Dealing With Our Stuff

Most of us naturally believe that our opinions are correct, that we see clearly and have the solutions that others need. However we often have difficulty putting those same solutions in practice ourselves. Jesus addressed these issues in Luke 6:37-42 with his contemporaries, who were quite religious and believed that they had it all together, because they practiced the religious law to their own standard. In so doing, they didn’t realize that there was a higher standard to that law to which they were being held account. Jesus helped them to see that standard through his teaching. He warned them about judging and condemning others, which can be very easy to do. However, the result was that rather than helping the other person, they received judgment and condemnation in return. Rather, he instructed his followers to practice generosity, the result of which would be to receive generosity in return. In other words, we are to give grace and understanding to the defects that we see in those around us. Even Jesus, who is the Son of God extended extreme grace and understanding with those around him. When we judge and condemn another person, we usurp Jesus’ role in their life, placing ourselves above him, which he instructs us not to do. Rather than usurping his role, we are to be like him in practicing patience with the shortcomings of those we know. Our role is to be instructed by him so that as our training progresses we become more and more like him. Therefore, we should not think that we can assist someone else until we have addressed the issues that plague us, which Jesus indicates can be and often are larger than what our acquaintances and friends are addressing. Only after we deal with our own issue(s), can we be objective, see clearly enough in Jesus’ words, to address the issues that those around us face. Jesus reminds those of us who follow him, that we are not to live as everyone else lives, but to emulate the way that he lives to show others a better way.

Jesus’ Upside Down Kingdom

After calling Levi (who was also called Matthew and became one of the twelve apostles), Jesus accompanied him to his home for a banquet along with other tax collectors. Seeing Jesus’ behavior, the Pharisees and Scribes complained to his disciples about Jesus associating with unsavory people. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish tax collectors were perceived to be collaborators with the hated Roman government. Rather than being government workers, the tax collectors were businessmen who bid on regions in which they would collect taxes from their countrymen. They would give the Roman government their percentage and keep the rest for themselves. They taxed the people as much as they could and enriched themselves along the way. They were considered traitors by the Jewish people. So when Jesus associated with them, it appeared that he was associating with the enemy. However Jesus had a different view on the matter. When criticized by the religious leaders, Jesus explained that the healthy have no need of a physician, but the unhealthy do. Jesus explained he had come to call sinners to repentance, not the righteous. When Jesus saw the tax collector he didn’t see a traitor, but someone who needed to be set free. His compassion drew many people to him, because they knew they needed help to escape the life they had chosen to lead. Jesus’ statement here reflects the upside down nature of his kingdom. Jesus calls those who realize their need of him to follow him and thus are blessed, these are those to whom Jesus referred in the beatitudes as “poor in spirit”. To those who are outwardly upright, they have no perceived need for Jesus and refuse to leave their socially acceptable life to follow him. Since other men approve of them and the way they live their lives, they mistakenly assume that God does as well. However their pride keeps them distant from God and distant from Jesus. These remain without the offered blessing because they fail to recognize their need for Jesus. They are those in John who claimed to have sight, but Jesus told them that their sin remained. They failed to be poor in spirit. They continue to live their lives seeking the praise of other men, while missing out on the joy of knowing and walking with God.

The Radical Nature of Jesus’ Kingdom

Jesus’ healing of the man with leprosy indicates the radical nature of Jesus’ kingdom breaking into the world’s reality. In the Old Testament those afflicted with leprosy were isolated and forced to stay apart; what is today called “social distancing”. They also were required to declare their uncleanliness lest anyone inadvertently get too close to them and possibly become infected. Even when the prophet Elisha healed the Syrian general Naaman, he didn’t approach or touch him, but sent him away to bath in the Jordan River. Modern medicine follows a similar approach to disease by creating barriers so that an infectious disease might not spread. Isolation of the infected and mask wearing by medical professionals have been common approaches for decades in the battle against disease. As I child I remember when those infected with Tuberculosis were sent away to Sanitariums to recover.

However, when the man with leprosy approached Jesus, Jesus didn’t put on gloves or a mask, he didn’t require social distancing or tell the man to isolate himself; on the contrary, after the man expressed belief that Jesus could heal him, Jesus reached out to the man and touched him. In the world, that would mean that Jesus had become infected, but the opposite took place, the leprosy fled from Jesus and left the man. Jesus’ action reveals how the kingdom of God is so different from how life is lived in the world. For those who follow Jesus, it requires a rethinking of how we approach life and the implications for living in this world. It also explains why those who don’t know Jesus live with such fear in a world filled with sickness, disease and tragedy. Yet the follower of Jesus can take courage from Jesus’ words that in this world we will experience tribulation, but to take heart because he has overcome the world. Jesus’ words mean that the follower of Jesus always has a reason to be joyful and always has a reason to have hope. That is a great way to live.

The Issue of Credibility

In Luke 4 after Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever, many came to him to be healed. Some of those who came were tormented by demons, whom Jesus rebuked and sent away from their victims. As they left, they started to declare that Jesus was the Son of God, but Jesus silenced them. His action raises the question of why did Jesus prevent the demons from declaring that he was the Messiah, the Son of God? At first glance it doesn’t seem to make sense. Since Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God, wouldn’t it make sense that Jesus just let them speak the truth? In this case, no. Since demons are not credible whatever they say would be taken as false, or a trick. Those hearing the demons could come to all kinds of conclusions about what they said, but they probably would not believe that the demons were actually telling the truth, which in this case they actually were. In fact, we know that later on the religious leaders declared that Jesus was in league with Satan. Demons declaring that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God could lead some to this conclusion. In order to protect the people from coming to a false conclusion, because of what the demons declared, Jesus silenced the demons so that the people could come to their own conclusion about Jesus by listening to what he said and observing what he did.

When someone loses credibility, what they say is often not believable, even when they are telling the truth. This situation presents us with two realities. First, it is important for us to live consistent and authentic lives which will lead to our being credible when we communicate with others, not to mention all the other benefits of living in such a manner. If we gain the reputation for not being consistent, or fudging the truth then whatever we say will be called into question. Second, while it is wise to consider the source when we hear or read something, it is also wise to look into what is said independently in order to determine the truth on its own merits.

Addressing Apparent Truths

At times it is logical to form an impression or conclusion about someone that while partially true and based in fact can lead us to an inaccurate and destructive conclusion. A partial truth can be just as deceptive and dangerous as an outright lie. Jesus came to reveal not only outright lies, but partial truths that can also deceive us.

When he addressed the demonized man in Capernaum’s synagogue he did just that. The man with the demonic spirit revealed what might have been the people’s view of God. If Jesus was from God had he come to destroy them? The people didn’t view God as necessarily benevolent, but as a judge ready to condemn them for their misdeeds. Their history with God in the desert was a violent one and the people at that time lived in fear of who God was. When they had disobeyed by worshiping an idol, the judgment was severe. From their perspective God was severe, harsh and dangerous, best left alone for others like Moses and the prophets to deal with, while they went about their religious responsibilities. Even up until their own time, God was shrouded in mystery. The High Priest could only enter God’s presence in the Holy of Holies, the inner most part of the temple in Jerusalem one time a year, on the day of atonement. With his question posed to Jesus, the demonic spirit played upon these fears in the people implying that since Jesus was from God, he was there to judge and destroy them. Jesus immediately confronted that lie and cast out the lying demonic spirit. However, Jesus’ actions and authoritative words caused even more amazement/fear to rise up in the people.

To create fear was not Jesus purpose, he came in order to set people free and correct the misconceptions that the people had regarding who God is. The Greek term for salvation is used in three different contexts and translated with three different words. It is used how it is often translated in English to save someone from their sins and bring them into a right relationship with God. However, it is also translated as healing someone from a physical ailment, as in the case of the woman who reached out and touched Jesus’ cloak and was healed. Finally it was used in the case of freeing individuals from demonic spirits. In other words, Jesus did not come to destroy man, but he came to help people in whatever need they had and reveal to them that this was God’s heart toward them.

A Surprising Need for Freedom

When Jesus addressed the people of Nazareth in the synagogue he received an unusual reaction. Understandably, they were surprised when he applied a prophetic declaration from Isaiah to himself and in so doing indicated that he was their Messiah. They revealed surprise and wonder, because Jesus had grown up among them. Some of them knew him when he was a boy, even though he had been born while his parents were away at Bethlehem and had been gone several years. They had seen him and understood him to be a good son of Mary and Joseph the carpenter. But now he claimed to be the Messiah! They had heard what Jesus had already done in other parts of Galilee, particularly Capernaum so they expected he would do the same and possibly more for his hometown. Instead he shocked them with statements taken from the Old Testament that demonstrated that prophets were never honored where they had grown up, among their family and friends. Elijah stayed with a widow from the foreign city of Sidon during the three and half year drought and famine, not among one of the many widows that were in Israel. Elisha healed a leper from the foreign and historic enemy, Syria, rather than a leper from Israel. In so doing, Jesus uncovered a secret issue of pride in their hearts and it provoked them to anger and rage. These people were not naturally violent people; they were not criminals or gang members. Rather they were normal, up-standing, church-going people, who were so angry that they tried to murder Jesus by pushing him off a cliff! This episode from Jesus’ life reveals what may be hidden in the human heart. A murderous rage can emerge when an uncomfortable truth is revealed; a truth that had been denied to others and even to themselves, but could not do so any longer. What was hiding in the hearts of the apparently upstanding people of Nazareth, could also hide in anyone of us. Jesus came and sent his Spirit to address such issues in our lives so that we might be set free. The questions is for us, will we acknowledge our need for freedom and let him accomplish his surgery upon us?

Knowing Jesus

How do we know we belong to Jesus? John, whom we also identify as “the Baptist”, was a prophet in the mold of the Old Testament. Theologians consider him to be the last of the Old Testament prophets. In his message to the people he was blunt and even harsh. To the people who came out to him to be baptized, he bluntly called them “a generation of vipers”. Even with such blunt harshness, the people came to him in droves and considered him a prophet. He called them to change their lives, to live a life that reflected repentance and warned them not to depend on the fact that they were descendants of Abraham because God could raise up children of Abraham from the stones. John’s words are worthy of consideration. John warned the people not to depend upon a connection that did not produce in the individual, actions consistent with that relationship. In those days, both John and later Jesus, pointed out the hypocrisy of the way religious people lived. While the religious people identified with Abraham and Moses, their lives did not reflect the way that Abraham and Moses had lived. In other words, their actions denied the relationship that they claimed. The same came be true today for those of us who claim to follow Jesus. Following Jesus is more than believing a certain set of doctrines or adhering to a certain theological position. Following Jesus implies a relationship with him that has impact on the way that we live our life. Does the way we live our life reflect more the values of the world that ignores Jesus, or the way that Jesus lived and taught? It is a question worth pondering.

What do you do when the truth isn’t credible?

The birth of Jesus recorded in Luke revealed a dilemma for Mary and Joseph; who is Jesus, Mary’s baby? The truth was that Mary had become pregnant, not by Joseph, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. In their world, as today, this is not a credible explanation. This reality left Mary and Joseph with a dilemma, do they insist on the truth and be considered demented laughing stocks or do they let people believe the logical conclusion, that Joseph was the father of Jesus? The rest of Luke’s gospel indicates that the latter was the approach they followed. Luke later mentions that Jesus was “thought to be Joseph’s son.” Twelve years later at the temple, Mary chastised Jesus for staying at the temple telling him that she and his father, meaning Joseph, had been worried about him. Jesus on the other hand took a different approach. His response here and later was to affirm that God was his father. He told Mary that she should have known that he had to be in his Father’s house, not Joseph’s house, but God’s, the temple. Luke comments that Mary and Joseph did not understand what Jesus had said to them. His comment is thought provoking. Both Mary and Joseph had received an explanation from the angel Gabriel on who Jesus was. Both Mary and Joseph knew that Joseph was not Jesus’ father, so the question remains, why didn’t they understand Jesus’ words that he had to be about his Father’s business? If it was difficult for Mary and Joseph to comprehend what Jesus had said, imagine how difficult it would have been for others to do so.

Nevertheless, while the truth, for many people was impossible to believe, John would reveal later that Jesus’ affirmation that God was his father was one of the reasons that the religious leaders plotted to kill him. Others would consider him out of his mind, even some family members came at one point to take him away, because they thought he had lost his mind. In other words, Jesus would eventually die because he refused to deny the truth of his identity. Mary’s practice of presenting Jesus as Joseph’s son could have caused her to forget who Jesus really was and possibly created an obstacle for her other children who Scripture tells us didn’t believe in Jesus during his lifetime, although later two of them, Jude and James, would later become leaders in the church.

Mary’s example while logical, is in contrast to the way Jesus lived. Both of them cause us to reflect on how we will live. When we choose not to live authentically, we run the risk of believing a lie and leading others to do the same. On the other hand, living out the truth can be costly, so we have a choice. We can either let people believe what they will and not correct them with the truth, as Mary and Joseph did, or we can pay the price and walk in the truth as Jesus did. Scripture teaches us that the way of living a free life is to walk in the light (truth) as Jesus walked in the light. In that way, while we may be ridiculed, which by the way, Jesus said we would be, we live in the freeing knowledge that we are living authentic lives as Jesus did.

Kingdom Energy

The Lord’s Prayer ends by declaring that God’s kingdom, power and glory will last forever. That means that Jesus’ kingdom is fundamentally different than the present world. To last forever, Jesus’ kingdom must run with different physical laws than the world that is passing away, wearing out, and running down. In the world, even though energy is neither lost nor gained, it does get transferred into non-reusable forms like heat. When I was twelve, I received a new Schwinn 3 speed bicycle. My parents gave me a headlight that was powered by a small generator, which in turn was powered by the back wheel. I loved riding as fast as I could to see how bright the light would get. I asked my dad why we didn’t put little generators on everything so that we could power the world. That was when I got my first lesson on the Laws of Thermodynamics. As its used, energy gets transformed into less usable forms. For example, the energy used to pedal my bicycle was transferred to light, heat from the light, and friction in the generator. Not all my energy was transferred efficiently to light, but some was expended in heat and friction.

In nuclear fission, energy is released through the division of atoms, but in nuclear fusion, energy is release by uniting atoms. In fact more energy is released by combining atoms, than in nuclear fission by dividing them. That is why scientists hope to develop nuclear fusion to solve our energy problems. However, this may be a glimpse into Jesus’ kingdom physics. Like nuclear fusion, a multiplication of energy takes place, as in the multiplication of the bread through Jesus’ word, a little was multiplied, but more was left over in the end than the disciples began with. In the present world, this doesn’t make sense, but in Jesus’ kingdom it makes perfect sense. Therefore when we align our life with Jesus, a shift takes place as we begin to see Jesus’ kingdom principles take effect; we discover that he supplies more than we need and surprisingly there are still left-overs.

Dealing With Affluence

For those of us who live in the developed world, we have the challenge of dealing with our affluence. It is important for us to recognize the dangerous snare that the so-called American Dream lays out for us. While the American Dream promises comfort and an appearance of security, it has a high cost of superficiality and complacency. Jesus warned his disciples that we cannot serve two masters, God and money, because we will love one and hate the other (Matthew 6:24). Paul was even more pointed in his warning, declaring that those who desire to get rich, which is at the core of the American Dream, will fall into temptation which will lead them toward destruction. Paul even declared that some leave their faith in Jesus because they become so enamored with the attraction of riches (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

With this in mind, we are not surprised when we read Jesus’ teaching to the disciples that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Luke 18:24-25). To the disciples, Jesus’ words meant that no one could enter, but Jesus gave hope. With men, it is surely impossible, but with God, all things are possible (Luke 18:27). Chapter 19 of Luke demonstrates this very fact. A wealthy tax collector, Zacchaeus, gave away his wealth to the poor and restored what he had stolen, plus interest. Zacchaeus was a very wealthy man who entered the kingdom, not by his own power, but by God’s transforming love, revealed to him in Jesus.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus indicated why it is so difficult for the wealthy to enter into the kingdom. Jesus declared blessed those who are poor in spirit, hungry, sorrowful, and ostracized—but he declared woe upon those who are wealthy, well-fed, happy, and well-spoken of by all (Luke 6:20-26). Those who he referred to as blessed have a constant motivation to do what Jesus said. They ask, seek, and knock because they have need to seek out God, but those who have the woes of worldly blessings have no such need and, therefore, live in complacency (Luke 11:9-13). In other words, those who seek and achieve the American Dream may live in comfort and apparent security, but because of their affluence, they may mistakenly think that they have no need for God—and they may then refrain from seeking him out. According to Jesus, this is a woeful state in which to live. Paul gave us the key to living whether in plenty or in want to learn to be content, because in our dependence upon Jesus we know that we can do all things. (Philippians 4:12-13)