Jesus Said It, Not Me.

Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12

He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries someone else, she commits adultery.” – Mark 10:11-12 NLT

I'll be honest. This is not my favorite topic. But if you're going to read through the Gospels and have committed to blog your thoughts on a daily basis, it was inevitable that I would have to deal with this passage. It comes straight from the lips of Jesus Himself, and so we have to deal with it – like it or not. Jesus was making His way down from the region of Galilee in the north and heading toward Judea. He ended up in the region known as Perea, just east of the Jordan. Jesus' earthly ministry is quickly coming to an end as He begins to focus His attention on Jerusalem and the coming Passover celebration, when He would be betrayed, tried, and crucified. During these final days, His enemies, the religious leaders would ramp up their efforts to expose Him as a fraud. A steady stream of Pharisees, Saduccees, and other leaders would make their way to Jesus, equipped with questions designed to trap Him and reveal that He was just a common peasant, not the Messiah.

On this occasion, they asked Him a controversial question – even for their day. It involved divorce. "Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?" they asked. There were two schools of thought at the time. One group held a more liberal view that said divorce was permissible for any reason whatsoever, at least from the male perspective. The other group were the traditionalists who held that divorce was only allowed when the other spouse had been unfaithful. As usual, these men wanted Jesus to choose a side, in order that He might alienate a portion of the crowds that were following Him. But in His typical style, Jesus does not answer their question directly. Instead of talking about divorce, He addresses the issue of marriage, because that is the real heart of the matter. People were not taking marriage seriously. They did not view it with the same intensity and holiness that God did. Instead, they treated their commitments and covenants lightly and flippantly. Divorce had become a quick and easy way to nullify a God-sanctioned covenant, with little or no regret or remorse. Women were treated like property. If a man tired of his wife, he could simply divorce her. He could hand her a piece of paper and send her packing. No stigma involved. No guilt necessary. But Jesus reminds them that marriage was God's idea, not man's. It was a God-ordained institution that was based on a concept of unity and oneness. "This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together" (Matthew 19:5-6 NLT). Ah, there's the key phrase: "what God has joined together." From Jesus' point of view, marriage was a work of God. God made man as male and female, and He intended for them to be joined together as a single unit. Those two individuals were to become a single unit comprised of two united souls. And NO ONE was to split them apart for any reason. That was God's original intention.

But the Pharisees brought up a problem passage found in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. This involved instructions from Moses to the people of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. He had seemingly given them the right to divorce their wives by simply handing them a "written notice of divorce." Moses wrote, "Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes her a letter of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house" (Deuteronomy 24:1 NLT). If you look closely, Moses is NOT justifying or sanctioning divorce. He is not providing an outlet from marriage by suggesting that all that is required is a piece of paper. And Jesus makes the meaning of this passage clear when He says, "Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended" (Matthew 19:8 NLT). Moses was dealing with a predominantly pagan people who had spent their entire lives growing up in the confines of Egypt. They had adapted themselves to the Egyptian culture and had adopted their false gods. Much of Moses' time was spent attempting to get these people to understand the ways of Yahweh, their true God. Men were treating marriage flippantly, divorcing their wives at the drop of a hat, simply because they didn't please them. They were free to find anything wrong with their wives. It had become ridiculous. The idea of oneness and unity had been forsaken altogether. Moses knew there was no stopping these people, so he tried to get them to understand the gravity of their decision. In the next three verses, he tells them the ramifications for their choosing to divorce their wives. As soon as a man handed his wife her walking papers, she was free to marry another man. If that man tired of her or found fault with her and divorced her, the first husband was not free to take her back. That door was closed to him. The same was true even if her second husband died. Moses wanted them to understand that divorce was final. He uses a very strong term to make his point. He tells them that "the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled" (Deuteronomy 24:4 NLT). The word he uses meant "to become impure or unclean." Once the decision was made to divorce, there was no going back. This is not a passage that is commending or sanctioning divorce. It is illustrating its devastating repercussions. Moses closes his statement on the subject by saying, "That would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession" (Deuteronomy 24:4 NLT).

Back to Jesus. He closes His remarks by saying, "And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery – unless his wife has been unfaithful" (Matthew 19:9 NLT). Mark adds, "And if a woman divorces her husband and marries someone else, she commits adultery" (Mark 10:12 NLT). These were powerful, shocking words coming from the lips of Jesus. There were people standing in the crowd that day who had been through divorce, including some of the religious leaders, more than likely. It was a common practice because it had become so easy to do. Jesus, like Moses, is trying to remind them of the sanctity and holiness of marriage. It is not something to enter into lightly. Even the disciples get that point, because they respond, "If this is the case, it is better not to marry!" (Matthew 19:10 NLT). In other words, if you can't divorce your wife for any reason without being guilty of adultery, then why get married at all? You can hear in their statement just how easy divorce had become and just how difficult they viewed marriage to be. The truth is, marriage is difficult. God is bringing together two individuals with two sin natures and asking them to spend the rest of their lives together. He is asking them to love one another unconditionally. He is demanding that they sacrifice their rights for the good of the other – regardless of each others' fault and failings. In any marriage, there will always be plenty of things not to like about the other person. Husbands and wives tend to irritate, disappoint, anger, and even embarrass one another. Finding fault in one another is not a problem. Remaining faithful and committed to loving one another through it all is a problem. And only God can make it possible. God never said marriage would be easy. He never promised it would be a bed of roses. The miracle of marriage is that God takes two extremely selfish, self-centered, sinful people and molds them into a single unit. He makes two into one. Bad math, but great theology. Only God can do that kind of math.

I know there are those reading this blog who have been through divorce. In no way do I want to heap guilt on you. That is not my intent. God is forgiving and gracious. He allows new beginnings. He is a God of grace, not guilt. But it is important that we all deal with the holiness of marriage. We must recognize that divorce grieves God. It was never His intent. Divorce is a vivid illustration of the hardness of man's heart and the devastating presence of sin in our lives. Those who have been through divorce and don't recognize that reality, run the very real risk of repeating their mistake all over again. The real issue here is marriage, not divorce. If you have been divorced and are now remarried to a wonderful individual, will you make that new marriage a godly marriage? Will you view it through His eyes and not the world's? Will you remain committed to that new spouse regardless of any and all circumstances? Will you forgive regularly, love unconditionally, sacrifice willingly, die to self daily, and commit to one another permanently? Will you agree with Jesus that the two of you are no longer two, but one, and that you will not allow anyone or anything to split apart what God has joined together?

Father, we talk more about divorce than we do about marriage. We don't understand or appreciate just how precious marriage is to You. We treat it flippantly and frivolously. We enter into marriage lightly, not weighing the commitment it requires. We don't value the covenant it requires and the holiness it should represent. We forget that You invented it and that You highly regard it. Give us a new view on marriage. Help us to see it through Your eyes and to value it the way You do.  Amen.

A Just Judge.

Luke 18:1-14

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” – Luke 18:6-7 NLT

Jesus taught a great deal by using comparisons. The parable of the prodigal son was really a comparison between two sons. The parable of the rich man and the poor man in chapter 16 was a comparison. And here Jesus uses the same teaching technique to drive home a message regarding God. He tells a story about a judge “who neither feared God nor cared about people” (Luke 18:2 NLT). This man was in a position of power and authority. His job was to render justice. He was to settle disputes and help determine the proper and just decision in all cases, equitably and without prejudice. There was a widow who had a dispute with her enemy. She repeatedly brought her problem before the judge, asking for him to give her justice. She was presenting the facts of her case and desiring this judge to render a just judgment. Finally, the judge decided to see that she received justice. NOT because he was just and fair, but “because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!” (Luke 18:5 NLT). While Luke prefaces this story with the qualifier, “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up” (Luke 18:1 NLT), the lesson is less about persistence than it is about expectations. In other words, we should not walk away from this story thinking that we can have whatever we want as long as we badger God enough for it. We can't get God to give us whatever we want just by persistently asking for it. This woman's need was justice. As a widow and a woman, she had little to no power or authority in that culture. She was helpless and hopeless. Her only source of justice was the judge. So she went to him regularly and persistently because he was her only hope.

Jesus makes the lesson of this story very clear. He says, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.” In other words, Jesus doesn't make the woman the point of the lesson, but the judge. Jesus says, “Even he rendered a just decision in the end.” This judge, who had no respect for God and cared little for people, rendered a just verdict in the end. Why? Because the widow persistently brought her need for justice to him. She was literally driving him crazy with her repeated requests. So, Jesus says, don't you think God will see that justice is done for His own people who cry out to Him day and night? The comparison Jesus seems to be making is between the judge and God – between an earthly, flawed judge and a heavenly, compassionate, completely righteous and just Judge. Interestingly, Jesus says, God will grantjustice quickly. The judge in the story ignored the widow's request for a time, and put her off. But God, the just judge, will not do that. He will respond quickly and justly. God won't put them off. He won't delay out of indifference. He will hear and He will act. So we are to come to Him – in faith. We are to believe that He hears us and that He will respond to us. His answer may not come in the form we expect or at the exact time we want it to come. But He will render judgment, quickly and justly. So when we need a just decision to be made, we are to pray faithfully, expectantly and persistently – until God answers.

Jesus then tells another story that seems to be addressed to the Pharisees again – to those “who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else” (Luke 18:9 NLT). Again, Jesus uses comparison, by contrasting a Pharisee and a tax collector. Both men are portrayed praying in the Temple. But the Pharisee's prayer is self-focused and self-righteous. He views himself as better than anyone else. “I thank you God that I am not a sinner like everyone else” (Luke 18:11 NLT). He then proceeds to tell God all about his character. Notice that he gives a list of all the things he doesn't do and all the things he does do. His is a behavior-based righteousness. But the tax collector takes a different approach. He is humble, penitent, and only refers to himself as a sinner in need of mercy. Jesus makes a powerful point from this story. He says, “I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:14 NLT). I believe Jesus told these two stories at the same time for a reason. Each involve prayer or petition. They include someone with a request or need and someone being addressed with that need. But notice that the Pharisee has no request. He needs nothing from God, except His admiration and respect. Ultimately, he wants God's blessing, but only because he believes he deserves it. The tax collector needs mercy. He recognizes his sinful state and only comes to God for one thing: His mercy and forgiveness. He knows he is undeserving. So he humbly approaches God and asks Him to extend mercy. The real issue in both stories seems to involve a recognition of need. The widow needed justice. She recognized her helplessness and went to the one person who could help. The tax collector needed mercy, so he went to the only One who could give it. And Jesus said this man went home justified before God. In other words, God viewed him as righteous, because he had recognized his own sinfulness and need, and turned to God for help.

Why do you turn to God? What is it you want from Him? Are you asking Him to bless your decisions and rubber stamp your will? Or do you come to Him in need, recognizing your own helplessness and hopelessness? Do you believe God owes you something because of all you do for Him? Or do you realize that all your righteous deeds are as filthy rags in His sight and humbly rely on His mercy in spite of your undeservedness? God renders justice. He judges fairly and faithfully. He is impartial and always decides rightly and righteously. Trust Him. Turn to Him. Pray to Him. He will answer, and He will answer justly.

Father, too often my prayers are all about me. I come with all my needs, requests, and demands. I have a list of what I want and need, and I simply expect you to give me the answers I want. But Lord, You fulfill Your own will, not mine. You render just judgments, not answer unjust prayers. Show me how to bring my needs to You and then allow You to do the right and just thing, regardless of what I think is best. I can trust You to judge fairly and equitably – every time.  Amen.

It's Here, But It's Coming.

Luke 17:17-38

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs. You won't be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It's over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” – Luke 17:20-21 NLT

The Kingdom of God was a popular topic among the people of Israel. They wanted to see His Kingdom reestablished just like it had been under David and Solomon – with a powerful king sitting on a throne in Jerusalem and no more foreign armies occupying their land. So when a group of Pharisees ask Jesus when He thinks the Kingdom of God will come, they are trying to get Him to reveal the plans for setting up His earthly reign as Messiah. They don't believe He is the Messiah, but they simply want ammunition to use against Him with the Roman government. If they can show Jesus to be an insurrectionist, then they can have Him arrested and get Him out of their hair once and for all. But as usual, Jesus gives them an answer they weren't expecting. He tells them that the Kingdom of God is already here. It can't be judged or predicted by signs or visible clues. The fact was that the King of kings and Lord of lords was standing right in front of them, but they didn't recognize Him as such. Their understanding of the Kingdom was completely different than that of Jesus. He didn't come to sit on a throne. He came to die on a cross and then to reign in the hearts of men. His Kingdom was a spiritual one, not marked by palaces, scepters, crowns and royal robes, but by humility, servanthood, sacrifice, grace, and mercy. There would be a military aspect to this kingdom, but the battles would all be spiritual, not physical. Jesus came to conquer sin and death, not the Romans. He came to wage war with Satan, not Caesar. They had placed their hopes on a physical kingdom. Just like their ancestors had done so many centuries before, they were demanding of God, "Give us a king just like all the other nations." They wanted an earthly king ruling in an earthly kingdom located in the city of Jerusalem. They were suffering from good-old-day syndrome, recalling the days of David with a mix of nostalgia and longing. They forgot that those days were also filled with trouble. David, while a good king and a man after God's own heart, was not a perfect king. Those were not completely peace-filled days. There were still enemies to fight. There was still the problem of sin and rebellion.

Jesus came to establish a different kind of kingdom. And His first coming, when He took on human flesh and was born as a child, was to establish His Kingdom in the hearts of men. The first thing He had to do was to establish His message. He spent time teaching the truths of His Kingdom. He gave them insights into the values of His Kingdom in His great Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5-7. Righteousness would be measured by a different standard in His Kingdom. The requirements for right standing with God would be more intense than ever before. Good behavior and good deeds would not be enough to earn favor with God. It would require a changed heart. Jesus had told the people that "unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!" (Matthew 5:20 NLT). Jesus was going to require a different degree of love, a higher requirement of sacrifice, a more intense measure of humility, and a non-negotiable mandate that all citizens of His Kingdom die to themselves. For all of this to be possible, Jesus told them that the true King, the one they were rejecting, would have to suffer before His Kingdom was established completely. He would have to die. He would have to conquer sin and death, and make possible a new way for men to be made right with God. He would pay the penalty for the sins of men and satisfy the just and righteous wrath of God. Those who accepted the generous offer of His life for theirs, would become citizens in His new Kingdom. Those who refused to accept His payment for their sins, would be left to bear the penalty for their sin on their own. And that is what Jesus deals with in His answer when He refers to "on that day." He lets these religious leaders know that there is a day coming when He will return again, and it is on that day that He will establish His physical Kingdom on earth. He WILL rule and reign from Jerusalem. He WILL sit on a throne and wear a crown just as David did. But He will be a perfect, sinless, completely righteous ruler. And when He comes to set up His kingdom, it will be too late to get ready for it. It will come with surprising swiftness and when no one expects it. People will be busy living their lives as usual, doing the things they always did. Then, suddenly, Jesus will show up in all His glory. And when He does, there will be a dividing between those who belong to His Kingdom and those who don't. Citizenship will be based on faith in Christ alone, not heritage, ethnicity, religious affiliation, or even external signs of righteousness.

Over in Matthew's account of this story, He records Jesus as warning His listeners to "keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming" (Matthew 24:42 NLT). We are to live in constant preparation for His return – a constant state of readiness and eager anticipation. Jesus shared this word of warning to His disciples, none of whom lived to see the day of His return. But He still wanted them to live as if it might happen in their lifetime. And the same holds true for us. When Jesus came, He made His Kingdom known to man. He provided a way for men to become citizens in His Kingdom through His death, burial and resurrection. But He is not done yet. There is a day coming when He will return to complete His Kingdom and reestablish the rule of righteousness on earth. We are to live with that time in mind. He is coming back. He is has one more thing to do. This world is not our home. This is not all there is. We still live in the now, but not yet. The best is yet to come. So we are to live with our eyes on the goal.

Father, keep us focused. Don't let us get distracted by all the things this world tries to offer as poor substitutes for Your Kingdom. Don't allow us to buy into the lies of the enemy and settle for less than the best. While You rule and reign in our hearts, there is a day coming when Your righteous Son will rule and reign on earth – literally, not figuratively. And at that time, He will make all things right. Sin will be done. Death will be defeated. Sorrow will be no more. The world will be returned to its pre-fallen state and we will live in perfect harmony with You.  Amen.

Good and Angry.

John 11

When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up withing him, and he was deeply troubled. – John 11:33 NLT

Chapter 11 of the Book of John contains the well-known and often recounted story of Jesus' miraculous raising of Lazarus from the dead. This wasa watershed moment in the life of Jesus and was going to set up a dramatic shift in emphasis for His ministry. The end was drawing near. Jesus knows that He is entering the last part of His mission as God's servant. He has one last thing to do before that mission is accomplished and it will require Him to go to Jerusalem one last time. It there that He will be betrayed into the hands of His enemies, be beaten, mocked, unjustly tried, and undeservedly crucified. The event recorded by John will help set up all that is to come in the days ahead. It will help explain much of what we see happen as Jesus enters into Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. But we must look closely if we want to see some of more hidden or difficult messages contained in this story. While the raising of Lazarus from the dead is spectacular and worthy of our wonder and attention, there is so much more going on that is often overlooked.

Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. They were friends of Jesus and He had been in their home on other occasions (Luke 10:38). They lived in the village of Bethany, which was about two miles outside the city Gates of Jerusalem. This village and, more than likely, their home, would become Jesus' base of operations during the final week of His life. During the Festival of Passover, which was coming up in just a few days, Jesus would return to Bethany each evening after having visited in Jerusalem all day. The path from Jerusalem to Bethany would have taken He and His disciples through the Mount of Olives on the east side of the city. This would become an important venue in the days ahead.

Jesus received an urgent message from Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus was sick. They begged Jesus to come to His aid, believing that if He came, Lazarus could be healed by Jesus. But interestingly, upon hearing the news, Jesus delayed His departure for an additional two days. Then He informed His disciples that it was time to return to the region of Judea. Jesus and the disciples had been ministering in the region east of Judea called Perea. When they heard Jesus say it was time to return to Judea, they tried to talk Him out of it, because just days earlier the people of Judea were ready to stone Jesus to death. But Jesus waves off their concern, knowing it is necessary for Him to go. He also had a reason for His delay. Jesus knew full well that Lazarus would have died by the time they arrived. He even told the disciples so. "Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I'm glad I wasn't there, for now you will really believe. Come, let's go see him" (John 11:14-15 NLT).

When they arrived, they found the entire village in a state of mourning. Mary and Martha were beside themselves with sadness and could not process why Jesus had not come sooner. He could have saved their brother, but now it was too late. While they believed in Jesus' power, they didn't think He could do anything about their brother's death. What happens next is significant. I'm not referring to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It was what John tells us just before that miraculous moment. Jesus saw the tears and agony of Mary, and looked at the other people sadly mourning the death of their friend Lazarus, and "a deep anger welled up within him" (John 11:33 NLT). While some translations simply say that Jesus "groaned in His spirit" and was "deeply troubled," I think there is far more going on here. The New Living Translation gives what I believe to be a far better feel for what is really going on. Jesus wasn't just troubled, He was angry. The word used here in the Greek is from a root word that means to "snort with anger." Jesus is not just sad, He is angry. Why? Jesus knew that Lazarus would be dead, so I don't think He is upset about that. His anger seems to be related to the tears, agony, sorrow and sadness He sees displayed before Him. Death has brought that about. And death is the direct result of sin. Jesus is having to watch the byproduct of the very thing He came to eliminate and eradicate: Sin and its residual effects. I believe Jesus is angry at the devastating impact sin brought on the world that He Himself had created. Jesus is watching people who have had to live with the reality and permanency of death all their lives. But He had come to change all that. Which is what He told Mary when He arrived on the scene. "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die" (John 11:25-26 NLT).

Jesus wept when He arrived at the tomb. But why? He knew He was going to raise Lazarus to life again, so why would He be crying? Was it simply out of sympathy for the people? I don't think so. He knew their sadness would be turned to joy in just a matter of minutes. Once again, I believe Jesus is angry and upset because of the dominion death had over the lives of those He came to save. He knew that in that crowd that day were countless people who would never believe in Him and as a result, would never receive everlasting life. Death would end in their eternal separation from God the Father. John says that Jesus was still angry when he arrived at the tomb. He was good and angry. He was going to give Satan and death a small glimpse of what was about to come in the days ahead. He would raise Lazarus to life. But in just a short period of time, God the Father would raise Jesus to new life, conquering sin and death once and for all. Paul reminds us of what Jesus' death and resurrection accomplished: "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NLT). This moment at the graveside of Lazarus was a galvanizing moment for Jesus – not that He needed anything to encourage His obedience to the will of His Father. But He would leave the town of Bethany more focused than ever at the task at hand. News of this event would spread like wildfire. Many people believed in Jesus because of what they witnessed. But when the leading priests and Pharisees caught wind of what happened, they began to plot Jesus' death more vigorously than ever.

Jesus' anger at sin and death would soon culminate with His own death on the cross. He would defeat sin and death by taking all the sins of mankind on Himself and dying a sacrificial death on the cross – once for all. Jesus was good and angry, and it would result in good news for mankind.

Jesus, You had a right to be angry that day. You were watching the devastating effects of sin on the very ones You had created. You were having to watch what sin had done to those whom You loved. But You did something about it. You dealt with it. You conquered sin and defeated death once and for all. And I think You that I am the beneficiary of Your righteous anger.  Amen.

When It Comes to Faith – A Little Goes a Long Way.

Luke 17:1-10

The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!” – Luke 17:6 NLT

Once again, we have a very difficult passage this morning. There are two seemingly disconnected messages that have nothing to do with one another. What is it that Jesus is trying to tell His disciples and, by extension, us? The first message has to do with temptation. It is similar to a teaching Jesus gave that was recorded by Matthew. Jesus tells His disciples that there will always be temptations to sin. It is part of living life in a fallen world. But His real point seems to be that you don't want to be someone who tempts or leads another person into sin. Because Luke has included this teaching of Jesus in this section of messages, I believe he is purposely connecting it to Jesus' indictment of the Pharisees and religious leaders. One of His greatest frustrations with these so-called religious leaders was that, through their actions and attitudes, they were causing others to reject His message. They were preventing others from accepting the Good News that Jesus came to bring. Later on in His ministry, Jesus would make this point painfully clear: "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people's faces. You won't go in yourselves, and you don't let others enter either" (Matthew 23:13 NLT). So I believe Luke is including these two teachings of Jesus in this section because he viewed them as having something to do with Jesus' views regarding the religious leaders of the day.

The last thing we should want to do as believers is to cause someone to sin. Instead, we should be calling one another to repentance. If it is necessary, we should even be willing to rebuke them in order to get them to repent. As representatives of Jesus, our job is to encourage one another away from sin, not toward it. Rather than encourage rebellion against God, we should motivate one another toward repentance to God. And when they do repent, we should be ready to forgive them – even if their sin was toward us. Over in the Matthew passage, Jesus takes this message a step further, saying, "So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut of off and throw it away. It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It's better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell" (Matthew 18:8-9 NLT). That seems pretty drastic, doesn't it? But Jesus is trying to get us to recognize the seriousness of sin, both in our individual life and within the body of Christ. We are not to tolerate sin. We are not to become comfortable with sin – in our own lives or within the church. When Paul found out that there was a situation going on in the church at Corinth that involved a man having sex with his step-mother, he addressed it quickly and powerfully. He said, "I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you" (1 Corinthians 5:1 NLT). Evidently, the church had decided to simply tolerate this situation rather than deal with it. But Paul told them to remove this man from their fellowship. He said, "you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns" (1 Corinthians 5:5 NLT). Then Paul gives them the reason behind his harsh recommendation. "Don't you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old "yeast" by removing this wicked person from among you" (1 Corinthians 5:6-7 NLT). Deal with it. Remove it. Take it seriously. Or it will spread and infect the whole congregation.

Back to Luke's account. Jesus would love to see the religious leaders repent of their sins. He would love to see them recognize their sinfulness, turn to Him as their Messiah, and receive forgiveness. And even though their sins were directed against Him, He would have forgiven them. But until they did repent, Jesus would continue to point out their sins and rebuke them for their hard hearts and hypocrisy. We must understand the power and pervasiveness of sin. We cannot afford to make light of it. As Jesus said, it is like yeast, and will spread uncontrolled through our lives and through the church if left unchecked.

The second part of this passage appears to be a total detour. The disciples ask Jesus to show them how to increase their faith. It sounds like a legitimate request. But what are they really asking? Because of the manner in which Jesus answers them, it would appear that their request had an ulterior motive that was less than innocent. Their request for increased faith seems to be so that they could do bigger and better things. They wanted to do miracles like Jesus. They wanted to cast out demons like Jesus. They had gotten a little taste of what this was like when Jesus sent them out two by two with the power and authority to heal and cast our demons. They came back pumped. They liked what they had experienced. They were wanting more of the same. So Jesus tells them that it wasn't a matter of the QUANTITY of their faith, but the QUALITY of it. He tells them that with just a small amount of faith, they could tell a tree to be uprooted from the ground and be thrown into the sea, and it would happen. Now, you have to stop and think about this statement. What is Jesus really teaching us? Is He saying that if we believe hard enough, we can literally uproot trees with a word from our mouths? The point seems to be the contrast between the size of the faith compared to the difficulty of the task. A little faith can do a lot. Jesus seems to be telling the disciples that they don't need MORE faith, they need the right KIND of faith. Jesus uses a real-life illustration to make His point. If a master has a servant who has been plowing in the master's field or caring for the master's sheep, and that servant comes in to the house, does the master invite his servant to sit down and eat with him? Certainly not. He tells the servant to serve him first. And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was supposed to do? No. Then Jesus makes it personal. “In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty’” (Luke 17:10 NLT). Faith must be God-directed. The disciples wanted more faith so they could do more things for their own glory and benefit. They wanted to accomplish more, but they wanted to do it on their own terms. Jesus is telling them that they simply need to do what He wants them to do. They needed to be faithful first. They needed to trust Jesus and listen to what He was saying. Again, I think Jesus is also sending a message regarding the religious leaders. They refused to listen to God. They refused to obey God. They were rejecting the very Son of God. Rather than view themselves as servants of God, they had tried to turn the tables and almost demanded that God serve them. After all, in their minds, they deserved it. They were descendants of Abraham and faithful servants of God. But they were neglecting their duty to God.

Jesus wants the disciples to know that their faith must not be based in their ability to accomplish great things for God. It must be focused on God Himself. Our faith, even in small quantities, will accomplish incredible things, as long as we are leaning on and listening to God. If God demands that we uproot a mulberry tree, we will have all the power to do it, because we are doing His will. And He will get the glory, not us. Like the servant in Jesus' example, we need to be willing to do our duty, faithfully. We need to be willing to focus on God and His desires. Then when He commands us to do something, we will have our faith in the right place and He will provide the power to produce the right outcome. We don't need more faith, we just need to focus what little faith we have on the right thing – serving God.

Father, show me how to serve You more and me less. Help me make it less and less about me and more and more about You. If You are the focus, faith will never be a problem. If I realize that You don't need me to do anything, but that You want to reveal Your power in me and through me, then I don't need more faith. I have You.  Amen.

An Unexpected Twist.

Luke 16:19-31

“But Abraham said, ‘If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even if someone rises from the dead.’” – Luke 16:31 NLT

Jesus had a unique way of turning things on their ear, upsetting the apple cart, and disrupting the status quo. He was always shaking up the comfortable conclusions people had reached and making them reassess their preconceived ideas of how things worked in God's Kingdom. He used His stories or parables as a way to hook people in, peaking their interest, while at the same time rocking their world. In considering His story of the rich man and the poor man, it is important to remember the context. It goes all the way back to the opening of chapter 15, where the Pharisees and religious leaders confronted Jesus about His questionable choice of friends. It seems that they were offended that this so-called Messiah was fond of hanging out with sinners. He even ate with them. Something these self-righteous men would never do. It was that encounter with the religious leaders that began Jesus' string of stories. He then launched into the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son, the unfaithful manager, and now, the rich man and the poor man. But if you remember to consider what prompted Jesus to tell these stories, it might be better to rename them "The Parable of the Abandoned Sheep," "The Parable of the Overlooked Coins," The Parable of the Self-Righteous Son," The Parable of the Remorseful Servant, and "The Parable of Unbelieving Rich Man."

If we remember the context, we can't overlook the fact that Jesus is dealing with the attitude of the Pharisees and the religious leaders. In the middle of His story about the unfaithful manager, Luke records the statement, "The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him" (Luke 16:14 NLT). Whether they got that the story was about them, they certainly didn't agree with what Jesus was saying. They didn't like His conclusions. These were men who enjoyed a rich and satisfying life. They viewed wealth as a sign of the blessing of God. They were rich because they were righteous – or so they thought. Unlike the manager in the story, they didn't see themselves as unfaithful stewards of God. They had been faithful and their wealth was a sign that God was pleased with them. Which led Jesus to tell the story of the rich man and the poor man. This is a story designed to juxtapose two extreme conditions, and to destroy the faulty thinking that plagued the people of Israel concerning the blessings of God. The rich man "was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen." He lived a life of luxury. Jesus' audience would have naturally concluded that this man was righteous because of His wealth. Then Jesus described a second man, who was a poor beggar, relegated to begging for food. Not only that, he was inflicted with sores. Again, Jesus' audience would have naturally concluded that this man was a wicked sinner who was simply being punished by God for his sins.

Both men die. But this is where the story begins to take an unexpected turn for the audience. Things do not turn out they way they would have imagined. Shockingly, in Jesus' story, the rich man ends up in hell and the poor man ends up in heaven, with Abraham and all the faithful patriarchs. This would have been a shock to all those listening to Jesus speak that day. Why? Because they believed the one man's wealth was a sign of God's blessing and, therefore, a guarantee of his future in heaven. The poor man should have been the one to end up in hell, because he obviously had lived a wicked life on earth. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been destined to a life of begging and misery. But Jesus' story is designed to explode these myths regarding righteousness and reward in God's Kingdom. The poor man was not being rewarded with heaven because he was poor and the rich man was not being punished with hell because he was wealthy. This was all about the condition of the hearts of the two men. Just a few moments before, Jesus had told the Pharisees, "You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15 NLT). In the story, Jesus says that the rich man called out to Abraham for relief. He was in anguish and he asked Abraham to send the poor man to cool his parched tongue with just a dip of water from his fingertip. Interestingly, Jesus reveals that the rich man, while in hell and under torment, still views the poor man as his servant. Abraham breaks the news to this man that what he is asking is impossible. So the rich man begs Abraham to send the poor to warn his family so that they won't end up like he did. He wants Lazarus, the poor man, to rise from the dead and tell his rich brothers that they can't depend on their wealth as a sign of God's blessing and an assurance of their future place in God's Kingdom. And this is where Jesus makes His final and most important point. The rich man says, "But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God" (Luke 16:30 NLT). Interestingly, Jesus wove the great patriarch and icon of the Jewish people, Abraham, into this story. It is he who is speaking, when Jesus relates the following message: "If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even if someone rises from the dead" (Luke 16:31 NLT). The rich man in the story was an unbeliever. He had placed all his faith and hope in his wealth and riches. The Pharisees standing before Jesus as He told this story were also unbelievers. They refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. And even when Jesus was put to death by them and rose again from the grave, they would still refuse to believe that He was who He said He was. They put their faith in their own self-righteousness. They believed that they were blessed by God because they were descendants of Abraham. Which is why Jesus chose to have Abraham deliver the bad news in His story. God does not reward men based on their affluence, influence, religiosity, piety, power, prestige, position, Bible knowledge, status in the religious community, good works, or any other man-established criteria. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God. He looks at the heart. Jesus knew the hearts of the Pharisees. He knew why they refused to believe in Him. And He knew that they would continue to refuse to believe Him even after He rose from the dead. They had placed their faith elsewhere. And the results for them were going to be unexpected and highly unwelcome.

Father, Your ways are not our ways. You don't do things the way we expect. You are not impressed by what impresses us. You don't reward the way we do. You see what we can't see – the hearts of men. You reward based on faith and faith alone. Those who humble themselves and recognize their own sinfulness and their need for a Savior, and place their faith in the gift of Your Son are saved. Rich, poor, slave, free, educated, uneducated, young, old, male, female, religious, irreligious, impressive, unimpressive. It has nothing to do with our value and what we have done, but only with what Jesus Christ has done for us. Thank You!  Amen.

Spiritual Stewardship.

Luke 16:1-18

“And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people's things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?” – Luke 16:11-12 NLT

This is a difficult passage, and if we're not careful, we could draw all kinds of faulty conclusions Jesus never intended when He spoke these words. As always, it helps if we consider the context. The passage right before this has Jesus addressing the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law because of their complaining about His association with sinners. Jesus used three parables or stories to make a very powerful point about their mistaken view that they were NOT sinners. These men viewed themselves as righteous because of their positions and because of their heritage as descendants of Abraham. They did not consider themselves "lost" and so, therefore, they had no need to be "found" by Jesus. In the stories Jesus told, these men represent the 99 sheep who get left in the wilderness by their owner so he can go search for the ONE lost sheep. They are the nine coins that get ignored while the woman searches every nook and cranny of her house to find the ONE coin that was truly lost. And they are the older brother in the story who thought he deserved the party and the presents more than his younger brother, because he had worked like a slave and done everything his father had told him to do. But he ended up on the outside of the party looking in – just as the Pharisees would.

Luke continues his account by sharing a story that Jesus told to His disciples. This one involved a rich man who had a dishonest steward or manager who worked for him. He managed his household and his personal finances. It was a position of power, authority and great responsibility. But it seems this man had been wasting the rich man's money. The term in the original language paints the picture that he had been throwing it into the wind, squandering it needlessly and wastefully. When the rich man found out, he fired him. But before his termination took place, the dishonest steward came up with an ingenious, if not self-serving, plan. He was not only dishonest, he was lazy. He didn't want to have to do any kind of manual labor to survive, because he had gotten used to the easy life of a manager. He also was admittedly too proud to beg. So he devised a plan to win over all those who owed money to his boss. He called them in one at a time and asked them what they owed. He then renegotiated their debt, lowering it to a more manageable level – much to their delight and gratitude. This man used his boss's resources to secure his future. He knew that when he lost his job these people would be so grateful for what he had done, that they would take care of him in his need. He may have been dishonest, but he was shrewd. Even his former boss admired what he had done.

Now, Jesus is NOT encouraging His followers to do as this man did. We are not to emulate this man's dishonest actions. But we should take careful note of what he did. I can't help but think that Jesus has the Jewish religious leaders in mind. This is a story about them. They were the dishonest steward who had been trusted by his employer with all that he had. These men had been entrusted by God to care for the Word of God and the people of God. But they had been wasteful and careless with God's possessions. And like the steward in the story, their Master was calling them to account. Which is what Jesus had been doing since He started His earthly ministry. He had been blasting the Pharisees and other religious leaders for their hypocrisy, lack of spiritual leadership, poor care for the sheep of God, and stubborn refusal to recognize Him as the Son of God. Jesus seems to be telling the religious leaders that they must recognize the precarious nature of their position and their future, and consider what it is they must do. The man in the story took steps to secure his future. He did so by caring about others. This part is hard to see at first. It appears at first blush that he is simply being self-serving, but if you look closer, he goes to the very people who had owed his master all along and begins to collect the debts they owed. This is probably one of the ways in which he had been slack and wasteful. He was not collecting what was owed. He was letting his master's creditors get away without paying what they owed. And it may have been that they were unable to pay. So he renegotiates their debts, accomplishing several things at once. He makes their debt more manageable. He collects the past-due accounts owed to his master. And he secures the gratitude of these individuals. It is as if Jesus is encouraging the religious leaders to look at what the man in the story did and wake up to the reality that they are going to have to answer to God for their actions here on earth. Jesus says, "And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?" (Luke 16:11 NLT). Right in the middle of this little discourse by Jesus, Luke places the statement, "The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money heard all this and scoffed at him" (Luke 16:14 NLT). This is there for a reason. It is still all about the Pharisees. They loved their money and their positions. They put more value on those things than on doing the will of God, their ultimate Master. And they would one day have to answer to God. Jesus condemns them for their outward displays of righteousness. He warns them that God knows their hearts and detests the very things they love.

The real point seems to be that the man in the story recognized what he had done, and shrewdly did what he had to do to secure his future. Jesus is encouraging these men to do the same. They can't serve two masters. They can't have it both ways. They can't love money more than God. They can't serve the things of this world and God at the same time. They needed to get their eyes off of themselves and start caring about the needs of others. They needed to care about what the Master cared about. The man in the story wasn't trying to get money. He was simply trying to secure his future. Jesus is encouraging the religious leaders to do the same. I really don't think this is a story about money or stewardship. It is about eternal life.

Father, this is a hard one. Jesus doesn't take us aside and explain it as He has done in so many other cases. But I pray that we can learn from the man in the story and the lives of the religious leaders in Jesus' day. We all must answer to You some day as our Master. We have been given a stewardship of all that we have, because it all ultimately belongs to You. We need to manage it well, not for our own benefit, but for Your glory. It isn't about us. It is always about You. It isn't about our petty little kingdoms, but about Your eternal one. Never let us lose sight of that fact.  Amen.

Sinners and the Self-Righteous.

Luke 15

“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’” – Luke 15:28-30 NLT

Jesus associated with sinners – regularly and gladly. It was for the sake of sinners that He came to live and die. And the reality is that He came for every man, woman, and child who has ever lived. He came for every person alive on the planet when He walked the roads, paths, and streets of Israel. Because "everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard" (Romans 3:23 NLT). Jesus came to save sinners. So what's the point of this chapter? It's made clear by the way Luke introduces it. "Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people – even eating with them" (Luke 15:1-2 NLT). This sets up the series of parables told by Jesus to all those within ear shot. And He makes a very damning point, aimed directly at the Pharisees and teachers of religious law – the spiritual elite of the day. These men were the poster boys of piety. They were looked up to and envied for their spiritual depth and religious zeal. They were biblically knowledgeable and the icons of religious virtue. But Jesus knew better. He understood that they were also sinners in God's eyes, but they simply refused to admit their sin. They had covered over their sinfulness with self-righteousness and religious activity. But as Jesus had once described them, they were like whitewashed tombs – clean and pristine on the outside, but full of death and decay on the inside. Earlier in his gospel, Luke had recorded a statement from Jesus that expressed His sentiments regarding these so-called religious leaders. "I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent" (Luke 5:32 NLT). These men considered themselves righteous and right before God because of all their efforts done on God's behalf. They somehow thought they had scored brownie points with God because of all the spiritual exercises and religious activities in which they engaged. The issue wasn't whether they were sinners or not – it was that they refused to admit that they were and repent.

So Jesus told them three simple stories, and each makes the same painful point. In the first one, a man has a hundred sheep and loses one. "What will he do?" Jesus asked them. The answer isn't quite so obvious as we might think. Jesus says that the right thing to do would be for the man to leave the ninety-nine other sheep alone and defenseless in the wilderness and go after the one lost sheep. In other words, Jesus suggests that the one has more value to the man than the ninety-nine others who he abandons in the wilderness as he searches for the lost sheep. And when he finds that one lost sheep, he puts it on his shoulders and joyfully carries it home. Mission accomplished! Jesus says that "there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!" (Luke 15:7 NLT). This sounds like a direct reference on Jesus' part to Isaiah 53:6. "All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own." Nine of the "sheep" in Jesus' story are the self-righteous who smugly believe they are safe and sound, when in reality, they are just as lost. Their problem is that they refuse to acknowledge their lostness. It's interesting that in the story, the man took the found sheep home and hosted a party with his friends. He left the other sheep in the wilderness. There is no more reference made of them.

In the second parable, a woman has ten coins and loses one. Jesus asks the obvious question as to whether or not this woman wouldn't ransack her house in order to find the ONE coin that was lost and then rejoice over it when she did. As in the first story, when the woman finds the one lost coin, she calls in all her friends and neighbors and and rejoices with them. I would have to think that her friends and neighbors would have thought the celebration a bit much over one found coin. But Jesus says, "In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents" (Luke 15:10 NLT).

Finally, Jesus told them a parable regarding two sons and their father. This one is the more familiar story to most of us. We typically refer to it as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We have made the younger son the hero or focus of the story. But based on the context, the real focal point of Jesus' story is the older son. The younger son in the story demands that his father give him his inheritance early. Upon receiving it, he promptly takes a journey to a distant country where he blows it all in record time, living the high life. He ends up in poverty and recognizes that his only hope is to return home and beg his father for forgiveness and place himself at his mercy. Which he does. And the amazing thing is that the young man's father receives him back joyfully, graciously, and extravagantly. He throws a party and showers him with gifts. This is where the older brother comes in. Rather than rejoice at the return of his younger brother, this guy becomes sullen and angry, because he has remained at home, working diligently, serving his father faithfully. He became angry and refused to take part in the festivities. He tells his father, "I have slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to" (Luke 15:29 NLT). He believed all his effort and hard work should have earned him a party, not the rebellious younger brother. Like the Pharisees standing in front of Jesus that day, this older brother felt like he was the one who should have been the center of attention. He had earned it. He deserved it. But the story reveals something about this man. He didn't serve his father out of love, but out of a sense of duty. He didn't serve his father joyfully or willingly, he did it as if he was a slave. It was all a burden to him. He did it expecting to receive something in return for all his effort. But that's not how things work in the Kingdom of God. Effort doesn't earn us anything. It is a grace-based economy. Paul reminds us, "Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it" (Ephesians 2:9 NLT). Jesus came to save the lost. But it's hard to save someone who doesn't THINK they're lost. It's hard to rescue someone who doesn't THINK he needs rescuing. The religious leaders were just as sinful and in need of salvation as the tax collectors and other sinners of their day, but they refused to admit it and repent of it. And they would be left defenseless in the wilderness, sitting ignored on the counter in the house, and outside the party looking in.

Father, while I can have a lot of the attributes of the Pharisee in my life, I thank You that one day You opened my eyes and helped me to see my sinfulness. You searched for me and found me – lost and with no hope of ever being found. You rejoiced over my salvation, because You are the one who made it happen. It was not something I did. I didn't earn it or deserve it. It was all You. And I am grateful. Thank You for sending Your Son to die on my behalf – a sinner condemned and unclean.  Amen.

Costly, But Well Worth It.

Luke 14:25-34

"So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own." – Luke 14:33 NLT

The cost of following Jesus. That's not a particularly popular topic today. Partly because we live in a society that has been saturated and soaked in an atmosphere of ease and comfort. We have been trained to expect everything instantaneously and relatively easily. Even the old slogan, "NO PAIN, NO GAIN" seems to have fallen out of popularity. In its place we find a plethora of options that require little or no pain, but seemingly with all the gain. Weight loss pills, potions and even surgeries, have taken the pain out of looking good. Promises of virtually instant weight loss, quick investment returns, easy money, fast food, ready-t0-go meals, and while-you-wait credit approval have made us lazy and adverse to anything that requires effort on our part. So the idea of discipleship to Christ being costly is not exactly a popular topic these days. There are many pastors and teachers who, while knowing what the Bible says about the subject, choose to downplay it because they fear the reaction it might bring.

But if there was ever a time when the message of costly discipleship was needed, it is now. It is the message Jesus unapologetically preached. He minced no words and left no one with the impression that following Him was going to be easy going and trouble free. He made it painfully clear that becoming His disciple was going to be costly and would require tremendous commitment. No half-hearted, weak-willed individuals need sign up. Listen to what He said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hatehis own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life,he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26 NET). That's pretty costly. Of course, we tend to soften it up by qualifying that Jesus was not telling us to actually hate our fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers and sisters. He was just saying that, in comparison to our love for Him, our love for them would be like hate. But I think what Jesus is warning us is that following Him was going to cost a lot of people their families. They would lose the love of their own fathers and mothers by choosing to follow Him. They would face rejection and ridicule by their own families, and they needed to be okay with it. Those family members would beg them to give up Jesus and come home. But Jesus is warning them that to be His follower, they would have to reject their own families – an action that would be viewed as hate by those closest to them. And Jesus also warns them that they must hate their own lives – the lives they had come to know and love. Their way of living was going be replaced with the way of Jesus. They couldn't keep looking back and longing for the "good old days" when things were easier or seemingly better. Once they chose to follow after Jesus, that old way of life was to be dead to them.

One of the most famous proponents of the cost of discipleship was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who lived during the rise of the Third Reich. He would stand against Hitler and his propaganda machine, ending up in prison, where he would die. He wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship and in it he writes, “When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.” Dietrich knew from experience just how true this statement was. He suffered greatly under the oppressive regime of Hitler. But he spoke boldly, calling believers to stand up against the lies of the enemy. He called them to wake up out of their stupor and complacency and stand for the cause of Christ. His efforts met with deaf ears and resulted in his imprisonment. He goes on to write, “Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

Following after Jesus is costly. It cost God His own Son. It cost Jesus His own life. It costs us our pride. It demands of us our lives, passions, worldly affections, idols, wills, agendas, friendships, family affiliations, dreams, desires, and so much more. But in return, we receive eternal life, forgiveness of sin, salvation, a restored relationship with God, a new family, the indwelling Holy Spirit, peace, power, hope, joy, direction, protection, assurance of salvation, and so much more. Yes, following Jesus is costly, but it is also well worth any pain it my require on our part. The gain far outweighs the pain. Paul put it this way: "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later" (Romans 8:18 NLT).

Father, make us aware of just how costly following Your Son really is. Don't let us settle for something cheap and imitation. Don't allow us to diminish the value of the gift by demanding that it require nothing from us of of us. Following Your will required Jesus to give up His life. Following Your Son requires us to do the same – no more, no less. But thank You that our gain far outweighs any pain we may suffer on Your behalf. Amen.

Ken Miller Grow Pastor & Minister to Men kenm@christchapelbc.org

The Attitude of Jesus.

Luke 14:1-24

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." – Luke 14:11 NLT

One of the amazing things about Jesus was that His message and His lifestyle were never out of step. He lived what He taught. It is easy to say one thing and do another, which is one of the primary characteristics of hypocrisy. But hypocrisy was never something with which Jesus wrestled. He was not someone who sought out the places of honor. He was not one who craved recognition or sought the affirmation of men. Yes, He longed for men to recognize His status as the Son of God, but not for selfish reasons. He simply wanted them to see Him for who He was in order that they might experience all that He came to offer. No, Jesus was anything but selfish and self-centered. So when He spoke about humility, He knew what He was talking about. He lived it. The apostle Paul reminds us, "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.Though he was God,he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being" (Philippians 2:5-7 NLT). Jesus didn't pridefully hold onto His well-deserved place as the Son of God, and refuse to lower Himself to human standards. No, He willfully walked away from His position of privilege and power, and took on the lowly character of a man – a baby in fact. All so that He could serve mankind by giving His life in our place.

So when Jesus gives the people at this dinner who are jockeying for positions of prominence a piece of advice, He speaks from experience. He tells them, "When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!" (Luke 14:8-9 NLT). Instead, Jesus recommends that they take the lowest seat at the foot of the table. Practice a little self-humility. Rather than risk being humiliated, humble yourself. Of course, Jesus is talking about much more than just an earthly wedding feast. He is talking about the Kingdom of God. Those who enter into God's Kingdom will be characterized by the nature of Jesus Himself. They will be humble, not prideful. They will have spent their lives seeking first the Kingdom of God and leaving issues of honor, recognition, and reward up to Him.

Over in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made some significant statements regarding rewards and recognition. He said, "Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get" (Matthew 6:1-2 NLT). In other words, their reward will be the recognition they get on this earth. It won't last long. But if you give in secret, not worrying about what men think, God will see it and reward you richly in His Kingdom. Jesus also said, "When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get" (Matthew 6:5 NLT). The praise of man is the only reward they will get. But those who pray to God in private, so that no one can see them or pat them on the back for their spirituality, will be rewarded by God Himself.

It is so easy to seek recognition and to crave reward for our service in this lifetime. But it doesn't last. It is fleeting, fickle and short-lived. If we seek the praise of men, we are missing the point. Jesus didn't come to receive praise. He didn't come to receive honor. He came to humble Himself and serve. He came to give His life as a ransom for the sins of men. He came to die on a cross so that we might live. He healed the lame, the blind, and the sick, knowing that He would receive ridicule and not reward. He spoke the truth of God, knowing that most would reject it angrily, not receive it gladly. He came to hang on a cross, not sit on a throne. He came to wear a crown of thorns, not one made of gold. He came to die a criminal's death, not live a king's life. And yet, Paul reminds us that God saw the actions and attitude of His Son and rewarded Him accordingly. "When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:7-11 NLT). The attitude of Jesus should be the standard for every believer. An attitude marked by service and humility, obedient to the will of God and focused on the Kingdom of God to come.

Father, help me to seek the attitude of Jesus. Open my eyes and help me see the pride that permeates my life. It is so easy to become a seeker of rewards in this lifetime. I find it so easy to want my rewards now, rather than later. The praise and recognition of men can be an alluring thing. But it breeds hypocrisy and feeds the dragon of pride in my life. Yet You reward the humble. You exalt the lowly. You oppose the proud and favor the humble. Never let me forget that. Amen.

Narrow, But Necessary.

Luke 13:22-35

Work hard to enter the narrow door to God's Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail." – Luke 13:24 NLT

There's only one way and it's not the popular or politically correct way. It's exclusive, intolerant, seemingly discriminatory, restrictive, repressive and narrow-minded. At least from man's limited perspective. Somehow we want to believe that heaven has an open-door policy with a sign over the doorway that says, "Welcome! Any and all who wish to, many enter here." No standards. No requirements. No problem. The Jews of Jesus' day believed they each had a "Golden Ticket" because they were considered God's chosen people. Their heritage as descendants of Abraham guaranteed them entry into God's Kingdom. But Jesus rocked their world by informing them that they would be "thrown out" of the Kingdom. The patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be there, along with the prophets, but not them. They would each be persona non grata – unwelcome and unable to stay. Jesus told them that they would "stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’" (Luke 13:25 NLT). But Jesus will reply, "I don't know you or where you come from" (Luke 13:25 NLT). At that time, they will be hoping that their having been in close proximity with Jesus will be enough to save them. But it will prove insufficient. What they'll be missing will be a relationship with Jesus. They will have never have expressed faith in Jesus. While there will be people from all over the known world – from every nation, tribe and tongue –  entering into the Kingdom of God, a vast number of Jews would be standing on the outside looking in. And some of the most self-righteous, self-important people in Jesus' day – the religious leaders – will find that their high place of honor carries no credibility in God's Kingdom.

Because they have refused to believe in Jesus, they will be refused entrance into His Kingdom. It all boils down to belief. It all rests on faith. It has nothing to do with human effort, achievement, honor, or religious affiliation. The requirement for entrance into the Kingdom of God remains the same for every man, woman and child who has ever lived: Faith in Jesus Christ as the one and only way to have a restored relationship with God the Father. That's a very narrow door. It is very exclusive. It is highly restrictive. And it is extremely intolerant of any other way. Jesus Himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 NLT). He is the access point. He provides the path by which we enter into heaven. Any attempt to find any other way will fail. But those who place their faith in Him alone will discover that He really is the way, the truth and the life.

Father, thank You for providing a way – the way. Yes, it is exclusive, but it is effective. It works. Jesus Christ really does provide a way for men to be made right with You. Nothing else works. Nothing else compares. Nothing else matters. The way may be narrow, but the destination is broad, beautiful and unrestricted in any sense of the word. Amen.

Guilty of Being God.

John 10:22-42

Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" – John 10:31-32 NLT

The people wanted a Messiah. They had been looking for him to come for generations. Now they had to confront the rumors of whether or not Jesus was the one for whom they had been waiting. But so much didn't seem to make sense. Yes, He did miraculous works. He did inexplicable wonders right before their eyes. He healed the lame, the blind, and the mute. He even raised the dead. But something wasn't right. Maybe it was because He didn't look the part. After all, He was just a common-looking peasant from the backwater town of Nazareth. He had no known pedigree. They would have had no clue that He was David's rightful heir to the throne. They simply saw Jesus as a virtual nobody who burst on the scene unexpectedly and who was stirring up excitement among the people and anxiety among the religious leadership. For many of them, Jesus had become more of a sideshow than a potential savior. He was a welcome distraction from the day-to-day misery of life under Roman rule.

So when Jesus showed up at the Temple during the Festival of Dedication, or Hanukkah, a crowd surrounded Him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly" (John 10:24 NLT). They wanted Him to come right out and declare His intentions to establish His rule and reign and begin His plan for saving the people of Israel from their oppressors. They were ready for Jesus to start acting like the kind of Messiah they had been waiting for. But the kind of salvation came to bring had nothing to do with the tyranny of Rome. It had nothing to do with earthly thrones or kingdoms. At least, not yet. Jesus came to offer freedom from sin and the gift of eternal life. And all the miracles He had done in their sight were more than proof enough that He was exactly who He had been rumored to be. "The proof is the work I do in my Father's name," he told them. Jesus tried to get them to understand that the miracles He performed were evidence that He had been sent by and worked for God. But the majority of the people in the crowd that day were looking for more. Miracles were not enough. But their skepticism had to do more with blindness than anything else. Jesus told them, "you don't believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me. For my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. The Father and I are one" (John 10:26-30 NLT).

Jesus knew that there would be those who never believed in Him. They would reject both His message and His miracles. Not because His messages and miracles were unimpressive, but because they were spiritually blind to the truth. Jesus told them point-blank, "You are not my sheep." They didn't belong to Him. God had not opened their eyes to the reality of Jesus' mission and message. They were still spiritually dead and incapable of recognizing the Messiah who stood right before their eyes. And evidence of their spiritual blindness was their reaction to Jesus' statement, "The Father and I are one." They immediately picked up stones to kill Him. They saw Jesus as a mere man, not God. He was guilty of blasphemy and deserved to be stoned to death. But the real reason they wanted to kill Jesus was because He was exactly who He claimed to be: The Messiah, the Son of God, and the King of the Jews. He was God, and for that they wanted to kill Him. It would be the same thing that would lead to Jesus' conviction and crucifixion at the end of His life. His crime, as proclaimed on a wooden sign hung above His head on the cross, was "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Jesus died for being who He claimed to be. He was guilty for being God and He died because of it. All along the way, Jesus had been doing the work of His Father. He had given ample evidence of His deity. And He told the people that day in the Temple courtyard, "Don't believe me unless I carry out my Father's word. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don't believe in me" (John 10:37-38 NLT). Look at the evidence. Recognize that it is of God, not man. But their eyes remained closed and their hearts remained hardened. But many believed in Jesus that day. There were some sheep among the goats, some believers among the doubters, some converts among the crowd.

Father, there is so much evidence surrounding Your Son that validates His claims. And yet millions still reject Him even today. Their eyes are blinded and their hearts are hardened. And unless You open their eyes and soften their hearts, all the evidence in the world will never win them over. Salvation is an act of God, not man. It is completely up to You, not us. Thank You for opening my eyes and softening my heart so that I could see clearly for the first time and recognize the truth of Jesus' claims and accept the free gift of eternal life He offered. Amen.

Look at me, God!

Luke 10:17-41

"All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God's authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you--that's the agenda for rejoicing." – Luke 10:20 MSG

I love this story. It is so typical of how we respond to God as we "perform" for Him. We get so proud of our efforts on His behalf. Like the disciples, we come back all excited about the power we have demonstrated. "Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!" (Luke 10:17 NLT). The disciples are pumped. No longer relegated to the role of spectators in Jesus' earthly ministry, they are now the stars. So they come back excited and proud, "Look at us go! Aren't we doing some really fantastic things for you God? Aren't You proud of us? What would you do without us?"

Yet Jesus responds to them in a very interesting way. He says, "don't rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven." (Luke 10:20 NLT). This all had very little to with what the disciples had just done, but it had everything to do with what Jesus was going to accomplish not too long into the future. We have a tendency to believe our own press clippings, and to begin to think that we are far more important to this endeavor than we really are. In fact, we tend to want to make ourselves the stars of God's redemptive story. But there is only one star and that is Jesus Himself. He is far less interested in what we can do for Him than what we think about what He has already done for us.

In his classic devotional book, My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers says, "Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?"

We should rejoice that what Jesus has done makes it possible for our names to be written in heaven. We have permanent, irrevocable reservations there. Not because of anything we have done or will do, but because of what He has done on our behalf. You see this illustrated so clearly in Jesus encounter with the two sisters later on in this same chapter. He arrives in Bethany, a small village just about two miles outside the city gates of Jerusalem. He is welcomed into the home of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, the man Jesus will raise from dead later on in His ministry. As Jesus and His disciples rest in their home, Martha busies herself with preparations for a big dinner on their behalf. Meanwhile, Mary, her sister sat quietly at the Lord's feet, listening to Him teach. Martha, all hot and bothered by the inequity of it all, complains to Jesus about her sister's laziness and demands that Jesus tell her to get to work. But again, Jesus' response is unexpected and surprising. He simply says, "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. There is only one thing worthy being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41 NLT). In all her efforts to do something for Jesus, Martha was missing the opportunity to be ministered to by Jesus. It had become about her. Her efforts. Her meal. Her housekeeping. Her culinary skills. Her hospitality. And there is nothing wrong with any of that. But she was missing the fact that Jesus, the Messiah, was in her home.

Listen again to what Oswald Chambers said: "The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him." Don't let your efforts for Jesus rob you of the joy of knowing Him. Don't let yourself be deceived into thinking what you do in His name is somehow more important that what He has done on Your behalf. Time spent with Jesus must always take precedence over work done for Jesus. Otherwise we risk doing our work in our own strength and for our own glory.

Father, thank You that my name is written in heaven. And it is not because of anything I have done or will do. Otherwise, it wouldn't be there at all. It is simply because of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross as my sin substitute. Forgive for the many times I put far too much value in my accomplishments for You. Forgive me for trying to serve You more than worship You. Amen.

Ken Miller Grow Pastor & Minister to Men kenm@christchapelbc.org

Three In One.

John 10:1-20

"No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded." – John 10:18 NLT

The Gate. The Good Shepherd. The Sacrificial Lamb. Within this short segment of Scripture, Jesus refers to Himself using three different analogies. Each carries with it a different and important aspect of what Jesus role as the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He is the Gate. It is only through Him that anyone can have access to the Father. He is the Gate through which the sheep may enter into a right relationship with their heavenly Father. It reminds me of the 23rd Psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths" (Psalm 23:1-3 NLT). Later on, in this same Gospel, John will record these words of Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 NLT). He is the Way. He is the Gate. There is no other. And He leads the way to a rich and satisfying life. The enemy has no such intention. He wants to kill, steal and destroy. He wants to offer ways which lead to death. He wants to offer counterfeit doors that never end up getting you where you think you're going.

But Jesus is not only the Gate for the sheep, He's the Good Shepherd. Unlike the religious leaders of His day, Jesus cared for the sheep because they belonged to Him. These other men were merely hirelings at best, and thieves and robbers at worst. They didn't really care for the sheep. They cared only for themselves. In referring to Himself as the Good Shepherd, Jesus is obviously referencing Ezekiel 34. The prophet had some scathing words against the leaders of Israel in his day. "What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them" (Ezekiel 34:2-6 NLT). And God was not done. He went on to warn these so-called shepherds, "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey" (Ezekiel 34:10 NLT).

Then God tells what He will do for His sheep. "I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign Lord. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!" (Ezekiel 34:11-16 NLT). God said He would, and He did. He sent His own Son, as the Good Shepherd. He came to provide justice for the sheep of God. And He would do it by laying down His own life on their behalf. Jesus would be the Sacrificial Lamb. Jesus clearly said, "I sacrifice myself for the sheep" (John 10:15 NLT). In fact, Jesus stated the His Father loved Him "because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again" (John 10:17 NLT). Jesus would voluntarily lay down His life as a substitute and payment for the sins of all mankind. He wasn't forced against His will. He volunteered for the job. It is all in keeping with the words of John the Baptist uttered at the appearance of Jesus at the beginning of His earthly ministry: "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29 NLT).

The Gate. The Good Shepherd. The Sacrificial Lamb. Jesus did it all. He encompasses the complete package. He alone makes it possible for men to be restored to a right relationship with God the Father. He alone meets the just demands of a holy God for a payment for the sins of mankind. He alone could live a sinless, spotless, completely obedient life so that He might be a suitable substitute for sinful men. He alone provides an access point to eternal life. He alone is the Good Shepherd who truly cares for the sheep more than He cares for Himself. He alone is selfless, sacrificial, and totally committed to the well-being of the sheep. He did it all. And He did it all for us.

Lord, You are amazing. It is hard to comprehend just how amazing You really are. Everything we know about salvation and the gift of grace that You have made available is of Your doing. Your Father sent You, but You are the one who had to leave heaven and take on human flesh. You are the one who had to live a life among those whom You created, and tolerate their abuse, ridicule and, ultimately, their rejection. You are the one who had to live a sinless life among a world saturated with evil and a people in love with sin more than the thought of a Savior. You are the one who had to die a criminal's death, when You had committed no sins. You did it all. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You! Amen.

Spiritual Blindness.

John 9

"If you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty," Jesus replied, "But you remain guilty because you claim you can see." – John 9:41 NLT

This entire chapter deals with the interaction between Jesus and a common peasant man who had been blind since birth. It all took place on the Sabbath, which usually meant that Jesus was going to do something that would put Him at odds with the religious leaders, who were always looking for more excuses to attack and discredit Him. Jesus didn't disappoint. His disciples were the first to point out the man in question, using him as a visual aid to assist them in asking Jesus a theological question: "Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents' sins? (John 9:2 NLT). They were expressing a common viewpoint among the Jews that all physical suffering, illness or trouble of any kind was due to sin. From their perspective, this man was blind because of either something he or his parents had done. But Jesus shocks them by saying the man's blindness was for a totally different reason – "so the power of God could be seen in him" (John 9:3 NLT). The man's blindness was an opportunity for God to reveal His power, but no necessarily just through healing. Paul expressed it so well when he wrote, "That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong: (2 Corinthians 12:10 NLT). Weakness of any kind, whether physical, emotional, financial, or psychological, can be a place where we can discover the power of God in our lives. And Jesus was going to display His Father's power in this man's life as an illustration to His disciples.

Interestingly enough, Jesus chooses to heal this man in a manner He had not done before. He could have simply spoken a word and the man's eyes would have been opened. But instead, Jesus spit on the ground, makes mud and spread it over the man's eyes. He then instructed the man to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash the mud away. The thing to remember is that this was the Sabbath, and what Jesus did (according to the legalistic religious leaders) would have been construed as "work" – a direct violation of the Sabbath laws concerning rest or cessation from work. And Jesus knew exactly what He was doing and for whose benefit. When the man comes back from the pool completely healed and able to see for the first time in his life, it didn't take long for the word to spread. This brought the religious leaders, who began to question the man regarding what had happened. They are incredulous, disbelieving and choose to deny that the man had been blind at all. They question his parents in an attempt to discredit the man's story, but fail. When the realize that they are not going to be able to debunk the reality of the man's miraculous healing, they demand that he give the glory to God and not Jesus, "because we know this man Jesus is a sinner" (John 9:24 NLT). The man, while just a common peasant and a former beggar with no theological training, is astute enough to respond, "I don't know whether he is a sinner, but I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!" (John 9:25 NLT). What a great line!

The religious leaders reveal that they don't believe in Jesus because they don't know where He comes from. In other words, He had no authority. He had no credibility. He had no right to say what He said or do what He did. He was not one of their own. But once again, the man who had been healed by Jesus simply says, "Why that's very strange! He healed my eyes, and yet you don't know where he comes from? We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn't have done it" (John 9:30-33 NLT). From this man's limited perspective, it was clear that Jesus was from God. And the debate over whether He was a sinner or not was cleared up by the very fact that God seemed to be on His side. This formerly blind man could see the truth clearly. His spiritual eyes were opened and he was able to perceive the truth of who Jesus was and who He came from. But the religious leaders were blind. In a rage, they threw him out of the synagogue. Jesus heard what had happened and found the man and asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" (John 9:35 NLT). The man replies, "Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him" (John 9:36 NLT). This man was still learning to see spiritually. He was not yet clear on exactly who Jesus was, but he wanted to know. So Jesus tells him, "You have seen him, and he is speaking to you" (John 9:38 NLT). The man responds with a resounding statement of belief and heartfelt worship. Then Jesus makes a statement to him that sums up this entire chapter. "I entered into this world to render judgment – to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind" (John 9:39 NLT). In the spiritual economy of that day, this man had been viewed since the day he was born, as a sinner who was being punished by God with physical blindness. The religious leaders were viewed as righteous, holy and the personal favorites of God because of their position and their strict adherence to the law. God was "blessing" them for their righteousness and punishing this man for his unrighteousness. But Jesus destroys this paradigm, revealing that it was the religious leaders who were truly blind. If they would simply admit their need and confess their own weakness, they could receive healing from God through Jesus. But they remained blind and guilty because they claimed they could see. They thought they knew better. Their own self-righteousness blinded them to the truth and prevented them from seeing the Son of God standing in their midst. Their refusal to admit their spiritual blindness condemned them and left them stumbling around in darkness. Jesus had already said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life" (John 8:12 NLT). This man had been blind, but now he saw. He had also been spiritually blind, living in spiritual darkness. But He had had His eyes opened and was now living in the light of the Son of God.

Father, You sent Your Son into the world to shed His light in the midst of the prevailing darkness. He came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize Him. There are countless millions who continue to choose darkness over His light. They prefer sin over salvation. They refuse to admit their own spiritual blindness, all the while arrogantly claiming that they can see. Thank You for opening my eyes. Thank You for exposing my blindness and shining the light of Your Son into the darkness of my world. Help me be a light in the dark to all those around me. Amen.

True Belief = True Freedom.

John 8:31-59

"But we are descendants of Abraham," they said. "We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free?’" – John 8:33 NLT

It would appear that there were those in the crowd that day who believed in Jesus. John records, "Then many who heard him say these things believed in him" (John 8:30 NLT). Jesus turned His attention to those very people, saying, "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32 NLT). That is when their belief began to be tested. Jesus' reference to freedom struck a nerve with them. As proud descendants of Abraham, they viewed themselves as free men, not slaves. While they may have been under Roman rule and subject to their heavy taxations and constant military presence, they saw themselves as free. But Jesus shattered their outlook by breaking the news to them that they were slaves to sin. Anyone and everyone who sins is a slave to sin. The fact that they were descendants of Abraham didn't change that fact. The very fact that their own religious leadership were trying to kill Jesus was proof of their sinful natures. There were those in the crowd that day who were plotting and planning His death, in spite of the fact that Jesus had come from God and was speaking the words of God. Jesus was offering them release from slavery to sin, but they couldn't believe it. Jesus knew that their real problem was that they were children of Satan himself. They were listening to his lies and believing his propaganda against Jesus. As the "father of lies," Satan despised the truth and did everything in his power to stifle it and replace it with his own version of the truth. Jesus came speaking the truth of God. But the people couldn't and wouldn't believe Him. They tried, but Jesus told them, "You don't listen because you don't belong to God" (John 8:47 NLT).

Angered by His words, the people showed their true colors, saying, "You Samaritan devil! Didn't we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?" (John 8:48 NLT). One of the signs of true belief is confession of sin. Jesus offered freedom, but in order to enjoy the benefits of that freedom, you had to first understand and acknowledge that you were enslaved to sin with no hope of escape. But that acknowledgement came hard to these people. They were prideful and arrogant, seeing themselves as the chosen people of God. They understood themselves to be the apple of God's eye. They had the Temple, the sacrificial system, the Law of Moses, the covenant promises made to Abraham and David, the hope of a future Messiah – and yet, here stood that very Messiah right in front of them, but they would refuse to listen to Him, believe in Him, and obey His words. Jesus made it clear to them that He was greater than Abraham. "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM" (John 8:58 NLT). By referring to Himself as the great I AM, a name used by God Himself when He met with Moses at the burning bush, Jesus is claiming His divinity. He is declaring Himself to be God. And the people react accordingly. Not in belief, but in anger and rage. They pick up stones to kill Him. Their true natures were revealed. Their true condition was made evident. They were still slaves to sin. They were still operating under the influence of Satan. They were rejecting the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And they would never experience the freedom Jesus came to provide.

Father, there are those who claim to believe in Your Son, but they refuse to acknowledge their own sinfulness. Somehow they believe that they deserve to be saved. They have somehow earned the right to spend eternity with You based on their good behavior, godly heritage, or status in life. They are good people and they count on their goodness to save them. But to be set free, we must first recognize our slavery to sin. We have to understand that we can't earn our way into heaven. None of us deserves to stand in Your presence. But Jesus, Your Son, offers us freedom from sin by exchanging our sinfulness with His own righteousness. It is His goodness, not our own, that grants us entrance into Your presence. Yet the enemy continues to try and get us to accept another version of the truth. He offers up logical-sounding lies that allow us to rationalize our sinfulness, but that leave millions enslaved and hopeless. Open their eyes so that they might see the truth, recognize their sin, and accept Your Son's offer of freedom. Amen.

Not of This World.

John 8:1-30

"You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins." – John 8:23 NLT

Jesus was human. But He was also divine. He was the God-man, perfectly God and perfectly man. And while He was born as a baby just like every other man, and lived His life just like every other human being, He was distinctly different. He was completely sinless. He was perfectly obedient to the will of God, His Father. While He had to undergo temptation just like the rest of us, He never succumbed to it. On the outside, He looked just any other ordinary Jew. There was nothing about His appearance that stood out. In fact, Isaiah, in prophesying about the coming Messiah, said, "There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him" (Isaiah 53:2 NLT). But in Jesus' case, appearances really were deceiving. Because He was anything but ordinary. He was the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior of the world, and the future King of Israel. But to the people of His day, Jesus was an enigma at best and a nuisance at worst. They didn't understand Him. They couldn't fathom that He was who He claimed to be. In terms of the Messiah, He wasn't what they were expecting. The Pharisees seemed to spend all their time trying to trap Him in order to discredit Him. In spite of His teaching, they had little respect for Him. They saw Him as a backwoods radical with no training and no understanding of the Scriptures. Being experts in the Law of Moses, they were constantly trying to expose His ignorance by putting Him in situations where He would forced to decide wrongly. That was their obvious intent when they brought the woman caught in adultery before Jesus. There was a large crowd watching and they wanted to see what Jesus would say when confronted with this delicate legal situation. But once again, Jesus confounds them. He surprises them and sends them packing, but He sends the woman away with a word of forgiveness and a warning to sin no more.

Jesus came offering Himself as a light to illuminate the prevailing darkness. He came to expose sin and provide a way to escape the penalty for sin. The Pharisees were trapped in the darkness despite their knowledge of the Word of God and their belief that they stood righteous before God because of all their religious activities. Jesus said, "Since you don't know who I am, you don't know who my Father is" (John 8:19 NLT). They were blind to the reality of who Jesus was. They couldn't see Him and they refused to accept Him. They rejected His claims, His teachings, His miracles and His offer of eternal life. And Jesus explained the problem clearly and simply: "You are from below; I am from above" (John 8:23 NLT). That was the issue. They were stuck with their limited, earthly perspective. They were of this world and couldn't recognize Jesus because He was not of this world. He had been sent by the Father into this world. He was God incarnate – God in human flesh. He was Immanuel – God with us. He could not be explained in human terms. He could not be written off based on human reason and logic.

When the people looked at Jesus, they saw a man, just like them. And He was. But He was so much more. He was God come to earth. He was the Creator of the world choosing to live among His creation. Earlier in his gospel, John reminds us, "So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness" (John 1:14 NLT). In the days of their ancestors, God would reveal Himself to the Israelites in the form of a pillar of fire or smoke. He would settle on the mountain top accompanied by thunder and lightning. He manifested Himself in powerful displays that were unmistakable and terrifying. They struck fear into the hearts of the people of God. It was obvious when He was with them and it was frighteningly clear when He was not. But with Jesus, the presence and power of God was contained within the body of an ordinary looking man. And while Jesus did extraordinary things, it was hard for the people to get past the packaging, because He appeared to be just like them. But He wasn't. Jesus said, "You belong to this world; I do not" (John 8:23 NLT).  They would die in their sins, but He was sinless. They would be condemned to a life of darkness, relegated to spend their days on this earth until they died. Jesus would die, but be resurrected and then return to where He was from. Jesus told them, "When you have lifted the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I AM he" (John 8:28 NLT). Jesus' death, burial and resurrection would be the final proofs of His claim to be the Son of God, the Messiah. He would die, but He would rise again. He would do what no other man had ever done: Live a sinless life. And then He would offer that unblemished life as a substitutionary sacrifice on behalf of all mankind. He would die in our place, so that we might have eternal life. But to take advantage of His gracious gift requires belief. "for unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins" (John 8:23 NLT). You can't judge the validity of Jesus' claim based on human standards. It won't make sense. It requires faith – a trust in the claims of Jesus and the Word of God that He was not and is not of this world. He is divine. He is God. He was and is who He claimed to be, and His offer of eternal life stands. It may make no sense. It may seem illogical and impossible, but it's true. "For I say only what I have heard from the one who sent me, and he is completely truthful" (John 8:26 NLT).

Father, You are the one who sent Jesus into the world. You are the one who gave Him His assignment. It was You who sanctioned and blessed His ministry. You are the one who required His sacrificial death on the cross so that we might have a restored relationship with You. You are the one who raised Him from the dead and gave Him new life. And it is You who will send Him back some day. Everything about the life of Jesus is divine and not of this world. And yet, too often we can be guilty of judging Him according to human standards. We overemphasize His humanness and lose sight of His God-ness. He was and is the Son of God. He was more than just a good, moral, humble, wise, and selfless man. He was Your Son sent to accomplish Your will. And He did it perfectly. Thank You. Amen.

Don't Stay Thirsty, My Friend.

John 7:2, 11-52

On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’" – John 7:37-38 NLT

It was the Feast of Tabernacles, or booths. This was an annual celebration that took place in Israel, commemorating God's atoning work in their lives. The booths were temporary shelters erected in the streets that were a visual reminder of God's providential care for His people during their wilderness wandering days after the Exodus. The festival took place from the fifteenth to the twenty-first or twenty-second day of the seventh month, which would place it some time during the month of October. There were daily sacrifices made, and thanks was expressed to God for the harvest. But it culminated in the ceremony of the outpouring of water, drawn from Siloam, in commemoration of the water that God had miraculously provided from the rock at Meribah (Exodus 17:1-7). It was also a reminder that God had future blessings reserved both for Israel and for the world. It was likely at this point in the celebration activities that Jesus made His statement to the crowds, "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! (John 7:37-38 NLT). All throughout the days of the festival, people had been arguing and debating as to who Jesus was. John tells us, "There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds" (John 7:12 NLT). Some were saying that He was a good man. Others claimed Him to be a fraud. None of them could figure out how He seemed to know so much when He was obviously uneducated. When Jesus claimed to be speaking on behalf of God and accused the crowd of trying to kill Him, they simply wrote it off to demon possession. The people were confused by Jesus. They simply saw Him as a nobody from Galilee. They had no idea that He had actually been born in Bethlehem and was a descendant of David, making Him the lawful and rightful heir to David's throne. None of this mattered to the religious leaders. They simply wanted Him out of the way, and were seeking to arrest Him. The sad reality was that very few, if any, believed in Him.

And while they would gladly drink the water from Siloam as part of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, they would refuse to drink from the one Source that could satisfy their spiritual thirst completely and eternally. He is offering them the very same thing He offered to the Samaritan woman at the well. "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life" (John 4:13-14 NLT). Living water. A permanent quenching of spiritual thirst – once and for all. But it required belief. It required coming to Jesus and accepting who He claimed to be. It required believing that He actually did come from God and spoke on His behalf, and what He spoke was truth. He was the Messiah. He did offer hope. He made available a way to restore men to a right relationship with God the Father. But they had to believe. They had to come. And they refused. Their thirst remained unquenched, their sins unforgiven, their relationship with God unrestored. All because they refused to believe.

Father, so many still refuse to believe today. They reject the fountain of living water for poor replacements that can never satisfy. But the sad truth is, many believers refuse to believe in Jesus today. They refuse to drink daily from that same fountain, turning to other sources to satisfy their needs. Keep us coming back to You. Keep us believing in You. Only You can satisfy our ongoing thirst. Amen.

Look Before You Leap.

Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:57-62

But Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head." – Matthew 8:20 NLT

So you want to follow Jesus? That's wonderful. But why? Is it because He can perform miracles, heal the sick, raise the dead, feed thousands of people by replicating bread and fish out of thin air, confound the religious leaders, walk on water, or cast out demons with just a word from His mouth. Or maybe you want to follow Him because He offers eternal life. Not a bad choice, when you consider the alternative is an eternity separated from He and God in hell. People choose to follow Jesus all the time. And they did so in His day as well. He was always attracting crowds, and in those crowds there were those individuals who decided, for whatever reason, that they wanted to become official followers of Jesus. It was a common practice in those days to do so. But normally, a respected rabbi would hand pick his followers, just as Jesus did the twelve disciples. But it would not have been rare for someone to voluntarily offer to become a follower. And usually, when they did, they would have had to meet a certain amount of criteria. They would have had to measure up to the rabbi's standards. A good rabbi wouldn't accept just anybody as a follower.

In these two passages, we are given a look into how Jesus handled these occasional "volunteer" disciples. You'll notice that Jesus doesn't tell them that they can't follow Him. He doesn't turn them away. He doesn't reject them as unworthy or under-qualified. He simply asks them to think about what it is they're doing. But He does it in His own inimitable way. When one of the teachers of religious law comes to Him and exclaims, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go," Jesus doesn't ridicule his enthusiasm or question his sincerity. He doesn't ask him for qualifications or require him to take an entrance exam. He just makes a simple statement. "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20 NLT). Luke does not include the fact that this is a teacher of religious law, a Scribe, but I think it is vital to understanding why Jesus says what He does. As a scribe, he would have been an expert in the law of Moses, judicial proceedings, Jewish life, and would have been considered both a teacher and authoritative leader in the community. Their role was vital to keeping the integrity of the Scriptures because they acted as copyists, making sure that the word of God was duplicated accurately. They were men who were well taken care of for their efforts and who lived relatively easy and cushy lived. So when this man tells Jesus that he is willing to follow Him wherever He goes, Jesus knows the truth. This man is used to living in relative luxury. His job is easy and His life is good. He is well-respected and well-compensated for his work. So rather than reject Him, Jesus simply tells him the truth. If he becomes one of Jesus' followers, he will have to leave behind the comforts of home. He will have to give up his comfy bed, regular paycheck, well-appointed house, and respected position in exchange for a life of uncertainty and anonymity. Following Jesus is about emulating His life. Jesus had no place to call His home. So neither would this man. Jesus didn't have a regular nine-t0-five job with a paycheck, so neither would this man. Jesus was obligated to follow the will of God each and every day of His life. And the same would be true for this man – if he decided to follow Jesus. But he didn't. The passage seems to infer that the man's enthusiasm dwindled when he heard the truth. He lost his zeal when he discovered the reality of what it meant to follow Jesus.

It would seem that Jesus was interested in followers who knew the whole truth regarding discipleship. It was not easy. It was not always comfortable. In fact, it was costly. Perhaps we do too many people a disservice today because we fail to tell them the entire truth regarding a life committed to Christ. We paint too pleasant a picture. We go out of our way to make following Christ look like it is going to be a romp in the park. We accentuate the ease by which one can follow Christ, because is it is based on a gift, offered freely to any and all who will accept it. But we fail to tell them that there is also a cost. While eternal life is the ultimate benefit of following Christ, there is still the fact that we must continue to live our lives here on this earth, complete with the presence of indwelling sin, the reality of an enemy who is out to destroy us (John 10:10) and a world that hates us. When someone follows Christ, they will be required to die to self, put off their sin and put on Christ every day, pursue righteousness, and submit to the Holy Spirit's rule over their lives. They will have to learn to "seek the Kingdom of Godabove all else, and live righteously" (Matthew 6:33 NLT), and trust God to meet all their needs. Jesus was honest with this man. So shouldn't we be with those to whom we share the Good News of Jesus Christ. It isn't that the Good News has bad news attached to it. It is that the Good News requires that we open our eyes to just how bad things are around us. There are temptations galore, trials of all kinds, troubles around every corner, our own sin natures to deal with, and daily decisions that will require us to obey God's will rather than our own. Our salvation requires our sanctification. We must be transformed into the likeness of Christ, and that is a lifelong, ongoing process that will not end until God calls us home or His Son returns for us. Following Jesus requires a commitment. It is not just about a ticket to heaven. It is a recognition of and dedication to having Jesus Christ take over our lives and transform us into His likeness, through the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Word of God. And it is well worth it – both now and for eternity.

Lord Jesus, thank You that You are always helping me understand the cost of following You. It is not a burden. It is part of the process of dying to my own will and learning to submit to that of our heavenly Father. I am slowly learning that His will is better. His Word is trustworthy. His Spirit is always right and worthy listening to. My way is wrong. My heart is wicked. My desires can be too selfish and my outlook on life, too limited. But You are changing all that, one day at a time – as I continue to follow You. Amen.

A Determination to Reach His Destination.

Matthew 19:1; Luke 9:51; John 7:10

"As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." – Luke 9:51 NLT

These three simple verses paint a vivid picture that records an important turning point or transition in the life of Jesus. It is here that we see Jesus earthly ministry begin to come to a close as He begins to focus on the true nature of His coming. He had one final assignment to complete for His time on earth to be truly successful and for Him to completely and perfectly fulfill His role as Messiah. The miracles and wonders He performed were simply proofs of who He was. What was to come next would be the reason for which He had come. Luke tells us that Jesus "resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51 NLT). Jesus knew what was waiting for Him in Jerusalem. He had already told the disciples what fate awaited Him there. He had begun "to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day, he would be raised from the dead" (Matthew 16:21 NLT). Peter rebuked Him when he heard this news. He told Jesus, "This will never happen to you!" (Matthew 16:22 NLT). But Jesus knew better. Not only would it happen, it had to happen. It was essential that it happen and in just the way Jesus had described it. It was all part of God's grand redemptive plan. And while Jesus knew exactly what was going to take place in the days ahead, He determined to set His sights and His attention on getting to Jerusalem. He would let nothing and no one stand in His way.

The Greek word Luke uses could be translated, “he set his face.” It is a Semitic idiom that speaks of a firm, unshakable resolve to do something. It is very similar to the thought found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, where the prophet records the words of the Messiah, hundreds of years before Jesus arrived on the scene. This prophetic passage envisions the future Messiah, the Lord's Servant, and it is a vivid picture of Jesus. In it, the Messiah is recorded as saying, "The Sovereign LORD has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spittly. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. There, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame" (Isaiah 50:5-7 NLT). Written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, this passage provides a remarkably accurate glimpse into the final days of Jesus' life on earth. And it tells us that the future Messiah would be determined to do the will of God, refusing to be distracted or deterred from His God-ordained responsibility.

I can't help but read these words and think about how often I refuse to do those things that I find distasteful or not enjoyable. Even when I know the task at hand is important or even essential, if it is not something I particularly want to do, I will find every excuse in the world NOT to do it. But here was Jesus, facing the most repulsive tasks any man could ever face, and He was determined to do it and do it well. He knew that He was going to be beaten, mocked, spit on, whipped, slapped, ridiculed, betrayed, deserted, and ultimately nailed to a cross where He would be left to die in horrific agony. And yet, He "set His face" to go to Jerusalem. For Jesus, it was all about doing the will of His Father who had sent Him. It was about obedience and faithfulness. It was about the trust He had in His Father because He knew His Father was trustworthy and faithful. "Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced" (Isaiah 50:7 NLT). Isaiah also records these words from the future Messiah and they are a wonderful encouragement to us when we face difficulties or times when the task at hand seems to much for us to handle. "Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God" (Isaiah 50:10 NLT). Jesus was headed toward Jerusalem. The days ahead would be filled with a gathering gloom as the religious leaders increased their attacks on Him. Satan Himself would be seeking ways to destroy Him. One of Jesus' own disciples would betray Him. All the rest would end up deserting Him. But He knew He could trust in the LORD and rely on His God. So He set His face like a stone and headed to Jerusalem, determined to finish what He had begun.

Lord Jesus, I have no earthly idea what You were feeling as You made your way to Jerusalem in those days. I don't know what was going through Your heart and mind. I only know how I would have felt if I had been in Your place. Everything in me would have been scheming and rationalizing ways in which to put off what lay ahead. I would have wanted to avoid the future at all costs. I would have begged my heavenly Father to come up with another plan, another way. I would have had a pity party and become sullen and angry. But yet, You continued to minister, teach, heal, encourage, disciple and love those very same people who would end up rejecting You in the end. You faced Your future with determination and placed Your life in the trustworthy hands of Your Father. Oh, that I might learn to do the same. Amen.