The Coming King: Luke 19v11-27

Jesus has wept over Jerusalem, he has warned the Pharisees, prophesied against the corrupt temple and he means for the judgement declared at the end of this parable to be taken seriously.

Now, for a long time, people have attached their thought regarding this parable to the parousia, or the final coming of Messiah. This is not, however, what Luke has in mind, nor Jesus. Luke does believe in the parousia of course...Acts 1v11...but that's not whats going on here.

The story is about a king who comes back to see what his servants are doing with what they have been given. He tells this story, like most of the stories he tells, so that they will recognize what he is doing in his ministry and what it means. The hidden meaning behind Jesus' long journey to Jerusalem Luke has been leading us along. The long awaited return of Israel's God to Zion...it's happening and this is what it looks like. Jesus was not just proclaiming it, He was embodying it...the blind see, the lame walk, good news is preached to the poor, the captives are set free...

Malachi talked about, 'The Lord, whom you seek' coming suddenly to the Temple, bringing fiery judgment. Zechariah talked of God coming with all his holy ones. "It's happening!" is Jesus' message "The Kingdom of God is near! Repent!" Who will be able to stand before him? But it can't look like this can it?

For ten chapters now Jesus has been warning that if his call is not heeded, judgment will fall on the nation, the city and the temple. God Himself is coming and the servant who hid away the things God entrusted to him will be found out. And in a word that will make cringe most post-modern readers with romantic, universalist, Jesus is my boyfriend and he loves everybody to the nth degree ideas about our king...he calls out those who opposed his rule, not just to be executed...but to be slaughtered right in front of Him. Jesus has tapped into something here...the parable is based on the events in the life of Archaleaus, the older brother of Herod Antipas. Jesus is implying that another unwanted King is coming back to power, not another wicked king, but the true King, the King with a message and a reality of grace and peace, the King who was rejected because the builders wanted to keep the kingdom for themselves.

So here's your three point sermon from this parable...

1. For everyone who thinks the Kingdom is coming immediately, and it is coming, it comes with judgment as well as mercy.

2. At Jesus' arrival to Jerusalem, the city that's already rejecting Him and His message, God's judgment is already being prepared. If they won't receive Him and His kingdom-message...there's nothing else that can be done.

3. Jesus' journey and the return of God Himself after the long exile are brought firmly and dramatically together. Jesus is not just talking of God, God's Kingdom, God's return to Zion, he's embodying it...concealed within His own Messianic mission, is the mission of God himself, in human form returning to the last city and temple dedicated to his honor and setting right at all levels, those things that have gone so terribly wrong.

While we still await the final parousia, we would likely do well to meditate on these things and let the Spirit lead us into a brighter future...Go in the grace and favor of the Lord, give all glory to God and please...be a profitable servant, a holy child.

ref. Luke for Everyone

3.

The Sycamore Tree: Luke 19v1-10

This is one of the most beloved stories in Sunday School...and its teaching is absolute heresy in the modern church. Here we see Jesus declare salvation by works. Zacchaeus in an effort to please Jesus does something, he acknowledges his sin, makes a behavioral change, acts on it and Jesus declares salvation has come to his house. But how can this be?

The story of Zacchaeus is the light at the end of a dark tunnel, a real answer to the parable of the rich young ruler, a real outworking of the parable of the prodigal son, the unfolding of the parable of the dishonest manager before the very eyes of onlookers. It sums up the themes of the issue with riches and what to do about it, why Jesus is hanging out with such 'sinners', faith that recognizes Jesus as Lord and as a result discovers repentance, reconciliation and new life. This is, as Jesus makes clear, where and how the rubber meets the road.

Let's look a little deeper before we go throwing our lot back in with 'salvation by works'.

Come and see, 'Zacchaeus ran on ahead, along the route Jesus was going to take, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him'. Father was foreshadowing in Zacchaeus what the Lord was going to accomplish at the cross and bring into the world, as it's written, "You are the Christ who is coming into the world." And how did Jesus know that the Father was doing this through Zaccaeus? It's written, 'Jesus came to the place and looked up' then Jesus called him down, he called that future into the present by an act of scandalous love, staying in the house of a sinner...dinning with an evil tax collector...but then what happens?

Zacchaeus' repentance explodes! Not only did he repent as in regular old Judaism, he made amends, reconciled and reconciled LAVISHLY! The Father's embrace had come!

TODAY! Salvation has come to this house! A son of Abraham has been restored...whether its by Jesus' word or deed or the ultimate and central act of the cross...the Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost and Luke is telling us all, "as Jesus told us before 'with God, all things are possible" and "This is what that 'Literally' looks like!" Salvation by works of the Spirit.

To Jerusalem, Come and See: Luke 18v31-43

Jesus pulls the 12 disciples aside and reminds them of where they are headed and what to expect. They still don't understand, they think he is still speaking in riddles or parable or literal, but that doesn't make sense does it? He's speaking in the Spirit, so its coming out in the third person? Pressure is building, they're trying to sort all this out and still not break fellowship and serve their master, follow their Rabbi...

This has got to be one of the biggest issues in listening to the words of Jesus, all of the Holy Scriptures for that matter. What's 'literal', 'parable', 'hyperbole','symbol', etc...some sects will argue that their literal interpretation is a strength, while others will argue that its a weakness and vice versa. These types of debates in the past have resulted in schism within fellowships, evil suspicions, quarrels about words and all sorts of unholiness. One of the things the emergent movement is bringing to the table is the ability to have fellowship and conversation over the scripture without fear of being burned at the stake, a willingness to be wrong and repent and new wave of people gathering together around Jesus. Now this may be, 'the Jesus of ones own understanding', never the less, people are gathering around a table of fellowship, centering in on Jesus and really trying to rediscover what it means to follow Jesus in the aftermath of modernist, romantic/enlightenment comprehension. Why are they doing this? Because people have seen through the 'Jesus' of the last 200 years. It's been said that God's purpose for post-modernism is to preach the fall to arrogant modernity. That can be clearly seen as true. One of the other blessings I've seen amongst the newer movements in Christendom is the willingness to have conversations that stretch back towards the roots, produce fruit in the present and reach forward through the mess to a hopeful future. Nothing less should ever be expected from a people who serve the God who was, is and is to come.

May we cry out to be healed of our blindness, saved from darkness and brought forward into His Glorious Light. Following the Word of God, glorifying God. Ourselves becoming a Light in the world, by which others come to see and give praise to the Most High. Amen

Faith vs. Accomplishment: Luke 18v15-30

In 'the world to come', the Jews believed that there would be peace, joy, tranquility, no more strife and envy, fear and pain, tears or sorrow, there would amazing opportunities and flourishing life...Heaven and Earth would be joined together again, Shekinah would envelope creation and there would be no more nakedness, but the knowledge of YHVH would cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. The writings of the Zohar say, "'Light is sown for the righteous, joy for the upright in heart (Psalm 97v11). Then the worlds will be fragrant and all will be one. But until the day when the world that is coming arrives, it is preserved, treasured away."

This is what most Christendom has reduced to 'eternal life', life that just goes on forever after we die. We have been missing out! The good news that Jesus has been and still does preach is that God's Kingdom, and the life that is found there 'the world to come' is breaking into this one! Receive it as a child! Look to the good God with the trusting, expectant eyes of a child! Smile! Rejoice! God is ruling the world with his loving, saving power and He is setting things to rights!

However, if you are too tied to what you already have, how are you to receive what your Father wants to give you? This has been God's call since Abraham...leave your fathers house and go to a place I will show you. It is a place you must receive and journey to in faith and its rewards, as Jesus makes clear, will far outweigh its costs, both in the present and more so as that age arrives with the life that belongs to that grand reconciliation. Progress and joy, this is the way of faith.

The Light has been sown and has sprouted forth producing fruit all over the world, revealing its treasures stored up for those who love you! Thank you Father! Blessed are you who have hidden these things from the eyes of the wise and righteous in their own sight and have revealed them to the little children. In Jesus name we praise you forever and always! Amen

Widows and Publicans: Luke 18v1-14

In these two parables Jesus presents us with some key new testament themes; namely justice, vindication and justification. There is not too much about this in the Gospels, but Paul (given his expertise) uses this language thoroughly in his writings. After the recent Casey Anthony trial, everyone may have this lawcourt imagery in their mind, perhaps you feel in that case that evil was let loose and good went to death unjustly, perhaps you are reminded of when 'the world' chose Barabbas over Jesus and you were angered...or perhaps your cynicism got the best of you and you weren't surprised at all...perhaps you had pity on a woman who is 'dead' and prayed that she would be called to Life. Or perhaps, it wasn't even on your radar...

In the parable, there is a wicked judge, a judge who is nothing like God, but that is the point...even a wicked judge when pestered will eventually do justice. Contrast that with the good, creator God who Himself is Justice. Now in the Jewish law court system, when you wanted justice you had to go before the judge against your opponent and plea your case. The judge would then either vindicate you, or not. The one he decided for would go away 'in the right' or 'justified'. So who is standing before the judge in Jesus mind as he tells this parable? The renewed Israel who are gathering round Jesus and the 'powers' that loom over them, oppressing them and cutting them off from the Kingdom found through the Good News and Jesus...namely the Pharisees, the Temple hierarchy, Herod, Rome...and all the principalities and powers of this world. So if God is not unjust, as the judge in the parable, why does He delay, because it is His will that none should perish, but that all would come to repentance. Such is the manifold grace and love that is God. They should count His patience as salvation, as should we. He will however, come quickly with judgment and will not tarry...within this generation (as the scriptures declare)...and then Jesus shows his concern...when that terrible day comes on the earthly city of Jerusalem, will the Son of Man find faith? Will there be anyone who heeded His warnings from the previous chapter, will there be anyone prayerfully seeking justice, anyone walking out the decrees of the King, anyone whose faith has not given way to worldly-ness and cynicism, hatred and self-righteousness, violence and greed, vanity and malice? Jesus wants to know, as Paul does...when He comes, will His labors over you have been in vain?

The next parable, which is a similar scenario, makes clear, as discussed above, who the two parties are who stand before God in Jesus mind, seeking vindication and justification...the Pharisee who exalted himself over his neighbor before God and the one like those Jesus was so persecuted for ministering to and siding with, a tax collector...a repentant tax collector. Yet, whom, did the Word of God vindicate? And who was it that went away justified in the end?

The Coming Kingdom: Luke 17v20-37

The Pharisees, like many Christians today, want a specific sequence of events, signs to look for with regard to the coming of the Kingdom. Jesus says God's kingdom isn't that sort of thing. It isn't something you look for and point out, 'Look here' or 'Look there'. What does he actually say? Well, what he says has been translated several different ways...God's Kingdom is "within you", "in your midst" and perhaps most accurately "within your grasp". It is something that is before your eyes if you will see, it is something that God holds out to you and longs for you to take hold of, He desires to give it to you.

Then Jesus turns to his disciples and says something like... listen, things are going to get tough, patience will be required, your patience and love may want to give way to foolishness and things that are counterproductive to the Kingdom. People who claim to know what they are talking about will come saying, "Look there!" or "Look here!" Yep, End times event! Get ready! DO NOT FOLLOW THEM. In his day everyone will know, it will be 'like' lightening from one end of the sky to the other. 'But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.'

Jesus has returned to his role as 'son of man'...apocalyptic prophet. What will it be like in the days of the 'son of man'...when Jesus prophetic teachings about the end of this 'world' come to fruition? Like the coming of the flood, so be as those who are prepared...like Sodom, be prepared to leave your whole life behind without looking back. When the son of man is 'revealed' don't worry about your stuff! Run! Get out! Remember Lot's wife? Learn the lesson...whoever would save their life will lose it and whoever would lose their life will save it!

Now what of those who are left and did not get out? One will be taken and the other left...some in recent history have thought that the ones taken will be the blessed ones, but it is the other way around. According to Jesus teaching, it is those who are taken who will be dragged away to torture and death...more later, we need to get into Daniel a bit here...

So, what is all this 'son of man' business? Jesus is referring to a prophesy in Daniel 7 where 'one like a son of man' will be vindicated after suffering. What will be the sign? The destruction of the oppressor, the power that stood in opposition to God and to his purposes. In Daniel, this 'power' is a beast, the fourth beast to be precise, which is the most powerful pagan army. Now Jesus, in a dramatic revelation, the kind that caused Daniel's face to go white and for the prophecy to be sealed up until the Messiah came, is that the 'power' most opposed to God's Kingdom and His Messiah was the Temple system itself and the Pharisees whose thinking and praxis stemmed from that system. This is what Jesus has been saying the entire time of his ministry and here he appeals to Daniel's prophesy to make it exceedingly clear. His vindication will come from the destruction of the city, the temple and those who rejected the Gospel of peace...those who declared, with malice and motive, 'We have no King, but Caesar!'. The Jerusalem leadership denied not only Jesus, but YHVY as their only sovereign. They became one with the 4th beast, with darkened hearts, evil would throw in on itself. With a play on words Jesus says,'Where the vultures are, there, the corpses will be'...the word for vulture is the same as eagle (since they thought vultures were a type of eagle back then)...the symbol of Rome, their 'beloved'.

As our Lord said,"I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another woman commits adultery.” So it is that, fornication is cause for divorce. Jesus vindication, the vindication of the Son of Man, will once and for all confirm the New Covenant and make known to the world both the mercy of God found in the Gospel and the judgment of God on this 'world' that stands in opposition to it's true King and the revelation of the Sons of God, the revelation that the creation groans for. Peter tells us that,'no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.' And then he affirms the aforementioned interpretation by saying, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" Salvation came from the Jews, and that is where judgment began as well.

People wonder why Jesus was slaughtered by Rome at Jewish instigation, why the Church was violently persecuted by Jews, why Paul was stoned and beaten and what not...there you have it. Jesus is Lord and they are not.

The destruction of Jerusalem in 70ad by Rome fulfilled all of Jesus' apocalyptic prophecies here in Luke 17. The promise of the Kingdom, however, still stands before you and its gates are opened to the nations, to all who would enter by faith. Indeed, there may be plenty of trials and tribulations before God completely remakes the heavens and the earth, that is not what Jesus is talking about here though. Here is an invitation. An invitation to engage in the 'world to come' in the midst of the world that is, to follow Jesus in giving the good testimony, as our Lord did before Pilate, that all sovereignty answers to YHVY...that our Father's loving, healing reign is not only yours for the grasping, but that He, Himself, is longing for His children to return to Him in Christ. He is longing for the adoring, grateful relationship and help of His Children...like a Father does.

ref. Luke For Everyone

Get Up, and Be On Your Way: Luke 17v11-19

Luke brings us out of the intense rhetoric of Jesus' apocalyptic parables and warnings and reminds us that is precisely where we are headed, lest we forget...Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He has taught his disciples of the celbratory nature of God's Kingdom, he has woven intricate images of God's grace and human transgression, he has opened the scriptures for us to learn responsibility and consequence, he has taught us gentleness and forgiveness with the next generation and he has kept us in a place of humility through it all. Jesus loves us. Now what has he in store?

Along the way he is passing through a border town and heals these ten lepers. Physically, spiritually ...absolutely outcast. But they cried out for pity from the Jesus, God's anointed and what does he say? 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' This is because it is the priests responsibility to declare when someone has been healed. What happens though, Jesus gives them a command and they obey. 'Then as they went, they were healed' This is to teach us that as we obey the Word of God, our wounds that keep us oppressed and outcast are healed. Our joy and salvation is found in our going wherever it is that Jesus sends us. Coming into line with his greater purposes.

Luke brings us back to a sense of humility though, for it is only a Samaritan who comes back and offers gratitude to Jesus and praise to God. Something the Jews ought to remember to do given their very name reminds them. (Judah means 'praise') But no, despite the fact that they had been healed of this viscous infirmity, what a sense of joy and relief, really, can you imagine not demonstrating gratitude and giving praise after that?...and yet only one came back, that's astonishing. Why did they not come back? By now Jesus is hated by many...particularly those in power among the Jews...but what does Jesus say to the Samaritan? Your faith has saved you! Not only are you physically restored as an individual, but you've been returned to your community and you are offering up gratitude and praise to God. He has been brought from death to life and that is exactly what the word Jesus uses at the end would have said to his hearer, resurrection..."Get up, and be on your way!"

Luke 17v1-10

We have just traversed some pretty difficult terrain with respect to Jesus' teachings. If we take Jesus seriously, as His first disciples surely did and we saw our master speaking this way to a group of men who were the spiritual elite. Well, in some ways we would be rejoicing and in others we would be scared out of our wits. Jesus senses this and turns an eye to his disciples, who are like little children, just called out of darkness and into light,and warns them further, if you are to be the future...be wary of what you say and do. He gives the most vivid picture yet of what is the fate of someone who trips up a child in the faith.

And what is his first word on...forgiveness. But not forgiveness with strings attached, where you 'forgive', but now that you have taken the moral high road in the situation you are master over that person. Forgiveness, rather, that flows like a river. Forgiveness that makes you the offenders servant. How do you know if you are forgiving like Jesus has called you to? Each time you forgive that person it does not get harder and harder, because the record from the last time you forgave no longer exists. Forgive as you would be forgiven.

At this word, we, as the disciples, probably think to ourselves...oh' boy is that what He means by 'our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees', look how he came at them when they dropped the ball...Lord, we are going to need a lot more faith to do this! But it is not the amount of faith they have or we have, whether it be the size of a mustard seed or that of a mountain...rather, it is the greatness of the God to whom that faith gazes upon, which is directly related to our own power and authority to speak in faith.

Now, lest we become arrogant, Jesus brings his disciples (present company included)back to humility. Once you've gone out into the world with faith like that, faith in the one true and holy God, moved mountains, cast out demons, walked on snakes and scorpions, set the captives free and so on...do not expect a reward, this is simply what it is to be truly human, this is what it was 'in the beginning', this is what you were made to do to begin with, to go forth, have dominion, multiply and fill the earth with the glad wise order of YHVY and to declare His praises and the wonderful works of His hands to all generations. Amen

Go to HELL!: Luke16v19-31

This parable has been at the center of much recent debate and controversy regarding 'the doctrine' of hell and has made people 'uncomfortable'...as it surely did when Jesus' spoke it, albeit for entirely different reasons. I've got to leave for work in round 20 minutes and I would like to add something of clarity and value to the conversation so I'd like to prayerfully engage this over the weekend when I will add to this post...if you are one of the few who read this blog (my cousin says just put the word 'hell' in the title of your post and twice as many people will visit...we'll see), your thoughts are welcomed...I pray you'll forgive me this morning...

I will, however, leave you with this thought for today though...

Good insight is the Tree of Life (Proverbs 3v18) - good insight with no evil at all, since no evil abides there, it is good insight without evil. Since it's written 'He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.' These are acts of love, actualized...the mercies shown to David in Messiah (Isaiah 55v3), declared to the world in Messiah Jesus, manifested and carried forward in the living Body of Christ inhabited by the Holy Ghost, God with us, Immanuel. As it's also written, 'I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, to plant heavens and to establish the earth.' (Isaiah 51v16)

.......into the Word


Well, it's Sunday and so far the day has consisted of prayer and discussing this parable with my sons while sitting in the garage...home church @ the G-crib :-)...then we were off to go fishing at the inlet where we met some really cool guys. Ayden was still asking questions about the parable while Sebastian maneuvered between a couple of the guys to try and get a line in the water. The guys, one with a big crucifix round his neck, joked around about it being almost time to get their drink on while another showed the boys some neat fishing tips that ol' salties pick up over the years. They really took to us and even invited us to a lunch of Hebrew National hot dogs from a little portable grill they had brought with them. They seemed to all be friends, but one guy in particular appeared to garner the respect of all...managing the equipment, directing the others to either side of the pier when a school would gather so they could send the nets out. It was this guy who invited us to lunch and even gave the boys a little bell that clips on the line so that it rings when there is a fish on. It's been a day of blessing.

The parable of Lazarus and Dives emerges from the lips of Jesus after he has demonstrated a firm explanation of why it is He is partying and celebrating with outcasts, has turned the tables on the assumption that earthly riches somehow equate to right standing before God and now with this opportunity... He uses one of their own parables (Lazarus and Dives was not original to Jesus) fraught with Hellenistic imagery (ironically)to direct them to the eternal importance of doing, not charity for the sake of charity, or mitzvah for the sake of mitzvah...but to repent and to do righteous deeds in order to begin to exercise their humanity, to be what they were created to be, the Children of Light...

I have to ask, are we exercising the right of ours that Jesus payed for with tremendous suffering and even His own life? Or are we content to argue, in our comfortable homes over a latte, over the theology of hades while Lazarus stands at our doorstep, suffering, begging for scraps, blistered and bloodied, while the sandpaper tongue of wild dogs runs over and further infects the wounds? Wounds that we have the power, the means and the God given directive to heal?

Whether you, as an individual, one day find yourself in a place of eternal fiery torment alongside those rebellious spirits and demons, or if you are swept away like chaff into utter annihilation or even if you simply die and never wake up again. If you do not follow the Word of God, you will have suffered eternal loss...the loss of your humanity, you will forever be something less than human and beyond pity, having forsook your image bearingness...you will have lost what it is to walk with God in the cool of the day in absolute peace and paradise...Why? Because you were too busy and self centered to love the people God loves...the poor, the suffering and the destitute.

You may say to yourself, how is this possible? It is so hard for someone where I am, as a middle class American, to enter the Kingdom...I say, with God, all things are possible. In the parable, Abraham said there was no way across that chasm...Jesus said, "Before Abraham, I AM! YHVY! Jesus went on, despite the parable, to raise a poor man, His friend, named Lazarus from the dead, demonstrating not only His authority over death, and this parable, but His unrelenting love that will find a way to set the captives free...whether they be the captives of poverty and disease or the captives of wealth and prominence and then YHVY raised Jesus, whom you crucified! YHVY will stop at nothing, whether its overturning temple tables or even the very parables He speaks to save His good creation. Where were you when He laid its foundations? Or where were you when He set the stars in the heavens? The Word of God however, through Him and for Him all things have been created, the Son of God is superior to Moses and the Prophets and He is Lord above the Earth and on the Earth and below the Earth. Jesus is Lord, repent for the Kingdom of God has come near to you and He is coming...to judge the living and the dead...Hopefully all you hear in these words is encouragement to turn towards our loving and gracious Father and Jesus Christ our Lord; however, there is nothing wrong with a warning when there is certainly something to be warned of, our God is an all consuming fire, those who do not come into the Light...shrink back because they know what they do has not been done in God. I am confident of greater things for you though, because you are not of those who shrink back.

Go in the grace and favor of the Lord.

Stewardship: Luke 16v10-18

It's always interesting for me to write about money, given my profession. However, it is an ever present issue for all of us. Not only in our culture and time, but for as long as there has been wealth and the human ability to produce, acquire and gather it.

Here in this teaching Jesus puts money and wealth in its proper context. It does not exist for your own glorification, it exists as a trust. If you love 'it' however...and the things 'it' affords you, then you have formed for yourself a god. A god that is here today and gone tomorrow, a god that will not listen and cannot speak, a dead god. You rise and fall according to it and it has no care for you. Jesus takes it a step further though and says that God and money are like two masters, and you can't serve both. They are on opposite ends.

At this the Pharisees mock Jesus, because...it says they loved money. Now the Sadducee were the ones with the real money from the temple, but the Pharisees saw equated the land and what it could produce as a means of wealth which was a major economic reason for them to get these foreigners out of their land. What was really driving them to hate these foreigners? Love of wealth or love of God? Perhaps we could ask ourselves the same questions when dealing with our own approach to immigration? What really drives our decision making?

Now Torah has many examples of a tie between wealth and God's blessing so the Pharisees mocking, may at first seem warranted. Jesus however calls them out on the previously mentioned conflict...'You people let everyone else know that you're in the right - but God knows your hearts!' Oh, please hear this Christian!

To the leaders of Jesus day, the law and prophets (the old testament) lasted till John....they were only part of the story...from now on God's kingdom is proclaimed! And look, everyone attacks it! But it's easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of an 'i' to drop out of the law. 'Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and a person who marries a divorced woman commits adultery'. There is only one way forward for God to deliver the promised New Covenant not only to repentant Israel, but what does the LORD say "I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ To a nation which did not call on My name." through death and out the other side is the only way to get there, let the reader understand.

'In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.' Woe to those who do not learn the lesson of the wilderness.

Father, let us not be led astray by that temptress called 'Love of money', but let us wisely steward all things which have been given into our hands for the up-building of Your Children and Your Kingdom, the manifestation of Your Glory into all the world as the waters cover the sea. Amen

Mansions? Luke 16v1-9

Luke takes us from the loving and forgiving father imploring the older brother to celebrate the Kingdom which is arriving, but then he moves to deal with the reality and gravity of situation at hand. Jesus' message is a hard word for them. Israel's leadership, the Sadducees as temple leaders and the Pharisees as leaders of the people, and thus all Israel is losing their stewardship...not only of the land they so desperately wanted to hang on to, but they failed to be the Light of the world, they killed the prophets that where sent to them from eternity and now they were rejecting the Son who came down from the world to come. The whole vineyard was to be taken away and given to another. For now, the Master wants an account of their stewardship and surely when everyone sees what they have been doing with their stewardship they be utterly tossed out where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. What shall they do? It will be an embarrassment to become a servant or a beggar, think about the humiliation! What's worse, who will carry them forward? Where will there souls find solace now? Where will they live?

For Jesus, the wise answer for them...at this point, would be to go to all those of whom they required so much of...so much more than was actually required and mark it down to what is actually required. To lift the exorbitant debts they had placed on people in the name of the master. Then when all is taken away, they will be seen as the people who took away a burden rather than one who added to it...they will be loved and welcomed into the households of those they once oppressed with their desire for currency, whether it was Roman currency, Temple currency or the witholding and greed for the Father's currency...love, affection,acknowledgement and relationship (go back to the parable of the older brother). Jesus has found more wisdom in children of the world, than in Israel when it comes to dealing with people as well as in matters of faith (Matthew 8v10-12).

Jesus' advice to Israel's leadership? Take those things you've so desired and been hoarding at the cost of others and make for yourselves friends, build up treasures in heaven, that you may have a dwelling place in the heavenly places, and on earth as there, when your stewardship is taken away. Essentially...repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near to you.

"He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does YHVY require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?"

The Older Brother: Luke 15v25-32

Being an older brother is difficult. It comes with increased responsibilities and a certain status within the family. Responsibility and status can be, if not embraced properly, a very dangerous thing to the soul of man. When corrupted, these things, whether real or perceived, have been the downfall of nations as well as individuals. Here Jesus says to the Pharisees and to their modern day counterparts, the God of all creation loves you, come and celebrate...your Egyptians brothers, your Pakistani brothers, your American brothers, your Greek brothers, your Roman brothers, your African brothers, your Iraqi brothers, your Afghan brothers...your Brother is returning home.

Like Cain, however, rage rises up. The house is a wreck, they blew our family inheritance on whores and all false things...and you lavish them with your love, you accept this sacrifice of repentance, which is no sacrifice at all...it just fit his circumstances (not to mention makes good sense anyway) and then turn round and bless him with your best? How dare you! Look at all I've done! I've been in the fields breaking my back and then I come home to this?

And here Jesus gives tremendous grace to his self-righteous yet hard working and faithful contemporaries. The father does not tell him to be off, does not (as a father would) rebuke him for his insolence, self-righteousness and stiff-necked nature, but rather draws him into the same grace and mercy. Everything I have belongs to you. You're always with me. Come join the party!...Your brother was dead, and now is alive. He was lost, but now is found.

Will he join the party? Or will he sink further into rebellion against his father? Seeing only that now the younger brother is with him too, in a seemingly exalted state given this whole party. He will always be with their father going forward too, can he handle that? Will he murder his brother like Cain? Or perhaps he will now run off? Or perhaps he can forgive...but is he made of the same substance? Will he truly become a child of his father...This amazing, set apart father.

Jesus left the story unfinished, he left it up to them to write...May the ending be written in the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

'But now in Yeshua Messiah you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.' And ALL God's people said...AMEN! ALLELUIA! AMEN MARANATHA!

The Prodigal Father: Luke 15v25-32

We’ve all heard the parable of the prodigal son. It’s inspired many powerful sermons and brought people of many different tribes, tongues and nations into a clearer understanding of the Father’s graceful and forgiving nature, the nature that both inspired and was the source of Jesus own ministry and person. The author of Hebrews tells us that Yeshua is the radiance of YHWY’s glory and the exact representation of YHWY’s nature, very God of very God as we say. Therefore if you want to know what God is like you simply need to look at Jesus. This loving merciful forgiveness has moved many to repentance and to again take up their roles and responsibilities as Children of God in His household. There is so much here, but I hope to look primarily at what Jesus purposed the parable to accomplish in His hearers.

The younger son was an absolute scoundrel. He’s all but wished his father dead. Then, what’s worse, he’s sold half his families property off. Then he went off to party on his own, only to find himself destitute and bound to a citizen of this other country, not only feeding the pigs…who are the dirtiest of animals but the ones who would likely trample under foot your pearls and then turn and tear you to pieces…but also so destitute and hungry that he wanted for their food. If you’ve got ears, chew on all that.

Despite all that the younger son was and did however what is more scandalous is the father. Any son asking for his inheritance early would have been disowned and told to get on. This father doesn’t do that, he gives the son what he asks for. As much as it must have broken his heart, love doesn’t insist on its own way. Then, when the son comes back, not only does the father forgive him…he gets up and runs to him. We don’t understand how scandalous this story is in our culture, men of age and renown, Jewish men, wise men… do not run anywhere, much less into the arms of a foolish son like this one. Has he no shame! Love does not respect traditions or laws when a son who was dead, is alive again. This father is a departure from what the world of Jesus understood of being a father, he was separate from the world...Holy, Holy, Holy. Indeed, His ways are higher than our ways, His justice beyond our comprehension...mercy triumphs over judgment.

We should not miss Israel’s story in all this, keeping both with the Exodus theme of Jesus’ journey and the immediate situation Jesus is dealing with, all the pushback he’s getting for the company he’s keeping. God had led Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. There God endured years of Israel’s rebellion until they were sent into exile in Babylon. During Jesus’ time most believed that they were still living in exile even though many had returned to the land. They were occupied by foreigners, becoming more and more Hellenized (and desiring that food), a ridicule of the nations and what they truly hungered for was liberation and for God to lead them out of all this in a new Exodus. They were looking for resurrection! A common metaphor had developed from Ezekiel 37 where resurrection is picture language for the true return from exile. Paul points to this regarding his hope for apostate Israel being driven by jealousy to repent and receive the gospel of Messiah Jesus, in Romans he writes specifically… “Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” But we will get to the older brother tomorrow…

For now, Jesus is here to say…YES!!! It’s happening and shouldn’t we be celebrating? “My son was dead and now is alive!” I AM…the resurrection! God is fulfilling His promises right in front of you! Why shouldn’t we be celebrating? …it just doesn’t look like what they want it to…the Kingdom of God does not come in signs to be observed…things are slowly worked together…leaven hidden in three lumps of flour… a tiny mustard seed that grows, over time, and becomes a sanctuary even for the birds…a new creation bursting forth, right in the midst of this one… “You are the Messiah who is coming into the world!” says Martha to Jesus.

May we be ever more reconciled to God our Father through Jesus, the Messiah. May we understand that it’s happening right in the midst of us, come to our senses and hasten the day of His coming through a repentant and humble life lived in the Way. May our hearts and minds not be set on what we see, but fixed firmly on God’s future which comes down into our exiles and wildernesses and oppressed lands to meet us as we turn our hearts to Him and then makes us to walk in grateful celebration with Him in the house His hands have made, the works prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

‘One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.’

May we worship Almighty God in Spirit and Truth, for the day has come in Christ Jesus. Amen

Parties That Annoy the 'Righteous': Luke 15v1-10

If you want heaven and earth to become one, and if you are a Christian this is your hope and prayer, then you have to know what it is they are doing in heaven and join in. Because what is going on there is what is to be going on here, the two spheres of God's one good creation being brought together, married, with no more missing of the mark as it were, 'Oh, how I long for the bride of my youth!'. Heaven is more than some mysterious place you go when you die, it is on fact the control room for earth and is deeply and continuously become integrated into the fabric of earth as God's Word permeates all things making them new. That is what is going on in Jesus next three parables in Luke 15. Here we'll look at the first two...

The Pharisees and legal experts were getting upset because Jesus was partying with 'tax collectors and sinners'. 'Sinners' was a general term that probably meant someone who's station in life did not afford them to practice the Law or properly worship in the temple, gentiles, tax collectors who generally had to deal with gentile infidels and were therefore unclean, etc. Now to be clear, nowhere does Jesus say these sinners are accepted as they are, they have to repent. The sheep wandered off and was lost, the coin was gone and in the next parable the prodigal son had to come to his senses.

The difference is the definition of repentance. For the Pharisees and scribes, it meant a return to the Law and strict personal holiness according to the law in ordinances and oral tradition. This is how the Pharisaic movement was trying to bring the life of the temple (the place where Heaven and Earth met) into the everyday lives of the people in an effort to restore Israel to its glory. This however would be an act of God, not of men...the Word is the light and glory of men. So for Jesus, it meant following Him and His teachings. The Word, the Logos, that which holds all things together...giving and sustaining and making to flourish...Life. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and He tabernacled (pitched His tent) in our midst. To turn from your ways of doing things(of thinking, acting and feeling) and to follow Him was to truly repent.

And so, what is going on in Heaven when one 'sinner' repents? Party time! That is what Jesus was doing and they didn't understand it. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. It is a time of celebration and singing and feasting and if you are that woman who found her coin, which was likely part of her dowry, much more than your finances were redeemed! The Pharisees and scribes did not like this.

Jesus, never missing an opportunity to bring the hills low, that the valleys might be filled, jabs them in verse 7...'Righteous people who don't need repentance' he says with a smile and very pointed glance. Think...let him without sin cast the first stone...Think about how these parables affected the sinners and tax collectors as they heard it. :-)

When is the last time someone asked you..."Why are you doing that?" Something that would call for a story just like one of these, one about finding something that has been lost.

May we take up the yolk of our master and seek that which has been lost. And when we find it may we party and rejoice and celebrate! May Heaven and Earth, God and man join together!

Cost? That's Heresy! Luke 14v25-35

"The followers of Christ have been called to peace. . . . And they must not only have peace but also make it. And to that end they renounce all violence and tumult. In the cause of Christ nothing is to be gained by such methods. . . . His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break it off. They renounce hatred and wrong. In so doing they over-come evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate...When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." ' Dietrich Bonhoeffer - The Cost of Discipleship

If you follow Jesus for a while you will discover that there is a cost. It is no help to anyone to call people into the faith under false pretenses. Why? Because when that day comes you will have set them up for failure and prepared them not to stand in loving obedience, but have delivered them into a crisis of faith. The builder should take care how he/she builds.

Jesus is headed into a crisis situation and from this point on, forging the way into the new world that His Father is bringing will indeed require letting go of everything and being fully prepared to suffer a humiliating and torturous death. Make no mistake 'bearing your cross' was not a euphemism for 'right living', he very much meant...get ready to die the death of a martyr...the death of a prophet of Israel.

We may say to ourselves, oh, things were different back then and we have to make the message relevant for today. Indeed, if one has been called into Christ, they have been called for a reason and there will come a time when we are called to make tough decisions, when family and home and even self need to become irrelevant, when you realize that you are citizen, a soldier and an ambassador of Heaven and your life is not your own. Is a servant greater than His master? No. What was expected of Jesus, is expected of us. No where in the bible does it say that He suffered so we don't have to, it says that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life...He says, "Come, follow me". He says, "As my Father sent me into the world, so I send you." We have had our sins forgiven and the Spirit given us for these purposes. Yes, God loves you, he is your Father and he has invited you into the family business...it is a rough business at times, but it is glorious...it's promises and the hope of glory therein...well no eye has seen, nor ear heard all that He has prepared for those that love Him. The rulers of that age would not understand this, otherwise they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Nevertheless, God's new creation will break forth whether they are on board or not. It will be brought to completion, whether our rulers and authorities get it or not too.

The two parables Jesus then tells lead us back to Herod who started to rebuild the temple, even though Jesus already told us YHWY had abandoned it, so to what end was he rebuilding? Herod would be the fellow who began to build, but couldn't finish. This will not be the case with the Word of God, come hell (2 Peter 3v11-13) or high water (Matthew 7v24-25) He will bring it to completion.

The next parable refers the listeners to the fact that much of Israel wanted a war with Rome. Most,however, did not understand the full weight of what they were desiring, perhaps if they did they would have accepted Jesus way of peace. It's kind of like some small tribal people in Afghanistan with no internet or tv, some extremist hands them an AK-47 and tells them God wants them to kill the American infidels who've invaded their land. Well they likely do not know that the one US scout they get a shot off on will bring down the full weight of the US military, drones and all on their little village. Had they known that, the way of Jesus would have been much wiser. Even if it meant giving up all their possessions, is not life more than possessions?

Israel had been called to be the salt of they earth, the ones who bring flavor and preservation, growth and fertility...but if the salt has lost it's savour, people throw it away. This is as true today as ever, the Israel of God, those who struggle with man and God and are victorious, the royal priesthood in Messiah Jesus are called to be the salt of the earth. Are we being that, despite the costs, for the hope that has been set before us? The hope of glory, Messiah in us.

Lord have mercy on us, sinners, and fill us again with your Holy Spirit and lead us into the way of peace, at all costs. If you are for us, who could be against us? Amen

Get The Party Started! Luke 14v12-24

There once was a bishop who was keeping watch over his parish one evening when two robbers came upon him. They sternly ordered the bishop to turn over all the Church's treasures and valuables. The bishop led them into a large open room and showed them the poor under his care..."These are the treasures of the Church." he said. The robbers left empty handed that night...

Were still having dinner with this leader of the Pharisees when Jesus gives him a command that he should not invite people to party with him who may, in some way, be able to repay him. Rather to invite those who cannot repay...the poor, crippled, blind and lame. In the Kingdom of God it is in fact the poor, crippled, blind and lame that are at the top in the Kingdom of God, because they have been chosen to be rich in faith. There is a reward in this at the resurrection of the righteous Jesus says.

This seems all together impractical in modern Church life...I mean, from what I observe and participate in, we mostly party with people we know. Don't get me wrong, fellowship with the body is awesome, but Christ is not manifest for the healthy, He is sent into the world for the sick, the poor, crippled, blind and lame. I'm not going to over-spiritualize this either, because that has just caused us to invite folks just like us except they haven't perhaps said a sinners prayer, never the less...people we're 'comfortable' with. Sorry, that's just not what Jesus asks for.

At this someone at the party busts out in celebration! Praise God! "A blessing on those who eat food in God's Kingdom!"...Jesus shuts him down.

Everything is ready, the Kingdom of God is arriving, the ascension of the King to His throne is at hand, inauguration day is approaching. The great feast that Israel had so longed for is prepared, its all coming together...yet everyone who was invited has something better to do. Some excuse. So Jesus went to the Father in prayer and He was sent back out quickly to gather up the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. Back to the Father in prayer and He sends Him out again to the roads and hedgerows to implore people of every background...ethnic, moral, national, religious, etc... to come fill His house, into the dinner and to taste that the Lord is good. Those who had been invited originally; however, will not taste His dinner...why? They had ruled themselves out.

Lord, help us to be watchful, never too busy to see the places that You are at work and listen for the call to come join the party. May we not forget the poor and suffering, but be eager to serve those whom You have predestined to be rich in faith and love and so store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Amen

Dinner Party: Luke 14v1-11

Jesus hangs out with the Pharisees a lot.

In this section of the scripture we see Jesus celebrating Shabbot with a leader of the sect. With Jesus' woes to the Pharisees and scribes the word Pharisee itself has taken on an altogether negative connotation in Christendom. It's important to understand however that within the Pharisaic movement, which became the basis of Rabbinic Judaism, there were different sects (Christianity having emerged from this), there were those as previously discussed with ulterior political motives, some who manipulated young zealots from behind the scenes to work out their kingdom ideals, some who met with Jesus in private to learn of the Kingdom, some (like Gamaliel) who just preferred to stand back and observe in order to determine whether Jesus' movement was of God or not.

Never the less, Jesus is sharing a meal with this leader and they are in fact keeping close tabs on him. The Lord saw fit to have a man there with dropsy, a condition that causes the retention of excess water, so Jesus took the opportunity to readdress this issue of healing on Shabbot.

'Suppose one of you has a son - or an ox even!...that falls into a well. Are you going to tell me that you wouldn't pull him out right away on the sabbath day?' What do you say to that, it's common sense. Where is this blindness coming from among these, most educated of men?

It comes from their absolute literalism and legalism when dealing with the scriptures at the cost of how things really are and how this behavior affected others. Flat earth anyone? What does that actually have to do with faith and God's redemptive plan...nothing and yet people, Christians, spent countless hours pouring over this and actually condemned people to death for heresy and witchcraft over it? What debates are we having today that are completely counterproductive to the Kingdom?

The reality is that this fleshly tendency extends from something deeper which Jesus reveals in this next parable. When the great day came people want to be of those who have position before God and so we naturally jockey for that position. The Pharisees thought because they where afforded the opportunity to study and to practice the law, that they would be able to enter God's 'dinner party' and take the best seats. This removes the need for God's grace, mercy and love and blocks those who are made just as much in the image of God as the learned and (self)righteous. Jesus lets them know that they can either humble themselves or they will find themselves being humbled by God. Already, the celebration was nearing and they were blind to it and yet they were pushing their way to the front only to find themselves at the back of the line.

Not only did Jesus heal the man, but he attacked a stronghold of the evil one that is in all our hearts. They will get upset, Jesus, however, will not back down...the next parable will make them shudder in their shoes as it should us.

Foxes, Fire and Chicks: Luke 13v31-35

In these verses, Jesus is warned by a group of Pharisees (give some thought to that) that Herod is looking to kill him. Jesus does not like Herod and for good reason, he’s a predator. “Go tell that fox…” What Jesus says reminds them of the weight of the situation. “Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate, foxes prowl in it” says the author of Lamentations…a book whose Hebrew title is ‘Ekah’…”How…!?!?!” At the end of this section of scripture (13v34-35) the Son of God will answer that question for them.

I’ve got a baptism to be baptized with! ...We remember Jesus saying. He has a task to complete, He has been sent to do something about this mess, YHWY is decisively intervening in and through Jesus, He is returning to Zion and it will be nothing less than apocalyptic, the cross of Christ is nothing less than apocalyptic.

A brief aside on apocalyptic language such as Jesus uses…

“Apocalyptic is the language of revolution: not that YHWH will destroy the world, but that he will act dramatically within it to bring Israel’s long night of suffering to an end, to usher in the new day in which peace and justice will reign. “Apocalyptic” therefore is the natural context for a truly subversive “wisdom.” Wisdom and folly within this worldview are not abstract or timeless. They consist in recognizing (or failing to recognize) that the long-awaited moment is now arriving.” ***

Will they have it, will they receive Him?

Jesus sends these Pharisee’s back to Herod to tell him of his three day task, which brings us back in Luke's gospel to the child Jesus disappearing and being found on the third day...in the Temple and foreshadows his dying and rising again on the third day.
Jesus then laments over Jerusalem, who has a rep for killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her. Then he has this strange saying about a hen gathering her brood under her wings...at first perhaps we don't understand and we tend not to keep with the apocalyptic nature of Jesus' teaching, that this is an indication of what Jesus is hoping to accomplish for her up at Jerusalem. Most of us, myself included, never lived on a farm in an age when fire was a very real threat to daily life, but that is the imagery Jesus is evoking here. Perhaps we just have this sweet little image in our mind of a hen cuddling with her cute little kiddos; that is not in Luke or Jesus’ line of thought here. There is a very real threat a clear and present danger.

It apparently wasn’t uncommon to have a fire break out on a farm, only to discover a hen afterwards, charred to death by the flames and then to discover in awful delight… her chicks still alive through the flaming disaster. Gathered in and protected through the turmoil by their mother’s loving sacrifice. This is exactly what God wants to do and has always been trying to do for his people, but they just wouldn’t have it… just running every which way except to the one that could protect them through it…even though they sang about it all the time. Ever do that?

Their 'house is desolate' (Ezekiel 10-11)...But now, He is here, incarnate, will they receive Him? The fact is that they will never ‘see’ Him, until they are willing to say, “‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” That is as true today as it was then. Will you receive Him? I mean really receive Him?

May our ‘house’ be a dwelling place for God and may we in time of tribulation be of those who do not scurry off in our own direction. May our love never grow cold, but may we seek refuge in the One who would protect us through it at all costs if we would but receive His Word.


***See the seminal discussion in G.B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible (London: Gerald Duckworth, 1980), 243-71, see further N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, vol. 1 (Minneapolis: Fortress; London: SPCK, 1992), 280-338. The Historical Jesus and Christian Theology http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Jesus.htm#_edn6