kingdom of God.  In just the first few recorded incidents in his public ministry, we see three key components put into place:

• He explained the path to Kingdom citizenship (be born again).

• He described the worship (in spirit and truth).

• He described the outcome (“proclaim good news to the poor, redemption to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and the year of the Lord’s favor.”)

God revealed His plan for bestowing favor through the Incarnation of Jesus, who came to proclaim the grace and mercy of the gospel, the Good News of forgiveness and hope. God, through Jesus, has taken upon Himself the eternal judgment people deserve, and offers LIFE in a glorious, heavenly kingdom that begins now and moves into eternity.[8]

John the Baptist’s message was, “Repent and flee from the wrath to come.”[9] The reality of condemnation paves the way for the message of reconciliation. That groundwork had been laid. In Jesus’ first three encounters with people after the cleansing of the temple, he focused on the life that God offers.

The life is characterized by freedom from the power and condemnation of sin and freedom toflourish in our heart, soul, mind and strength, which will inevitably be expressed in working to help others flourish in the same way.

And if that’s the focus of Jesus, I think it’s safe to assume that our focus, as the people of Jesus, should be the same. We, as God’s ambassadors, have been empowered by God to carry on the message of Jesus.   

• We too, proclaim that Jesus has the power to bring freedom to those bound in oppression of all kinds;

• We, too, proclaim that Jesus has the power to bring healing to the spiritually sick, sight to the spiritually blind, mobility to the spiritually lame, and he has shown us this by bringing physical healing to prove He has the power to do in the realm of the unseen what he can do in the world of the seen;

• We, too, are ‘broken and spilled out’ for the suffering and needy both spiritually and physically, demonstrating the heart of the Great Physician who brings hope and healing to bodies and souls.

I wonder if people experience us as people joyfully proclaiming that this time period in which we live has been shown favor through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  How much time do we spend pointing with excitement toward what God offers to the world through Jesus to those inside and outside the Kingdom of God? How often do we simply proclaim (and demonstrate) the beauty of life in the Kingdom to those both near and far from Christ? In other words, are we known for majoring for what we have been freed to?

I was raised in a church environment that focused more on John the Baptist’s message of fleeing the wrath to come than on loving Jesus and being captivated by what life in His Kingdom looks like. I constantly avoided hell instead of embracing heaven. I fled from the wrath to come at every revival meeting, but that almost never included running toward a glorious, risen Savior who offered me life abundant. I was more excited about skipping hell than I was experiencing heaven. I was more focused on avoiding Satan than pursuing Jesus.

Once again, we don’t ignore that the wages of sin is death, and bringing that point home can include helping the spiritually sick see their sickness and thus their need for the Doctor. But surely we are meant to major on the major point: the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. [10]

If we get so busy looking behind us to flee what’s nipping at our heels, we will lose our way because we have lost our focus. We have to see where we are going, and who we are following. We fix our eyes on the prize of the high calling we have in Christ Jesus.[11] We follow Jesus because we have been captivated by the person and promise of Jesus.  

As I look back over my meager 53 years, I think I spent far too much time looking behind me to avoid being singed by the fire (and frankly, trying to figure out how close I could get without getting burned.) When all that motivates you is avoiding punishment, you’re going to see how much you can get away with. How much sin can I do and still avoid hell?

Jesus didn’t come so I could flirt with sin effectively and get away with as much as I could. He came to give me an abundant, holy life in which I live in God’s design and favor. 

And when we - the oppressed, the captive, the blind, the hungry, the sick for whom Jesus died, and to whom He offers the good news of a salvation, redemption, healing and freedom – when we proclaim and live that message…. Well, I’ll let Isaiah remind us of what happens.

• “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing appear;

• your righteousness will go before you…

• you will call, and the Lord will answer…

• your light will rise in the darkness…”

• your descendants will be known among the nations

• all who see will acknowledge that you are a people the Lord has blessed.

We rightly pray for revival in our town and in our land. We are in desperate need of it. It sure seems like it begins with us being rightly revived. It’s then that God’s people reflect the light of Jesus brilliantly and powerfully into a world smothered in darkness.

_________________________________________________________________________________

[1] The year of the Lord’s favor (Grk “the acceptable year of the Lord”) is a description of the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10). The year of the total forgiveness of debt is now turned into a metaphor for salvation. (NET Bible Commentary) Jesus reads Isa 61:1 – 2, with an added line from Isa 58:6 (tradition suggests that synagogue readers were allowed to “skip” material when reading the Prophets). Isa 61:1 – 2 probably evokes the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25), in which all slaves were to be released. Although Jesus’ reading ends with salvation, his audience would know that the passage goes on to announce also judgment. (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[2] Regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43). Oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43). The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message—he brings the deliverance. “ (NET Bible Commentary)

[3] Luke 7

[4] Luke 9

[5] “The precise form of word for ‘judgment’ occurs nowhere else in this Gospel. It signifies not the actof judging (John 5:22; John 5:24; John 5:27; John 5:30) but its result, a ‘sentence’ or ‘decision’ (Matthew 7:2, Mark 12:40, Romans 2:2-3, &c.), Christ came not to judge, but to save (John 3:17, John 8:15); but judgment was the inevitable result of His coming, for those who rejected Him passed sentence on themselves (John 3:19). See on John 1:9 and John 18:37.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[6] We can feel a similar tension on the issue of peace. Over and over, we read about the peace that Jesus brings; specifically, “Peace on earth to those on whom his favor rests.” “He is our peace”; “Peace I give and leave with you.” Jesus brought peace. How do we reconcile this with his  statement in Matthew 10:34: "I came not to bring peace, but a sword."? The answer, I believe, is that Jesus is simply observing that not all will accept that Jesus is who He claimed, and disagreement over this issue will lead to conflict. See 2,000 years of history for how that dynamic has unfolded.

[7] More ways of thinking about this: “His coming would manifest the disposition and character of every man. The humble, teachable, and upright, though they were as much in the dark with respect to religion and the knowledge of divine things, as the blind man had been with respect to the light of the sun, should be greatly enlightened by his coming: whereas those, who in their own opinion were wise, and learned, and clear-sighted, should appear to be, what they really were, blind, that is, quite ignorant and foolish.” (Benson Commentary)

“As those are most blind who will not see, so their blindness is most dangerous who fancy they do see. No patients are managed with so much difficulty as those who are in a phrensy, who say they are well, and that nothing ails them. The sin of those that are self-confident remains; for they reject the gospel of grace, and therefore the guilt of their sin remains uncancelled; and they grieve and quench the Spirit of grace, and therefore the power of their sin remains unbroken. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? Hearest thou the Pharisee say, We see? There is more hope of a fool, of a publican, and a harlot, than of such.” (Benson Commentary) 

“Nothing fortifies men's corrupt hearts against the convictions of the word, more than the high opinion which others have of them; as if all that gained applause with men, must obtain acceptance with God. Christ silenced them. But the sin of the self-conceited and self-confident remains; they reject the gospel of grace, therefore the guilt of their sin remains unpardoned, and the power of their sin remains unbroken.” (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary)

[8] John 10:10

[9] Matthew 3

[10] Romans 6:23

[11] Philippians 3:14

Harmony #11: The Year Of The Lord’s Favor (Luke 4:16-30; Matthew 13:53-58; Mark 6:1-6)

In today’s passage, Jesus is going to read from the Old Testament, then apply it in such a way that his hometown tries to kill him. To better understand what’s happening, we need to know the passages to which he was referring. (And like Jesus does in His reading, I am going to excerpt the parts that make my point J) 

Isaiah 42 

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope. 6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

ISAIAH 58

“Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.2 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.3 ‘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. 4 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. 5 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? 6 “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? 7 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? 8 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. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

Isaiah 61 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,  and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God…9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary has a nice summary of the ‘acceptable year of the Lord’ or ‘the year of the Lord’s favor’:

“An allusion to the jubilee year (Leviticus 25:10), a year of universal release for person and property. As the maladies under which humanity groans are here set forth under the names of poverty, broken-heartedness, bondage, blindness, bruisedness… so, as the glorious Healer of all these maladies, Christ announces Himself in the act of reading it.”

 Jesus’ audience understood the implication for them if the year of the Lord’s favor had arrived. Not only would all the wrongs they had experienced as a people be made right, but their personal lives would be characterized by blessing. 

Also, it clear that when God’s people were characterized by justice and righteousness during this time of favor, God planned to use them mightily. It wasn’t just the individuals helped; it was the witness to the goodness of the God whose people were doing this work. But…. when they didn’t do this – when they failed to honor God’s priorities even while being really pleased with themselves – well, God was going to get His people’s attention. 

* * * * *

Welcomed in Galilee (Jn 4:43-45; Lk 4:14-15; Mk 1:14b)
After the two days Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, departed from there to Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival (for they themselves had gone to the feast). News about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding countryside, and he began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by all. 

Rejected in Nazareth (Lk 4:16-30; Mt 13:53-58; Mk 6:1-6)
Now Jesus, with his disciples following him, came to Nazareth, his hometown where he had been brought up. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,[1] as was his custom, and began to teach the people. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release (redemption) to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind,[2] to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[3] 

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then Jesus began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled[4] even as you heard it being read.”[5]

 Time out. These passages, in their fullness, are hopeful passages to Jesus’ audience. Remember all the blessings, the ways God planned to use his just and righteous people? Fantastic! The audience must be psyched that Jesus applied this passage to them. Perhaps that’s way… 

All were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They said, “Where did he get all these ideas? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and Joseph, and brother of James, Joses (Joseph), Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?”

Jesus said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, do here in your hometown too.’ “(“Prove it!”) And he added, “I tell you the truth, a prophet is accepted with honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own house.”[6]

Okay, something happened between them speaking well of him and being amazed at his gracious words, because Jesus response to their questions reveals they he (as we will see at the end of this story) is amazed at their unbelief. If I could add a soundtrack to their paragraph of question, it would from something happy to something really brooding. There’s a seemingly ugly shift in the undertone. “You’re that amazing, huh? From your family? Prove it to our faces, here. Do some cool miracles for us like you did in Jerusalem.” And here is where Jesus, who had just returned from the Samaritans, really makes them angry.  

 “In truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up three and a half years, and there was a great famine over all the land. Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a [Gentile] woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed except the [Gentile], Naaman the Syrian[7]”[8] When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage[9] and took offense at him.[10] 

Translation: The Nazarites are the ones in Isaiah 58 who are the rebels, living ‘as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.’ They were the ones who, on the day of fasting, did as they pleased and exploited all your workers. Their fasts ended in quarreling and fighting with wicked fists. And, as Isaiah had said, “You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.” 

They got up, forced him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.[11] But he passed through the crowd and went on his way. Jesus did/could not do many miracles there because of their unbelief[12]— except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed because of their unbelief[13]. Then he went around the villages and taught.

(a) First observation: it is possible that really godly people are right in front of us and we don’t see it.

We dishonor others and rob ourselves of the input of the godly around us if we don’t see those whom God has placed ‘in our own country.’ They might even be in our own family, our own circle of friends, our own church. I wonder if there is a human tendency to think of the impressive, exotic and exciting things happening far away from us, when the reality is that God is at work in our midst. “Surely, God was in this place and I did not know it,” said Jacob. In the kingdom of God, the extraordinary is often hidden in the ordinary. 

I have been amazed over the years at the wealth of human resources in Northern Michigan. Famous, brilliant people live right here. Because I coach, I am aware of area athletes from small schools who go on to play professional sports. It’s no different in the local church. Godly, righteous people are seated in this room. We just have to get to know each other.  

(b) Second observation: The response of wonder at Jesus’ teachings and works was coupled with persistent unbelief and rejection. 

Wonder is not the same as worship. There was no real appreciation of His true identity or worth; all that mattered was how impressive he could be.[14] When Jesus only matters because he entertains us or makes our lives easy, we aren’t following Jesus the crucified Savior. We are following Jesus the court jester. I’m thinking of the movie Gladiator: “Are you not entertained!!” By the way, as far as we know, Jesus never returned to Nazareth.[15]

Jesus didn’t come to entertain us; he came to redeem us. If our love of Jesus hinges on how happy we feel or cool He looks or what kind of bells and whistles get added to our lives, we have badly missed the point. “My grace is sufficient.”[16] That alone should evoke awe, and wonder, and trust, and allegiance. 

(c) Third observation: God has concern for the poor and oppressed of all kinds.[17]

I have said this before: I think the physical realities in the Old Testament point toward spiritual realities in the New Testament. The poor, the enslaved, the blind, the thirsty, the hungry, the naked – God’s people were called to care about their situation physically in the Old Covenant.  

The New Covenant does not change that, but I think now the focus is on the spiritual application. Think of it as another example of, ‘You have heard it said, but I say unto you…’ Jesus didn’t do away with what they had heard; he added another layer to it that usually had to do with the heart and soul.

Jesus did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it, so we get to care about people in both ways.  Isaiah talked about the Year of the Lord’s favor over and over as involving justice.  Justice is a big deal to God. It will characterize the presence of His favor. 

I hate that in our current cultural climate, the world “justice” has been redefined or hijacked in such a way that followers of Jesus have started to argue against its importance. We don’t need to run from it; we need to reclaim it. It’s a crucial part of ‘the acceptable year of the Lord.’ We can be for setting captives free physically and spiritually, for feeding the hungry physically and spiritually, for ending oppression physically and spiritually, for bringing sight to the blind physically and spiritually. In the Kingdom of God, this is both/and, not either/or.

(d) Fourth observation: Without the freedom Jesus brings, freedoms turn into either indulgence or oppression.

Christ is the only Liberator whose liberation lasts forever.[18] This is why a focus on physical freedom is doomed without the foundation of spiritual freedom, which not only frees us from something, but to something. Social justice movements, as well intended as they may be, will always distort into some type of injustice without the guidance of knowing what true freedom is,and what true freedom is for.

“You were called to freedom. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

Far too often in history, the oppressed have either arisen only to replicate the oppression,[19] or they have exploited that freedom until their indulgence destroyed them. Unguided or unfocused freedom almost always devolves into the improper use of either power or pleasure, both of which can be terribly destructive. 

We see this in the Nazarites. Here is a people violently oppressed by Rome and sneered at by other Jewish communities because of their origins (“Can anything good come from Nazareth, in Galilee of the Gentiles?”) You would think they would be conscious about a) not using violence to acuse others, and b) not holding someone’s origins against them. But in a venue where they have the freedom to choose how to treat someone, they choose to replicate both those things. 

Lives freed from the bondage of people need to be guided by hearts freed from the power of sin. The Gospel freedom that Jesus brings to hearts, souls and minds is crucial if we are going to exercise the power of earthly freedoms.

When Jesus talks about freedom, He’s pointing toward not just what he frees us from, but what he frees us to. This vision is found throughout the Bible, but honestly, just looking at what Jesus and Isaiah say paints a great foundational image of what it looks like to live in freedom in the favor of God. 

• A world in which the poor have their needs met is good; a world in which the poor in spirit get their needs met also is even better. God’s people get the privilege of being involved in both. 

• A world in which physically oppressed captives are freed is good; a world in which the spiritually chained captives are freed from sin and spiritual oppression also is even better. God’s people get the privilege of being involved in both.

• A world in which the physically blind and lame regain sight and mobility is good; a world in which the spiritually blind and lame regain their sight and learn to walk in the Kingdom is even better. God’s people get the privilege of being involved in both.

I have a final point next week. Meanwhile, let’s simmer on how Jesus declared himself. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release (redemption) to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind,[20] to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[21]

__________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “That this is the last time in the Gospel where Jesus is associated with a synagogue suggests this rejection marks a significant break in his relationship with the institution and the Judaism it represents.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[2] “For judgment I came into this world, so that (Same purpose as here in Lk 4:18) those who do not see may see (Good News), and that those who see may become blind.” (Bad News) Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind (I.e., if they recognized their state of spiritual blindness, humbled themselves, and cried out to God to "heal" them) you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ (I.e., In a state of total self-deception and steadfast rejection of the "sight giving Gospel") your sin remains. (John 9:39-41) (commentary quoted in Precept Austin)

[3] The year of the Lord’s favor (Grk “the acceptable year of the Lord”) is a description of the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10). The year of the total forgiveness of debt is now turned into a metaphor for salvation. (NET Bible Commentary) Jesus reads Isa 61:1 – 2, with an added line from Isa 58:6 (tradition suggests that synagogue readers were allowed to “skip” material when reading the Prophets). Isa 61:1 – 2 probably evokes the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25), in which all slaves were to be released. Although Jesus’ reading ends with salvation, his audience would know that the passage goes on to announce also judgment. (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[4] “This geographic area may have been sensitive about premature kingdom claims; Nazareth was just four miles (six kilometers) from the major Galilean city of Sepphoris, which had been destroyed after a revolt against Rome about two decades earlier (AD 6).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[5] Regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43). Oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43). The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message—he brings the deliverance. “ (NET Bible Commentary)

[6] There is a wordplay here on the word acceptable (δεκτός, dektos), which also occurs in v. 19: Jesus has declared the “acceptable” year of the Lord (here translated year of the Lord’s favor), but he is not “accepted” by the people of his own hometown. (NET Bible Commentary)

[7] “Jesus here highlights their ministry to foreigners (and by implication the resistance of their own people as in v. 24).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[8] Imagine the impact of Jesus’ words on Jewish minds. They placed women, Gentiles, and lepers at the bottom of the social scale. But here the Lord pointedly placed all three above unbelieving Jews! What He was saying was that OT history was about to repeat itself. In spite of His miracles, He would be rejected not only by the city of Nazareth but by the nation of Israel. He would then turn to the Gentiles, just as Elijah and Elisha had done. (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[9] It is worth noting that it was not Jesus' claim that He was the Messiah that made them angry, but it was His suggestion that their reaction made to His claim made them like one of the worst periods of Israel's history along with the implication that Gentiles might be more helped by God than the nation would be. This is the only place in Luke's Gospel where he uses this term for anger. (Precept Austin)

[10] “They were offended not only that he compared them to the faithless Jews of Elijah and Elisha’s time but also that he suggested that Gentiles could enjoy the blessings of God missed by the Jews—an unthinkable violation of their cultural bias.” (NIV Quest Study Bible Notes)

[11] “Jewish custom suggested hurling a person from a cliff before stoning him, but it forbade execution without trial and would also forbid it on the Sabbath. Roman law forbade executions without the governor’s permission; this group functions like a lynch mob.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[12] “And he could there do no mighty work,.... Or miracle; not that Christ had no power in himself to work miracles, though their unbelief and contempt of him were very great; but it was not fit and proper that he should do any there, since such were their prejudices against him: it is an usual way of speaking with the Hebrews, when either it is not "fit" and proper that a thing should be done, or they "will" not do it, to say it cannot be done; see Genesis 19:22; and even it is said of God himself, "So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of your evil doings", Jeremiah 44:22. Not but that he could if he would, but he would not; nor was it fit and proper that he should; the same is the sense here: besides, in Matthew 13:58 it is said, "he did not many mighty works there"; and so the Arabic version here, "and he did not many mighty works there"; he did not think it proper to do any of any great consequence, nor did he.” (Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible)

[13] Not “weakness of faith,” but “withholding belief in the power and promises of God.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

[14]  Believer’s Bible Commentary

[15] He once told his disciples. “If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.” (Matthew 10:14)  He seems to have modeled that for them. It wasn’t as if those in Nazareth had no hope. We know the at least some of Jesus’ siblings eventually recognized him as the Messiah. Jesus’ time on earth was limited, and he intended to go where the soil of people’s hearts was ready for the seed of the gospel.

[16] 2 Corinthians 12:9

[17] “He does not come into our lives to fix what is already right; rather, He heals us from our brokenness and forgives our sin. ‘It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’” (Mark 2:17)  (NASB Charles Stanley Life Principles Study Bible)

[18] HT to Malcolm Muggeridge, as cited at Precept Austin

[19] It’s how The Hunger Games ended. So much hope that revolution would bring about a just new world…and it just replicated the previous government. 

[20] “For judgment I came into this world, so that (Same purpose as here in Lk 4:18) those who do not see may see (Good News), and that those who see may become blind.” (Bad News) Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind (I.e., if they recognized their state of spiritual blindness, humbled themselves, and cried out to God to "heal" them) you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ (I.e., In a state of total self-deception and steadfast rejection of the "sight giving Gospel") your sin remains. (John 9:39-41) (commentary quoted in Precept Austin)

[21] The year of the Lord’s favor (Grk “the acceptable year of the Lord”) is a description of the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:10). The year of the total forgiveness of debt is now turned into a metaphor for salvation. (NET Bible Commentary) Jesus reads Isa 61:1 – 2, with an added line from Isa 58:6 (tradition suggests that synagogue readers were allowed to “skip” material when reading the Prophets). Isa 61:1 – 2 probably evokes the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25), in which all slaves were to be released. Although Jesus’ reading ends with salvation, his audience would know that the passage goes on to announce also judgment. (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

Harmony #10: Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (John 4:5-26)

I don't think the first two individuals we see Jesus interact with after He cleanses the temple are random placements of unconnected stories.  There are too many similarities and differences that seem very purposeful. Last week was Nicodemus; this week is the Woman at the Well. (The interlude with John the Baptist in John 3 connects these two stories. When you read it, think of both Nicodemus and the Woman at the Well.)

SIMILARITIES

• Neither understand “the gift of God”

• Both stories feature water and the Spirit[1] (the John the Baptizer interlude features water and an explanation of the Spirit)

• They (and the disciples) are confused about terms (birth/water/bread)

• Both initially see Jesus as a prophet (believe about rather than believe in)

DIFFERENCES

• Male vs. female

• Jewish vs. Samaritan

• Signs and wonders vs. no signs and wonders

• Nicodemus leaves confused; she leaves converted

• He leaves covertly; she leaves loudly and brings people back

THE STORY (Bible quoted in italics; commentary in regular font)

Jesus left Judea (where the Pharisees were thick) and set out once more for Galilee. But he had to pass through Samaria, which had long been a place of idol worship combined with worship of Yahweh. Israel’s Jews considered these cousins with Gentile blood and worship to be not just impure, but evil.[2] When traveling between Galilee and Judea, many Jews would cross the Jordan twice rather than pass through Samaria. Jesus headed straight through.

Now Jesus came to a Samaritan town called Sychar (which means, fittingly, “Drunken”).[3] It was near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.[4] Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat down beside the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water.

It wasn’t that unusual for people to draw water at this time (you didn’t get peak heat until around 3:00), but it wasn’t typical.  Was it her second trip because she had already used up her morning draw? Did something delay her that morning? Was she trying to avoid people? John doesn’t say why she was there at that time; he just tells us what follows.

We don't know if other people were there or not – the text doesn’t say – it just says that when the Samaritan woman arrived, Jesus asked for her help, which in the Middle East was a gesture that honored her.  Jesus said, “Give me some water to drink.” (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.) This was part of the protocol for hospitality, because the one requesting acknowledged a need that the one requested could satisfy.

But the Samarian woman had some questions. She said to him, “How can you—a Jew—ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water to drink?”  (For Jews have no communion with Samaritans.) That’s an understatement. The Jews and Samaritans really didn’t like each other. The Samaritans had intermingled not only their families with hostile nations but also their temples with hostile gods, then had the audacity to desecrate Jewish temples while building their own temple and declaring it to be the true one. They also rejected every part of the Old Testament except the first 5 books. The rabbis had declared everything in Samaria unclean. Some went so far as to declare that if a Samaritan were in a town, all the spittle in that town was to be considered unclean (because it might derive from a Samaritan). To drink from her jar would have made Jesus ritually impure in the eyes of Jesus’ Jewish peers.

The early church writers consistently pointed something else out: she seemed to be concerned that Jesus was about to break Jewish law.[5] If she were as morally corrupt as she is often portrayed –and had the kind of animosity in her that Samaritans and Jews often had for each other - it’s hard to envision she wouldn’t have found it delightful to corrupt this strange Jewish man. But her first response is concern: “Are you sure you should be doing this?” File this away as we think of her….

Jesus answered her, “If you had known the gift of God[6] and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you fresh, flowing water – the water of life.”  The rabbis spoke of Torah, the law, as a gift from God that was as refreshing as living water. But John uses the symbolism differently to refer to God’s own refreshing spirit, the Holy Spirit, that the prophets said would be poured out on all people. Paul will write later in his first letter to the Corinthians that we all drink of the same Spirit (12:13)

“Sir,” the woman respectfully said to him, “you have no bucket and the well is 100 feet deep; where then do you get this living water?  Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.”  

Jesus didn’t just come out and say, “Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I am better than Jacob.”  He simply describes what He has to offer and lets her decide. He replied, “Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

Had the Samaritans used the entire Old Testament, this probably would have sounded familiar to her. Isaiah, for example, wrote (12:3), “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Zechariah wrote that living water would come from Jerusalem and cover the world (14:8). But, like I said earlier, the Samaritans only used the first 5 books of the Old Testament. They had nothing from the prophets. In fact, they thought Moses was the last prophet, and they looked forward to the next Moses.

The woman was likely testing this bold claim when she said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Oh, so you can get fresh, running water when there is none in sight? Let’s see it! Does she think he’s bluffing and she’s trying to respectfully end this game? Is she hopeful that there is another, better source of water, maybe closer to home?  Maybe she could be the town hero if she found better water! We don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus pulls a Nicodemus Switcheroo and changes the subject entirely.

Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back here.”  The woman replied, “I have no husband.” Jesus, who had knowledge of her heart (like he did with Nathaniel and Nicodemus), said to her, “Right you are when you said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. This you said truthfully.”

Lots of ink has been spilled discussing how immoral this woman was (a serial adulteress? A prostitute?) That’s not at all clear from the text.

• If she was a known serial adulteress or a prostitute, men would not have kept marrying her (and because the Samaritans had the Law, the penalty would have been death).

• Perhaps she had been divorced most or all of these times (it was really easy for a man to initiate divorce over even the most minor things, like burning breakfast toast).

• Perhaps she was repeatedly widowed; if so, others might think that God was set against her because something was wrong with her.

It’s not even clear that she was living in a morally compromised relationship with the man in her life. I mean, maybe she was:

• She could have been living with a man (which would have been unusual for both of them).

• Maybe she was living with a man to whom she was betrothed (kind of married in that they had started the covenant process but not married in that they hadn’t finished it?)

• Maybe she was a concubine (which was allowed). 

• Maybe a vindictive husband put her away without divorcing her, and she eventually remarried (which would count as adultery).

But maybe, for a variety of reasons, her marriage had not yet been consummated, which was the act of covenant initiation (which no one would know except the woman, her husband, and now Jesus).  Maybe her deceased husband’s brother had married her (#OTlaw) but had never consummated the marriage.

WE DON’T KNOW. A loooooot is read into this text. What we do know is this: Jesus gets to an issue to which she responds with a term of respect, and without a sense of shame or anger. The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.

Hmmmm. Her spiritual eyes are opening. This is a revelatory moment: someone waiting for the next prophet - who would be an end time Restorer - acknowledges that Jesus – a Jewish man, not a Samaritan - is a prophet. So, what kind of question would you ask a Jewish prophet?  We would expect a petty or small-minded person to ask a petty or small-minded question, probably something like a parlor trick.  She has something on her mind much like Nicodemus: He wanted to make sure he was in the Kingdom; she want’s to know if she is getting her worship right.” Great question, because “zeal for the house of the Lord” consumes prophets.[7]

She continued, Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, Mount Gerizim, which is holy to us (Deut. 11:29; 27:12). Your people say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem, but we Samaritans are unwelcome in Jerusalem’s temple. Who is right? Which temple is the right one? And if it’s the one in Jerusalem, how can I, a Samaritan, worship where I am supposed to worship?

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, my lady,[8] a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not know. How could you know? You have rejected the revelation of the prophets after Moses, prophets who revealed so much about Yahweh and His plan for His people and the world. We worship what we know, because it was always God’s plan that the source of salvation would arise from the Jewish people. But a time is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit(by the power of the Holy Spirit) with truth[9] about God, which they lack.[10] The Father seeks such people to be his worshipers, identified not by where they worship but whom and how they worship together, as one people united by God. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to Jesus, “I know that the Messiah is coming; He will be a restorer, like Moses.[11]He will restore God’s divine favor that ended after Moses. We believe whenever he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “It is the I AM who speaks to you.”

 That was a phrase she recognized. That is how God identified himself to their hero, Moses. And I suspect this is where it really sank in that this was not a conversation just about water with just another prophet. This man offered the promised restoration, the return of God’s favor on outcast people and the repairing of the ruins in their temples, their homes, and their hearts.

Now at that very moment his disciples came back. They were shocked because he was speaking with a woman. Not only did traditional Mediterranean culture considered it inappropriate for a woman to talk with unrelated men in unguarded settings but also the Mishnah read, “He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna.” Yikes.  However, no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you speaking with her?” Good call, disciples.

Then the woman, thoroughly distracted from her original mission, left her water jar, went off into the town and said to the people the same thing Phillip had said: “Come and see. There is a man who told me everything I ever did. Surely he can’t be the Messiah, can he?”[12] It would seem Jesus and the woman talked more than is recorded. The text hardly shows that he “told her everything she ever did.” It seems safe to assume that as they talked, Jesus demonstrated that he knew her – which to the Jewish and Samaritan people was something that would characterize the coming Messiah.

So they left the town and began coming to him. This is yet another detail that makes me think the woman was not an infamous as I was raised to believe. Who would believe the report about a spiritual issue (not just about a prophet but about the Messiah Moses promised) from a serial adulteress or a tragically promiscuous person, especially in a culture that did not think women were reliable narrators to begin with? Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” So the disciples began to say to one another, “No one brought him anything to eat, did they?”

Oh, disciples. The learning curve is long for them. They think of physical food as quickly as the Jewish leaders thought of the physical temple, Nicodemus thought of physical birth, and the Samaritan woman thought of physical water. I’m sensing some patterns here in the storytelling.

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.[13]Don’t worry about me. You are missing what’s here for you. Don’t you know what the farmers say: ‘There are four more months and then comes the harvest?’ I tell you, look up and see that the fields are already white for harvest! You are in Samaria; they are ready to be brought into the Kingdom.The one who reaps receives pay and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together. For in this instance the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’  I am setting you up for the joy of reaping a harvest of souls that you did not work for; others, such as all the prophets, have labored before you, an now you have entered into their labor.”

Now many Samaritans from that town believed he was a prophet because of the report of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”[14] So when the Samaritans came to him, they began asking him to stay with them. He and his disciples stayed there two days, and because of his word many more believed.

They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the entire world.”  This echoes what John the Baptizer had already said: “God gives the Spirit without limit.” (John 3:34) Jesus promptly demonstrates what he told Nicodemus: God loves and offers salvation to the whole world, even the Samaritans – the ones His people most despised. He goes to them. He accepts their hospitality. He doesn’t worry that others might think he had compromised himself by treating them with dignity. They needed Living Water, and he took it to them.

According to an early tradition, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini, “the enlightened one.” The story goes that she went with her 7 children to spread the gospel in Carthage, which was in Phonecia on the northern coast of Africa. She was eventually killed (along with her family) by Nero – who had her thrown into a well.[15]

 ________________________________________________________________________

[1] Is this story actually explaining the “water and Spirit” Jesus just told Nicodemus was needed for a second birth? Hmmmm……

[2] Background info from the commentary accompanying The Voice translation, ESV Reformation Study Bible, NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, NIV First Century Study Bible, Orthodox Study Bible, Believer’s Bible Commentary, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Adam Clarke’s commentary

[3] With this crime the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 28:1, Isaiah 28:3, Isaiah 28:7-8) charges the Ephraimites, within whose limits the city stood. (Adam Clarke)

[4] “This reference to Joseph in verse 5 will only become clear when we see that the Samaritan woman suffered in her life in a manner similar to Joseph. If this reading of the story is correct, than just as in Joseph’s life, unexplained suffering was endured for the purpose of bringing salvation to Israel, so the Samaritan woman’s suffering in her life led to the salvation of the Israelite Samaritans in that locale.” https://sarahbowler.com/2015/01/20/the-woman-at-the-well/

[5] The book series Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture records numerous early church writers pointing this out.

[6] Language used for the Holy Spirit elsewhere in the New Testament.

[7] This also makes me think the woman should be seen as more than a moral failure. She could have asked a lot of petty or vindictive things of a potential prophet to prove what he knows. She asks a really good question about the temple.

[8] “Woman” is too blunt a translation for our 21st century ears. It sounds rude, when it wasn't. It’s the same way he addressed his own mother in John 2:4.

[9] “In the Spirit and in truth”, or “in spirit and truth.”

[10] “The worship of the Samaritans was a defective worship - they did not receive the prophetical writings: that of the Jews was a carnal worship, dealing only in the letter…with types and ceremonies.” (Adam Clarke) 

[11] Making the water imagery very important, considering Moses’ role as a water-giver.

[12] “The Jews believed that one essential characteristic of the Messiah would be, that he should be able to tell the secrets of all hearts. This they believed was predicted, Isaiah 11:2-3. When the famous impostor Barchochab, who rose up under the empire of Adrian, about a hundred years after the incarnation, professed himself to be the Messiah, after having been deceived by him for two years, they at last thought of putting his divinity to proof on this ground: they brought before him persons whom he did not know, some of whom were very vicious, and others of a different character; they desired him to point out who were the righteous, and who were the wicked; which when he could not do, they rose up and put him to death.” (Adam Clarke)

[13] We are told in this story what spiritual nourishment looks like: our water is the Holy Spirit, our food is doing the will of God.

[14] The Samaritan woman is sometimes referred to as the first apostle because of her evangelism. In a culture where women were considered inherently unreliable had a second-class status to the men around them, this is yet another example of how God uses what is foolishness and weakness to the world to shame the arrogance of the ‘wise’ and ‘strong,’ and taking those who “are not” valuable in the eyes of society and demonstrating their value. (1 Corinthians 1:28-29)

[15] Orthodox Study Bible

Harmony #9: Second Birth (John 2:23-3:21)

John 2:23 During the Passover feast in Jerusalem, the crowds were watching Jesus closely; and many began to trust (affirm/have confidence) in Him because of the signs He was doing. But Jesus saw through to the heart of humankind, and He did not entrust himself (affirm/have confidence) to them. He didn’t need anyone to testify concerning character of humanity. He understood human nature.

Jesus saw that their admiration of his miracles and signs was not the same as faith. They were impressed, but being impressed is not the same as being a follower who truly sees Jesus for who he is. There is belief about and belief in. Even demons believe true things about God.[1] The crowds believed true things about Jesus. We are about to meet Nicodemus, who apparently falls into the category of someone who is impressed – he believes true things about Jesus -  but doesn’t understand truly who Jesus is.

I tend to think that miraculous signs would have been impressive enough to win me over. So why weren’t those miracles overwhelmingly convincing concerning Jesus’ divinity? Miracles were attributed to religious leaders, royalty, and heroes (depending on your culture). Apparently everybody believed in miracle-working; they just weren’t sure where the power came from; some claimed Jesus’ power comes from Satan (see Mark 3:20-30).

It reminds me of my class at Spring Arbor of students who already worked in the medical field. When I gave my presentation on dualism (supernatural and natural worlds exist; there are immaterial realities as well as material ones), they stopped me: “You are preaching to the choir. Anyone who works in a hospital long enough has stories of strange, unexplained things. You don’t have to convince us.”  

So miracles were accepted as a thing to those watching Jesus: either God was ‘with’ someone, or evil was empowering people to do astonishing things. But it didn’t necessarily mean more than that. As one pastor said,

“"Seeing signs and wonders, and being amazed at them, and giving the miracle worker credit for them that he is from God, saves nobody. This is one of the great dangers of signs and wonders: You don’t need a new heart to be amazed at them. The old, fallen human nature is all that’s needed to be amazed at signs and wonders.”[2]

My sense, for what it’s worth, is that Jesus miracles were primarily intended to prove to the Jewish community that He was the messiah foreshadowed in the Old Testament.[3] See my footnotes for how Jesus’ miracles hit all the OT hyperlinks for what a Messiah would do.

Nicodemus was one of the Pharisees[4], a man with some clout among his people. He came to Jesus under the cloak of darkness to question Him.[5] He said, “Rabbi, some of us have been talking. It is generally agreed that you are obviously a teacher who has come from God. The signs You are doing are proof that God is with You.[6]”

Once again, Old Testament prophets did signs. Think of Moses turning staffs into snakes, and the plagues, Daniel in the lion’s den, Elijah withheld rain, etc. “God is with you” is respectful to be sure, but it’s not new territory. At this point Jesus totally changes the subject. Remember how “he saw the heart of mankind?” He apparently introduces the true reason Nicodemus is visiting.

Jesus:  I tell you the truth: only someone who experiences birth for a second time[7] can hope to see the kingdom of God.

Last week, when I was downstate doing some teaching for a gig involving youth, I had a long conversation after a session with a student. It took 40 minutes until we finally got to the heart of the issue. All the discussion was good, but every 10 minutes or so she would say something that would make me think, “Oh. We aren’t talking about the real issue yet.” But we got there. Jesus didn’t need 40 minutes. That’s one of the perks of being God in the flesh. He just went there.

Nicodemus: “Well, we’ve seen your signs and heard you teach, and we pretty much agree you are a teacher with God’s power behind him.” Jesus: “There’s no way you are going to see the Kingdom of God in the state you are in.”  Apparently, Nicodemus really wanted to be a part of the Kingdom of God. Kudos to Nicodemus. This guy is going out of his way to talk with Jesus because this is a big deal to him. So, it’s helpful to know how Nicodemus had been raised to believe one got into the Kingdom of God.

"Nicodemus would have stressed the careful observance of the Law and the traditions of the elders. [but it is] not a devout regard for the Law, not even a revised presentation of Judaism [that] is required, but a radical rebirth. The demand is repeated three times. Nicodemus and all his tribe of lawdoers are left with not the slightest doubt but that what is asked of anyone is not more law, but the power of God within that person to remake him or her completely. In its own way this chapter does away with “works of the law” every bit as thoroughly as anything in Paul."[8]

This had to be a spiritual earthquake. Nicodemus has been dedicating his life to doing all the right things to the best of his ability. Later, when Jesus starts rebuking the Pharisees point by point, we will see they were dedicated to getting even the smallest of things right. Jesus says, “No, the problem is that you aren’t the kind of person who can do this. The solution is so radical that it’s going to be like you started your whole life over and got born again.”

Nicodemus: I am a grown man. How can someone be born again when he is old like me? Am I to crawl back into my mother’s womb for a second birth? That’s impossible! 

The Jewish people believed in people being regenerated when people converted to Judaism; they even referred to it having a new birth. I suspect the idea wasn’t the problem so much as the fact that Nicodemus had already been ‘born again’ into Judaism. That ground had been covered. This really limited his options as he considered that he would have to be born again, again. 

Jesus:  I tell you the truth, if people not experience water and Spirit birth,[9] there’s no chance they will make it into God’s kingdom.

This likely refers to Old Testament passages in which “water” and “Spirit” describe the pouring out of God’s Spirit in the end times (Is. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 36:25–27). It’s a hyperlink to a “cleansing and transformation” that involves becoming a new kind of person, not just a cleaned up one. (See my footnotes for more details.)

When my computer gets old enough, it can’t do what it’s supposed to do because the programs are becoming obsolete. I can add patches; I can load all kinds of upgrades; I can get it refurbished. But eventually, it’s not going to run the programs it was intended to run and that I need to run. Shoot, I can’t find chargers that match, and it can’t interact with other computers because none of the connectors work.  I need a new computer.

Nicodemus was patching and upgrading relentlessly. He wanted to function as Yahweh intended: There is no reason to doubt that he wanted to love God and love his neighbors as God intended. But He needed to be new. So Jesus explains what he needs in order to be new.

Like comes from like. Whatever is born from flesh is flesh; whatever is born from Spirit is spirit. Don’t be shocked by My words, but I tell you the truth. Even you, an educated and respected man among your people, must be reborn by the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God.[10]

“Like comes from like” just means that things give birth to other things that are like themselves. If you are fleshy, you give birth to fleshy things, and they will be like you. The line continues. Obviously Nicodemus knows this. But Jesus introduces a different line of succession for those who will enter His kingdom: It’s not the fleshy descendants of Abraham; it’s the spiritual children of God. God’s people need to be new: they need a new spirit, and that has to be birthed from a spiritual place, not a physical place.  

The wind blows all around us as if it has a will of its own; we feel and hear it; we do not understand where it has come from or where it will end up, [yet we see its impact, so we know it is real.]

So far, so good. Earthly analogy. The wind is less mysterious to us than it was to them #science, but try to imagine life before Doppler radar and satellites. Wind is crazy, and that area was known for really crazy winds. Sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee were a frightening thing. If you sail on the Great Lakes, you know how it is. The weather turns on a dime. I was fishing in my kayak a couple weeks on just a small lake, and a wind came up that sent me and couple others scurrying to shore. I don't understand how wind works, but, yeah, it’s real.

Life in the Spirit is as if it were the wind of God.[11] [It moves on a will of its own; we hear it, but don’t understand how it all works; we don’t know where it will end up, but we feel it. We see its impact, and we know that it is real.]

So, this is what Nicodemus is going to need. Something out of his power to earn or control or even understand. I was talking with Gary Hambleton this week about his heart procedure. He was trying to explain it, but how exactly they are going to make him feel like new is mysterious to us non-heart doctors. Gary and I can talk about diet, exercise, other things in the control of us heart patients. But the Surgeon knows stuff we don’t, and from our perspective, moves in mysterious ways, his medical wonders to perform.

Nicodemus’ righteousness – his fitness for the Kingdom of God – had been earned, controlled and understood up to that point. Now, Nicodemus was going to have to be reborn as a man who surrendered himself to a Holy Spirit that has a will of its own. He won’t know how it works; he won’t know where it will end, but he will feel its power and presence. AND IT WILL MAKE HIM NEW.

Nicodemus:  I still do not understand how this can be. 

Jesus:  Your responsibility is to instruct Israel in matters of faith, but you do not comprehend the necessity of life in the Spirit?  I tell you the truth: we speak about the things we know (zing!), and we give evidence about the things we have seen, and you choose to reject the truth of our witness.  If you do not believe when I talk to you about ordinary, earthly realities [which we have both experienced], then heavenly realities will certainly elude you.[12]  [To speak of heavenly realities with authority, one needs to have been there.] But no one has ever journeyed to heaven above except the One who has come down from heaven—the Son of Man, who is of heaven.[13]

Consider this: to be perfectly acquainted with a place, it is necessary for a person to have been at that place. A lived experience beats a theoretical experience every time. I’ve watched a show called Somebody Feed Phil, and I’ve spent an hour watching him eat and talk in cities around the world. That doesn’t mean I know the city. Phil spent days there. He knows the city better than I do, but he doesn’t know the city. It’s the people who live there who know the city.  Jesus knows Heaven. It’s worth listening to the only One who has lived there tell us about it.

Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. In the same way, the Son of Man must be lifted up; then all those who believe in Him will experience everlasting life.[14]

Through the ‘lifted up’ serpent, the dying were restored by fixing their eyes on it.  When Jesus would be lifted up #crucifixion, those looking to Him, though dying in sin, would be healed and saved.

For God expressed His love for the world[15] in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it;[16] instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction,[17] so that through Him it might be saved.[18]

A summary of the gospel (“good news”) paraphrased from Adam Clarke:

• The world was in a ruinous, condemned state; people were without power to rescue themselves or the world from destruction.

• God, motivated by His eternal love, provided for its rescue and salvation, by giving Himself (through his Son) to pay the penalty He set for those who contribute to the ruination of the world, themselves and others.

• Sin must be a serious evil, when it required no less a sacrifice, to make atonement for it, than God manifested in the flesh to die on behalf of those who brought sinful ruin.

• One is saved through this sacrifice when one believes that the atoning sacrifice of Jesus indeed accomplished this purpose (affirms, has confidence in, trusts and obeys so that it transforms our lives).

• Those who believe are exempted from the judgment of eternal death (that they may not perish) and enter into a new life that begins now and ends in eternal glory (that they may have everlasting life).

 No one who entrusts themselves to Him has to fear being brought to judgment (a trial the separates the grain from the chaff), yet that judgment has already happened for everyone who refuses to trust because they reject the name (the person) of the only Son of God.  What is this judgment? The Light sent from God, Jesus, pierced through the world’s blinding darkness of sinful, pain-filled deeds. Still some people loved the darkness over the light because their intentions and actions were evil.  Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be seen for what they are.   Those who abandon deceit and act on what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God.[19]

 People loved (agapao) the darkness rather than the light. They give themselves sacrificially for the sake of the sin. The immediate judgment seems to be living in darkness: living in the corrosiveness of evil deeds, not just giving in to but embracing the self-destruction that follows sin.

Then, this story bookends nicely.

• Nicodemus started with, “By your deeds, it’s obvious you come from God,“ and ends with Jesus saying, “When you are in the light, it will be clear that your deeds come from God.”

• Nicodemus started with, “I am doing the works of the Kingdom to be a member of the Kingdom”; Jesus flips it: “Enter the Kingdom so that you can do the works of the Kingdom.”

And it begins with entrusting ourselves to Jesus. It begins with believing, leaning on, following in the footsteps of, and giving our lives sacrificially to the love of God and others, made possible through the work of Jesus and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.
__________________________________________________________________________________

[1] James 2:19

[2] “It’s precarious to be a sign-seeker, to crave the spectacular and follow the latest sign worker, until he leaves his wife or buys a new jet with everybody’s money.” #trueevents https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/he-knew-what-was-in-man

[3] The previous several paragraphs were informed by this article: “Making Disciples by Performing Miracles: A Study in Mark, ”Jonathan Rivett Robinson.

 https://hail.to/laidlaw-college/article/k1J3D96. This long quote is worthwhile:  “It is the Jewish scriptures rather than Greco-Roman literature which provide the strongest parallels for Jesus’ miracles. In Jesus’ public miracles he is revealed as God’s agent; the healer and deliverer of Israel. Like Elijah and Elisha, he heals the sick and restores dead children to their parents (Mark 5:21-43; cf. 1 Kgs 17:17-24; 2 Kgs 4:8-37). Like David, he delivers from evil spirits and defeats demonic legions (Mark 5:1-20; cf. 1 Sam 16-18). Like Moses, the hungry people of God are fed in the wilderness (Mark 6:30-44; cf. Num 11). However, those miracles witnessed only by his disciples expand these scriptural Christological insights further. Only the disciples see how the wind and waves obey him and how he walks upon the water as if it were the dry land (Mark 4:35-41; 6:45-52). These two sea miracles serve to identify Jesus with YHWH who calms the storm in Jonah 1 and who walks on the sea in Job 9:8 (LXX).”

[4] “At this time, Israel’s Roman occupiers have given a small group of Sadducees and Pharisees limited powers to rule, and Nicodemus is one of the Pharisees. He holds a seat on the ruling council known as the Sanhedrin.” (commentary from The Voice translation)

[5] Adam Clarke believes this was because Jesus was alone at night.

[6] Jesus’ signs are the conversation starter but not a trigger for faith (v. 2).  (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[7] The translation “born from above” accords well with the discussion of “earthly” and “heavenly” things in v. 12, and the discussion of ascending and descending in v. 13. This is the meaning of the Greek adverb in other places in this Gospel (19:11, 23). Nicodemus apparently understood it to mean “a second time.” It is possible that both meanings are intended—a new birth that is a birth from above. (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[8] Leon Morris, at Precept Austin

[9] Probably the statement refers to Old Testament passages in which the terms “water” and “Spirit” are linked to express the pouring out of God’s Spirit in the end times (Is. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 36:25–27). The presence of such rich Old Testament imagery accounts for Jesus’ reproof of Nicodemus (v. 10): as a “teacher of Israel,” he should have understood. (ESV Reformation Study Bible)  “The most plausible interpretation of “born of water and the Spirit” is the purifying and transforming new birth. Since Jesus expects Nicodemus to understand what he means (vv. 7, 10), the background to the concept is previous Scripture. Water in the OT often refers to renewal or cleansing, and the most significant OT connection bringing together water and spirit is Ezek 36:25–27, where water cleanses from impurity and the Spirit transforms hearts. So “born of water and the Spirit” signals a new birth that cleanses and transforms.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[10] “By water and the Spirit (in this place)…is probably an elliptical form of speech, for the Holy Spirit under the similitude of water; as, in Matthew 3:3, the Holy Ghost and fire, do not mean two things, but one, viz. the Holy Ghost under the similitude of fire-pervading every part, refining and purifying the whole. (Adam Clarke)

[11] Both in Hebrew and in Greek, the “sound” of the “wind” can also mean the “voice” of the “Spirit.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[12] Nicodemus should be able to recognize Jesus’ point, which draws on a familiar principle. Some Jewish people already recognized that humans, with limited knowledge even of earthly things, could not understand the heavens (noted in the widely circulated Wisdom of Solomon 9:16) — at least not without the Spirit sent from above (Wisdom of Solomon 9:17). In John, “earthly” analogies for “heavenly things” here might refer to “above” (see NIV text note on v. 3), “water” (v. 5) and “wind” (v. 8). (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[13] “But our Lord probably spoke to correct a false notion among the Jews, viz. that Moses had ascended to heaven, in order to get the law. It is not Moses who is to be heard now, but Jesus: Moses did not ascend to heaven; but the Son of man is come down from heaven to reveal the Divine will.” (Adam Clarke)

[14] Just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Christ's death becomes the weapon that overthrows death. (Orthodox Study Bible)

[15] “The whole human race: This would be a revelation to the exclusive Pharisee, brought up to believe that God loved only the chosen people.”  (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges) 

[16] “Since there are sinners in the world Christ’s coming involves a separation of them from the good, a judgment, a sentence: but this is not the purpose of His coming; the purpose is salvation.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[17] The world was under threat of judgment before He came; with His coming salvation became a reality offered to a hostile world (Matt. 23:37; Rom. 5:8). (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[18] Note the change from ‘to save the world,’ to ‘that the world might be saved through Him.’ The world can reject Him if it pleases. (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[19] Jesus speaks of “doing” the truth. This indicates that “truth” is a matter of both thought and practice.

Harmony #8: "Out With The Old, In With The New: Part 2" (John 2:13-22)

If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us. So, what tangible Kingdom attributes should we be zealous to put in the courtyard of our church and our lives so that the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives?

Sweep out Stinginess and replace it with Generosity – giving to those in need[1]

• “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”  2 Corinthians 9:11

•  “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

• “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”  Hebrews 13:1

A generous community is a healthy community. The book of Acts records of the early church that “they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” This was one of a number of things recorded in Acts that led to them “enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”[2]  Turns out generosity is a great witnessing tool. God’s people have a Great Commission: go everywhere, preaching the gospel and making disciples. Things like generosity cultivate the soil in which the seeds of the gospel will be planted. It helps to break up the hard ground in the hearts of souls of people.

Sweep out Harshness and replace it with Gentleness – keeping strength under control[3]

• Ephesians 4:1–3  “I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness...”

• 1 Timothy 6:11–12  “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.”

• 1 Peter 3:14–16  “Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

 Gentleness is not weakness. Gentle people are those with the ability to do harm who are careful not to do harm. You have to train dogs about the power of their own bite so they know how to be gentle. Kids have to learn it at an early age so siblings and pets don’t get hurt. Gentleness occurs when those who could hurt others, don’t.

• “I could say this and leave no tip and let that waiter know just how bad of an experience this was.” Be gentle.

• “I could gossip and throw him under the bus.” Be gentle.

• “I could take that past failure of my friend or spouse or parent or that person across the room right now and use it against them for a long, long time.” Be gentle.

Sweep out Self-indulgence and replace it with Self-control – not being ruled by our appetites[4]

• “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”  1 Corinthians 9:24-27

• “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Galatians 5:13-16

God gave us appetites and the proper fulfillment of them. If we are hungry; there’s food. If we want companionship, there are people. If we want order, there’s organization. If we want family, there’s marriage and sex. If we want independence (or agency) and there’s free will. If we want to learn, there’s knowledge. Appetites (or desires) are not necessarily the problem. What these verses highlight are two ways appetites and desire can go wrong:

• They could knock us out of the race (compromise our witness)

• They could cause us to bite and devour others to get what we want

When things other then Jesus begin to order or control our lives, we will live in such a way that we will begin to bite and devour others to get what we want.

• Our desire for companionship becomes manipulative control of those around so we get all our needs met on our terms. Those around us become the sacrifice as we consume people to fill that void within us.

• Our desire for order becomes a coercive demanding that people and things be just like we like them all the time, with the attached message that those not as orderly are not just physically deficient, but probably morally deficient in some way. And when disorder strikes, those around us become the sacrifice as we lash out at those who messed up our world.

• Our desire for family becomes our desire for the perfect, ideal family, which becomes a fixation on everybody being perfect – well, everybody being what I want them to be. And when Billy doesn’t act or dress just right, or your spouse falls short…look out. They are about to become the sacrifice.

• Our desire for agency becomes an excuse for indulgence and rebellion at all authority. “Nobody can tell me what to do.” Anytime there is a sense that we might be responsible to something or someone bigger than ourselves we reject it, because nobody is bigger than ourselves. When this happens, community gets sacrificed – and that includes the relationships with the people in it.

 The opposite of being ruled by our desires is self-control, which is surrendering our desires to God’s desires. “Serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[5] This Paul calls “walking in the Spirit.” We talk about living a Spirit-led life, one in which the gifts and the fruit build up the body of Christ and serve as a witness to God’s transformative power at work in us. What does this look like? Serving one another in love. 

Sweep out Self-Sufficiency and replace it with Prayer,[6] pouring out our soul to the Lord (Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1:15)

• “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. “  Matthew 26:41

•  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

I don’t know if ‘self-sufficiency’ is the best word, but here’s what I’m getting at: Prayer reminds us that we need help. We are not good at being autonomous. We lack the ability to be righteous and holy on our own. We thrive in the service of a King who is ‘far beyond what we ask or think,’[7] and without this King reigning in our lives, we’re in trouble (as are the people around us).

• We resist temptation, but we also recognize the need for Holy Spirit power in that resistance, and we ask for and remind ourselves of that through prayer.

• If we think we can be good or righteous through our own will, we will either be proud (“I nailed it and all these losers around me haven’t figured it out yet”) or ashamed (“I am the loser. I just can’t get it right!”), so we pray for God’s power to bring about righteousness in us that we simply can’t do on our own.

• I realized a while ago I often said, “I’ve been thinking and praying about this,” and I wasn’t trying to be dishonest, but it turned out I was just thinking. Why? Because of course I could figure it out. I didn’t need God’s input. Ummmmm…

 Prayer is, among other things, a constant acknowledgment that I can’t do this by myself. It’s an act of surrender in which we take the ball and put it in God’s court – which is where it was always meant to be.

Sweep out “Right”ness and replace it with Righteousness – doing that which God would approve[8]

• “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God…”1 John 3:10.

• “Then Peter said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.’” Acts 10:34-35.

I am defining “right”ness as, “But it’s my right!” But doing what we have the right to do can sometimes be very different from doing what is righteous. Paul as clear: even when things are permissible, they are not always beneficial.[9] I have the right to say almost anything I want here in our country, but not all of it would be righteous; so, as a child of God, I can’t exercise that right like others can, at least not in good conscience.  I have a right to hoard my money; I have a right to gamble it all away. I have a right to drive around town with offensive bumper stickers.  I have a right to go all kinds of places online.

But, as a follower of Jesus, my rights exist in service to the righteousness to which I am called. Righteousness is “right living” in the eyes of God, and living righteously is not just a necessary goal for the individual health of Christians, it’s an act of love for others. How can I love you well? Do what God tells me is the right thing to do.

Sweep out lords and replace them with servants – looking to serve rather than be served

• "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins… As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." 1 Peter 4:8-10 

• Philippians 2:3  “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

• Luke 22:26-27   “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”

 So this comes back to the question of power. God gives us power in order to help us serve more effectively. In the corporate world, those with power are often those for whom others work. The more people you lead, the more people work for you, and the more important you are.

Not so in the church. The more people you lead, the more people you serve. The more power you have, the more you are called to be broken and spilled out for others, not them for you.

Sweep out unrighteous Judgment and replace it with Nurture – caring for those who are hurting or broken[10]

• Romans 14:19  “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

• 1 Thessalonians 5:14  “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

• “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

I’ve recently head the analogy of a garden to describe our lives. I like it.  Comparing people with plants and farms is good biblical territory. J So, what do we do if we want a garden to flourish? WE TAKE CARE OF IT. I don’t angrily pound plants into the ground because they have bugs on them. I don’t withhold water because I’m mad the beans aren’t a tall as they should be. I don't ignore weeds that are overwhelming my plants because I figure the plants should be dealing with their own problems. I fertilize, weed, prune, water, dust for bugs.  I take care of my garden because fruit follows nurture.

You want to see Holy Spirit fruit in your life? Nurture yourself in the Word, in prayer, surrounded by God’s people. You want to see fruit in the people around you? The Holy Spirit is doing Holy Spirit work, but we are on a co-mission with God. . Nurture them.

Sweep out Timidity and replace it with Boldness – fearlessly doing and saying what is righteous[11]

• 2 Corinthians 3:12  “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”

• 1 Thessalonians 2:2  “But thought we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi…we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”

• Philippians 1:14  “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

 Bold is not brash, pushy or obnoxious. It’s just confident and unashamed in spite of whatever difficulties result. And notice the passage from Philippians: because of my chains, most have become confident. Apparently, persecution clarifies for people that it is time to go big or go home.

Church: we need to ‘go big’ all the time. By that I mean unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives.  Some of you get the opportunity sitting around a dinner table or a family reunion; for some of you, it’s every day at work. Some of you might take it to a larger scale. Wherever we are, unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives.  We are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ; it is the power of God unto salvation.[12]

Help us, Lord, to play our part in this church becoming increasingly a holy community of love, truth, prayer, worship, repentance, forgiveness, justice and mercy – a place for people of all neighborhoods and nations, a place where the grace of Jesus’ saving atonement is central, a place where God’s name is honored in our words and actions and God’s presence is experienced as transformative, saving, and healing. May zeal for the integrity of your house, guided by your Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, consume us.[13]

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[1]  “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”  Proverbs 21:13

“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.”  Proverbs 28:27

 “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”  Luke 6:30

[2] Acts 2:42-47

[3] 2 Timothy 2:24–25  “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”  

Titus 3:1-2  “Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.”

[4] “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.”  Proverbs 16:32

“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.”  Proverbs 25:2

[5] Galatians 5:13

[6] “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

[7] Ephesians 3:20

[8] “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:3.

“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” 1 John 2:29.

[9] 1 Corinthians 6:12

[10] James 2:14-17   “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

[11] Proverbs 28:1  “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are like a lion.”

[12] Romans 1:16

[13] Colin Smith, https://openthebible.org/sermon/zeal-for-gods-house/

Harmony #7: Out With The Old, In With The New (John 2:13-22)

If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us. So, what tangible Kingdom attributes should we be zealous to put in the courtyard of our church and our lives so that the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives? 

Sweep out Fear and replace it with Love – (agape) loving people sacrificially and freely  

• “Perfect love casts out fear (phobos, fleeing to avoid because of dread: involves the dread of punishment).” 1 John 4:18 This in reference to understanding God’s love for us and not fearing eternal judgment. But the very next verse says, “We love, because He first loved us.”

• “God has not given us a spirit of timidity or cowardice, but a spirit of miraculous power through God’s strength, agape love, and acting out God’s will through sound reasoning.” 2 Timothy 1:7

God’s love removes our fear; a different way of saying it is that the more we as children of God experience and understand God’s love – free; unearned; lavish in spite of being known; characterized by sacrifice; and in every way for us[1] – the more we can rest in the love of God. 

In the same way, the church is intended to be a community of people through whom God’s love is passed on to others. The more we experience and understand God’s love through God’s people – free; unearned; lavish in spite of being known; characterized by sacrifice; and in every way for us– the more we can rest in the love of those around us.

Sweep out Discord and replace it with Peace – bringing righteous order to sinful chaos

• “He is the embodiment of our peace, sent once and for all to take down the great barrier of hatred and hostility that has divided us so that we can be one. He offered His body on the sacrificial altar to bring an end to the law’s ordinances and dictations that separated Jews from the outside nations. His desire was to create in His body one new humanity from the two opposing groups, thus creating peace.  Effectively the cross becomes God’s means to kill off the hostility once and for all so that He is able to reconcile them both to God in this one new body. The Great Preacher of peace and love came for you, and His voice found those of you who were near and those who were far away.  By Him both have access to the Father in one Spirit. And so you are no longer called outcasts and wanderers but citizens with God’s people, members of God’s holy family, and residents of His household. You are being built on a solid foundation: the message of the prophets and the voices of God’s chosen emissaries with Jesus, the Anointed Himself, the precious cornerstone. The building is joined together stone by stone—all of us chosen and sealed in Him, rising up to become a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you are being built together, creating a sacred dwelling place among you where God can live in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:14-22)[2]

I love this image.  A building is being created out of each one of us who are residents of God holy household. We are being joined together to be a sacred place where it’s obvious we live together in peace with the Spirit of God as the mortar that holds us together. To the outcast and wanderer, welcome. Join the family of God. No hatred and hostility should divide us, since the Great Preacher of peace and love came for us. 

Sweep out Merit and replace it with Mercy – giving grace (unmerited favor) wherever possible

•  Luke 6:36  “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

•  Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

•  Matthew 23:23  “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.”

“The world will give you that once in awhile, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.”   Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

That image makes me happy; it’s an oasis of goodness in a world that is so broken. But we serve a savior who didn’t just dab mercy on us; he poured it out on us, covered us in it – and we are expected to be in the corner’s of the lives of those around us, ready to shower them with mercy when the fight is going the worst.  

I like this as an image to organize our time with others. What if we thought of everyone you talk with after this service as someone in need of a brief timeout from a life that’s beating them up, and what then need from you is for you to be in their corner dumping a Gatoraide cooler of mercy over them.

Sweep out Callousness and replace it with Kindness – treating others with goodness

• “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

• “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:9)[3]

• “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35) 

I don’t know about you, but I find myself getting jaded and hardened if I’m not careful. There are so many things that make me want to develop a “thick skin” so life doesn’t hurt anymore. Callouses on our hands are a blessing when you do manual labor that rubs our skin raw; why wouldn’t callouses on our hearts be a blessing when we work with people who rub our souls raw? 

 Why not? Because we are called to be kind (combine some of the others in this list to get the idea: merciful, loving, gentle, and nurturing). The harder our hearts get, the harder it is to do those things. 

• I don’t want to merciful, loving, gentle, and nurturing to the person who passed me in the roundabout, or who constantly poses in front of the mirror at the gym, or the person next to me on the plane who can’t seem to stop saying the name of Jesus loudly, or…. But I must. 

•  I don’t want to be merciful, loving, gentle, and nurturing to the online troll who blows up what were meant to be thought-provoking conversations. But I must. 

• I don’t want to be merciful, loving, gentle, and nurturing to that person who unfairly judges my motivations or never gives me the benefit of the doubt. But I am told that I must pass on to others what Jesus gave to me.

I must pass on what Jesus did for me.  See the previous point about mercy.

Sweep out Fickelness and replace it with Faithfulness – having a consistently righteous character others can count on[4]

• “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity and dignity…” (Titus 2:7)  

• “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.” (Hebrews 13:18) 

• “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:12)  

We often think of faithfulness in terms of actions, and that’s clearly not wrong as you see here. In Revelation, we talked about faithful endurance that had to do with living a godly life; in friendships, a faithful friend “sticks closer than a brother.”[5] I want to look at a different aspect: having a consistently righteous character others can count on. This is the” clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.”

This is not a demand for perfection. This is about the consistent presence of our lives. Maybe another word is integrity: our words, actions and attitudes are integrated so that they work together, and the testimony of our lives tells the same story over and over.   

A couple months ago, a person who has been a consistently righteous presence in my life had a noticeably inconsistent moment with me. But as I thought about it, I realized it was notable precisely because it was not the norm, and that I was blessed to have someone in my life whose presence is so consistent that inconsistencies stand out. This person apologized the next day, by the way – which did not surprise me at all. They have a consistently righteous character others can count on; they desire to act honorably in all things. 

Sweep our Error and replace it with Truth-telling – speaking honestly about…everything.

•  Ephesians 4:25   “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

There are lots of ways to talk about the devastation of falsehood. Today, let’s look at the practical trouble with the lack of honest truth-telling.

1.  When you consistently practice dishonesty, you eventually will lose touch with what’s true, and you will become an ‘unreliable narrator’ about the world. I have had several friend who, it became clear to me, just lied all the time, almost without thinking. It had just become part of who he was. He did it in the most ordinary of things even when it made no sense. At some point, I just stopped taking you seriously. I had no idea if anything they said was true. 

2.  If you are comfortable lying to others, you are almost certainly comfortable lying to yourself. “That was a good 1 hour workout!” No it wasn’t. It was 45 minutes of mediocre effort. “I got fired because my boss is a jerk!” Or – hear me out – you were late every day, did as little as possible, and undermined the boss around the other employees. Eventually you will become an “unreliable narrator” in your own life. You construct an image of yourself (for better or worse) that is totally at odds with reality. I read a book a while ago called I Wear The Black Hat (an image for bad guys). The author was challenging our image of ourselves. He asked a sobering question: What if we wear the black hat in our lives? We like to think we are the heroes in our own story, but….what if we are the villain (or at least more villainous than we think), and heroic people around us are picking up the slack?  “As each individual reads Scripture…they are Esther, never Xerxes or Haman. They are Peter, never Judas, never a Pharisee. They are Jews escaping slavery, never Egypt… [they have] no lens for locating themselves rightly  in Scripture or society.”[6] Truth about ourselves, not just others, matters.

3.  Finally, I think we tend to assume people are like us in a lot of ways. I found out a couple years ago that some people carry on conversations with voices in your head. Like, they go after it.  I had assumed everyone was like me: it’s quiet in there. They assumed everyone was like them. I am conscious of my weight (this goes back to my childhood), so I assume everyone else is conscious of their weight too. We often tend to project our interior life into the interior of others. And if you are a liar, the world becomes a very unsafe place because as far as you know, you are surrounded by liars.

The practical blessing of truth:

1.  You become more discerning about truth and become an increasingly reliable narrator of the world. This brings clarity, true knowledge, honest insight, etc. People increasingly give weight to your voice because they see your commitment to seeing the world as it is. Even when people disagree, if both parties know the other person is really committed to an objective view of the world, each voice has weight. (Quick note: if you change your mind on issues at times after studying and talking, that’s probably a good sign.)

2.  You are likely becoming an increasingly reliable narrator about yourself. You are able to look honestly at instead of away from the hat you are wearing.  Odds are good that you will become so committed to honest assessment that you ask others to weigh in on what they see in your life. This is both personal and relational gold.

3.  You won’t assume others are like you – because you have an honest view of the world.  And then you are at a much healthier place internally (not projecting onto others) and relationally (able to relate with a view of the actual reality of what people are like). 

Sweep out Pride and replace it with Humility – having a modest/honest estimate of ourselves[7]

• “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”  (1 Peter 5:5)”

•  “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”  (Romans 12:3)

• But [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

When is it most obvious that God is at work in our lives? When our strength and skills fail – when what we bring to the table is inept at best and disastrous at worst -  and yet God brings something good from it. 

When is it most obvious that God is at work in our church? When our strength and skills fail – when what we bring to the table is inept at best and disastrous at worst -  and yet God brings something good from it. Unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain, right?[8]

If I can be transparent about pastoring for a moment. Most Sunday, something goes wrong here on a Sunday morning, from mechanical issues to computer breakdowns to awkward sermons (and sermon topics) to lack of smooth transitions to the worship team having to scramble with last minute sicknesses to nursery workers not being able to make it to somebody sticking their foot in their mouth in a conversation, and that someone is often me. And more often than not, it seems like someone is here really looking for be ministered to through whichever area is “weak” that particular morning.  And it feels like, “Well, we blew it.”

This used to eat me up. God has been working with me: “Let it go. My power is made perfect in these moments.” In other words, CLG is not going to flourish – really Kingdom flourish - because the preacher or the band or the Kid’s Ministry leaders or any of us navigating relationships are  knocking it out of the park; it will Kingdom flourish when the power of God builds this house. And that is comforting indeed.

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[1] Romans 8:31

[2]  “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” Proverbs 6:16-19 

 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God (sharing in the same nature their Father).” Matthew 5:9

 “So then we pursue the things which make for peace (wholeness, unity) and the building up of one another.” Romans 14:19  

[3] 1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient, love is kind.” 

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:12-13  

[4] Verses about faithfulness to God: 1 Samuel 12:24  “Fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.”

Revelation 2:10  “Do not fear what you are about to suffer….Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

1 Corinthians 4:2  “It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

[5] Proverbs 18:24

[6] From Christiana Collins. I don’t know who that is, but it’s pretty good stuff.

[7]  “Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor.”  Proverbs 15:33 

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”  Proverbs 11:2

 “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” Romans 12:16 

[8] Psalm 127:1

Harmony #6: Zeal For The House Of God (John 2:13-22)

Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables.[1] So he made a whip of cords (rushes) and drove them all out of the temple courts, with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.[2] To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!”[3] 

A couple things to note:

• Selling these animals was actually a service to distant travelers who could not bring their sacrifices with them. All the merchants could recover their money and animals. Jesus didn’t take away their livelihood.

• However… the priests rented space rather than gave it, which drove up costs; the priests and Levites often resold animals offered as sacrifices back to the sellers, who sold them again; and the money changers often took a premium.[4]

• Finally, This market was in the temple courtyard, specifically, the areas set aside for Gentiles to worship. Gentiles couldn’t worship at the temple at the very place God has set aside for them to be welcome. This marketplace had become a place of greed and fraud, and it’s presence in the outer courtyard hindered worship.  

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will devour me.”[5]

We should note that the goal of Jesus’ zeal was to purify, not ruin. Jesus removed the problem from the temple, but he didn’t ruin the people. He rebukes them, but he doesn’t destroy them. Why not? Because the goal wasn't to humiliate them or ban them from using the temple as God intended. It was “zeal for the house of God’ that consumed him, not “zeal for calling down judgment” on the defilers of the temple. The goal was to clean the temple. In fact, Jesus is going to tell Nicodemus right after this that “God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.” 

So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 

The response of the Jewish leaders – the Pharisees – is interesting. They are more curious than anything. There is no record Jesus got in trouble for this, and it is not brought up at Jesus’ trial. It appears to track with what the people thought a prophet would do: protect the temple. Prophets had the authority to speak and act prophetically to cleanse the temple. They just asked for his credentials (a sign).

Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken. 

Jesus’ claim about being the temple shifted the focus of God’s presence on Earth away from a geographical place like the temple to the person of Jesus.[6] Also note: after the first miracle, they believed in Jesus. After the cleansing of the temple, the believed the Scriptures. I suspect that language is not accidental. We worship Jesus (not the Bible), but we trust the person of Jesus and revelation of God through Scripture that points toward or tells us about Jesus. That trust is foundational to our flourishing as followers of Jesus.

* * * * *

Jesus apparently cleansed the temple twice: the first Passover of his ministry (recorded only in John) and last Passover of his ministry. He bookended his life of ministry by focusing on His house and His people.  He never cleansed a Roman or Greek temple, though God knows they needed it. He didn’t cleanse a Samaritan temple, which was even worse to the Jewish people because their temples had incorporated pagan worship. The only temple he cleansed was the one where Yahweh was worshipped. The zeal of the Lord that consumed Jesus had to do with a zeal for the temple, God’s dwelling place.

God’s concern for the purity has always started with His people. Biblical prophets consistently spoke of God’s judgment on injustice beginning with God’s household. I’m going to walk us through some examples starting in the Old Testament and ending much closer to our time.

• Here is Amos, in a classic example of God addressing the need for purification among His own people. This is pretty typical prophetic language on this issue: Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.  Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:18-24)

• Ezekiel had a vision about how God felt about the corruption in the Israelite community. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you… Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it…”  The heavenly bearers of judgment on the unmarked were to “begin in my sanctuary” (Ezekiel 9:4-6; 11:12)

• When Jeremiah wrote about God’s coming judgment on the violent corruptions of the nations (not just Israel), we read this:“Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it….So I took the cup from the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials…” (Jeremiah 25:15-18)

• Peter, writing several decades later, is one of several New Testament authors talks about it again. “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner… It’s judgment time for God’s own family. We’re first in line. If it starts with us, think what it’s going to be like for those who refuse God’s Message!” (1 Peter 4:12-13; 17-18, The Message)

• Augustine, in the 400s: “He then is eaten up with zeal for God’s house who desires to correct all that he sees wrong there. Let the zeal for God’s house consume every Christian wherever he or she is a member.”

• The Protestant Reformation (1500s) was all about this issue.

• The Great Awakenings (1700s, 1800s, some argue the Jesus Movement in the 1970s) were certainly about evangelism, but an awful lot of it was revival from within.

• Alexander Maclaren, (1826 - 1910) a minister in England for 65 years who was twice president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and president of the Baptist World Congress in London in 1905, wrote a commentary I read a lot when I do sermon prep. Here is his commentary for this section:

A church as an outward institution is exposed to all the dangers to which other institutions are exposed. And these creep on insensibly, as this abuse had crept on. So it is not enough that we should be at ease in our consciences in regard to our practices as Christian communities. We become familiar with any abuse, and as we become familiar we lose the power of rightly judging of it.

 Therefore conscience needs to be guided and enlightened quite as much as to be obeyed.How long has it taken the Christian Church to learn the wickedness of slavery? Has the Christian Church yet learned the unchristianity of war? Are there no abuses amongst us, which subsequent generations will see to be so glaring that they will talk about us as we talk about our ancestors, and wonder whether we were Christians at all when we could tolerate such things?

They creep on gradually, and they need continual watchfulness if they are not to assume the mastery. The special type of corruption which we find in this incident is one that besets the Church always…It is all Christian communities, established and non-established churches, Roman Catholic and Protestant. The same danger besets them all. There must be money to work the outward business of the house of God. 

 But what about people that ‘run’ churches as they run mills? What about people whose test of the prosperity of a Christian community is its balance-sheet? What about the people that hang on to religious communities and services for the sake of what they can make out of them? We have heard a great deal lately about what would happen ‘if Christ came to Chicago.’ If Christ came to any community of professing Christians in this land, do you not think He would need to have the scourge in His hand… if Jesus Christ had not thus come, over and over again, to His Church, Christian men would have killed Christianity long ago...

We and our brethren, all through the ages, have been corrupting the Water of Life. And how does it come to be sweet and powerful still? That unique characteristic of Christianity, its power of reformation, is not self-reformation, but it is a coming of the Lord to His temple to ‘purify the sons of Levi, that their offering may be pleasant as in days of yore.’ So one looks upon the spectacle of churches labouring under all manner of corruptions; and one need not lose heart. The shortest day is the day before the year turns; and when the need is sorest the help is nearest...

I believe too, with all my heart-and I hope that you do-that, though the precious wheat is riddled in the sieve, and the chaff falls to the ground, not one grain will go through the meshes. Whatever becomes of churches, the Church of Christ shall never have its strength so sapped by abuses that it must perish, or its lustre so dimmed that the Lord of the Temple must depart from His sanctuary.[7]

God does not abandon His people. He intends the church to be a glorious bride (to use last week’s language), and to be salt and light in this rotting and dark world. So He’s going to do work in His people. And He intends for that salt to be salty, and that light to be bright.

When we (rightly) mourn and condemn the sin all around us, just know: God will deal with His children first so that when they go out into all the world to preach a gospel that transforms heart, soul, mind and strength, they are bringing the solution to the problem in word and deed, not adding to it.

How do we respond?

1. Identify what needs to get out of temple. [8] What most threatens to occupy the space God has set aside for His purposes in the church? What corrupting influences needs to be cleansed? I wrote down 5 things the broader church in America is wrestling with right now based on conversations and insight from those who study these things. Last night, at a wedding reception, Sheila and I sat with a young couple who live downstate who cited at least three of them for why they and many of their friends are struggling with church.  

Setting empire measures of success. Last week we talked about how God loves to use the “are nots” to confound the “are.” God specializes in using the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. The success of the temple of God needs to be measured by the standards of the Kingdom of God. Worldly standards tend to involve two things when it comes to the success of organizations: how big you are, and how much money you have. Nothing wrong with either of those. If a church can be large and cash flush, more power to ‘em. It’s just not a Kingdom standard for success.

• Sometimes churches are big because they are crushing it when it comes to building a compelling community of truth and grace; sometimes they are big because they have light shows and free giveaways and a great coffee bar onsite; sometimes they are just situated in the right place at the right time. All kinds of reasons. Big is not bad, but it’s not automatically good.

• Sometimes churches are small because they have fallen out of the race through sin permeating the church, through bad leadership, or through the compromise of truth; sometimes a town died; sometimes the only people left after revival were those who were serious; sometimes they are situated in a place hostile to the gospel. All kinds of reasons. Small is not bad, but it’s not automatically good.

• Some churches have tons of money, some don’t, and the reasons for that are all over the map: what part of town is the church situated? What kinds of jobs to the congregants have? Are they recession-proof? What happened during COVID? Gas price hikes?

How does God measure success in his church, both globally and locally? That’s what I’m interested in. I would love to hear from you about this in Message+, but here’s a broad summary: Kingdom fruit. People being transformed into the image of Christ in whom the fruit of the Holy Spirit increasingly characterizes personal and corporate life.

Confusing empire power with kingdom influence. All throughout church history, whenever the church has become too deeply embedded within the halls of cultural power, it has compromised the church. It started with Constantine. He legalized Christianity, and under his rule persecution dropped dramatically. Christians began to have access to cultural comfort and wealth. It’s no surprise that they loved this change. Who wouldn’t? But almost right away, they began to passionately argue that things that weren’t okay for the previous 300 years were now okay. It turns out all those things were things that Constantine liked.

Their principle cracked; they began to love the power and comfort that came with cultural access and authority more than the power of God working through a faithful church. This pattern repeats over and over throughout history. The kind of kingdom influence that genuinely transforms cultures come from the ground up, not the top down. Christianity is a servant’s revolution.

In addition, we can take our cues from culture about how we ought to use power instead of looking to Jesus. Over the past few years, the very public reckoning in some areas of church life in America have revealed places where a love of and abuse of power looks like the world and not like how God intended his church to function. When the New Testament talks about those in positions of leadership or authority, it constantly stresses the servant nature of that position. In response to a couple disciples’ request to eventually “sit at his right and left hand” (places of authority), Jesus said,

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:20-28)

Fear of “them.” It usually sounds like this:  “If ‘they’ get their way, this is the end of…” And from that comes a whole movement based on fear often with an almost apocalyptic concern. Like Sam says to Frodo, “This is the end of all things!” But that is the exact opposite of what Scripture tells us God has given us: not a spirit of fear, but of “power, of love, and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

I have a concern that we look at whatever the latest challenge is to Christian life and teaching and respond as if we are thinking, “Well, looks like this one is bigger than God.”  Isn’t that functionally what we are saying when we panic in the face of cultural challenges? But as long as there has been a church, there have always been empire values that have pressed hard against the gates of the Kingdom. Sin has never stopped crouching at the door. This has always been true. Yet God hasn’t left his throne; He hasn’t abandoned his church; he hasn’t closed His Word or stifled his Holy Spirit. The church goes on. It has always gone on.    

Celebrityism. It is easy to fill the temple courtyard with people on pedestals. This, too, is as old of the church. Paul called out the factions and basically said, “Stop it! We don’t follow people!!”[9] We all have people we admire and trust; that’s not a bad thing. But they didn’t build the temple; they don’t set temple agendas; and they don’t get our worship or loyalty. There is something compelling about the idea that there is someone out there who I know is always speaking the truth, who always sees the world correctly, who whenever they speak or act, we can trust it’s good and true. But…that’s only Jesus. There is never a time we don’t filter people’s words, actions and character through the filter of God’s word.

We also have to be careful not to import celebrities from their cultural pedestal onto a church pedestal. Being a “big deal” in the eyes of the Empire carries no automatic weight in the Kingdom. It’s easy to think, “If we could get HIM or HER, then people will pay attention to the church!” And then it’s easy to think, “I want to be in small group with them, or sit nearby on a Sunday morning so we become friends.” Wanting to be their friend isn’t a bad thing in itself, but is a bad thing if it’s because you think they are cool or that somehow their friendship matters more than others.

 I think what God intends for the church is that we to know people with no concept of their standing in the world. If they have wisdom and righteousness, they have wisdom and righteousness. Hang out with them. That’s Kingdom life. #message+ #smallgroups  #potlucks #lobbytalk #coffee #hikingfishingBBQmoviesmealsetc

Consumerism. We live in a consumerist culture: we buy, we use, we discard. If we don’t like what we buy, we buy something else. Things are expendable. And you have noticed, people become expendable in a consumerist culture. We use and discard if they don’t make us happy. Churches can become expendable: we use and discard if they don’t make us happy. God and His kingdom can become expendable: we use the parts we don’t like and discard the parts we don’t until we created a space where (it turns out) God’s priorities and perspective perfectly align with ours. Huh. Church is a covenant community, and that’s a world apart from consumerism.

2. Pray for godly zeal.

 If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us.

So, for what should we be zealous to remove and put in the courtyard of our church and our lives?  I mentioned some bigger picture issues to take out, and there are certainly more. I want to end by focusing on tangible Kingdom attributes that we are called to put in. And when God calls us, He equips us, so I know when can do this with His help. When we are zealous to see these things, the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives.

• Love – agape loving people well  

• Peace – bringing righteous order to sinful chaos

• Mercy – giving grace (unmerited favor) wherever possible

• Kindness – treating others with goodness

• Faithfulness – being a righteous presence others can count on

• Truth-telling – speaking honestly about…everything.

• Humility – having a modest/honest estimate of ourselves

• Generosity – giving to those in need

• Gentleness – strength under control in the service of others

• Self-control – not ruled by our appetites

• Prayer – regularly communicating with God

• Righteousness – doing that which God would approve

• Service – looking to serve rather than be served

• Nurture – caring for those who are hurting or broken

• Boldness – a fearlessness to do and say what is righteous

Help us, Lord, to play our part in this church becoming increasingly a holy community of love, truth, prayer, worship, repentance, forgiveness, justice and mercy – a place for people of all neighborhoods and nations, a place where the grace of Jesus’ saving atonement is central, a place where God’s name is honored in our words and actions and God’s presence is experienced as transformative, saving, and healing. May zeal for the integrity of your house, guided by your Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, consume us.[10]

 
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[1] “They transformed what should have been a place for worshipful prayer into a noisy market.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[2] “John’s record of the temple cleansing immediately after the miracle at Cana (vv. 1–11 note) offers an important key to the whole of Jesus’ ministry. In these events are signaled replacement of the old order (water of ceremonial cleansing, Herod’s temple) with the new (the wine of salvation, Is. 25:6–9; the risen Lamb as the new temple, Rev. 21:22).”(ESV Reformation Study Bible)  This event is probably distinct from Jesus’ cleansing the temple at the end of his ministry (Matt 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45–46). (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[3] Malachi 3:1-4 “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight…he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

[4] Benson Commentary

[5] Psalm 69:9

[6] “No two scenes can be more different than the two recorded in this chapter: the one that took place in the rural seclusion of Cana… the other that was done in the courts of the Temple swarming with excited festival-keepers; the one hallowing the common joys of daily life, the other rebuking the profanation of what assumed to be a great deal more sacred than a wedding festival; the one manifesting the love and sympathy of Jesus, His power to ennoble all human relationships, and His delight in ministering to need and bringing gladness, and the other setting forth the sterner aspect of His character as consumed with holy zeal for the sanctity of God’s name and house… they cover the whole ground of His character, and in some very real sense are a summary of all His work.” MacLaren’s Expositions.

[7] MacLaren’s Exposition

[8] This can be really personal as well as corporate. “Do you not know that you [the church] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you… For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) The church is “the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).  Believers are “a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5); “God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Cor. 3:17).

[9] 1 Corinthians 1

[10] Colin Smith, https://openthebible.org/sermon/zeal-for-gods-house/