The Irony of Jesus’ Leadership

It is fascinating to see how much irony is found in the Bible. In Matthew 20, Jesus had just informed his followers that he would be crucified. To say the least that was not good news or a positive message. However, right after Jesus’ statement two of his followers, James and John, along with their mother, approached Jesus to request what they thought were the two most important and powerful positions in Jesus’ Kingdom, to be at his right and left when he came into his Kingdom. Jesus told them they didn’t know what they were asking. They sure didn’t. They thought they were asking for positions of power and prestige. He asked them if they were willing and able to drink from the cup he was about to drink; they said they were. Even though they said they were willing, Jesus said that those positions were reserved for those prepared by the Father. Jesus entered into his Kingdom when he was crucified, so in effect these two brothers were asking to be crucified on Jesus’ right and left. Those two spots would be filled by two convicted thieves.

Afterwards the other 10, making the same assumption that the brothers made, were offended because of what the brothers had asked for. Jesus explained to them greatness in his Kingdom, contrasting it with how leadership and authority is exercised in the world. In the world, leaders use power and authority to make sure their followers comply with their commands. The threat of punishment or loss makes sure that followers in the world’s system comply, not so in the Kingdom of Jesus. In Jesus’ Kingdom servants and slaves are the leaders, just like Jesus, who although he was the Son of God identified himself as a servant. Now this is also different from the world’s way. In the world, no one chooses to be a slave, they are forced to be one. However, in Jesus’ Kingdom, Jesus instructed his followers to voluntarily choose to be a slave. That raises an important question. Why would anyone voluntarily choose or aspire to slavery? Actually it is for the same reason that Jesus did, for love. Jesus informed his followers that there is no greater love than for one to lay down his life for his friends. Jesus chose to be identified as a slave because of love. His followers aspire to be slaves because of their love for others. The world does not see this as greatness, but in Jesus Kingdom it is. This one story reveals how different Jesus’ Kingdom is from the way that the world operates. It also explains why in the first century, the message of Jesus was so offensive to those in positions of power and affluence, but appealed to the slaves and powerless. For those following Jesus, there exists a daily decision to determine according to whose values one will live, the world’s or Jesus’.

The Transforming Power of Jesus’ Death

As Jesus hung on the cross, the crowd taunted him saying that he saved others, he should save himself. Their taunt revealed how much they misunderstood Jesus They judged Jesus by their own standards, rather than by God’s love. Their value was to save themselves, to do what would benefit themselves and assumed that Jesus was just like them. They were wrong. Up until Jesus’ time the value was “might makes right.” A victorious general came and conquered a city; then he made the law and did what he wanted. He killed the men, women and children he chose, or allowed his soldiers to do so. He allowed them to rape any woman or child they desired. He enslaved whomever he wanted and took them from their home to his. Compassion and forgiveness were considered foolish. The disabled were shunned and left to beg and fend for themselves. It was a very different world before Jesus died on the cross. But after Jesus died, when he refused to save himself as the crowd taunted, the world began to change. For the first time in human history, Jesus revealed the power of someone sacrificing himself for the benefit of others, even when virtually no one understood what he was doing. After Jesus, his followers went out and proclaimed the power of love for your neighbor and your enemy in Jesus’ name. Their persecuted communities were so attractive that at first primarily slaves were drawn and then those who were free, even some in Caesar’s own household became followers of Jesus. Baby girls who had been abandoned at the order of their own fathers, were taken in by followers of Jesus to raise these girls as their own daughters. Over the centuries Europe was transformed from a warring group of tribal kings to a society in which the poor and abandoned were cared for. Today, we have hospitals for the sick; we have schools where all children, wealthy or poor, can go and receive an education. We have values where everyone’s rights are acknowledged not based on how much they can contribute to society, but because they are people. The world in which we live was shaped by Jesus’ decision not to save himself. It is a good thing for you and me that he chose not to listen to those taunting him, because if he hadn’t done what he did, we would live in a world where the vast majority of us would live under the oppression of a few powerful men, just like all the world did prior to Jesus.


Seeing God’s Image and Reading His Inscription



No one enjoys paying taxes, even in Jesus’ day. Jesus’ enemies hoped to put Jesus in an awkward situation regarding taxes, but Jesus used it to give us revelation about who man is and how God expects him to live. The trick question regarded paying taxes to Caesar (Luke 20:22). The trick involved putting Jesus in an apparent no win situation, because if he said they should pay taxes to Caesar it would diminish Jesus’ standing among the people, who hated paying taxes to Caesar. On the other hand, if Jesus denied that they should pay taxes to Caesar, they could condemn him to the Roman governor as a rebel and trouble maker. Considering their duplicity, Jesus asked them a question, whose image and inscription was upon a coin. Their response was that it was Caesar’s, who had minted the coins of that day. Therefore Jesus told them to give back to Caesar what is his, the money he had created, but more importantly, they were to give back to God what is God’s. The question is, what did Jesus mean by giving back to God what is his? In response we should ask ourselves where is God’s image and where is his inscription? The creation account in Genesis 1, declares that God created man in his image, male and female he created them. That means, every man, woman and child, bears God’s image in their body and being. Furthermore, we know from Scripture, that God has written eternity in man’s heart. Every time we look at a human being, we get a glimpse of the image of God. Every time we see someone sacrificially loving someone else, we are reading God’s inscription. So how do we give back to God? What Jesus identified as the greatest commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is how we give back to God. Ironically, the resistance we display to paying taxes indicates a rival to loving God, humans tends to love money and possessions more than they love God, which is why it can irritate us to pay taxes to the state and federal government. We don’t like to be separated from that which we love anymore than the people of Jesus day hated paying taxes to Caesar. That resistance should cause us to take a moment to pause to ask ourselves where our devotion lies, to money or to God.

“When describing the temple, Jesus declared it to be a house of prayer (Matthew 21:13). The temple was and is to be a place in which we meet and converse with God. Prior to the coming of the Spirit, the temple was a building, but after his coming, the temple became a people indwelt with the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:20). Since we are the people of God, we are to reflect that identity by prayer and communion with God.” (Outrageous Prayer, page 8).

https://www.amazon.com/Outrageous-Prayer-Praying-Jesus-Prayed- ebook/dp/B09RW88FZC

True Freedom Comes From Overcoming Fear

When Jesus gave his disciples counsel on the way to live their lives, his desire was to set them free and to live lives free of fear and anxiety. One example of this was when Jesus instructed his disciples not to fear men, but rather to fear God (Luke 12:4-13). When considering Jesus’ teaching here it is important to remember what Jesus meant by the word “fear”. While Scripture on numerous occasions instructs us to “fear the Lord” and “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”, Jesus also commanded his disciples to stop being afraid in times when they encountered angels or God. Obviously, Jesus was not contradicting himself, but rather using the term “fear/afraid” in two different senses. On the numerous occasions when Jesus instructed his disciples not to be afraid; he referred to their being stricken with terror. Jesus doesn’t not want us to be terrified when we are in God’s presence, his presence or the presence of an angel. Jesus has revealed himself as our friend, being terrified of him is completely inappropriate.

However, when Jesus instructed his disciples not to fear men and to fear God, he meant fear not in the sense of terror, but rather in the sense of being concerned about what men or God think; other words we might use are “respect” or “honor”. In Luke 12 Jesus told his disciples not to fear men, because their power is limited. They can only kill the body. In contrast Jesus instructed them to fear God for this reason. God had the power to impact their existence after death, as well as caring for them in life, even the very hairs on their head were numbered. Jesus gives to us a very practical way of living, we are to pay attention to the one who truly cares about us, rather than those whose care for us is inconsistent and often tainted by their own interests.

Jesus continued to address the disciples’ heart, by addressing how they live their lives. If they confess Jesus before men, then Jesus, the Son of Man, will confess them before the angels of God. However, if they deny him, then they will be denied as well. This response is the practical result of what Jesus said before, fear drives our behavior. As before fear is this case is not a terror related fear, but a caring what another person will think. Ironically, we do not know what another person will think in a given situation, we may think we know based on past experience, but we do not know for certain. If we fear men, then our behavior will be impacted by that fear. Our fear motivates us to act in a way that we believe will put in us a favorable light in that person’s eyes. That means our life will always be controlled by our opinion or belief what another person will think when we say or do a certain thing. In other words we have now given the power to control us to other people. That is in effect a self-imposed slavery to another’s opinion and a pretty miserable way to live. However if we fear God, knowing at the same time that we may look foolish or simple or possibly even offend men, then we reveal that our hearts are aligned toward God and we truly care more about God than we care about the opinions of other men. The benefit of following Jesus’ approach to life is that first we know what God will think and do when we live that way, because Jesus tells us, along with experiencing his promise to care of us. Second we don’t have to live in fear of what other men may or may not do, which greatly reduces our anxiety and correspondingly increases the level of peace we experience.

True Christianity

On one occasion, Jesus pointed out to his disciples that only those to whom the Son revealed himself would know him and the Father, not necessarily the wise and intelligent, but to childlike people. Then he blessed his disciples, because great people, prophets and kings, desired to see what they were currently seeing. Jesus’ point is that we do not get to him through wisdom, intelligence, study or education. He is not seen through our reason, but through revelation, because he is more than a philosophy or a topic of study, he is to be revealed and known through experience and life lived together.

What Jesus says here makes me think of what I’ve been reading in “A History of Christianity” by Latourette, when he stated that Christianity was influenced by Platonic and Neoplatonic thought. Beginning in the 4th century Christianity officially became doctrinal during Constantine’s calling of the Council of Nicea. In Constantine, Christianity passed from the Age of Catholic Christianity to the Age of the Christian Empire. Constantine’s intent was to unify Christians, but the result was further division and to set Christianity on a course of doctrinal truth being the standard for the Christian faith. The emphasis on doctrine required individuals to study to know the doctrine and perhaps the reasons behind it as the primary way of following Jesus. Many Christians at that time, possibly even including Constantine, did not value or appreciate the intellectual exercise of the theological debate regarding Jesus’ deity leading up to the Council of Nicea, rather as in the words of one who had suffered for his faith in the persecutions reminded the debaters that “Christ did not teach us dialectics, art, or vain subtleties, but simple-mindedness, which is preserved by faith and good-works.” (Latourette, v. 1, page 154). What this faithful and unnamed Christian declared resembles what Jesus declared to his disciples. Too often, we have let our culture, particularly the intellectualism of our culture define what it means to be a Christian. Christianity is following a person who is alive and able to guide us and teach us how to live. He, in the person of the Holy Spirit, does not tend to teach us formal lessons, or give us a systematic approach to the Christian faith and life, but he addresses how we should respond in any given situation, resulting in the good-works mentioned by that Christian follower of the 4th century.

“Jesus told them that their good example would give glory to their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16), and by expressing love for their enemies, they would reveal themselves to be sons of their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44-45). Practicing righteousness without regard to being honored by people would produce acknowledgment from their Father in heaven (Matthew 6:1, 4). Praying in solitude would cause their Father in heaven to recognize them (Matthew 6:6, 8). Refusal to forgive would remove their Father’s forgiveness of them (Matthew 6:15; 11:25)”(Outrageous Prayer, page 23) https://www.amazon.com/Outrageous-Prayer-Praying-Jesus-Prayed-ebook/dp/B09RW88FZC

Freedom That No One Can Take Away

When Jesus declared to the 70 that they should not rejoice in their authority over evil spirits, he pointed out an important spiritual truth. We tend to equate our self-worth and value with what we can do or accomplish. The 70 had done great things with the authority that Jesus had given to them, even so Jesus warned them not to rejoice in that, but rather to rejoice in their connection with heaven. When we rejoice in the things that we can accomplish, we actually enslave ourselves to our abilities, which with time can diminish and we can feel that we have nothing to offer. When Jesus instructs us to rejoice in our relationship with heaven, he is once again setting us free, because no matter what abilities we have in any particular season of life, we will always have reason to rejoice because we will remain connected to heaven. Jesus’ words also sets us free from the enslavement of others’ evaluation of our accomplishments. When others praise us for a job well-done, we should not put too much stock in their words, even though they are very nice to hear. On the other hand, we should not take it to heart when others criticize what we have done, even though those words might be hard to hear. Why is that? Opinions and evaluations of us and our accomplishments come and go, but they are not the basis of who we are or the value that we offer. If we stay focused and value what Jesus says about us, then we will live freely indeed.

Jesus said that he had come to set the captives free, while we may not think of Jesus’ words to the 70 in that light, when we take them to heart, we experience a new level of freedom from our own and others expectations of us.

One of the disciples came to Jesus and issued a command, “teach us to pray.” One thing that we learn from Jesus’ model prayer is that he commanded them to pray in a bold manner. Such a prayer indicates the intimacy a believer has with Father, because one does not typically speak in such a direct manner unless there exists a very close relationship. (Outrageous Prayer, page 4) https://www.amazon.com/Outrageous-Prayer-Praying-Jesus-Prayed- ebook/dp/B09RW88FZC

The Superiority of Jesus’ Leadership

In Luke 10, we read an account of Jesus sending 70 of his followers out ahead of him to do two things: to proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He sent 35 teams of 2 out to the cities and villages to which he would come later. Previously, Jesus had asked his disciples who the people said he was. They responded with two answers, either John the Baptist, raised from the dead, or one of the great prophets. However, in this action of sending these 35 teams, Jesus demonstrated that he was greater than even the greatest of prophets, proving he was not one of them, but someone greater.

These teams were like heralds, as John the Baptist was a herald to all of Israel, who proclaimed both the nearness of the God’s Kingdom, fulfilling Isaiah 61:1 by proclaiming good news and healing up the brokenhearted. These messengers/heralds both did what John did, but even what John the Baptist did not do. They both proclaimed the Kingdom, which John did, but they also healed the sick, which we have no record of John doing. In this sense, this was an even greater sign than John’s ministry, because it wasn’t just one person ministering, but 70. What Jesus did, his heralds did also. The prophets of old, like Elijah and Elisha raised the dead and healed the sick, but they had no authority to delegate that authority to others. This was a great sign of Jesus’ power and authority, because he delegated his authority to heal to others, something that neither John nor the prophets did. In this way, he demonstrated that truly he was someone greater than John the Baptist or the great prophets of old.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, when his enemies thought that they would never have to deal with Jesus again, his followers went out and transformed the world. First they transformed the Roman Empire, which for three hundred years tried to eliminate all Christians. Then after the western Roman Empire perished, Jesus’ followers went out and transformed the very same kingdoms that had conquered Rome. These kingdoms could conquer Rome, but they could not resist Jesus. Today we live with esteemed values such as equality, compassion, benevolence and forgiveness, when in Jesus’ day they were identified as signs of weakness and viewed negatively. These values did not originate from some enlightenment philosopher, but with Jesus and were communicated to the world through Jesus’ followers. Jesus’ leadership and influence are so great today that the vast majority of people living in the western world assume the values that he taught to be true and by there very lives demonstrate and prove his relevance today. Jesus not only changed people, he has and continues to transform nations and cultures. He was and is so vastly superior to any leader or prophet, that there is no comparison.

Love Your Enemies

In Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Mount, he recorded Jesus’ teaching to his disciples regarding how we are to act toward those who oppose us. Jesus said some surprising things that often go counter to how we understand self-preservation. Surprisingly, Jesus tells us to love and act kindly toward those whom we consider our enemies. We are not to oppose those who seek to take advantage of us, counsel that appears to be childish, naive and foolish. Yet, this is what Jesus said. I believe it is important for us to understand the wisdom of following Jesus’ counsel, because Jesus’ objective is different and higher than ours. Our objective often is self-preservation; we desire to protect ourselves, our possessions and our loved ones. Jesus desires for us to communicate the kindness of God toward others.

Actually, Jesus taught a principle that Paul summarized in Ephesians 4:32, we are to be kind and compassionate to one another as our Father is compassionate toward us. However, here Jesus was speaking about doing that toward those who are our enemies and those who mistreat us. Although Jesus didn’t elaborate in Luke 6, I believe Paul helps us understand what Jesus is getting at in Ephesians 6. In that passage, Paul explained that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities. In other words, those whom we consider our enemies, the ones to whom Jesus referred are not our enemies, but deceived by our true enemies, those to whom Paul referred to as powers and principalities. When we are kind to those who mistreat, we defeat the lies that they have believed and reveal to them God’s true nature. Jesus is teaching us to see others and act towards them as God sees them (and us). In so doing, we reveal to them how God sees them through our kindness towards them. To do so we too must overcome a lie we have believed that we must protect ourselves, our possessions and our loved ones in order to accomplish what Jesus instructs us in this passage. Jesus promises to take care of us, which includes protecting us, so that we are freed to actually love and care for those who mistreat us. 

There Is Always More To Learn

Luke as did the other gospel writers recorded the episode where four men brought a paralytic to Jesus, but could not enter into the house because of the crowd around him. Not to be deterred, they went upon the roof and lowered the paralytic before Jesus. Seeing the men’s faith, Jesus declared to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. The scribes and Pharisees heard what Jesus said and immediately concluded that what Jesus said was blasphemy, because only God can forgive sins and Jesus was obviously a man. Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them why they had concluded such a thing. He asked them which was easier, to declare a man’s sins forgiven or tell the man to pick up his stretcher and walk. Jesus then, speaking to those who had accused him of blasphemy, told them that in order for them to know that he had authority on earth to forgive sins, he told the paralytic to pick up his stretcher and go to his home. The man immediately did so and went home praising God.

I find it interesting to consider the religious experts in this account. Rather than believe what Jesus said to them and demonstrated by powerfully healing the paralytic with a command, they chose to follow their own interpretation of God. It occurs to me how easy it is for us to call something heretical because it doesn’t align with our own interpretation of God or Jesus, rather than digging deeper and re-examining our own understanding that may not be wrong, but could very well be inadequate. No matter where we are in our journey with Jesus there is always more of God’s revelation to grasp. I have found that the Holy Spirit often teaches me through those with whom I initially disagree, because their words can stretch me and help me understand aspects about God that I had never considered before. I am learning to carefully consider ideas that I may not agree with to discover that I may have something to learn from them, rather than immediately rejecting the idea as heretical.

Jesus Available To All

At the time of Jesus’ birth, outside Bethlehem an angel announced Jesus’ birth to shepherds. The angel declared to them that their Savior, the Christ/Messiah had been born. They would have a sign of a child lying in a feeding trough, wrapped in swaddling clothes. This sign to the shepherds enabled them to find Jesus, because how many babies would be lying in a feeding trough? The shepherds’ arrival also would have confirmed to Mary and Joseph the identity of Jesus, who had been revealed to them and Elizabeth, but now was being revealed to others, even strangers to them.

The fact that Mary and Joseph were outside with the livestock would have made it easier for the shepherds to find them. Under normal circumstances a child is born in privacy in a home or shelter. Had that been the case the shepherds would have had to find the exact house and room where Jesus was, which would have been much more difficult than locating the livestock in a village, which were probably placed in one location. Having located the livestock, finding a child sleeping in a feeding trough, a very unusual occurrence, would have been much more doable. All was outside and accessible to them. Even in Jesus’ birth, we see that Jesus was not hidden away, but accessible to all who sought him. What was likely a great inconvenience to Mary and Joseph, possibly even a disappointment that Jesus was not born at home in Nazareth or at least in a house, turned out to be a blessing to those who were seeking to honor him. In those difficult circumstances for Mary and Joseph, Jesus was accessible for others to find and worship. This was the purpose of Jesus’ coming, that he would be available to anyone who sought him out. What was true then is still true today.