Harmony #88: The Vine And The Branches ((John 15:1-17)

Psalm 80:8-19

You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.

Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it. Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.

Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.  Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

There is an interesting Old Testament verse about the fire associated with God.

“See now, the name of the Eternal is echoing from far away. God is coming with a fury inescapable to set things right again. God is coming like fire and smoke; His lips, indignation—His tongue, consuming fire.”(Isaiah 30:27)

* * * * *

Isaiah 5: The Song of the Vineyard

 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.  He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.

“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”

The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

* * * * *

Isaiah 27:3-6

“Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!

I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire. Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me.” In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.

God would not allow his people to continue to shed blood and bring distress instead of brining righteousness and justice (Isaiah 5). Even though it’s his own vineyard, if the fruit in his vineyard is rotten, that’s not okay. That needs to be dealt with. There is an entire vineyard whose health is at risk. I had a friend who used to say, “If you play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.” Well, when we bear rotten and harmful fruit, we will collect appropriate prizes. 

But…. God also would not give up on this troublesome vineyard because it’s his vineyard; it’s his people. He is still their Father. Not only will he bring about a future in which their good fruit will fill the earth, he wants to make peace with the very briars and thorns that threatened his people.

* * * * *

This brings us to today’s passage.

The Vine and the Branches  (John 15:1-8)

[Jesus said,] “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.  He takes away branches that do not bear my fruit.[1] He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. You are pruned/purified already because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Abide in me – remain deeply, faithfully connected; I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains attached to the vine, so neither can you unless you remain deeply, faithfully connected to me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains deeply connected to me while I am deeply connected to him bears much fruit, because disconnected from me, you can accomplish nothing.

 “If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire,[2] and are burned up.[3] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.

As we have already seen, Jesus is not using new imagery. This is all good Old Testament territory, and his disciples certainly knew it. They can bear good fruit when they are connected to the vine; the consuming fire and pruning of God will make for Himself a people – a vineyard - whose fruit is good for the world.

But, Jesus changes something important. It is no longer Israel that is the Vine. It is Jesus. They don’t need to be plugged into a geographical land “flowing with milk and honey” to flourish; they needed a person - Jesus. They didn’t need to be citizens in good standing in the nation of Israel to bear good fruit; they needed Jesus. They didn’t need to “remain” in relationship with the Old Testament law and covenant; then need to remain in Jesus.

Now, about that prayer verse (“ask what you will”). I’ve often heard just this verse quoted, but it has a context. Notice where it is placed. There is a verse about bearing fruit, a verse about asking things of God, then another verse about how God will be honored when we bear fruit. There is something about this particular discussion of prayer that is connected with bearing the fruit God intends for us to bear. So that leads us to an obvious question: what is the fruit?

·      Fruit of the Holy Spirit?

·      Obedience?

·      Good deeds?

·      Signs and wonders?

Since we display this fruit only when we are deeply and faithfully connected with Jesus, it’s going to have something to do with the person and ministry of Jesus. Our fruit is going to match the life-giving source of Jesus. Let’s keep reading and see if can get an idea about what that might be.

“Remain in My Love & Love One Another” (Jn 15:9-17)

“Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain in my love. If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

I have told you these things so that my joy[4] may be in you, and your joy may be complete. My commandment is this—to love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this—that one lays down his life for his friends[5].You are my friends[6], my companions, if you follow my instructions.

The focus is on how following God’s commands is a means of loving those around us. HELPS Word Studies has a really interesting definition of what was implied by Jesus charging his disciples to follow his instructions.

“To command, emphasizing the end objective, i.e. reaching the purpose (consummation, end result) of an order… envisioning how or where it ends up.”

If I am reading this correctly, “love one another as I have loved you” is the ultimate fruit, the consummation of a life connected deeply and faithfully to Jesus. And when this happens…

I no longer call you servants, because the servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends [companions on mission together!] because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father, [and you understand what I am doing].

You did not choose me, but I chose you[7] and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. This I command you—to love one another.”

* * * * *

Fruit is a Christ-like life produced by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23) that results in a lifestyle of consistent, faithful, Christ-like love. We are called to obedience to God – walking in the path of life that God established – as a response of love to a God of love and a means of loving others.  This is the end objective of discipleship. This was always God’s plan: to transform God’s image bearers so that we demonstrate the love of Jesus.

 In Galatians 5, Paul has some things to say to an audience that was still requiring converts to follow OT ritual laws like circumcision.

Brothers and sisters, God has called you to freedom! Hear the call, and do not spoil this gift by using your liberty to engage in what your flesh desires; instead, use it to serve each other as Jesus taught through love.  For the whole law comes down to this one instruction: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” so why all this vicious gnawing on each other? If you are not careful, you will find you’ve eaten each other alive!

Here’s my instruction: walk in the Spirit, and let the Spirit bring order to your life. If you do, you will never give in to your selfish and sinful cravings. For everything the flesh desires goes against the Spirit, and everything the Spirit desires goes against the flesh.  There is a constant battle raging between them that prevents you from doing the good you want to do. But when you are led by the Spirit, you are no longer merely corralled by the [outward constraint of the] law.[8]

It’s clear that our flesh entices us into practicing some of its most heinous acts: participating in corrupt sexual relationships, impurity, unbridled lust, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, arguing, jealousy, anger, selfishness, contentiousness, division, envy of others’ good fortune, drunkenness, drunken revelry, and other shameful vices that plague humankind.

I told you this clearly before, and I only tell you again so there is no room for confusion: those who give in to these ways will not inherit the kingdom (live in the realm) of God.[9] The Holy Spirit produces a different kind of fruit: unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There in no law that stops you from bearing fruit like this….

Now since we have chosen to walk with the Spirit [in love], let’s keep each step in perfect sync with God’s Spirit. This will happen when we set aside our self-interests and work together to create true community instead of a culture consumed by provocation, pride, and envy… 6:2 Shoulder each other’s burdens, and then you will live as the law of the Anointed teaches us…

6:9-10 May we never tire of doing what is good and right before our Lord because in His season we shall bring in a great harvest if we can just persist. So seize any opportunity the Lord gives you to do good things and be a blessing to everyone, especially those within our faithful family. (Galatians 5:11-17; 6:2; 6:9-10)

Paul gives the summary of the Law of the Spirit – love one another. Then he contrasts that that looks like and doesn’t look like in a very practical way.

There are things you can do that are NOT loving of others, and when you do that, you will harm others, and you will not enter into and experience the life Jesus offers. It’s almost like you have disconnected from the vine so you can bear a fruit of your own choosing. It reminds me of what God said to Adam after Adams’ sin: “Where are you?” This reads more accurately as, “Where did you go? Why aren’t you where you are supposed to be?” As in, “We were connected. Your place was with me. Why did you remove yourself from that?”

Then there are things we can do that ARE loving to others: displaying the fruit of the Spirit; bearing each other’s burdens; doing good things that bless everyone!

* * * * *

Let’s make it really practical for the disciples. Who, among their group, was a branch clearly disconnected from the vine of Jesus? That would be Judas Iscariot. Who was going to soon seem like a branch disconnected from the vine of Jesus? Peter.

The disciples themselves are going to have opportunity to do the hard work of bearing the fruit of love. To stay connected to Jesus, they are going to have to love Peter like Jesus loves Peter. They are going to have to love Judas like Jesus loves Judas. If you are wondering about that last claim, here’s what John recorded of Jesus before the betrayal by Jesus:

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)

Jesus didn’t stop loving Judas. Of course he didn’t. He had already told them during the Sermon on the Mount that they were to love their enemies and sacrifice themselves for the sake of their enemies – which Jesus is about to do. Jesus is about to give his life for even the Judas’s of the world.

I wonder if Jesus was trying to point them toward the immediate necessity of learning to love well RIGHT NOW. He will soon warn them (John 16) of their upcoming failure (“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone.”) They are going to wrestle with a group failure. There will be a lot of opportunity to judge, to nurse anger, to traffic in shame and shaming.

Well, it turns out that God still has a plan for pruning and restoration. Paul, of all people, loved to talk about this. He wrote in Romans 11 about how God dealt with Israel in the Old Covenant, then applied it to the church in the New Covenant.

Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring... For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

You [Gentiles] will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith… And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (11-23, excerpted)

Ah, the good news of the Gospel. Our history is not our destiny when Jesus is involved. That is always good news.

* * * * *

Do you want to bear the fruit of love?

Abide in Jesus.

Spend time in prayer, in studying Jesus in Scripture.

Be conscious of the presence of Jesus throughout your day.

Align your actions, thoughts, and attitudes with what you believe Jesus would be doing, thinking, or feeling in those same moments.

Look around to see where Jesus is at work, and join in.

And most of all, be responsive to the Holy Spirit leading us to love more and more like Jesus.

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[1] “Exactly what the Lord does to the unfruitful branch depends on how the Greek verb airo is translated. It can mean “takes away”; then it would refer to the discipline of physical death (1 Cor. 11:30). However, the same word may mean “lifts up” (as in John 8:59). Then it would be the positive ministry of encouraging the fruitless branch by making it easier to get light and air, and hopefully, to bear fruit.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[2]  The cast-out branch may be grafted in again (Romans 11:23) and the dead branch may be raised to life again (John 5:21; John 5:25). 

[3] Another perspective. “The subject is about abiding and fruitbearing. But through carelessness and prayerlessness this believer gets out of touch with the Lord. As a result, he commits some sin, and his testimony is ruined. Through failure to abide in Christ, he is thrown out as a branch—not by Christ, but by other people.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary) This makes me think of Paul. ”But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

[4] “xará (another feminine noun from the root xar-, "extend favor, lean towards, be favorably disposed") – properly, the awareness (of God's) grace, favor; joy("grace recognized").” (HELPS Word Studies)

[5] “Agape… denotes unconditional love, philos emphasizes a bond of friendship and companionship.” (Strong’s Lexicon)

[6]  In the OT, only Abraham and Moses are called friends of God (Exodus 33:11; Isaiah 41:8). Jesus extends this privilege to all obedient believers.

[7] Literally. Jesus went to each disciple and asked them to follow him. I don’t think this should be applied to a question of everyone’s salvation. If that’s what this teaching was about, then everybody in Jesus’ life that he did not choose to be a disciple would be lost. And that’s just not what happened.

[8] “Law finds no just occasion against men who are led by the spirit, for they themselves check every wrong desire within them, and so fulfil the whole Law.” (Expositor’s Greek New Testament) 

[9] “[The kingdom (932 /basileía) is constantly used in connection with the rule of Christ in the hearts of believers – which also extends in various stages.]”  (HELPS Word Studies)

Harmony #87: The Peace Jesus Brings (John 13:36-14:31; Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26)

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!  

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have confident trust in God; have confident trust also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms for eternal and secure rest;[1] if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3  

Note: Jesus tells Peter that Peter is about to exhibit massive failure in discipleship. Unthinkable betrayal of his rabbi. Jesus follows that up with words of hope and peace, not rebuke or scorn. He still loves Peter. Peter is still a child of God. God’s love, as expressed through Jesus, did not waver. Peter remained a loved child of God in the midst of his greatest failure.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?  

The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 

 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [2] And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.[3] 

Note: most commentaries suggest that this discussion of “works” was a prediction about the spread of the Gospel – the introduction of Jesus and the establishment of the church - which was the work of the Father that Jesus started and we continue.

“If you love me, you will obey (keep and guard) my commandments. Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you throughout the age —  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.[4] 

I will not abandon you as orphans,[5] I will come to you. In a little while the world will not see me any longer, but you will see me; because I live, you will live too. You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.  

The person who has my commandments and observes and watches over  them is the one who agapes me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” 

 “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot)[6] said, “what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will keep and watch over my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. #holyspirit 

The person who does not love me does not keep and watch over my words. And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me. I have spoken these things while staying with you. But the Comforting Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you. 

“Peace (wholeness; harmony; well being) I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage…  

I will not speak with you much longer, for the archon[7] of this world is coming. He has no power over me, but I am doing just what the Father commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.“

* * * * * 

What kind of peace does the world give? I think this is a reference to the Pax Romana, the ‘peace by the sword’ for which the Romans were so famous.

·  Peace happened at the other end of power flexes, coercion, violence, war, and subjugation. Peace meant the powerful had gotten their way, usually at the expense of the powerless.

·  Peace was fickle and elusive. It was bloody to find and easy to lose. I suspect Jesus was reflecting on the Zealots’ wars when he wept over a city saying, “peace, peace” when there was none, and there would be none with the methods they were using.

·  That kind of peace is paranoid (think of Herod ordering the killing of the babies to try to get the “King of the Jews.”) There is always the risk that someone will break that peace – and they did. You start to keep an increasingly paranoid eye out for disruptors.

·  That kind of peace is contingent on so many factors. Natural disasters; war; political infighting; economic hardship…

The peace that Jesus offers is a reconciliation with a loving God from which nothing can separate us.

·  The battle for it is over, and none of us were trampled or subjugated. Satan, sin, death, hell and the grave were subjugated. God Himself battled on our behalf, offering Himself to save us.

·  This peace is confident, because God bought it and keeps it on our behalf. We don’t have to worry about it wavering or disappearing. “What can separate us from the love of God?” asked Paul. Nothing.

·  This peace is not at the mercy of outside elements taking it away. It is established by God, maintained by God, protected by God. His love never fails. His peace endures forever.

·  This peace is not contingent on anything around us, or any work we can do. It’s offered with grace, enacted “while we were yet sinners,” and offered to all.

I think we find it easy to search for contingent peace. If I were in a country where Christians are being killed, or where there is a physical war, I would focus on different things. The way it is, I will focus on common challenges in the United States. We are so used to seeing it happen in that way all around us.

·  Health – If I stay fit, I will be happy.

·  Beauty – If I can look young, or dress nicely, I will be content.

·  Productivity – If I can accomplish just a little more, I can relax.

·  Organization – If I can manage things just right, nothing will go wrong.

·  Knowledge – If I read and study enough, I will understand life.

·  Money – If I didn’t have to worry about the next bill, I would be okay.

·  Relationships – If I had the right people around me, I would never be unhappy. Or if I could just have the sex life I want, I would be at peace.

·  Reputation – If I can get other people to always view me well, then I’d be okay.

·  Value – Maybe if I’m indispensible, I will feel that elusive sense of worth.

If I seek my peace this way, I suspect I will fluctuate between two extremes: Fear (What is everyone thinking? What if I lose this? Who will I be if I don’t have this? Am I good enough?) or Worship (“Ah. This thing can save me…make me happy…bring me peace. I want more…. I can sacrifice more. I NEED THIS”).

And when that happens, we practice our own Pax Romana (peace by the sword).

·  Peace happens at the other end of our power flexes, our coercion, our trampling on others to get that think we so desperately think will bring us peace.

·  When we do feel peaceful, it will be fickle and elusive. It was so hard to get and so easy to lose. One wrong word; one bad day; just one thing….

·  We can get paranoid about all the things that will interfere with our costly and fickle peace, and suddenly everybody and everything is a source of worry, because they could undermine us yet again….

·      That kind of peace is contingent on so many factors, many of them out of our control.

The way the world would have us pursue peace asks us to believe that the world is the source of our peace and peace is ours for the taking if we are just smart enough, or rich enough, or strong enougn – and  that’s just not the way it works. “Not as the world gives,” said Jesus, if we are looking for peace.

When the angels came and announced that peace had arrived on earth, it was not because Herod was dethroned, or the Jewish people agreed on who the King of the Jews really was, or because schools were exempt from tragedy, or because there would be no more hurricanes, or political differences dissolved, or because cancer was gone. The circumstances didn’t look any different, but the implications for what was going to happen inside of people was significant.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you,” in the middle of the most tumultuous and violent events of his life. Judas was hatching a plot to betray him. The crowds were in an uproar. The chief priests, Sadducees, and Pharisees were disturbed, fearful, hatching their own plots to rid themselves of this menace to their power and position. Even the Romans could feel the atmosphere of tension in the city. Yet in the midst of all this, Jesus talks about peace. 

The Jewish people were expecting political, religious and financial peace – the common external markers. But that was their definition. It was contingent; hard to fight for (!); easy to lose. No wonder they were disillusioned and disappointed time and again.

 Skip ahead about 70 years after the birth of Christ. Paul was writing letters to the start-up churches helping them to better understand the true message of the gospel. When he wrote to the church in Ephesus, he was writing to a largely Gentile audience. They were having trouble forming a church community with the Jewish converts. Paul lets them know that God has broken down the divide between God’s “chosen” people and the “unchosen” Gentiles. Here we see a specific explanation of peace: 

 “Remember that at that time you (Gentiles) were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.   

For he himself is our peace…. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 

 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.“ (Ephesians 2:12-17)

Paul was jailed, beaten, shipwrecked, chased; people tried to kill him; he had his infamous ‘thorn in the flesh’ that God refused to take away so that Paul would understand God’s grace was sufficient. Yet Paul clearly believed he was one who had experienced the peace that Jesus brought.

What is this peace?  Reconciliation with God through Christ, empowered by His Spirit. Peace begins in us, not around us when we are in right relationship with Christ.  

 * * * * *

* “New Testament The Greek word eirene corresponds to the Hebrew shalom expressing the idea of peace, well-being, restoration, reconciliation with God, and salvation in the fullest sense. God is “the God of peace” ( Romans 15:33 ; Philippians 4:9 ; 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ;Hebrews 13:20 ). The Gospel is “the good news of peace” (Ephesians 6:15 ; Acts 10:36 ) because it announces the reconciliation of believers to God and to one another (Ephesians 2:12-18 ). God has made this peace a reality in Jesus Christ, who is “our peace.” We are justified through Him (Romans 5:1 ), reconciled through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20 ), and made one in Him (Ephesians 2:14 ). In Him we discover that ultimate peace which only God can give (John 14:27 ).

This peace is experienced as an inner spiritual peace by the individual believer (Philippians 4:7 ; Colossians 3:15 ; Romans 15:13 ). It is associated with receptiveness to God's salvation (Matthew 10:13 ), freedom from distress and fear (John 14:27 ; John 16:33 ), security (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 ), mercy (Galatians 6:16 ; 1 Timothy 1:2 ), joy (Romans 14:17 ; Romans 15:13 ), grace (Philippians 1:2 ; Revelation 1:4 ), love (2 Corinthians 13:11 ;Jude 1:2 ), life (Romans 8:6 ), and righteousness (Romans 14:17 ; Hebrews 12:11 ; James 3:18 ).

Such peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22 ) that forms part of the “whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11,Ephesians 6:11,6:13 ), enabling the Christian to withstand the attacks of the forces of evil. Thus, the New Testament gives more attention to the understanding of spiritual peace as an inner experience of the individual believer than does the Old Testament. In both the Old and the New Testament, spiritual peace is realized in being rightly related—rightly related to God and rightly related to one another.” (From the Holman Bible Dictionary. “Peace, Spiritual.” www.studylight.org)

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[1] “Our Lord alludes here to the temple, which was called the house of God, in the precincts of which there were a great number of chambers, 1 Kings 6:5; Ezra 8:29; Jeremiah 35:2; Jeremiah 35:4; Jeremiah 36:10.” (Adam Clarke)

[2] “A measuring of miracles of this kind by their magnitude is throughout foreign to the N. T. Rather in μείζονα τούτων… its predominant signification is…world-subduing apostolic activity generally, produced by the Holy Spirit (John 16:18) in the diffusion of the gospel, with its light and life, amongst all peoples…”  (Meyer’s New Testament Commentary) “The explanation of these greater works is…in the whole work of the Church. The Day of Pentecost witnessed the first fulfilment of this prophecy; but it has been fulfilled also in every great moral and spiritual victory. Every revival of a truly religious spirit has been an instance of it; every mission-field has been a witness to it.” (Ellicott’s Commentary For English Readers) “These ‘greater works’ refer rather to the results of Pentecost… (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[3] “The name of a person can only be used when we seek to enforce his will and further his interests... Successful prayer must be for the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom.” (Expositor’s Greek Testament) “ ‘In My name’… means praying and working as Christ’s representatives in the same spirit in which Christ prayed and worked…”(Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges) “Praying in the name of Christ" means to pray as directed (authorized) by Him, bringing revelation that flows out of being in His presence. {It} is not a "religious formula" just to end prayers (or get what we want)!” (HELPS Word Studies) 

[4] “In Scripture, God’s Spirit sometimes filled his agents (e.g., Ex 31:3; 35:31; Dt 34:9; Mic 3:8), was often upon them (Nu 11:17,25 – 26; 24:2; Jdg 3:10; Eze 11:5), and was sometimes said to be in them (Nu 27:18; cf. Ge 41:38). In the promised time of restoration, however, God would pour his Spirit on all his people (Joel 2:28).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[5] “Ancient writers sometimes used “orphan” to refer to those bereaved of others besides a father (in this case, their special teacher).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[6] “The name "Ioudas"  in the New Testament refers to several individuals, most notably Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, and Judas (not Iscariot), another disciple. It is also used for Judah, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and for Jude, the brother of Jesus and author of the Epistle of Jude.” (Strong’s Lexicon)

[7] This word means, broadly speaking, a ruler or leader. A few commentaries apply this to Satan; the majority see it as a reference to either the head of the Sanhedrin sending his mercs to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, or to Roman authority.

Harmony #86: Serving & Loving (Luke 22:24-30; John 13:3-17, 34)

A dispute started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. So Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves. 

  For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. “You are the ones who have remained with me in my trials. Thus I grant to you a kingdom, just as my Father granted to me,[1] that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."[2] 

Because Jesus knew that the Father had handed all things over to him, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, he got up from the meal, removed his outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around himself.  He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel he had wrapped around himself. 

Then he came to Simon Peter. Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not understand what I am doing now, but you will understand after these things.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus replied, “The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you  disciples are clean, but not every one of you.”[3](For Jesus knew the one who was going to betray him. For this reason he said, “Not every one of you is clean.”) 

 So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet.  

For I have given you an example—you should do just as I have done for you. I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them… 

I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

This is Jesus’ last real conversation with his disciples. Judas has left to betray him; time is short. These chapters give us a condensed focus: “Remember this.”  So, let’s talk about love.

One of Jesus’ most famous teachings is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). This was a brilliant distillation of all 600+ Old Testament laws. If you do the first properly, the second should follow naturally. If you don’t do the second, it’s a pretty good indication that you aren’t doing the first well either.[4] This summary of the law raises two immediate questions.

·  “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ response is the famous Parable of the Good Samaritan. Everybody is your neighbor, even those you most dislike for religious and cultural reasons.

·  What does it mean to love your neighbor “as yourself”?  Didn’t Jesus just say we have to die to ourselves? How does this work? And there may be an even more haunting question that comes with this: “What if I don’t love myself? Does this mean I can’t love other people?”

So let’s talk about what it means to love ourselves. We love ourselves when we consistently strive for our own self-interested fulfillment or goals. It is the conscious or unconscious motive of all of us. We are the primary focus in our lives. The fancy term for this is that we tend to be “ego-centric.” We are the one to whom we are most committed.  Now, this ‘love of self’ is not necessarily a bad thing.

·  God created us in Him image, and there is a value, worth and dignity to all of us. If we don't have some measure of appreciation or recognition of this, and we don't make choices for our own good that honor this reality, then we are not seeing ourselves biblically.

·  We see this in the Old Testament. In Leviticus 19, God gives a list of actions that his people will do: don’t lie, steal or cheat; take care of the poor; don’t show favoritism; pay good wages; don’t mock the deaf and blind; and take care of immigrants. Twice God summarizes: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (verses 18 and 34). In other words, you would want others to do this for you. Why? Because you think you are important, and that you matter, and that you deserve justice and mercy.

·  Christ's command to "love your neighbor as yourself" assumes that we clearly already love ourselves, and he doesn't say to stop. 

So, biblically speaking, emotional and spiritual health will include a proper understanding of our value, worth and dignity as image bearers of God; how we view ourselves is important, because how we understand our value will overlap with how we value others. The problem is the degree and the manner in which we love ourselves.

Paul warned in 2 Timothy 3:1-2 that "...in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves" (“preoccupied with their own selfish desires”[5]).  He was not giving new biblical insight into human psyche. He was warning about an inordinate love of self that sacrifices everyone else.

This raises a new dilemma. Perhaps our idea of what it means to love ourselves is terribly flawed. Perhaps out of all the people who love us, we are the worst - not because we hate ourselves but because we don’t actually know how to love ourselves well.

·  Have you ever pampered yourself when you should have been more disciplined, and as a result what felt good and rewarding in the moment bogged you down in the long run?

·  Have you ever followed your heart when you should have followed your head (or vice versa), and what you thought was a good thing blew up and hurt you?

·  Have you ever ignored good advice because it was hard and the boundaries would rob you of freedom – only to find out later that those boundaries were exactly what you needed to keep you from becoming enslaved to sinful habits?

·  Have you ever surrounded yourself with friends who only told you what you wanted to hear about how to live your life, and that echo chamber was so nice - until the shame and guilt of what they encouraged caught up with you?

And in all these cases, we were convinced that we knew the best way to love ourselves and our lives, but our understanding of what it meant to love was terribly flawed. Is it any wonder we have a hard time loving others well if the standard is “as you love yourself”?   

Lest you think Jesus messed something up here by giving a bad teaching, see the context. When Jesus condensed the Law into “Love God and love others as you love yourself,” he was honoring the Law as the Law : “This is how you can understand what God has revealed to you so far”. 

But Jesus was constantly making statements of contrast: “You have heard the Law say this…but I say.”  The Law was good but incomplete; Jesus showed the fulfillment. There was a greater, deeper way of understanding almost everything in the law – and that included love.  In his final teaching to his disciples, Jesus completes His revelation by giving them what he calls a “new law” of what it means to fully love well in the Kingdom of God.

John 13:33-35. “My children, My time here is brief. You will be searching for Me; and as I told the Jews, “You cannot go where I am going.” So I give you a new command: Love each other deeply and fully. Remember the ways that I have loved you, and demonstrate your love for others in those same ways. Everyone will know you as My followers if you demonstrate your love to others…” 

John 15:12-13. “ My commandment to you is this: love others as I have loved you. There is no greater way to love than to give your life for your friends.” 

So the Law insisted that you can’t just love yourself; you have to love others. Jesus fulfills or completes this teaching by revealing that it is the way Jesus loved us, not the way we love ourselves, that is meant to guide us. So, what does that look like?

Christ-like love is sacrificial.

This is, I believe, the most profound aspect of the love of Jesus. After writing this gospel, John wrote several letters to the early church. We read in 1 John:

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." (1 John 4:7-9 NIV)

In Jesus we see the ultimate (and unique) expression of the reality that the one who loves must die either physically or metaphorically.  Jesus did what no one else could in dying for our eternal salvation; if we want to live with others in genuine, loving relationship, we are going to have to lay down our lives for them in some fashion. No one truly loves if they refuse to sacrifice for the one they love. That’s hard enough, but it gets harder:

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  

Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.  

But 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 sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. " (Luke 6:27- 36)

Do we want to live as children of God? We must love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, pray for those who persecute us, give of ourself without an expectation of a return, and be merciful and kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

When we love as God loves us, His name is glorified; His reputation is made great. Christians have never brought about positive and lasting cultural change through anger and despair. It’s always been through hope, grace and love.[6]

Christ-like love is not conditional.

No one has to be good enough to come to Jesus. While we were dead in our sins, Christ died so that we might live (Ephesians 2). He took tax collectors who were pawns of the Romans, soldiers who were part of the oppressors, prostitutes, Samaritans who were of Jewish heritage but worshipped idols, the religiously arrogant, the humble and sincere… he offered the Kingdom of Heaven to them all.

If we are to love others like Christ loves us, we must offer the kind of love that does not require someone to be good enough before we love them.  This is not a naïve love that overlooks the reality of people’s lives. We all have baggage, and wisdom requires that the love we offer is guided by boundaries for their sake and ours. This is also not a love that compromises on truth and holiness; love doesn’t enable sin.

When we offer unconditional love, we don’t merely commit to the good of other people only when they reach a condition we have set. We just offer it because it’s who we are as a reflection of whose we are. If you have ever been the recipient of this kind of love, you know how beautiful it is. There is a freedom in being able to say, “I think I might be hard to love,” and having someone say in return, “And yet, here you are, loved.”  There is peace; there is safety; there is hope.

We don’t have to earn God’s love. God loves people: not because he needs us; not because we complete him; not because we are worthy, or lovable, or pure, or spiritually impressive; not because we please God or represent Him well. As one pastor noted,

God does not love us because of who we are. Or because of what we do, or can do for God. Or because of what we say, or build, or accomplish, or change, or pray, or give, or profess, or believe… God simply loves us...[7]

·  When I pray regularly and when I don’t, God’s love does not fail.

·  When I was chained in sin and when I was freed…

·  When I ignore Him and when I am enamored with Him…

·  When I am depressed or happy, anxious or at peace, self-loathing of self-loving…

·  When I pastor well and when I do it terribly...

·  When I am loved by others and despised by others…

God has never waited to love people until they were good enough to be loved. He loves people because He is God, and He is good. And that gives me great hope indeed.

Christ-like love is tangible.

I like this quote from Teresa of Avila that captures a biblical principle of the role of Christians as “the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12)

“Christ has no body on earth but yours. no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.”

Words of love are important, but they are not sufficient. Love must be shown.  Jesus did not spend his time talking about how compassionate he was. Jesus embodied it.  Words are powerful and they matter, but it’s what we do in the ordinary moments of everyday life that matter the most. As James reminded us.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14-17)

And as we love like Christ, we begin to see the answer to the prayer Jesus told us to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” There is hope that even on this side of heaven the reality of the Kingdom of God can impact the world. The more we appreciate and understand the love Jesus has for us, the more our ability to love is transformed, and the more we love other like Christ loved us. And in all this we will see how God has ordered His Kingdom for our good and His glory.

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[1] Christ’s entrance into his “glory,” and being seated upon his “throne,” seem to refer to the beginning of his reign on Pentecost (Luke 24:26; cf. Matthew 20:21; Mark 10:37; see also: Acts 2; Philippians 3:21; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:3; 2:7; 1 Peter 1:21).

[2] “The apostles will judge not with earthly judgment, but by the witness of their own lives. Since God's kingdom begins with the Resurrection of Christ, the authority of judgment has already been given to the apostles and their successors in the journey of the Church on earth (Mt 16:19; Jn 20:23).”  Orthodox Study Bible “J.W. McGarvey observed: The reference to the apostles sitting on “thrones” judging the tribes of “Israel” would be a reference to the authority of these men, as bequeathed by Christ, and implemented by their subsequent teaching in the church (the new Israel of God — Galatians 6:16) and as manifest in the sacred writings that remain authoritative today. As Coffman pointed out: “This was not a reference to literal thrones but to spiritual thrones of eminence and authority in Christ’s kingdom, from which they should exercise influence, not over fleshly Israel but over the spiritual Israel which is the church (Rom. 9:6; Gal. 3:29)” (pp. 298-299).”

https://christiancourier.com/articles/the-regeneration-a-study-of-matthew-19-28

[3] “Those who have completely bathed, that is, have been baptized, have no need ever to be baptized again, for baptism is indelible. The sins the believer assumes during his life must still be washed through ongoing repentance, just as the feet of a person returning from the public bath must be washed before entering the house. As Christians, we are bathed by Christ in baptism and have periodic washings in the sacrament of confession.” Orthodox Study Bible

[4] “If you say you love God and hate your brother, you are a liar.” (1 John 4:20)

[5] http://biblehub.com/greek/5367.htm

[6] “Lessons for Today’s Church from the Life of the Early Church,” http://coldcasechristianity.com/2014/lessons-for-todays-church-from-the-life-of-the-early-church/

[7] http://faithpresby.org/archives/sermons/written/files_4d2a59265361b.pdf

Harmony #85: The Passover Lamb (Luke 22:7-20; Mark 14:12-25; Matthew 26:17-29; John 13:1-2)

Then the first day for the feast of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us to eat…” So they left, went into the city, and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

 Before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end.  Now when the hour came and it was evening, Jesus came to the house and took his place at the table and the twelve apostles joined him. 

 Jesus said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you the truth that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this cup is my blood, the blood of the new covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” And they all drank from it.

“Then the first day for the feast of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.” The biblical writers weren’t big on incidental details. If they include details, it’s meant to point the reader to something important. So, let’s talk about the first Passover.

After the descendants of Abraham went to Egypt in times of famine (instead of trusting in God), they hung around Egypt. Eventually, there were so many that Pharaoh said, “we must deal shrewdly with them,” so they didn’t join Egypt’s enemies. Instead of bribing them, Pharaoh enslaved them. They multiplied into the millions, and the Egyptians began to dread them.

Pharaoh eventually told the Hebrew midwives to kill the Hebrew baby boys (they didn’t). By the end of Exodus 1, Pharaoh has issued a command that all the Egyptians were to kill all the Hebrew boys. Moses was one of the boys who not only survived, but was adopted into Pharoah’s family.  

Fast forward. When adult Moses stopped an Egyptian from beating a Hebrew by killing the Egyptian, Moses fled from Egypt. Eventually, God called him back to deliver God’s people. Moses asked Pharaoh for a three days journey into the wilderness to worship God; Pharoah kept saying “no” over and over, so Yahweh began to show Pharaoh – and all the Egyptians and Hebrews watching – who was God and who wasn’t. This brings us to the plagues.

Keep in mind that the Hebrews had been in Egypt over 400 years. Depending on how you measure, that’s 10 to 30 generations. We are told in Exodus 12:38 that when Israel left Egypt that, “a mixed multitude went up with them.” Most historians will tell you this included Egyptians leaving with them as well as families comprised of Egyptians and Hebrews. It’s a long time to be in a very pagan Egypt, mingling and intermarrying with the Egyptians.[1]

Moses himself married the daughter of a priest from the Midianites, who worshipped a multitude of gods, including Baal and the “Queen of Heaven,” Ashteroth.[2]  Moses later married an Ethiopian woman, who certainly came from a polytheistic culture.[3]

This multitude was not only mixed ethnically, but also confused spiritually. By the time of Moses, the Egyptians and the Hebrews had the same problem – neither of them knew or served the one true God. Joshua will later tell God’s people (24:15), “Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River (#Egypt), or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh.” But…

• God reveals a new name for the people to use (Exodus3:13-15; 6:3) when referencing God: Yahweh (“I Am”) instead of El Shaddai (God Almighty; A God Who Knows When To Say Enough)[4] This can read as read I AM, I WAS, and I WILL BE. The Jewish people saw something in this name that pointed to self-sufficiency; self-existence; trustworthiness; and presence (which meant relationship).

• ·God said He would make Himself known to the Israelites by delivering them from slavery (Exodus 6:7).

• Exodus 14:31: “And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of Yahweh displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared Yahweh and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.” Notice how the Israelites needed to see God in action to get their attention.

• “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says, “Israel is my son, my firstborn. So I said to you, ‘Let my son go so that he may serve me.’”(Exodus 4:23)

 Meanwhile, Moses asking Pharaoh for a short journey to offer sacrifices to God was a bold move for at least two reasons.

First, it’s not clear that the Israelites understood who their God was by this time. Moses was using a new name for God; meanwhile El Shaddai, the Almighty, the One Who Knew When To Say Enough, was now saying “enough!” to their slavery. Why were they changing names? Did that mean they were changing gods? There had to be some confusion there.

Second, they were going to sacrifice a lamb/ram, and these were sacred to two Egyptian gods, Amun (chief god) and Khnum. They believed that rams were the earthly manifestation of a god and were worshipped in their physical form. The Egyptians sacrificed goats, not sheep. This was a problem. “Exod 8:22 The sacrifices that we offer to the LORD our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we offer in the sight of the Egyptians sacrifices that are an abomination to them, will they not stone us?”

We read how Pharoah’s heart hardened the longer the plagues go on. Even for the Egyptian reader, this would not have been a good sign.  According to Egyptian mythology, when nobility died, the gods presented their heart to Sobek, the crocodile god of the Nile. He had a scales on which to weigh their life. On one side was the “weight of goodness”; on the other side, Sobek placed the heart. If the heart was “light,” paradise awaited.  If the heart was “heavy,” off they went to the underworld with Sobek. The Hebrew word for “harden” is also the word for “heavy.”  Both Egyptian and Israelite readers would have seen that Pharaoh's heart became increasingly opposed to goodness as he denied the Israelite’s freedom.[5] 

Meanwhile, the plagues are methodically dismantling the status of the primary Egyptian gods.

• Water to Blood: Egyptian god of Nile, Hapi, Lord of the Fishes and Birds of the Marshes and Lord of the River

• Frogs: Egyptian goddess of fertility, Heket, who had the head of a frog. Her amulets were engraved with the phrase I am the resurrection. She was thought to give babies the breath of life.

• Lice or gnats from the dust: Geb, who ruled the dust of the earth.

• Flies (“dog fly”): god of creation, Khepri, who had the head of a fly.

• Death of livestock: Hathor, who had the head of a cow. 

• Boils and sores: Goddess of Medicine, Isis, called the Mother of Life and the Crone of Death.

• Hail: goddess of sky, Nut, the protector of children, goddess of childbirth.

• Locusts: Seth, god of the desert, storms, and foreigners.

• Darkness: Ra, the sun god. All forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra. Humans were created from Ra’s tears and sweat, hence the Egyptians call themselves the “Cattle of Ra.”

• Death of the Firstborn: Pharaoh, the King of Egypt was considered to be the greatest Egyptian god of all. His son would also have been considered a god. [6] All firstborns were considered sacred and protected by Ahmun-Ra.

The plagues were certainly not less than taking down Egyptian gods one by one so the Egyptians would see that Yahweh was God. But they were more. God is revealing himself to all the characters in this story, reminding all of them that their gods are small and fragile and the playthings of the Real God, so that all – Egyptian and Hebrew - would be convinced to give honor where honor is due.

The plagues apparently unfold over months and months as Pharoah keeps refusing to let God’s people go.  God is slow to anger; not eager to bring judgment, but offering opportunity over and over to turn from evil and do good, to stop oppressing and enslaving God’s family, to see for themselves that Yahweh is the Lord of lords, the God above all gods. 

Remember how Pharoah ordered all the people to make sure all of the Hebrew male children were killed? God does not order the same. In the final plague, He declares the death of the firstborn males if Pharoah does not relent in persecution against God’s firstborn son. When Moses tells Pharoah about this upcoming plague of death, Exodus says that “Moses, hot with anger, left Pharoah.” This is the first time he was “hot with anger” about a plague. Perhaps it’s because he told Pharaoh that the firstborn of even the slaves would die (Exodus 11:5).

But…there was a way out. This did not have to happen. We read of the plague of hail that "he who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses" (Exodus 9:20). All could avoid the penalties aimed at Pharaoh if they followed the lead of God’s people. This brings us to Exodus 12: The first Passover.

 Exodus 12 

 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt… “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.  If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor,[7] having taken into account the number of people there are… 

The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.[8] Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.   Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire… 

On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. 

“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance… Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your hosts out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come… 

Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe… When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down….’”

Why did God make his people do this? He already knew who his people were. He wasn’t confused. He could have just quietly spared them all. In fact, the prior six plagues had not touched the Hebrews at all, and they didn’t have to do anything. Why now? There is something about this means of getting God to “pass over” that needed to be specific, and very public.

First, I suspect it was so that everybody, including their Egyptian neighbors, would see and ask what they were doing. By this time, it was clear Yahweh had won the Battle of the Gods. All the Egyptians had months to see how plagues 4-9  were supernaturally not harming the Hebrews at all. 

In this mixed multitude, I have no doubt the Israelites told their friends what was going on.  After all, “The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.” (Exodus 11:3) We read in Exodus 12 that when they left, “Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.”

Second, God’s people are tested. Are they – not just Moses - willing to publicly challenge one of Egypt’s cherished gods? They would lead a sacred animal down the streets, keep it their home for three days, kill it on the fourth day (likely outdoors), roast the meat over a fire so that everybody could smell it, eat that sheep, then cover their doors with the animals’ blood. This is spiritual warfare at its most confrontational. Hundreds of thousands of households would kill a god, eat it, and smear that god’s blood on their front door.

If God didn’t come through, it wouldn’t be hard to track the families down who committed these acts. If Yahweh did not deliver them, they will be killed. Did they trust that God is who He claimed?

Meanwhile, something really important is happening in terms of where the blood was supposed to be placed. [9] Egyptians believed in five parts of the human being. If any of these parts ceased to exist, the person would cease to exist forever. 

• ·The physical body (why mummification was important.)

• ·The shadow (a very real part of a person’s being).

• ·The ka or “life force” (biblically, “the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7).

• The ba, or “character traits.”

• ·The name.

To the ancient Egyptian, the name was a very real part of a person. If you didn’t like somebody, you erased their name, because it erased them from the afterlife. When Moses (trained in Egypt)  wrote about the Exodus, he never mentions the name of Pharaoh, but deliberately gives the names of the two Hebrew midwives who were loyal to God (Exod. 1:15). They would live in the afterlife, and so their names mattered; Pharaoh, who had rejected God (Exod. 5:2), would not.

Wealthy Egyptians made sure their names lived on by chiseling their names into stone monuments. The lower class homes and slave huts were made of mud and straw, but… except for the stone lintels and doorposts. That’s where they would chisel their name. When God required the Israelites to paint the blood they collected from the Passover lamb on the doorposts and lintels, He was asking them to cover their names with the blood of the lamb. They could do nothing to ensure that they found life in the afterlife; only the blood of the Lamb could do that.[10]

* * * * *

The Old Testament Passover lamb, although a reality in that time, was a  foreshadowing of the better and final Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ.[11] Every Passover lamb ever was pointing toward Jesus dying on the cross so that His blood will cover the flawed and sinful names we’ve made for ourselves.

• John the Baptist recognized Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29)

• ·The required lamb without defect (Exodus 12:5) is Jesus;  a “lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19) who offers sure hope of eternal life (1 Peter 1:20-21).

• In Revelation, John sees Jesus as “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6) because it had been slain on a cross during the time that the Passover was observed (Mark 14:12).

• The first Passover marked release from Egyptian slavery; the death of Christ marks our release from the slavery of sin (Romans 8:2).

• ·The Bible says that destruction “passes over” those who have symbolically applied the sacrificial blood of Christ to their hearts (Hebrews 9:12, 14).
  

  The Passover meal is constructed around four cups.  The cups remind the participant of the four promises that God made in Exodus 6:6–7.

"I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians."

The four cups of the ancient Passover are as follows (other traditions developed over time):

Cup of Sanctification — “I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians…” The first cup marks Israel – and now us - as God’s chosen ones, sanctified, set apart to worship God as God intends. This requires freedom from that which enslaves us – in our case, sin.

Cup of Deliverance/Praise — “I will deliver you from  their bondage…” People who need rescue need help outside of themselves. Their deliverance -and ours – is all God’s doing. The “burdens” of the first phrase describe something uncomfortable and wearisome. The “bondage” of the second phrase (‘avôdāh) can mean both “work” and “worship.” Perhaps this Second Cup reminds us of our need for deliverance from our own false forms of worship.

Cup of Redemption — “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgment…” Being redeemed reminds us that this deliverance was brought about by the payment of a price. God’s salvation requires both divine power and payment. It is not a cheap redemption. The Hebrew word here, gā’al, is used other places in Scripture for redeeming a family member, often from slavery. This wasn’t a legal transaction to free a slave; this was a Father redeeming His children. The price of the Passover Lamb’s death pointed the price of Jesus shedding His own blood for the redemption of his sinful, lost children. (Romans 5:8)

Cup of Protection /Hope— “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God…” the Fourth Cup envisions the time when all the spiritual children of Abraham will fully know God and be known as His people. Though God has begun a glorious work in us, the future holds our full and final redemption.[12]

________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Even Joseph, married an Egyptian woman (the daughter of a priest, no less).

[2] Exodus 18:9-11  “And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh… Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.”

[3] Jewish tradition says that when Moses led an Egyptian army against Ethiopia the daughter of the king of Ethiopia fell in love with Moses. Moses agreed to marry her on the condition that she delivered the Ethiopians into his hand, which she did “A silent unheard voice in the Old Testament: The Cushite woman whom Moses married in Numbers 12:1-10.”  In Skriflig (Online). David T. Adamo Department of Old Testament and New Testament, University of South Africa.

[4] “The rabbis teach that one of the names for God, “El Shaddai,” is actually something quite interesting. Often translated “God Almighty,” the sages and rabbis noted that…Hebrew lacks vowels, so the arrangements of how someone breaks up the consonants (especially in proper nouns) can change the translation. In this teaching, the combination of consonants create a Hebrew phrase which says, “The God Who Knows When to Say Enough.” This is the God character we meet in these stories about origins, is it not? A God who knows when to stop creating (“sabbath” literally means cease). A God who knows how to stop a hand of vengeance. A God who knows when to stop destroying.” (Marty Solomon, “Knowing When to Say Enough (Week 2).”  bemaliturgy.com

[5] This is from the teaching of Ray VanderLaan.

[6] “Plagues Against The Gods Of Egypt.” Berean-to-berean.com

[7] I think there is good reason to believe the ‘mixed multitude” of Israelites had plenty of Egyptians as their nearest neighbor.

[8] Jewish tradition would focus on sheep. Perhaps goats were an option so the Egyptians were more inclined to participate? I don’t know. It would be in line with the heart of a God not eager to punish.

[9] HT to a post on this subject by Ken Arrington, on Quora. Many other sources confirm his point.

[10] “Covered with blood: A better understanding of Exodus 12:7.”  Ministrymagazine.org.

[11] 1 Corinthians 5:7

[12] I got these explanations from “Four Cups and their Meaning in the Passover Seder,” by Tim Hegg, at torahresource.com.

Reading The Bible: Humility, Curiosity, and Community

In Genesis 11, God scatters people who had one language, one common speech. At Pentecost, that same list of people understands each other thanks to the Holy Spirit. The healing is underway. When God brings about the New Heaven and the New Earth, “every tribe, nation and tongue” will worship together. It’s the completion of the trajectory of unity, post-Tower of Babel.   

One of the things I appreciate about being able to teach at Vida220 in Costa Rica is how I get to experience a glimpse of this unity in the midst of national diversity. At one point, we had people from 7 countries together in a worship service. We sang in Spanish, English and something else (I think it was a language spoken in Belize, though the students from Belize spoke English as their first language).

Then there are the other differences that are common experience: socio-economic backgrounds, gender, age (students can range from late teens to their thirties), family of origin experiences, politics, theological/church background…the list is long. And they are going to live in close quarters for 9 months, first to study and then to go out in smaller teams.

I am asked to give the students tools for reading the Bible. Sometimes in previous years, the differences between myself and the students and between the students felt like a barrier to overcome. Translation can be tricky; images I use and pop cultural references I want to make might land with half the group. Their different church backgrounds (or lack of church background) meant I didn’t know how familiar everyone was with the Bible, and I didn’t know when I might be stepping into theological minefields without knowing it.

This year, I realized I had begun to see this diversity not as a barrier but as a gift. So I changed the approach so that we spent the week practicing how to study the Bible together, pulling from each other’s diversity of theological background and life experience to help the Bible reveal a richness of God’s revelation in ways the students would not have thought of on their own.

I want to show you this morning what the beginning of that process looked like, then talk a bit about why it’s just as important for us here, in this church, with a group whose differences might be mostly of a different nature but remain a very real thing that can either be a barrier to our fellowship or  - by the grace of God - an opportunity to fellowship more deeply. We started with a list of questions:

·  What are God’s attributes? Which is the primary one? Which one amazes you the most?

·  Do you think of people as primarily from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7) or created a little lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:7)?

·  Which influences your view of government more: Paul’s teaching of respectful obedience to God’s chosen leaders, or the resistance to the dragon of Exodus (Pharaoh) and the Beast of Revelation (Roman emperors)?

·  Does God completely, partially, or never determine what we do?

·  Does God love everyone or only some?

·  The prophets constantly challenged cultures around Israel; Paul said, “it’s not for me to judge those outside the church.” (1 Corinthians 5:12) Which approach resonates the most with you?

·  Which atonement theory best captures what happened on the cross?

1.  Ransom (Adam and Eve basically sold humanity to the Devil. On the cross, God paid the Devil a ransom to free us from the Devil's clutches.)

2.  Substitution (Jesus made satisfaction for humankind's disobedience through his own obedience, even unto death.)

3.  Christus Victor (On the cross, Jesus was victorious over the powers which hold mankind in bondage: sin, death, and the devil.)

4.  Moral Influence (Jesus died as the demonstration of God's love in order to change the hearts and minds of the sinners and shows us how to live.)

5.  Recapitulation (Jesus, the new and perfect Adam (human), succeeds where the first Adam failed and makes eternal life possible.)

6.  Penal Substitution (Jesus was punished – penalized – as a substitute for sinners, thus satisfying the demands of God’s justice.)

7.  Scapegoat (Jesus takes the blame and punishment of our sin upon himself and becomes the ‘scapegoat’ so we can be free from the penalty of our sins.)

8.  Governmental (Jesus didn’t pay the exact punishment of our total sins. Instead, God publicly demonstrated his displeasure with sin through the suffering of his own sinless and obedient Son as an act of atonement.)

We did not get through this whole list. We ended up only having time to focus on three or four because we had such good discussion. The point of this particular exercise wasn’t to figure out who was right and who was wrong; the goal was to show how we often have a view of God, humanity or just life crafted by the lenses through which we study Scripture. It turns out that lenses that might be good in helping clarify some things might distort other things. Think, perhaps of reading glasses. They help clarify the words right in front of you as your reading a book traveling down the interstate. Those same glasses will make the messages on the billboards really hard to see well. This is true of interpretive lenses as well.

• I was reading this week how the Hebrew word for God in the Tower of Babel narrative highlights that God is the Merciful One. What if we read that story and said “The Merciful One” every time the text says “God”? How might that change our view not only of what God is doing in that story but what God is like in the story?

• Why does the book of Judges record the ongoing failure of Israel’s judges? Is it to show us humanity is prone to sin and serve as a warning? Is it to reveal a God who never gave up on His people no matter how many times they failed, and so serve a story of hope?  

So, what do we do to avoid settling for less than the pursuit of the fullness of God and His revelation to us? One way is to share glasses. We introduce to others what helps us see well, and we welcome what has helped them to see well. Together, we gain clarity as we look at truth.  Together, we learn far more than we learn alone. I’ll use on example from the list, the one about God’s attributes.

Think of God as a diamond with dozens of facets on the side. Think of those facets as attributes of God, or maybe as a window with which to look into that diamond and see that part of God, of a window from which that attribute of God shines out more brightly than the rest. Please don’t build a theology of God’s nature out of this analogy. All analogies about God have problems.

Probably all of are raised to turn that diamond in such a way that certain characteristics of God stand out more than others. They get more focus. Now, are they all attributes of God? Absolutely. They are all good. But if we don’t see the fullness of God’s attributes, we are going to get things wrong when we think about what God is like.

For that matter, what if God only has one attribute – love? (This is the Eastern Orthodox position). What if all those attributes are adjectives that describe his love: just love, merciful love, etc? How might that change how we see God as we read the Bible?

Once the students started listing the attributes they thought were primary or amazed them the most, then we started talking. Why that one? Why not that one? It turns out church background, family of origin, and life experience had a lot to do with it. Depending on how life has been, we notice and cling to different areas of Scripture or attributes of God. Depending on how life has been, we can build theologies that confirm what we want to be true or deny what we want to be untrue.

The students were better together. Together, they saw more. They thought with more breadth and depth. They learned more about God as they learned more about each other, because God’s Spirit worked in all of them in different, beautiful ways.

I appreciated how Pat showed God’s faithfulness two Sundays ago while pulling from stories in which the consistency of human failure can overshadow the faithfulness of God if we aren’t careful. We must see both to appreciate the story the Bible is telling us about God and humanity.

The whole point was to leverage that group’s diversity to dig more deeply into Scripture. The student who loved God’s power needed to talk with the student who loved God’s gentleness so they both see how God is both. The student who loves God’s justice needed to talk with the student who loves God mercy so they both see how God is both. The student who loves a God who destroyed an Egyptian army and thundered on the mountain needs to get to know why that other student clings to a picture of God as a mother hen protecting her chicks, or of a whispering God who tells Elijah to take a nap and eat something.

 And – as you have probably noticed by now - in the process of enriching their view of God and hearing why certain attributes stand out, they get to know each other.  Communion with God and each other. A taste of what Eden was meant to be, and what the New Heaven and Earth will one day be.

All that was to make a simple point: all language has a context and a subtext. Here’s what I mean.

Context: The context is what goes with the text (“con” = “with”). It’s our social ecosystem. It requires a knowledge of current events.

•  “The Lions destroyed the Rams yesterday.”

• “That sounds worse than a Diddy party.”

Subtext: The subtext is what is under the text (“sub” = “under”) Think of hyperlinks in an online article. It requires knowledge of historical background.

•    “That sailor is going to Davey Jones’ locker if he’s not careful.”

•    “That sounds like a deal somebody made at a crossroads in Georgia.”                  

When the students were discussing the previous topics, they were thinking about God and the Bible through the context in which they were raised, which was filled with the subtext of historical influences in their family, church and culture. To really understand each other, they were going to need to get to know the other person to really understand what is being communicated, and with what motivation, and towards what ends.

This is true of all conversation. Sometimes it’s obvious, like when I sit down to a stranger at the airport and hear them say to someone on the phone, “And that’s why you should never use Bluesky around food that slaps at Piggly Wiggly, no cap.” Okay, I am going to need some more information.  

The Bible is not exempted from this principle. It’s one reason why I tell the students to never read a Bible verse. Read the paragraph, the chapter, the book, in the context of the whole Bible. When I told the students not to “cherry pick” Bible verses, the Latin students had no idea what I meant. Case in point. They needed context to understand what that meant.

When we read the Bible, we want to know the context and the subtext of the original audience. What connections did they make? What history did they share that hyperlinked them to ideas and events? What was their equivalent of slang terms and colloquialisms? How can we hear what they heard and understand what they understood?

Well, this led to a discussion about the differences between Western and Eastern thinking, two different ways of thinking that are not right vs. wrong, they are just different.[1] And we need to understand that difference to better understand what biblical writers are trying to communicate. Let’s define terms first.

Western: the Greek and Roman way of thinking, of which modern Western thinking is the legacy (think of Europe and North America as primary examples).

Eastern: the Ancient Near East way of thinking, which can still be found in Judaism and many Middle Eastern, Oriental and African countries.

Now, some examples.

Western: likes definitions, prose, outlines, lists, and bullet points. See this list as an example J

Eastern: prefers poetry and imagery and symbolism.

“What are the attributes of God? What is God like?”

Western: “God is omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, loving etc.”

Eastern: “God is a fortress, a shepherd. God is an eagle’s wings.”

Western: focused on the nature of the being of God. What or who is this God? What is he like?

Eastern: focused on the nature of the relationship, because they expect to learn the answer to those questions through relationship.

For example, the Western mind wants to know the science of how creation happened.  The Easterner is much more interested in how God related with creation.

Western: eternal life is something that starts at an chronological point in time, a different kind of life that starts when this world is over.

Eastern: eternal life starts in this world, and is more about a particular kind of life then a chronological point in time. When you are living in harmony with God, you have entered eternal life that will endure forever. The word in the Hebrew is olam haba, or in Greek, aion zoe (the phrase zoe aioinios shows up a lot in Jesus’ teaching).

Western: tends to think about the implications of biblical teaching individually.

Eastern: tends to think about the implications for the community.

If you were to talk to NT Greeks about sin, they would probably start thinking about their own sins as an individual. A NT  Jewish convert was more likely focused on all the ways the community had sinned, and their contribution to that problem. (It’s one reason some people are more comfortable talking about “systemic sins” – think “sins of the community.”) Once again, this is not right and wrong thinking. It’s different thinking. Both/and.

Western: faith is centered around and in some ways measured by adherence  to creeds, and doctrines, and belief statements.

Eastern: faith is centered around and measured by relationship with God. They’re less interested in defining what that looks like and more interested in what they and others experience in their walk with God (which certainly includes what is revealed in Scripture as the measure/standard).  

Western:  Truth is timeless and unchanging, and either have it or you don’t. Once something is “known” about God, for example, any thoughts that you should change your view feels like failure at best and flirting with heresy at worst.

Eastern: truth is timeless and unchanging, but our experience of and understanding of truth is dynamic and unfolding; we learn more and more about this truth. #diamond The Easterner is less concerned about being “right” and more concerned about being “righter” as life goes on. There is a lot more room for disagreement and mystery.

Western: a confusing or obscure passage of Scripture is cause for frustration, worry about what they are missing, or deep concern that they could be wrong.

Eastern: a confusing or obscure passage of Scripture is cause for excitement because they have more to learn. They look forward to digging yet again into God’s word until God reveals more of His truth to them.

 * * * * *

The Bible was written thousands of years ago in language different from English. The translation needed is more than just the words: it’s the culture, the mindset, the moral, social and religious ecosystem in which the people lived and wrote.

If that makes it sound like we have our work cut out for us, well, we do J It’s exciting! It means the Bible is not a stale revelation, exegeted, pulled apart and analyzed to death. It’s not a stagnant pool of water that has nothing moving. It’s like living water, full of energy and life, moving us always deeper into the truth God inspired the biblical writers to record.  It’s full of treasure for which we will have to dig. That will be hard but worth it, because the more treasure we find, the more our lives are enriched.

This is how I summarized how to read the Bible. 

“With humility (because we don’t know everything), with curiosity (about context and subtext), and in community (because there is godly wisdom in righteous - committed to being right with God and others - diversity).”                                                                           

Our differences, our diverse life experiences here at CLG, might not look just like the one the students were navigating, but we have them, loads of them, right here in our church: non-churched and otherly-churched; poverty and wealth and everything in between; significantly different church backgrounds; educational backgrounds; significant trauma history and blessedly safe history; families of origin that set us up for failure or success, and often a little of both; different political ecosystems which shaped even our emotional views of our party and the other parties; church histories that make it easy to come to church or hard to come to church just because it’s a church; a range of struggles with mental, emotional and physical health. The list goes on and one.

And these differences are either hurdles to overcome or opportunities to embrace. Maybe – almost certainly? -  a little of both.  I hope this draws out of us:

• Humility (we keep learning that we don’t know everything, and some things we thought we knew correctly, we didn’t)

• Curiosity (we are not threatened by thinking about God, His Word, or life in different ways, because there is always more to learn)

• Community (because there is godly wisdom in righteous diversity of those committed to being right with God and others)

___________________________________________________________________________________

[1] I am heavily indebted to Marty Solomon’s teaching and writing on these differences. See bemadiscipleship.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Earlier in the gospel, Jesus said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 _________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

[4] Matthew Poole Commentary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[13] Daniel 4:34

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• compromising relationship with Rome

• lack of knowledge concerning the Scripture

• misunderstanding of the power of God

• · lack of love

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• compromising relationship with Rome

• lack of knowledge concerning the Scripture

• misunderstanding of the power of God

• lack of love

• lack of service and humility

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

 (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notice what people become when this happens.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * * * 

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

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

• compromising relationship with Rome

• lack of knowledge concerning the Scripture

• misunderstanding of the power of God

• lack of love

• lack of service and humility

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Truth will endure.

Hope will endure.

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

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

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

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

Steady.

Don’t panic.

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

 ____________________________________________________________________

[1] 1 Peter 2

[2] John 4

[3] 1 Corinthians 6

[4] Ephesians 2

[5] 2 Samuel 24

[6] NET Bible footnotes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, what should they do?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

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

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

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

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

Jesus: (raises one eyebrow)

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

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

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

Jesus: “Hmmm.”

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

Jesus: “Who is your neighbor?” #goodsamaritanstory

Us: “Both citizen and immigrant.”

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

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

Me: “Jesus, who should I vote for?”

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

* * * * *

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 _______________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

[5] Hat tip to Pulpit Commentary

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

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

[8] James 1:26-27

[9] Romans 13

[10] Ephesians 1:4

[11] Joshua 24:15

[12] Matthew 10:16

[13] Psalm 24

[14] Proverbs 27:17

[15] Matthew 23:15

Harmony #81: The Feast of the King (Matthew 21:23 – 22:14)

At the beginning of Matthew 21, Jesus is welcomed as a Zealot Messiah when he arrives in Jerusalem, which causes him to weep for the city. The path of the Zealot was not going to bring his people peace. That urge was going to bring destruction, which happens in A.D. 70 when the Temple, the priesthood, and the Zealots are destroyed by Rome.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he promptly cleansed the temple and withered a fig tree, which we noted was a visual representation of the lack of fruit of the Sadducees and a foreshadowing of the withering of the religious rulers (Sadducees) and the shift from the Temple in Jerusalem as the center of God’s fruit-bearing plan to the church, the new Temple of God, the new spiritual nation with a priesthood of all believers. (1 Peter 2:9)

To no one’s surprise, the Sadducees are going to promptly question his authority. This brings us into today’s text.

Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

When Jesus went back into the temple he had just cleansed (#bold), the Sadducees basically asked, “Who made you a rabbi?” People couldn’t appoint themselves into that position. They would have trained for years under another rabbi who would then appoint them if he considered them worthy. The most likely rabbi of Jesus was John the Baptist, an Essene who had left the Sadducees because of their corrupt connection with Rome.

Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’  But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

After this, Jesus goes into three parables that stay on the theme started with the cleansing of the Temple and the withering of the fig tree. God’s plan for His Kingdom is going to be handed off to those who will actually build the Kingdom, who will actually display the fruit of righteousness for the world to see.

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.[2]

 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.[3] Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them.[4] ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’  So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

The listeners would know the parable was about God and his people because of Old Testament imagery, such as that found in Isaiah 5. However, Jewish listeners would not think they were the tenants in this parable. The tenants would be evil people - the Romans, who were trampling God’s vineyard. They were “wretches who deserve a wretched end.” Then, finally, the Sadducees will be in their full glory of leadership! But...

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? [5] “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people/nation[6] who will produce its fruit.[7] Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces;[8] anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[9]

This is almost a direct quote from Isaiah 8, in which Isaiah described what happened when the people put their trust is Assyria rather that Yahweh, much like the Sadducees had put their trust in Rome. First, God gave them what they wanted – Assyria, who invaded them and almost won. The Sadducees got what they wanted – Rome – which is about to destroy them. Jesus was warning them in good rabbinical fashion not to forget what history had shown about seeking the power of empires rather than the power of God.

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come.

“Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.” ’

But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire.[10]

Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ And those servants[11] went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.[12]And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” [13]

* * * * * 

1. Jesus’ primary concern is for the purity of His people.

He didn’t show up and cleanse a Roman temple filled with pagan worship. He cleansed His temple of its sinful mold. There is sooo much he could have said about the terrible fruit of Artemis and Zeus. He talked to the Sadducees about their terrible fruit; he told the Pharisees they were making disciples of Gehennah.

God’s plan for the world, starting with the children of Israel, was to place a holy group in the world that would be the center of a grassroots expansion of the lived-out Kingdom of God into all the world. They were to be a light to the nations; they were to be salt in society.

But Jesus once warned that if light becomes darkness, that darkness would be great. If God’s people aren’t the kind of people who represent God well, then a moldly kingdom could permeate all of society to the destruction of both the church and the culture. Making disciples under the banner of “Jesus” doesn’t guarantee that we are actually making disciples of Jesus.

 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who disregard God’s law.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

This is what is happening with the dude who had the wrong wedding clothes on.[14] In Jesus’ time, there was a code for wedding dress. Often the host would provide everyone with clothes so that the guests were clothed on the host’s terms. A guest didn’t get to say, “I’d like to join the feast on my terms.” We cannot have the kingdom on our own terms. The kingdom must shape our identity so that we have a whole different set of priorities, loves, and perspective as we surrender our heart, soul, mind and strength to the formation of the King.

Everyone was invited, but to feast, they had to put on the robes of the King, which are the righteousness provided through Jesus:

·  “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,and let your saints shout for joy.” (Psalm 132:9)

·  “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” (Isaiah 61:10)

Righteousness = living in right relationship with God and others. Alec Motyer defines “righteous” as those “right with God and therefore committed to putting right all other relationships in life.” It’s God’s heart change demonstrated by a life change. God transforms our souls, and we express it in our skin. Amos 5 and Job 29 parallel righteousness with justice. Paul wrote,

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. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)

That’s what we will look like if we have indeed responded to the gospel invitation by dressing ourselves the way the King would have us dress.

What is the feast that nourishes us? Maybe think of the food as: 

·  Jesus, the Bread of life (John 6:35). We taste and see that the Lord is good. We commune with him like we commemorate when we take communion. We pray; we talk to God; we follow in His path to learn the goodness of His ways.

·  God’s Word taken seriously, ingested, digested, nourishing us. (Jeremiah 15:16)

·  The Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5) When we display that fruit, those around us feast on the fruits of our presence.

Bottom line: the wedding guests are living in God's space where God is king and where everything that is done is God's will. [15]

If we are not willing to be in spiritual space where God is king and we are committed to aligning ourselves with God’s will, we are not at the feast. We are always invited – many are called - but not all will take their seat – far too few take their place among the guests. 

Weddings were typically at night in Jesus’ time. Jesus gives this image of someone who wants to be part of the celebration being put out into the darkness, forced to watch the party from a distance. [16] I suppose he can put on the proper wedding attire that the king offers at any time – I assume the invitation is still open – but until then, the King will not compromise on the kind of robes one must have to sit at his table. It must be the King’s attire, on the King’s terms.

Initial responses are not ultimate responses. An initial refusal does not have to stay a refusal, and an initial agreement is not enough. The response to the invitation must be lived.[17] Do we live in an ongoing spiritual space where God is king and we are committed to aligning ourselves with God’s will? Are we dressed in the fashion of the King?

Jesus’ primary concern is for the purity of His people. The plan as I understand it is that God’s people, as salt and light, will carry that righteousness with which the King has covered them into all the world so that the world is, in fact, transformed. But that starts in the House of God. That starts in the Temple. That starts with us, in us.

2. The King’s servants gathered both bad and good.

·  Bad: “properly, pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies (misery) that always go with evil.” (HELPS Word Studies) In Luke, the substitute guests are explicitly the poor and disabled (14:13), the marginalized of society. Jesus mentions tax collectors and prostitutes.

·  Good: “(agathós) describes what originates from God and is empowered by Him in their life, through faith.” (HELPS Word Studies)

You might think, “If they are both there, this is the opposite of what you just said. This doesn’t look like a consistently righteous crowd.” The king called the good and the bad, yes, but what do they all have in common now? The King has dressed them all  in righteous robes. They are with the King, at the King’s invitation, on the King’s terms.

I have been pondering something this week: do I, as a servant of the King, invite those “pain-ridden with the agony that comes from evil” into the Kingdom knowing that Jesus invites them into the Kingdom?

Do I live like Jesus by “eating with sinners” as part of the invitation to enjoy not only an earthly feast but a heavenly one? The kingdom is a banquet at which the expected are often absent and the unexpected are often longing to be present.[18] Am I so focused on what the unexpected currently look like covered in their current robes of sin, that I don’t think about what they couldlook like covered in robes of righteousness? To use a Prodigal Son analogy, am I so busy sneering at those lost in mud and finding their food in the garbage of the wages of sin that I forget our Heavenly Father longs to throw a party for the lost who have been found?

“The witness of the church should be characterized by the joy of inviting people to the banquet God has prepared, a banquet that is both present and future. Far too often the joy has been so muted that people are left with no pointers to the presence of the kingdom.   Do we not have the responsibility to offer the invitation with the announcement that all is ready? Should not the joy of the celebration of the kingdom be so evident that the invitation becomes compelling?   And should we not be alert enough to know that the invitation to those on the margins, whom we would not normally think of inviting, is essential?”  Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables Of Jesus, Klyne Snodgrass

 ____________________________________________________________________________

[1] This description echoes Isaiah 5, in the context of which Israel was the vineyard (Isa 5:7). The “tenants” are the chief priests and the elders.

[2] Which means the vineyard was bearing fruit. This parable is not going to condemn Judaism as fruitless; it’s going to condemn the Sadducees, the Jewish leaders in the Temple, reminiscent of the cursing of the fig tree i.e the Sadducees.

[3] Beat, killed, stoned is what the prophets experienced throughout OT history (1 Kings 18:4; Jer. 20:1–2).

[4] “Ancient hearers would have expected the landowner to seek to destroy the tenants before this point, and would regard the gesture of sending his son as naively gentle.” NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[5] A quotation from Psalm 118:22-23.

[6] Check out Isaiah 61:1-6, which ends with. “Strangers will shepherd your flocks. Foreigners will work your fields and vineyards, and you will be called priests of the Lord.” In other words, a different people – Gentiles - will have the privilege of bringing in the harvest.

[7] The leaders have failed to carry out their obligations to God. Therefore their privileged role is being taken away and given to a people producing its fruits. The church will be a new “people” consisting of both Jews and Gentiles.

[8] Isaiah 8:13-15 “The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem…Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”

[9] On the stone as a messianic image, see Isa 28:16 and Dan 2:44-45.

[10] Snodgrass says, “Israel’s past is the lens through which the parable announces a warning of urgency and judgment on all those who oppose God.” Adam Clarke says, “Our Lord caused them to pass that sentence of destruction upon themselves which was literally executed about forty years after.”

[11] “The first group (v. 3) is interpreted to be Moses and those with him, while the second group (v. 4) is composed of the prophets…The third group (v. 9) represents the apostles sent to the Gentiles, those not initially invited, but now called.” Interesting perspective from the Orthodox Study Bible

[12] Proper clothing was often provided by the king (see Genesis 45 and Esther 6. Zephaniah 1:7-9 notes, “The Lord has prepared a sacrifice, he has invited his guests. And it shall come to pass, in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.”

[13] As Jennings put it, “All are called to enjoy the feast, but not all are willing to trust the Giver to provide the robe that fits for the feast.” Believers Bible Commentary

[14] “This might insinuate a person who wants to be a part of the celebration but not recognize God’s desire, design, or authority. He wants to be a part of God’s will, he just doesn’t want to do it God’s way.” (Marty Solomon)

[15] That’s the Bible Projects definition of the Kingdom of God/Heaven.

[16] “The Jewish marriages were performed in the night season, and the hall where the feast was made was superbly illuminated; the outer darkness means, therefore, the darkness on the outside of this festal hall; rendered still more gloomy to the person who was suddenly thrust out into it from such a profusion of light.” Adam Clarke

[17] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables Of Jesus, Klyne Snodgrass

[18] Matthew 7:21-23/Luke 13:25-27; Matthew 8:11-12/Luke 13:28-30; Matthew 11:25/Luke 10:21; Matthew 21:28-32, 43; 25:1-12, 31-46).

The Importance of Biblical Hospitality

(This message was given by Patrick Hill on September 1, 2024)

·

We are going to start with two parables in Matthew 13: 31-33

What is the point of these two parables? It would seem that Jesus is saying the Kingdom of God starts small but expands greatly. Mustard would have been a noxious plant in their fields and that yeast was almost always connected with negative things.  This would mean that the Kingdom of God is counterintuitive, it is not something the world seems to value or want. Lastly, we see that something is accomplished by that small thing:  birds of the air nest in the branches of the tree; all of the dough is leavened. 

And that is about as far as we can go with these passages thinking as westerners.  But there is more.  A Hebrew Rabbi would have taught on multiple levels and the original listeners would have been expecting that, especially with parables.

The first level is what we just talked about.  However, there are a few things that stick out at the surface level study.

• A mustard seed does not grow into a tree.  At best it grows into a low bush.  If it becomes a tree, one would assume birds would nest in the branches.  This detail seems redundant.

• Why do we need to know the exact amount of flour in the dough?  Wouldn’t it be enough to just say a lot? 

As westerners, we don’t like weird things and so we either ignore them or explain them away.  It is these odd things that a Hebrew would pick up on and explore because they know that there is something there.  What a Hebrew would ask themselves is: “Is there something in the text about this?”  And so we should ask the same thing, “Is there something related to this in the OT?”  This is the deeper level.

I would like us to focus on the parable of the yeast this morning but for context’s sake, let me tell you briefly about the first parable.

The parable of the mustard seed links up with a prophecy in Ezekiel 17 (starting in 22) where God is describing how He is going to bring them back from exile and plant them again in the promised land.  The reference to birds nesting is about how they will finally live out their mission to be a blessing to all nations.   We will come back to this.

Now what about the yeast?  The clue to the deeper level was the 3 measures or seahs of flour. So the question is, where in the OT is there a woman doing something with 3 seahs of flour?  There is only one place.  It is in the life of Abraham in Genesis 18. 

I’m not sure how much you know about the story of Abraham so let me give you some context.  Scripture calls him “the man of faith” as well as God’s friend. He followed God away from his family and clan and went to a land that God showed him, a land that would one day be Israel’s. God blesses him and says that He will be a father of many and be a blessing to all nations.  Abraham believes God. His faith isn’t perfect, but He trusts in God’s goodness, His provision, and His plan. 

It is in the middle of all this we drop into the story.  Abraham has just been renamed as Abraham.  God has promised Abraham that his wife Sarah will have a child even though she has been barren.  As a seal of all this, Abraham and all the males that work with and for him have been circumcised. 

Read Genesis 18:1-8.  Did you see the connection in there?  Let’s walk through this.

Abraham is sitting down, but when he sees 3 visitors, he immediately gets up and runs pell mell up to them and then what? He invites them to rest for a bit in the shade.  To get washed up.  To have a piece of bread.  Does Abraham know it is God?  We know that the Lord is visiting Abraham, but it is likely that he wouldn’t have known until later on.  The word lord is also just simply a term of respect and honor.  So that is his offer and they agree.  But then, what does he do? 

• 3 seahs of flour made into bread

• A whole calf prepared

• Curds and milk

§Now I want us to get the point of this.  For three visitors, three strangers, Abraham did a lot more than what he had offered.  Instead of a snack, he gave them a feast and not just a feast.  For 3 people, he prepared enough bread to make 192 Jimmy Johns Sandwiches.  He served about 330lbs of meat.  Plus however much curds and milk.  And then he doesn’t even eat! He stands like a waiter at the beck and call of the strangers. What the point here?  Abraham was paying attention and when the opportunity came, he showed radical hospitality to strangers. 

So let’s bring it back to the parables again. 

• The Kingdom of heaven is counterintuitive, it does not share the values of this world nor does the world value it.

• The Kingdom of heaven is something that starts small but grows and expands, accomplishing its mission to be a blessing to all people.

• The Kingdom of heaven grows and expands by means of faith expressing itself in hospitality toward others, especially those who have no claim on us. 

And Jesus said that the Kingdom of heaven was here now.  We, as the church, are part of it.  Having looked at what we just did, think about how it connects to the following scriptures:

Hebrews 13:1-3 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Matt 25:31-40, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Rev 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Hospitality is a big deal to God.  All over the scriptures, we see it commanded and lived out in the stories of the Old and New Testament and especially in the life and ministry of Jesus.  These passages we just studied and read show us pictures of what hospitality looks like.  That is what an easterner does with words.  But we are westerners, so let me give a working definition of hospitality:

Hospitality is using your resources to see, hear, and value other people, especially those you don’t know well.  It is doing whatever you can to make people feel welcome and at home. 

·How do you show Hospitality.?

• Notice people.  Think about how they might be doing, what their life might be like.  Be a student of people, paying attention to body language and behavior, in order to discern how you might be helpful to them.  I’m not suggesting that you need to engage with every person you see, but rather to make noticing people a part of your lifestyle, your posture.

• Listen to others.  I mean really listen, not distracted by other things including thinking about what you are going to say next.  Engage with others in such a way as to hear the cries of their heart. That usually looks like asking questions to go deeper or further.  Empathize - rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.  I have found that more than anything, people need to feel heard. 

• o Value people.  Noticing them and listening are certainly part of this, but it goes further.  It means being fully present with them and genuinely caring for them.  You are an image bearer of God and someone for whom Christ died.  And the fact is, so is every single person you will ever run across.    

• It also means serving others.  Making them feel at home.  Treating them as VIP’s and putting their needs ahead of yours.  

None of this has to be big.  It’s mostly about the small things we do on a regular basis that add up and even multiply into something that is big.  What would make you feel at home?  What makes you feel seen and heard and valued?  What is one thing you could do differently starting today in your home, at work or school, even here?  Might I make a couple suggestions for here?

• Put down roots here.  Claim this body as your home church, as your church family.  We already have a reputation for being friendly.  Way to go!  Let’s make it a place people want to stay once they’ve come

• Showing up at 10 to 10 on a Sunday morning:  It values those who put so much effort into making service happen.  More than that, it allows us to be present for everyone new that may come.  What kind of welcome is an empty auditorium at the start of service? 

• Everyone can take it upon themselves to notice people they haven’t met and engage with them.  As Anthony always says for potlucks, don’t let anyone sit alone. Speaking of potlucks, what if we each did our best to make sure there was enough good food for everyone to eat and be satisfied. 

• ·Learn how to check-in with others and practice it. As I said before, one of people’s greatest needs is to be seen and heard.  The Check-in Rhythm that we have talk about before is a great tool for that.

• If you aren’t already, strongly consider serving in one of the ministries of the church.  Every single area directly affects how hospitable we are to others:  from working with the kids, to communication, to greeting, and even helping Pete with maintenance. 

And again, I want to make sure I am clear.  There are a number of you who work hard to make CLG a hospitable place.  Thank you.  My invitation today, though is for each one of us to recognize and accept our part in this church family to make it as radically hospitable as Abraham so that others might find God, Find His Way, together with us. 

Passages/resources/sources:

·      Genesis 18-19, Luke 7:36-50, Ezekial 17

·      BEMA Podcast, episodes 11 & 111

·      https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/custom-beef-processing-expected-yields.html