Harmony #10: Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (John 4:5-26)

I don't think the first two individuals we see Jesus interact with after He cleanses the temple are random placements of unconnected stories.  There are too many similarities and differences that seem very purposeful. Last week was Nicodemus; this week is the Woman at the Well. (The interlude with John the Baptist in John 3 connects these two stories. When you read it, think of both Nicodemus and the Woman at the Well.)

SIMILARITIES

• Neither understand “the gift of God”

• Both stories feature water and the Spirit[1] (the John the Baptizer interlude features water and an explanation of the Spirit)

• They (and the disciples) are confused about terms (birth/water/bread)

• Both initially see Jesus as a prophet (believe about rather than believe in)

DIFFERENCES

• Male vs. female

• Jewish vs. Samaritan

• Signs and wonders vs. no signs and wonders

• Nicodemus leaves confused; she leaves converted

• He leaves covertly; she leaves loudly and brings people back

THE STORY (Bible quoted in italics; commentary in regular font)

Jesus left Judea (where the Pharisees were thick) and set out once more for Galilee. But he had to pass through Samaria, which had long been a place of idol worship combined with worship of Yahweh. Israel’s Jews considered these cousins with Gentile blood and worship to be not just impure, but evil.[2] When traveling between Galilee and Judea, many Jews would cross the Jordan twice rather than pass through Samaria. Jesus headed straight through.

Now Jesus came to a Samaritan town called Sychar (which means, fittingly, “Drunken”).[3] It was near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.[4] Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat down beside the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water.

It wasn’t that unusual for people to draw water at this time (you didn’t get peak heat until around 3:00), but it wasn’t typical.  Was it her second trip because she had already used up her morning draw? Did something delay her that morning? Was she trying to avoid people? John doesn’t say why she was there at that time; he just tells us what follows.

We don't know if other people were there or not – the text doesn’t say – it just says that when the Samaritan woman arrived, Jesus asked for her help, which in the Middle East was a gesture that honored her.  Jesus said, “Give me some water to drink.” (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.) This was part of the protocol for hospitality, because the one requesting acknowledged a need that the one requested could satisfy.

But the Samarian woman had some questions. She said to him, “How can you—a Jew—ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water to drink?”  (For Jews have no communion with Samaritans.) That’s an understatement. The Jews and Samaritans really didn’t like each other. The Samaritans had intermingled not only their families with hostile nations but also their temples with hostile gods, then had the audacity to desecrate Jewish temples while building their own temple and declaring it to be the true one. They also rejected every part of the Old Testament except the first 5 books. The rabbis had declared everything in Samaria unclean. Some went so far as to declare that if a Samaritan were in a town, all the spittle in that town was to be considered unclean (because it might derive from a Samaritan). To drink from her jar would have made Jesus ritually impure in the eyes of Jesus’ Jewish peers.

The early church writers consistently pointed something else out: she seemed to be concerned that Jesus was about to break Jewish law.[5] If she were as morally corrupt as she is often portrayed –and had the kind of animosity in her that Samaritans and Jews often had for each other - it’s hard to envision she wouldn’t have found it delightful to corrupt this strange Jewish man. But her first response is concern: “Are you sure you should be doing this?” File this away as we think of her….

Jesus answered her, “If you had known the gift of God[6] and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you fresh, flowing water – the water of life.”  The rabbis spoke of Torah, the law, as a gift from God that was as refreshing as living water. But John uses the symbolism differently to refer to God’s own refreshing spirit, the Holy Spirit, that the prophets said would be poured out on all people. Paul will write later in his first letter to the Corinthians that we all drink of the same Spirit (12:13)

“Sir,” the woman respectfully said to him, “you have no bucket and the well is 100 feet deep; where then do you get this living water?  Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.”  

Jesus didn’t just come out and say, “Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I am better than Jacob.”  He simply describes what He has to offer and lets her decide. He replied, “Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

Had the Samaritans used the entire Old Testament, this probably would have sounded familiar to her. Isaiah, for example, wrote (12:3), “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Zechariah wrote that living water would come from Jerusalem and cover the world (14:8). But, like I said earlier, the Samaritans only used the first 5 books of the Old Testament. They had nothing from the prophets. In fact, they thought Moses was the last prophet, and they looked forward to the next Moses.

The woman was likely testing this bold claim when she said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Oh, so you can get fresh, running water when there is none in sight? Let’s see it! Does she think he’s bluffing and she’s trying to respectfully end this game? Is she hopeful that there is another, better source of water, maybe closer to home?  Maybe she could be the town hero if she found better water! We don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus pulls a Nicodemus Switcheroo and changes the subject entirely.

Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back here.”  The woman replied, “I have no husband.” Jesus, who had knowledge of her heart (like he did with Nathaniel and Nicodemus), said to her, “Right you are when you said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. This you said truthfully.”

Lots of ink has been spilled discussing how immoral this woman was (a serial adulteress? A prostitute?) That’s not at all clear from the text.

• If she was a known serial adulteress or a prostitute, men would not have kept marrying her (and because the Samaritans had the Law, the penalty would have been death).

• Perhaps she had been divorced most or all of these times (it was really easy for a man to initiate divorce over even the most minor things, like burning breakfast toast).

• Perhaps she was repeatedly widowed; if so, others might think that God was set against her because something was wrong with her.

It’s not even clear that she was living in a morally compromised relationship with the man in her life. I mean, maybe she was:

• She could have been living with a man (which would have been unusual for both of them).

• Maybe she was living with a man to whom she was betrothed (kind of married in that they had started the covenant process but not married in that they hadn’t finished it?)

• Maybe she was a concubine (which was allowed). 

• Maybe a vindictive husband put her away without divorcing her, and she eventually remarried (which would count as adultery).

But maybe, for a variety of reasons, her marriage had not yet been consummated, which was the act of covenant initiation (which no one would know except the woman, her husband, and now Jesus).  Maybe her deceased husband’s brother had married her (#OTlaw) but had never consummated the marriage.

WE DON’T KNOW. A loooooot is read into this text. What we do know is this: Jesus gets to an issue to which she responds with a term of respect, and without a sense of shame or anger. The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.

Hmmmm. Her spiritual eyes are opening. This is a revelatory moment: someone waiting for the next prophet - who would be an end time Restorer - acknowledges that Jesus – a Jewish man, not a Samaritan - is a prophet. So, what kind of question would you ask a Jewish prophet?  We would expect a petty or small-minded person to ask a petty or small-minded question, probably something like a parlor trick.  She has something on her mind much like Nicodemus: He wanted to make sure he was in the Kingdom; she want’s to know if she is getting her worship right.” Great question, because “zeal for the house of the Lord” consumes prophets.[7]

She continued, Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, Mount Gerizim, which is holy to us (Deut. 11:29; 27:12). Your people say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem, but we Samaritans are unwelcome in Jerusalem’s temple. Who is right? Which temple is the right one? And if it’s the one in Jerusalem, how can I, a Samaritan, worship where I am supposed to worship?

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, my lady,[8] a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not know. How could you know? You have rejected the revelation of the prophets after Moses, prophets who revealed so much about Yahweh and His plan for His people and the world. We worship what we know, because it was always God’s plan that the source of salvation would arise from the Jewish people. But a time is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit(by the power of the Holy Spirit) with truth[9] about God, which they lack.[10] The Father seeks such people to be his worshipers, identified not by where they worship but whom and how they worship together, as one people united by God. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to Jesus, “I know that the Messiah is coming; He will be a restorer, like Moses.[11]He will restore God’s divine favor that ended after Moses. We believe whenever he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “It is the I AM who speaks to you.”

 That was a phrase she recognized. That is how God identified himself to their hero, Moses. And I suspect this is where it really sank in that this was not a conversation just about water with just another prophet. This man offered the promised restoration, the return of God’s favor on outcast people and the repairing of the ruins in their temples, their homes, and their hearts.

Now at that very moment his disciples came back. They were shocked because he was speaking with a woman. Not only did traditional Mediterranean culture considered it inappropriate for a woman to talk with unrelated men in unguarded settings but also the Mishnah read, “He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna.” Yikes.  However, no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you speaking with her?” Good call, disciples.

Then the woman, thoroughly distracted from her original mission, left her water jar, went off into the town and said to the people the same thing Phillip had said: “Come and see. There is a man who told me everything I ever did. Surely he can’t be the Messiah, can he?”[12] It would seem Jesus and the woman talked more than is recorded. The text hardly shows that he “told her everything she ever did.” It seems safe to assume that as they talked, Jesus demonstrated that he knew her – which to the Jewish and Samaritan people was something that would characterize the coming Messiah.

So they left the town and began coming to him. This is yet another detail that makes me think the woman was not an infamous as I was raised to believe. Who would believe the report about a spiritual issue (not just about a prophet but about the Messiah Moses promised) from a serial adulteress or a tragically promiscuous person, especially in a culture that did not think women were reliable narrators to begin with? Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” So the disciples began to say to one another, “No one brought him anything to eat, did they?”

Oh, disciples. The learning curve is long for them. They think of physical food as quickly as the Jewish leaders thought of the physical temple, Nicodemus thought of physical birth, and the Samaritan woman thought of physical water. I’m sensing some patterns here in the storytelling.

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.[13]Don’t worry about me. You are missing what’s here for you. Don’t you know what the farmers say: ‘There are four more months and then comes the harvest?’ I tell you, look up and see that the fields are already white for harvest! You are in Samaria; they are ready to be brought into the Kingdom.The one who reaps receives pay and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together. For in this instance the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’  I am setting you up for the joy of reaping a harvest of souls that you did not work for; others, such as all the prophets, have labored before you, an now you have entered into their labor.”

Now many Samaritans from that town believed he was a prophet because of the report of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”[14] So when the Samaritans came to him, they began asking him to stay with them. He and his disciples stayed there two days, and because of his word many more believed.

They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the entire world.”  This echoes what John the Baptizer had already said: “God gives the Spirit without limit.” (John 3:34) Jesus promptly demonstrates what he told Nicodemus: God loves and offers salvation to the whole world, even the Samaritans – the ones His people most despised. He goes to them. He accepts their hospitality. He doesn’t worry that others might think he had compromised himself by treating them with dignity. They needed Living Water, and he took it to them.

According to an early tradition, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini, “the enlightened one.” The story goes that she went with her 7 children to spread the gospel in Carthage, which was in Phonecia on the northern coast of Africa. She was eventually killed (along with her family) by Nero – who had her thrown into a well.[15]

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[1] Is this story actually explaining the “water and Spirit” Jesus just told Nicodemus was needed for a second birth? Hmmmm……

[2] Background info from the commentary accompanying The Voice translation, ESV Reformation Study Bible, NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, NIV First Century Study Bible, Orthodox Study Bible, Believer’s Bible Commentary, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Adam Clarke’s commentary

[3] With this crime the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 28:1, Isaiah 28:3, Isaiah 28:7-8) charges the Ephraimites, within whose limits the city stood. (Adam Clarke)

[4] “This reference to Joseph in verse 5 will only become clear when we see that the Samaritan woman suffered in her life in a manner similar to Joseph. If this reading of the story is correct, than just as in Joseph’s life, unexplained suffering was endured for the purpose of bringing salvation to Israel, so the Samaritan woman’s suffering in her life led to the salvation of the Israelite Samaritans in that locale.” https://sarahbowler.com/2015/01/20/the-woman-at-the-well/

[5] The book series Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture records numerous early church writers pointing this out.

[6] Language used for the Holy Spirit elsewhere in the New Testament.

[7] This also makes me think the woman should be seen as more than a moral failure. She could have asked a lot of petty or vindictive things of a potential prophet to prove what he knows. She asks a really good question about the temple.

[8] “Woman” is too blunt a translation for our 21st century ears. It sounds rude, when it wasn't. It’s the same way he addressed his own mother in John 2:4.

[9] “In the Spirit and in truth”, or “in spirit and truth.”

[10] “The worship of the Samaritans was a defective worship - they did not receive the prophetical writings: that of the Jews was a carnal worship, dealing only in the letter…with types and ceremonies.” (Adam Clarke) 

[11] Making the water imagery very important, considering Moses’ role as a water-giver.

[12] “The Jews believed that one essential characteristic of the Messiah would be, that he should be able to tell the secrets of all hearts. This they believed was predicted, Isaiah 11:2-3. When the famous impostor Barchochab, who rose up under the empire of Adrian, about a hundred years after the incarnation, professed himself to be the Messiah, after having been deceived by him for two years, they at last thought of putting his divinity to proof on this ground: they brought before him persons whom he did not know, some of whom were very vicious, and others of a different character; they desired him to point out who were the righteous, and who were the wicked; which when he could not do, they rose up and put him to death.” (Adam Clarke)

[13] We are told in this story what spiritual nourishment looks like: our water is the Holy Spirit, our food is doing the will of God.

[14] The Samaritan woman is sometimes referred to as the first apostle because of her evangelism. In a culture where women were considered inherently unreliable had a second-class status to the men around them, this is yet another example of how God uses what is foolishness and weakness to the world to shame the arrogance of the ‘wise’ and ‘strong,’ and taking those who “are not” valuable in the eyes of society and demonstrating their value. (1 Corinthians 1:28-29)

[15] Orthodox Study Bible

Harmony #9: Second Birth (John 2:23-3:21)

John 2:23 During the Passover feast in Jerusalem, the crowds were watching Jesus closely; and many began to trust (affirm/have confidence) in Him because of the signs He was doing. But Jesus saw through to the heart of humankind, and He did not entrust himself (affirm/have confidence) to them. He didn’t need anyone to testify concerning character of humanity. He understood human nature.

Jesus saw that their admiration of his miracles and signs was not the same as faith. They were impressed, but being impressed is not the same as being a follower who truly sees Jesus for who he is. There is belief about and belief in. Even demons believe true things about God.[1] The crowds believed true things about Jesus. We are about to meet Nicodemus, who apparently falls into the category of someone who is impressed – he believes true things about Jesus -  but doesn’t understand truly who Jesus is.

I tend to think that miraculous signs would have been impressive enough to win me over. So why weren’t those miracles overwhelmingly convincing concerning Jesus’ divinity? Miracles were attributed to religious leaders, royalty, and heroes (depending on your culture). Apparently everybody believed in miracle-working; they just weren’t sure where the power came from; some claimed Jesus’ power comes from Satan (see Mark 3:20-30).

It reminds me of my class at Spring Arbor of students who already worked in the medical field. When I gave my presentation on dualism (supernatural and natural worlds exist; there are immaterial realities as well as material ones), they stopped me: “You are preaching to the choir. Anyone who works in a hospital long enough has stories of strange, unexplained things. You don’t have to convince us.”  

So miracles were accepted as a thing to those watching Jesus: either God was ‘with’ someone, or evil was empowering people to do astonishing things. But it didn’t necessarily mean more than that. As one pastor said,

“"Seeing signs and wonders, and being amazed at them, and giving the miracle worker credit for them that he is from God, saves nobody. This is one of the great dangers of signs and wonders: You don’t need a new heart to be amazed at them. The old, fallen human nature is all that’s needed to be amazed at signs and wonders.”[2]

My sense, for what it’s worth, is that Jesus miracles were primarily intended to prove to the Jewish community that He was the messiah foreshadowed in the Old Testament.[3] See my footnotes for how Jesus’ miracles hit all the OT hyperlinks for what a Messiah would do.

Nicodemus was one of the Pharisees[4], a man with some clout among his people. He came to Jesus under the cloak of darkness to question Him.[5] He said, “Rabbi, some of us have been talking. It is generally agreed that you are obviously a teacher who has come from God. The signs You are doing are proof that God is with You.[6]”

Once again, Old Testament prophets did signs. Think of Moses turning staffs into snakes, and the plagues, Daniel in the lion’s den, Elijah withheld rain, etc. “God is with you” is respectful to be sure, but it’s not new territory. At this point Jesus totally changes the subject. Remember how “he saw the heart of mankind?” He apparently introduces the true reason Nicodemus is visiting.

Jesus:  I tell you the truth: only someone who experiences birth for a second time[7] can hope to see the kingdom of God.

Last week, when I was downstate doing some teaching for a gig involving youth, I had a long conversation after a session with a student. It took 40 minutes until we finally got to the heart of the issue. All the discussion was good, but every 10 minutes or so she would say something that would make me think, “Oh. We aren’t talking about the real issue yet.” But we got there. Jesus didn’t need 40 minutes. That’s one of the perks of being God in the flesh. He just went there.

Nicodemus: “Well, we’ve seen your signs and heard you teach, and we pretty much agree you are a teacher with God’s power behind him.” Jesus: “There’s no way you are going to see the Kingdom of God in the state you are in.”  Apparently, Nicodemus really wanted to be a part of the Kingdom of God. Kudos to Nicodemus. This guy is going out of his way to talk with Jesus because this is a big deal to him. So, it’s helpful to know how Nicodemus had been raised to believe one got into the Kingdom of God.

"Nicodemus would have stressed the careful observance of the Law and the traditions of the elders. [but it is] not a devout regard for the Law, not even a revised presentation of Judaism [that] is required, but a radical rebirth. The demand is repeated three times. Nicodemus and all his tribe of lawdoers are left with not the slightest doubt but that what is asked of anyone is not more law, but the power of God within that person to remake him or her completely. In its own way this chapter does away with “works of the law” every bit as thoroughly as anything in Paul."[8]

This had to be a spiritual earthquake. Nicodemus has been dedicating his life to doing all the right things to the best of his ability. Later, when Jesus starts rebuking the Pharisees point by point, we will see they were dedicated to getting even the smallest of things right. Jesus says, “No, the problem is that you aren’t the kind of person who can do this. The solution is so radical that it’s going to be like you started your whole life over and got born again.”

Nicodemus: I am a grown man. How can someone be born again when he is old like me? Am I to crawl back into my mother’s womb for a second birth? That’s impossible! 

The Jewish people believed in people being regenerated when people converted to Judaism; they even referred to it having a new birth. I suspect the idea wasn’t the problem so much as the fact that Nicodemus had already been ‘born again’ into Judaism. That ground had been covered. This really limited his options as he considered that he would have to be born again, again. 

Jesus:  I tell you the truth, if people not experience water and Spirit birth,[9] there’s no chance they will make it into God’s kingdom.

This likely refers to Old Testament passages in which “water” and “Spirit” describe the pouring out of God’s Spirit in the end times (Is. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 36:25–27). It’s a hyperlink to a “cleansing and transformation” that involves becoming a new kind of person, not just a cleaned up one. (See my footnotes for more details.)

When my computer gets old enough, it can’t do what it’s supposed to do because the programs are becoming obsolete. I can add patches; I can load all kinds of upgrades; I can get it refurbished. But eventually, it’s not going to run the programs it was intended to run and that I need to run. Shoot, I can’t find chargers that match, and it can’t interact with other computers because none of the connectors work.  I need a new computer.

Nicodemus was patching and upgrading relentlessly. He wanted to function as Yahweh intended: There is no reason to doubt that he wanted to love God and love his neighbors as God intended. But He needed to be new. So Jesus explains what he needs in order to be new.

Like comes from like. Whatever is born from flesh is flesh; whatever is born from Spirit is spirit. Don’t be shocked by My words, but I tell you the truth. Even you, an educated and respected man among your people, must be reborn by the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God.[10]

“Like comes from like” just means that things give birth to other things that are like themselves. If you are fleshy, you give birth to fleshy things, and they will be like you. The line continues. Obviously Nicodemus knows this. But Jesus introduces a different line of succession for those who will enter His kingdom: It’s not the fleshy descendants of Abraham; it’s the spiritual children of God. God’s people need to be new: they need a new spirit, and that has to be birthed from a spiritual place, not a physical place.  

The wind blows all around us as if it has a will of its own; we feel and hear it; we do not understand where it has come from or where it will end up, [yet we see its impact, so we know it is real.]

So far, so good. Earthly analogy. The wind is less mysterious to us than it was to them #science, but try to imagine life before Doppler radar and satellites. Wind is crazy, and that area was known for really crazy winds. Sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee were a frightening thing. If you sail on the Great Lakes, you know how it is. The weather turns on a dime. I was fishing in my kayak a couple weeks on just a small lake, and a wind came up that sent me and couple others scurrying to shore. I don't understand how wind works, but, yeah, it’s real.

Life in the Spirit is as if it were the wind of God.[11] [It moves on a will of its own; we hear it, but don’t understand how it all works; we don’t know where it will end up, but we feel it. We see its impact, and we know that it is real.]

So, this is what Nicodemus is going to need. Something out of his power to earn or control or even understand. I was talking with Gary Hambleton this week about his heart procedure. He was trying to explain it, but how exactly they are going to make him feel like new is mysterious to us non-heart doctors. Gary and I can talk about diet, exercise, other things in the control of us heart patients. But the Surgeon knows stuff we don’t, and from our perspective, moves in mysterious ways, his medical wonders to perform.

Nicodemus’ righteousness – his fitness for the Kingdom of God – had been earned, controlled and understood up to that point. Now, Nicodemus was going to have to be reborn as a man who surrendered himself to a Holy Spirit that has a will of its own. He won’t know how it works; he won’t know where it will end, but he will feel its power and presence. AND IT WILL MAKE HIM NEW.

Nicodemus:  I still do not understand how this can be. 

Jesus:  Your responsibility is to instruct Israel in matters of faith, but you do not comprehend the necessity of life in the Spirit?  I tell you the truth: we speak about the things we know (zing!), and we give evidence about the things we have seen, and you choose to reject the truth of our witness.  If you do not believe when I talk to you about ordinary, earthly realities [which we have both experienced], then heavenly realities will certainly elude you.[12]  [To speak of heavenly realities with authority, one needs to have been there.] But no one has ever journeyed to heaven above except the One who has come down from heaven—the Son of Man, who is of heaven.[13]

Consider this: to be perfectly acquainted with a place, it is necessary for a person to have been at that place. A lived experience beats a theoretical experience every time. I’ve watched a show called Somebody Feed Phil, and I’ve spent an hour watching him eat and talk in cities around the world. That doesn’t mean I know the city. Phil spent days there. He knows the city better than I do, but he doesn’t know the city. It’s the people who live there who know the city.  Jesus knows Heaven. It’s worth listening to the only One who has lived there tell us about it.

Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. In the same way, the Son of Man must be lifted up; then all those who believe in Him will experience everlasting life.[14]

Through the ‘lifted up’ serpent, the dying were restored by fixing their eyes on it.  When Jesus would be lifted up #crucifixion, those looking to Him, though dying in sin, would be healed and saved.

For God expressed His love for the world[15] in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it;[16] instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction,[17] so that through Him it might be saved.[18]

A summary of the gospel (“good news”) paraphrased from Adam Clarke:

• The world was in a ruinous, condemned state; people were without power to rescue themselves or the world from destruction.

• God, motivated by His eternal love, provided for its rescue and salvation, by giving Himself (through his Son) to pay the penalty He set for those who contribute to the ruination of the world, themselves and others.

• Sin must be a serious evil, when it required no less a sacrifice, to make atonement for it, than God manifested in the flesh to die on behalf of those who brought sinful ruin.

• One is saved through this sacrifice when one believes that the atoning sacrifice of Jesus indeed accomplished this purpose (affirms, has confidence in, trusts and obeys so that it transforms our lives).

• Those who believe are exempted from the judgment of eternal death (that they may not perish) and enter into a new life that begins now and ends in eternal glory (that they may have everlasting life).

 No one who entrusts themselves to Him has to fear being brought to judgment (a trial the separates the grain from the chaff), yet that judgment has already happened for everyone who refuses to trust because they reject the name (the person) of the only Son of God.  What is this judgment? The Light sent from God, Jesus, pierced through the world’s blinding darkness of sinful, pain-filled deeds. Still some people loved the darkness over the light because their intentions and actions were evil.  Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be seen for what they are.   Those who abandon deceit and act on what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God.[19]

 People loved (agapao) the darkness rather than the light. They give themselves sacrificially for the sake of the sin. The immediate judgment seems to be living in darkness: living in the corrosiveness of evil deeds, not just giving in to but embracing the self-destruction that follows sin.

Then, this story bookends nicely.

• Nicodemus started with, “By your deeds, it’s obvious you come from God,“ and ends with Jesus saying, “When you are in the light, it will be clear that your deeds come from God.”

• Nicodemus started with, “I am doing the works of the Kingdom to be a member of the Kingdom”; Jesus flips it: “Enter the Kingdom so that you can do the works of the Kingdom.”

And it begins with entrusting ourselves to Jesus. It begins with believing, leaning on, following in the footsteps of, and giving our lives sacrificially to the love of God and others, made possible through the work of Jesus and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.
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[1] James 2:19

[2] “It’s precarious to be a sign-seeker, to crave the spectacular and follow the latest sign worker, until he leaves his wife or buys a new jet with everybody’s money.” #trueevents https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/he-knew-what-was-in-man

[3] The previous several paragraphs were informed by this article: “Making Disciples by Performing Miracles: A Study in Mark, ”Jonathan Rivett Robinson.

 https://hail.to/laidlaw-college/article/k1J3D96. This long quote is worthwhile:  “It is the Jewish scriptures rather than Greco-Roman literature which provide the strongest parallels for Jesus’ miracles. In Jesus’ public miracles he is revealed as God’s agent; the healer and deliverer of Israel. Like Elijah and Elisha, he heals the sick and restores dead children to their parents (Mark 5:21-43; cf. 1 Kgs 17:17-24; 2 Kgs 4:8-37). Like David, he delivers from evil spirits and defeats demonic legions (Mark 5:1-20; cf. 1 Sam 16-18). Like Moses, the hungry people of God are fed in the wilderness (Mark 6:30-44; cf. Num 11). However, those miracles witnessed only by his disciples expand these scriptural Christological insights further. Only the disciples see how the wind and waves obey him and how he walks upon the water as if it were the dry land (Mark 4:35-41; 6:45-52). These two sea miracles serve to identify Jesus with YHWH who calms the storm in Jonah 1 and who walks on the sea in Job 9:8 (LXX).”

[4] “At this time, Israel’s Roman occupiers have given a small group of Sadducees and Pharisees limited powers to rule, and Nicodemus is one of the Pharisees. He holds a seat on the ruling council known as the Sanhedrin.” (commentary from The Voice translation)

[5] Adam Clarke believes this was because Jesus was alone at night.

[6] Jesus’ signs are the conversation starter but not a trigger for faith (v. 2).  (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[7] The translation “born from above” accords well with the discussion of “earthly” and “heavenly” things in v. 12, and the discussion of ascending and descending in v. 13. This is the meaning of the Greek adverb in other places in this Gospel (19:11, 23). Nicodemus apparently understood it to mean “a second time.” It is possible that both meanings are intended—a new birth that is a birth from above. (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[8] Leon Morris, at Precept Austin

[9] Probably the statement refers to Old Testament passages in which the terms “water” and “Spirit” are linked to express the pouring out of God’s Spirit in the end times (Is. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 36:25–27). The presence of such rich Old Testament imagery accounts for Jesus’ reproof of Nicodemus (v. 10): as a “teacher of Israel,” he should have understood. (ESV Reformation Study Bible)  “The most plausible interpretation of “born of water and the Spirit” is the purifying and transforming new birth. Since Jesus expects Nicodemus to understand what he means (vv. 7, 10), the background to the concept is previous Scripture. Water in the OT often refers to renewal or cleansing, and the most significant OT connection bringing together water and spirit is Ezek 36:25–27, where water cleanses from impurity and the Spirit transforms hearts. So “born of water and the Spirit” signals a new birth that cleanses and transforms.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[10] “By water and the Spirit (in this place)…is probably an elliptical form of speech, for the Holy Spirit under the similitude of water; as, in Matthew 3:3, the Holy Ghost and fire, do not mean two things, but one, viz. the Holy Ghost under the similitude of fire-pervading every part, refining and purifying the whole. (Adam Clarke)

[11] Both in Hebrew and in Greek, the “sound” of the “wind” can also mean the “voice” of the “Spirit.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[12] Nicodemus should be able to recognize Jesus’ point, which draws on a familiar principle. Some Jewish people already recognized that humans, with limited knowledge even of earthly things, could not understand the heavens (noted in the widely circulated Wisdom of Solomon 9:16) — at least not without the Spirit sent from above (Wisdom of Solomon 9:17). In John, “earthly” analogies for “heavenly things” here might refer to “above” (see NIV text note on v. 3), “water” (v. 5) and “wind” (v. 8). (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[13] “But our Lord probably spoke to correct a false notion among the Jews, viz. that Moses had ascended to heaven, in order to get the law. It is not Moses who is to be heard now, but Jesus: Moses did not ascend to heaven; but the Son of man is come down from heaven to reveal the Divine will.” (Adam Clarke)

[14] Just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Christ's death becomes the weapon that overthrows death. (Orthodox Study Bible)

[15] “The whole human race: This would be a revelation to the exclusive Pharisee, brought up to believe that God loved only the chosen people.”  (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges) 

[16] “Since there are sinners in the world Christ’s coming involves a separation of them from the good, a judgment, a sentence: but this is not the purpose of His coming; the purpose is salvation.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[17] The world was under threat of judgment before He came; with His coming salvation became a reality offered to a hostile world (Matt. 23:37; Rom. 5:8). (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[18] Note the change from ‘to save the world,’ to ‘that the world might be saved through Him.’ The world can reject Him if it pleases. (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[19] Jesus speaks of “doing” the truth. This indicates that “truth” is a matter of both thought and practice.

Harmony #8: "Out With The Old, In With The New: Part 2" (John 2:13-22)

If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us. So, what tangible Kingdom attributes should we be zealous to put in the courtyard of our church and our lives so that the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives?

Sweep out Stinginess and replace it with Generosity – giving to those in need[1]

• “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”  2 Corinthians 9:11

•  “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”  1 John 3:17

• “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”  Hebrews 13:1

A generous community is a healthy community. The book of Acts records of the early church that “they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” This was one of a number of things recorded in Acts that led to them “enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”[2]  Turns out generosity is a great witnessing tool. God’s people have a Great Commission: go everywhere, preaching the gospel and making disciples. Things like generosity cultivate the soil in which the seeds of the gospel will be planted. It helps to break up the hard ground in the hearts of souls of people.

Sweep out Harshness and replace it with Gentleness – keeping strength under control[3]

• Ephesians 4:1–3  “I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness...”

• 1 Timothy 6:11–12  “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.”

• 1 Peter 3:14–16  “Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

 Gentleness is not weakness. Gentle people are those with the ability to do harm who are careful not to do harm. You have to train dogs about the power of their own bite so they know how to be gentle. Kids have to learn it at an early age so siblings and pets don’t get hurt. Gentleness occurs when those who could hurt others, don’t.

• “I could say this and leave no tip and let that waiter know just how bad of an experience this was.” Be gentle.

• “I could gossip and throw him under the bus.” Be gentle.

• “I could take that past failure of my friend or spouse or parent or that person across the room right now and use it against them for a long, long time.” Be gentle.

Sweep out Self-indulgence and replace it with Self-control – not being ruled by our appetites[4]

• “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”  1 Corinthians 9:24-27

• “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Galatians 5:13-16

God gave us appetites and the proper fulfillment of them. If we are hungry; there’s food. If we want companionship, there are people. If we want order, there’s organization. If we want family, there’s marriage and sex. If we want independence (or agency) and there’s free will. If we want to learn, there’s knowledge. Appetites (or desires) are not necessarily the problem. What these verses highlight are two ways appetites and desire can go wrong:

• They could knock us out of the race (compromise our witness)

• They could cause us to bite and devour others to get what we want

When things other then Jesus begin to order or control our lives, we will live in such a way that we will begin to bite and devour others to get what we want.

• Our desire for companionship becomes manipulative control of those around so we get all our needs met on our terms. Those around us become the sacrifice as we consume people to fill that void within us.

• Our desire for order becomes a coercive demanding that people and things be just like we like them all the time, with the attached message that those not as orderly are not just physically deficient, but probably morally deficient in some way. And when disorder strikes, those around us become the sacrifice as we lash out at those who messed up our world.

• Our desire for family becomes our desire for the perfect, ideal family, which becomes a fixation on everybody being perfect – well, everybody being what I want them to be. And when Billy doesn’t act or dress just right, or your spouse falls short…look out. They are about to become the sacrifice.

• Our desire for agency becomes an excuse for indulgence and rebellion at all authority. “Nobody can tell me what to do.” Anytime there is a sense that we might be responsible to something or someone bigger than ourselves we reject it, because nobody is bigger than ourselves. When this happens, community gets sacrificed – and that includes the relationships with the people in it.

 The opposite of being ruled by our desires is self-control, which is surrendering our desires to God’s desires. “Serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[5] This Paul calls “walking in the Spirit.” We talk about living a Spirit-led life, one in which the gifts and the fruit build up the body of Christ and serve as a witness to God’s transformative power at work in us. What does this look like? Serving one another in love. 

Sweep out Self-Sufficiency and replace it with Prayer,[6] pouring out our soul to the Lord (Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1:15)

• “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. “  Matthew 26:41

•  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

I don’t know if ‘self-sufficiency’ is the best word, but here’s what I’m getting at: Prayer reminds us that we need help. We are not good at being autonomous. We lack the ability to be righteous and holy on our own. We thrive in the service of a King who is ‘far beyond what we ask or think,’[7] and without this King reigning in our lives, we’re in trouble (as are the people around us).

• We resist temptation, but we also recognize the need for Holy Spirit power in that resistance, and we ask for and remind ourselves of that through prayer.

• If we think we can be good or righteous through our own will, we will either be proud (“I nailed it and all these losers around me haven’t figured it out yet”) or ashamed (“I am the loser. I just can’t get it right!”), so we pray for God’s power to bring about righteousness in us that we simply can’t do on our own.

• I realized a while ago I often said, “I’ve been thinking and praying about this,” and I wasn’t trying to be dishonest, but it turned out I was just thinking. Why? Because of course I could figure it out. I didn’t need God’s input. Ummmmm…

 Prayer is, among other things, a constant acknowledgment that I can’t do this by myself. It’s an act of surrender in which we take the ball and put it in God’s court – which is where it was always meant to be.

Sweep out “Right”ness and replace it with Righteousness – doing that which God would approve[8]

• “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God…”1 John 3:10.

• “Then Peter said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.’” Acts 10:34-35.

I am defining “right”ness as, “But it’s my right!” But doing what we have the right to do can sometimes be very different from doing what is righteous. Paul as clear: even when things are permissible, they are not always beneficial.[9] I have the right to say almost anything I want here in our country, but not all of it would be righteous; so, as a child of God, I can’t exercise that right like others can, at least not in good conscience.  I have a right to hoard my money; I have a right to gamble it all away. I have a right to drive around town with offensive bumper stickers.  I have a right to go all kinds of places online.

But, as a follower of Jesus, my rights exist in service to the righteousness to which I am called. Righteousness is “right living” in the eyes of God, and living righteously is not just a necessary goal for the individual health of Christians, it’s an act of love for others. How can I love you well? Do what God tells me is the right thing to do.

Sweep out lords and replace them with servants – looking to serve rather than be served

• "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins… As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." 1 Peter 4:8-10 

• Philippians 2:3  “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

• Luke 22:26-27   “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”

 So this comes back to the question of power. God gives us power in order to help us serve more effectively. In the corporate world, those with power are often those for whom others work. The more people you lead, the more people work for you, and the more important you are.

Not so in the church. The more people you lead, the more people you serve. The more power you have, the more you are called to be broken and spilled out for others, not them for you.

Sweep out unrighteous Judgment and replace it with Nurture – caring for those who are hurting or broken[10]

• Romans 14:19  “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

• 1 Thessalonians 5:14  “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

• “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

I’ve recently head the analogy of a garden to describe our lives. I like it.  Comparing people with plants and farms is good biblical territory. J So, what do we do if we want a garden to flourish? WE TAKE CARE OF IT. I don’t angrily pound plants into the ground because they have bugs on them. I don’t withhold water because I’m mad the beans aren’t a tall as they should be. I don't ignore weeds that are overwhelming my plants because I figure the plants should be dealing with their own problems. I fertilize, weed, prune, water, dust for bugs.  I take care of my garden because fruit follows nurture.

You want to see Holy Spirit fruit in your life? Nurture yourself in the Word, in prayer, surrounded by God’s people. You want to see fruit in the people around you? The Holy Spirit is doing Holy Spirit work, but we are on a co-mission with God. . Nurture them.

Sweep out Timidity and replace it with Boldness – fearlessly doing and saying what is righteous[11]

• 2 Corinthians 3:12  “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”

• 1 Thessalonians 2:2  “But thought we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi…we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”

• Philippians 1:14  “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

 Bold is not brash, pushy or obnoxious. It’s just confident and unashamed in spite of whatever difficulties result. And notice the passage from Philippians: because of my chains, most have become confident. Apparently, persecution clarifies for people that it is time to go big or go home.

Church: we need to ‘go big’ all the time. By that I mean unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives.  Some of you get the opportunity sitting around a dinner table or a family reunion; for some of you, it’s every day at work. Some of you might take it to a larger scale. Wherever we are, unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives.  We are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ; it is the power of God unto salvation.[12]

Help us, Lord, to play our part in this church becoming increasingly a holy community of love, truth, prayer, worship, repentance, forgiveness, justice and mercy – a place for people of all neighborhoods and nations, a place where the grace of Jesus’ saving atonement is central, a place where God’s name is honored in our words and actions and God’s presence is experienced as transformative, saving, and healing. May zeal for the integrity of your house, guided by your Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, consume us.[13]

____________________________________________________________________________________

[1]  “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”  Proverbs 21:13

“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.”  Proverbs 28:27

 “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”  Luke 6:30

[2] Acts 2:42-47

[3] 2 Timothy 2:24–25  “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”  

Titus 3:1-2  “Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.”

[4] “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.”  Proverbs 16:32

“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.”  Proverbs 25:2

[5] Galatians 5:13

[6] “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

[7] Ephesians 3:20

[8] “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:3.

“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” 1 John 2:29.

[9] 1 Corinthians 6:12

[10] James 2:14-17   “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

[11] Proverbs 28:1  “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are like a lion.”

[12] Romans 1:16

[13] Colin Smith, https://openthebible.org/sermon/zeal-for-gods-house/

Harmony #7: Out With The Old, In With The New (John 2:13-22)

If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us. So, what tangible Kingdom attributes should we be zealous to put in the courtyard of our church and our lives so that the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives? 

Sweep out Fear and replace it with Love – (agape) loving people sacrificially and freely  

• “Perfect love casts out fear (phobos, fleeing to avoid because of dread: involves the dread of punishment).” 1 John 4:18 This in reference to understanding God’s love for us and not fearing eternal judgment. But the very next verse says, “We love, because He first loved us.”

• “God has not given us a spirit of timidity or cowardice, but a spirit of miraculous power through God’s strength, agape love, and acting out God’s will through sound reasoning.” 2 Timothy 1:7

God’s love removes our fear; a different way of saying it is that the more we as children of God experience and understand God’s love – free; unearned; lavish in spite of being known; characterized by sacrifice; and in every way for us[1] – the more we can rest in the love of God. 

In the same way, the church is intended to be a community of people through whom God’s love is passed on to others. The more we experience and understand God’s love through God’s people – free; unearned; lavish in spite of being known; characterized by sacrifice; and in every way for us– the more we can rest in the love of those around us.

Sweep out Discord and replace it with Peace – bringing righteous order to sinful chaos

• “He is the embodiment of our peace, sent once and for all to take down the great barrier of hatred and hostility that has divided us so that we can be one. He offered His body on the sacrificial altar to bring an end to the law’s ordinances and dictations that separated Jews from the outside nations. His desire was to create in His body one new humanity from the two opposing groups, thus creating peace.  Effectively the cross becomes God’s means to kill off the hostility once and for all so that He is able to reconcile them both to God in this one new body. The Great Preacher of peace and love came for you, and His voice found those of you who were near and those who were far away.  By Him both have access to the Father in one Spirit. And so you are no longer called outcasts and wanderers but citizens with God’s people, members of God’s holy family, and residents of His household. You are being built on a solid foundation: the message of the prophets and the voices of God’s chosen emissaries with Jesus, the Anointed Himself, the precious cornerstone. The building is joined together stone by stone—all of us chosen and sealed in Him, rising up to become a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you are being built together, creating a sacred dwelling place among you where God can live in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:14-22)[2]

I love this image.  A building is being created out of each one of us who are residents of God holy household. We are being joined together to be a sacred place where it’s obvious we live together in peace with the Spirit of God as the mortar that holds us together. To the outcast and wanderer, welcome. Join the family of God. No hatred and hostility should divide us, since the Great Preacher of peace and love came for us. 

Sweep out Merit and replace it with Mercy – giving grace (unmerited favor) wherever possible

•  Luke 6:36  “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

•  Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

•  Matthew 23:23  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

“The world will give you that once in awhile, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.”   Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

That image makes me happy; it’s an oasis of goodness in a world that is so broken. But we serve a savior who didn’t just dab mercy on us; he poured it out on us, covered us in it – and we are expected to be in the corner’s of the lives of those around us, ready to shower them with mercy when the fight is going the worst.  

I like this as an image to organize our time with others. What if we thought of everyone you talk with after this service as someone in need of a brief timeout from a life that’s beating them up, and what then need from you is for you to be in their corner dumping a Gatoraide cooler of mercy over them.

Sweep out Callousness and replace it with Kindness – treating others with goodness

• “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

• “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:9)[3]

• “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35) 

I don’t know about you, but I find myself getting jaded and hardened if I’m not careful. There are so many things that make me want to develop a “thick skin” so life doesn’t hurt anymore. Callouses on our hands are a blessing when you do manual labor that rubs our skin raw; why wouldn’t callouses on our hearts be a blessing when we work with people who rub our souls raw? 

 Why not? Because we are called to be kind (combine some of the others in this list to get the idea: merciful, loving, gentle, and nurturing). The harder our hearts get, the harder it is to do those things. 

• I don’t want to merciful, loving, gentle, and nurturing to the person who passed me in the roundabout, or who constantly poses in front of the mirror at the gym, or the person next to me on the plane who can’t seem to stop saying the name of Jesus loudly, or…. But I must. 

•  I don’t want to be merciful, loving, gentle, and nurturing to the online troll who blows up what were meant to be thought-provoking conversations. But I must. 

• I don’t want to be merciful, loving, gentle, and nurturing to that person who unfairly judges my motivations or never gives me the benefit of the doubt. But I am told that I must pass on to others what Jesus gave to me.

I must pass on what Jesus did for me.  See the previous point about mercy.

Sweep out Fickelness and replace it with Faithfulness – having a consistently righteous character others can count on[4]

• “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity and dignity…” (Titus 2:7)  

• “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.” (Hebrews 13:18) 

• “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:12)  

We often think of faithfulness in terms of actions, and that’s clearly not wrong as you see here. In Revelation, we talked about faithful endurance that had to do with living a godly life; in friendships, a faithful friend “sticks closer than a brother.”[5] I want to look at a different aspect: having a consistently righteous character others can count on. This is the” clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.”

This is not a demand for perfection. This is about the consistent presence of our lives. Maybe another word is integrity: our words, actions and attitudes are integrated so that they work together, and the testimony of our lives tells the same story over and over.   

A couple months ago, a person who has been a consistently righteous presence in my life had a noticeably inconsistent moment with me. But as I thought about it, I realized it was notable precisely because it was not the norm, and that I was blessed to have someone in my life whose presence is so consistent that inconsistencies stand out. This person apologized the next day, by the way – which did not surprise me at all. They have a consistently righteous character others can count on; they desire to act honorably in all things. 

Sweep our Error and replace it with Truth-telling – speaking honestly about…everything.

•  Ephesians 4:25   “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

There are lots of ways to talk about the devastation of falsehood. Today, let’s look at the practical trouble with the lack of honest truth-telling.

1.  When you consistently practice dishonesty, you eventually will lose touch with what’s true, and you will become an ‘unreliable narrator’ about the world. I have had several friend who, it became clear to me, just lied all the time, almost without thinking. It had just become part of who he was. He did it in the most ordinary of things even when it made no sense. At some point, I just stopped taking you seriously. I had no idea if anything they said was true. 

2.  If you are comfortable lying to others, you are almost certainly comfortable lying to yourself. “That was a good 1 hour workout!” No it wasn’t. It was 45 minutes of mediocre effort. “I got fired because my boss is a jerk!” Or – hear me out – you were late every day, did as little as possible, and undermined the boss around the other employees. Eventually you will become an “unreliable narrator” in your own life. You construct an image of yourself (for better or worse) that is totally at odds with reality. I read a book a while ago called I Wear The Black Hat (an image for bad guys). The author was challenging our image of ourselves. He asked a sobering question: What if we wear the black hat in our lives? We like to think we are the heroes in our own story, but….what if we are the villain (or at least more villainous than we think), and heroic people around us are picking up the slack?  “As each individual reads Scripture…they are Esther, never Xerxes or Haman. They are Peter, never Judas, never a Pharisee. They are Jews escaping slavery, never Egypt… [they have] no lens for locating themselves rightly  in Scripture or society.”[6] Truth about ourselves, not just others, matters.

3.  Finally, I think we tend to assume people are like us in a lot of ways. I found out a couple years ago that some people carry on conversations with voices in your head. Like, they go after it.  I had assumed everyone was like me: it’s quiet in there. They assumed everyone was like them. I am conscious of my weight (this goes back to my childhood), so I assume everyone else is conscious of their weight too. We often tend to project our interior life into the interior of others. And if you are a liar, the world becomes a very unsafe place because as far as you know, you are surrounded by liars.

The practical blessing of truth:

1.  You become more discerning about truth and become an increasingly reliable narrator of the world. This brings clarity, true knowledge, honest insight, etc. People increasingly give weight to your voice because they see your commitment to seeing the world as it is. Even when people disagree, if both parties know the other person is really committed to an objective view of the world, each voice has weight. (Quick note: if you change your mind on issues at times after studying and talking, that’s probably a good sign.)

2.  You are likely becoming an increasingly reliable narrator about yourself. You are able to look honestly at instead of away from the hat you are wearing.  Odds are good that you will become so committed to honest assessment that you ask others to weigh in on what they see in your life. This is both personal and relational gold.

3.  You won’t assume others are like you – because you have an honest view of the world.  And then you are at a much healthier place internally (not projecting onto others) and relationally (able to relate with a view of the actual reality of what people are like). 

Sweep out Pride and replace it with Humility – having a modest/honest estimate of ourselves[7]

• “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”  (1 Peter 5:5)”

•  “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”  (Romans 12:3)

• But [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

When is it most obvious that God is at work in our lives? When our strength and skills fail – when what we bring to the table is inept at best and disastrous at worst -  and yet God brings something good from it. 

When is it most obvious that God is at work in our church? When our strength and skills fail – when what we bring to the table is inept at best and disastrous at worst -  and yet God brings something good from it. Unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain, right?[8]

If I can be transparent about pastoring for a moment. Most Sunday, something goes wrong here on a Sunday morning, from mechanical issues to computer breakdowns to awkward sermons (and sermon topics) to lack of smooth transitions to the worship team having to scramble with last minute sicknesses to nursery workers not being able to make it to somebody sticking their foot in their mouth in a conversation, and that someone is often me. And more often than not, it seems like someone is here really looking for be ministered to through whichever area is “weak” that particular morning.  And it feels like, “Well, we blew it.”

This used to eat me up. God has been working with me: “Let it go. My power is made perfect in these moments.” In other words, CLG is not going to flourish – really Kingdom flourish - because the preacher or the band or the Kid’s Ministry leaders or any of us navigating relationships are  knocking it out of the park; it will Kingdom flourish when the power of God builds this house. And that is comforting indeed.

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[1] Romans 8:31

[2]  “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” Proverbs 6:16-19 

 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God (sharing in the same nature their Father).” Matthew 5:9

 “So then we pursue the things which make for peace (wholeness, unity) and the building up of one another.” Romans 14:19  

[3] 1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient, love is kind.” 

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:12-13  

[4] Verses about faithfulness to God: 1 Samuel 12:24  “Fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.”

Revelation 2:10  “Do not fear what you are about to suffer….Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

1 Corinthians 4:2  “It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

[5] Proverbs 18:24

[6] From Christiana Collins. I don’t know who that is, but it’s pretty good stuff.

[7]  “Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor.”  Proverbs 15:33 

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”  Proverbs 11:2

 “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” Romans 12:16 

[8] Psalm 127:1

Harmony #6: Zeal For The House Of God (John 2:13-22)

Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables.[1] So he made a whip of cords (rushes) and drove them all out of the temple courts, with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.[2] To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!”[3] 

A couple things to note:

• Selling these animals was actually a service to distant travelers who could not bring their sacrifices with them. All the merchants could recover their money and animals. Jesus didn’t take away their livelihood.

• However… the priests rented space rather than gave it, which drove up costs; the priests and Levites often resold animals offered as sacrifices back to the sellers, who sold them again; and the money changers often took a premium.[4]

• Finally, This market was in the temple courtyard, specifically, the areas set aside for Gentiles to worship. Gentiles couldn’t worship at the temple at the very place God has set aside for them to be welcome. This marketplace had become a place of greed and fraud, and it’s presence in the outer courtyard hindered worship.  

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will devour me.”[5]

We should note that the goal of Jesus’ zeal was to purify, not ruin. Jesus removed the problem from the temple, but he didn’t ruin the people. He rebukes them, but he doesn’t destroy them. Why not? Because the goal wasn't to humiliate them or ban them from using the temple as God intended. It was “zeal for the house of God’ that consumed him, not “zeal for calling down judgment” on the defilers of the temple. The goal was to clean the temple. In fact, Jesus is going to tell Nicodemus right after this that “God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.” 

So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 

The response of the Jewish leaders – the Pharisees – is interesting. They are more curious than anything. There is no record Jesus got in trouble for this, and it is not brought up at Jesus’ trial. It appears to track with what the people thought a prophet would do: protect the temple. Prophets had the authority to speak and act prophetically to cleanse the temple. They just asked for his credentials (a sign).

Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken. 

Jesus’ claim about being the temple shifted the focus of God’s presence on Earth away from a geographical place like the temple to the person of Jesus.[6] Also note: after the first miracle, they believed in Jesus. After the cleansing of the temple, the believed the Scriptures. I suspect that language is not accidental. We worship Jesus (not the Bible), but we trust the person of Jesus and revelation of God through Scripture that points toward or tells us about Jesus. That trust is foundational to our flourishing as followers of Jesus.

* * * * *

Jesus apparently cleansed the temple twice: the first Passover of his ministry (recorded only in John) and last Passover of his ministry. He bookended his life of ministry by focusing on His house and His people.  He never cleansed a Roman or Greek temple, though God knows they needed it. He didn’t cleanse a Samaritan temple, which was even worse to the Jewish people because their temples had incorporated pagan worship. The only temple he cleansed was the one where Yahweh was worshipped. The zeal of the Lord that consumed Jesus had to do with a zeal for the temple, God’s dwelling place.

God’s concern for the purity has always started with His people. Biblical prophets consistently spoke of God’s judgment on injustice beginning with God’s household. I’m going to walk us through some examples starting in the Old Testament and ending much closer to our time.

• Here is Amos, in a classic example of God addressing the need for purification among His own people. This is pretty typical prophetic language on this issue: Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.  Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:18-24)

• Ezekiel had a vision about how God felt about the corruption in the Israelite community. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you… Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it…”  The heavenly bearers of judgment on the unmarked were to “begin in my sanctuary” (Ezekiel 9:4-6; 11:12)

• When Jeremiah wrote about God’s coming judgment on the violent corruptions of the nations (not just Israel), we read this:“Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it….So I took the cup from the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials…” (Jeremiah 25:15-18)

• Peter, writing several decades later, is one of several New Testament authors talks about it again. “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner… It’s judgment time for God’s own family. We’re first in line. If it starts with us, think what it’s going to be like for those who refuse God’s Message!” (1 Peter 4:12-13; 17-18, The Message)

• Augustine, in the 400s: “He then is eaten up with zeal for God’s house who desires to correct all that he sees wrong there. Let the zeal for God’s house consume every Christian wherever he or she is a member.”

• The Protestant Reformation (1500s) was all about this issue.

• The Great Awakenings (1700s, 1800s, some argue the Jesus Movement in the 1970s) were certainly about evangelism, but an awful lot of it was revival from within.

• Alexander Maclaren, (1826 - 1910) a minister in England for 65 years who was twice president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and president of the Baptist World Congress in London in 1905, wrote a commentary I read a lot when I do sermon prep. Here is his commentary for this section:

A church as an outward institution is exposed to all the dangers to which other institutions are exposed. And these creep on insensibly, as this abuse had crept on. So it is not enough that we should be at ease in our consciences in regard to our practices as Christian communities. We become familiar with any abuse, and as we become familiar we lose the power of rightly judging of it.

 Therefore conscience needs to be guided and enlightened quite as much as to be obeyed.How long has it taken the Christian Church to learn the wickedness of slavery? Has the Christian Church yet learned the unchristianity of war? Are there no abuses amongst us, which subsequent generations will see to be so glaring that they will talk about us as we talk about our ancestors, and wonder whether we were Christians at all when we could tolerate such things?

They creep on gradually, and they need continual watchfulness if they are not to assume the mastery. The special type of corruption which we find in this incident is one that besets the Church always…It is all Christian communities, established and non-established churches, Roman Catholic and Protestant. The same danger besets them all. There must be money to work the outward business of the house of God. 

 But what about people that ‘run’ churches as they run mills? What about people whose test of the prosperity of a Christian community is its balance-sheet? What about the people that hang on to religious communities and services for the sake of what they can make out of them? We have heard a great deal lately about what would happen ‘if Christ came to Chicago.’ If Christ came to any community of professing Christians in this land, do you not think He would need to have the scourge in His hand… if Jesus Christ had not thus come, over and over again, to His Church, Christian men would have killed Christianity long ago...

We and our brethren, all through the ages, have been corrupting the Water of Life. And how does it come to be sweet and powerful still? That unique characteristic of Christianity, its power of reformation, is not self-reformation, but it is a coming of the Lord to His temple to ‘purify the sons of Levi, that their offering may be pleasant as in days of yore.’ So one looks upon the spectacle of churches labouring under all manner of corruptions; and one need not lose heart. The shortest day is the day before the year turns; and when the need is sorest the help is nearest...

I believe too, with all my heart-and I hope that you do-that, though the precious wheat is riddled in the sieve, and the chaff falls to the ground, not one grain will go through the meshes. Whatever becomes of churches, the Church of Christ shall never have its strength so sapped by abuses that it must perish, or its lustre so dimmed that the Lord of the Temple must depart from His sanctuary.[7]

God does not abandon His people. He intends the church to be a glorious bride (to use last week’s language), and to be salt and light in this rotting and dark world. So He’s going to do work in His people. And He intends for that salt to be salty, and that light to be bright.

When we (rightly) mourn and condemn the sin all around us, just know: God will deal with His children first so that when they go out into all the world to preach a gospel that transforms heart, soul, mind and strength, they are bringing the solution to the problem in word and deed, not adding to it.

How do we respond?

1. Identify what needs to get out of temple. [8] What most threatens to occupy the space God has set aside for His purposes in the church? What corrupting influences needs to be cleansed? I wrote down 5 things the broader church in America is wrestling with right now based on conversations and insight from those who study these things. Last night, at a wedding reception, Sheila and I sat with a young couple who live downstate who cited at least three of them for why they and many of their friends are struggling with church.  

Setting empire measures of success. Last week we talked about how God loves to use the “are nots” to confound the “are.” God specializes in using the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. The success of the temple of God needs to be measured by the standards of the Kingdom of God. Worldly standards tend to involve two things when it comes to the success of organizations: how big you are, and how much money you have. Nothing wrong with either of those. If a church can be large and cash flush, more power to ‘em. It’s just not a Kingdom standard for success.

• Sometimes churches are big because they are crushing it when it comes to building a compelling community of truth and grace; sometimes they are big because they have light shows and free giveaways and a great coffee bar onsite; sometimes they are just situated in the right place at the right time. All kinds of reasons. Big is not bad, but it’s not automatically good.

• Sometimes churches are small because they have fallen out of the race through sin permeating the church, through bad leadership, or through the compromise of truth; sometimes a town died; sometimes the only people left after revival were those who were serious; sometimes they are situated in a place hostile to the gospel. All kinds of reasons. Small is not bad, but it’s not automatically good.

• Some churches have tons of money, some don’t, and the reasons for that are all over the map: what part of town is the church situated? What kinds of jobs to the congregants have? Are they recession-proof? What happened during COVID? Gas price hikes?

How does God measure success in his church, both globally and locally? That’s what I’m interested in. I would love to hear from you about this in Message+, but here’s a broad summary: Kingdom fruit. People being transformed into the image of Christ in whom the fruit of the Holy Spirit increasingly characterizes personal and corporate life.

Confusing empire power with kingdom influence. All throughout church history, whenever the church has become too deeply embedded within the halls of cultural power, it has compromised the church. It started with Constantine. He legalized Christianity, and under his rule persecution dropped dramatically. Christians began to have access to cultural comfort and wealth. It’s no surprise that they loved this change. Who wouldn’t? But almost right away, they began to passionately argue that things that weren’t okay for the previous 300 years were now okay. It turns out all those things were things that Constantine liked.

Their principle cracked; they began to love the power and comfort that came with cultural access and authority more than the power of God working through a faithful church. This pattern repeats over and over throughout history. The kind of kingdom influence that genuinely transforms cultures come from the ground up, not the top down. Christianity is a servant’s revolution.

In addition, we can take our cues from culture about how we ought to use power instead of looking to Jesus. Over the past few years, the very public reckoning in some areas of church life in America have revealed places where a love of and abuse of power looks like the world and not like how God intended his church to function. When the New Testament talks about those in positions of leadership or authority, it constantly stresses the servant nature of that position. In response to a couple disciples’ request to eventually “sit at his right and left hand” (places of authority), Jesus said,

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:20-28)

Fear of “them.” It usually sounds like this:  “If ‘they’ get their way, this is the end of…” And from that comes a whole movement based on fear often with an almost apocalyptic concern. Like Sam says to Frodo, “This is the end of all things!” But that is the exact opposite of what Scripture tells us God has given us: not a spirit of fear, but of “power, of love, and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

I have a concern that we look at whatever the latest challenge is to Christian life and teaching and respond as if we are thinking, “Well, looks like this one is bigger than God.”  Isn’t that functionally what we are saying when we panic in the face of cultural challenges? But as long as there has been a church, there have always been empire values that have pressed hard against the gates of the Kingdom. Sin has never stopped crouching at the door. This has always been true. Yet God hasn’t left his throne; He hasn’t abandoned his church; he hasn’t closed His Word or stifled his Holy Spirit. The church goes on. It has always gone on.    

Celebrityism. It is easy to fill the temple courtyard with people on pedestals. This, too, is as old of the church. Paul called out the factions and basically said, “Stop it! We don’t follow people!!”[9] We all have people we admire and trust; that’s not a bad thing. But they didn’t build the temple; they don’t set temple agendas; and they don’t get our worship or loyalty. There is something compelling about the idea that there is someone out there who I know is always speaking the truth, who always sees the world correctly, who whenever they speak or act, we can trust it’s good and true. But…that’s only Jesus. There is never a time we don’t filter people’s words, actions and character through the filter of God’s word.

We also have to be careful not to import celebrities from their cultural pedestal onto a church pedestal. Being a “big deal” in the eyes of the Empire carries no automatic weight in the Kingdom. It’s easy to think, “If we could get HIM or HER, then people will pay attention to the church!” And then it’s easy to think, “I want to be in small group with them, or sit nearby on a Sunday morning so we become friends.” Wanting to be their friend isn’t a bad thing in itself, but is a bad thing if it’s because you think they are cool or that somehow their friendship matters more than others.

 I think what God intends for the church is that we to know people with no concept of their standing in the world. If they have wisdom and righteousness, they have wisdom and righteousness. Hang out with them. That’s Kingdom life. #message+ #smallgroups  #potlucks #lobbytalk #coffee #hikingfishingBBQmoviesmealsetc

Consumerism. We live in a consumerist culture: we buy, we use, we discard. If we don’t like what we buy, we buy something else. Things are expendable. And you have noticed, people become expendable in a consumerist culture. We use and discard if they don’t make us happy. Churches can become expendable: we use and discard if they don’t make us happy. God and His kingdom can become expendable: we use the parts we don’t like and discard the parts we don’t until we created a space where (it turns out) God’s priorities and perspective perfectly align with ours. Huh. Church is a covenant community, and that’s a world apart from consumerism.

2. Pray for godly zeal.

 If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us.

So, for what should we be zealous to remove and put in the courtyard of our church and our lives?  I mentioned some bigger picture issues to take out, and there are certainly more. I want to end by focusing on tangible Kingdom attributes that we are called to put in. And when God calls us, He equips us, so I know when can do this with His help. When we are zealous to see these things, the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives.

• Love – agape loving people well  

• Peace – bringing righteous order to sinful chaos

• Mercy – giving grace (unmerited favor) wherever possible

• Kindness – treating others with goodness

• Faithfulness – being a righteous presence others can count on

• Truth-telling – speaking honestly about…everything.

• Humility – having a modest/honest estimate of ourselves

• Generosity – giving to those in need

• Gentleness – strength under control in the service of others

• Self-control – not ruled by our appetites

• Prayer – regularly communicating with God

• Righteousness – doing that which God would approve

• Service – looking to serve rather than be served

• Nurture – caring for those who are hurting or broken

• Boldness – a fearlessness to do and say what is righteous

Help us, Lord, to play our part in this church becoming increasingly a holy community of love, truth, prayer, worship, repentance, forgiveness, justice and mercy – a place for people of all neighborhoods and nations, a place where the grace of Jesus’ saving atonement is central, a place where God’s name is honored in our words and actions and God’s presence is experienced as transformative, saving, and healing. May zeal for the integrity of your house, guided by your Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, consume us.[10]

 
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[1] “They transformed what should have been a place for worshipful prayer into a noisy market.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[2] “John’s record of the temple cleansing immediately after the miracle at Cana (vv. 1–11 note) offers an important key to the whole of Jesus’ ministry. In these events are signaled replacement of the old order (water of ceremonial cleansing, Herod’s temple) with the new (the wine of salvation, Is. 25:6–9; the risen Lamb as the new temple, Rev. 21:22).”(ESV Reformation Study Bible)  This event is probably distinct from Jesus’ cleansing the temple at the end of his ministry (Matt 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45–46). (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[3] Malachi 3:1-4 “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight…he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

[4] Benson Commentary

[5] Psalm 69:9

[6] “No two scenes can be more different than the two recorded in this chapter: the one that took place in the rural seclusion of Cana… the other that was done in the courts of the Temple swarming with excited festival-keepers; the one hallowing the common joys of daily life, the other rebuking the profanation of what assumed to be a great deal more sacred than a wedding festival; the one manifesting the love and sympathy of Jesus, His power to ennoble all human relationships, and His delight in ministering to need and bringing gladness, and the other setting forth the sterner aspect of His character as consumed with holy zeal for the sanctity of God’s name and house… they cover the whole ground of His character, and in some very real sense are a summary of all His work.” MacLaren’s Expositions.

[7] MacLaren’s Exposition

[8] This can be really personal as well as corporate. “Do you not know that you [the church] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you… For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) The church is “the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).  Believers are “a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5); “God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Cor. 3:17).

[9] 1 Corinthians 1

[10] Colin Smith, https://openthebible.org/sermon/zeal-for-gods-house/

Harmony 5: Water into Wine (John 2:1-12)

Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,  and Jesus and  his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”[1]  Jesus replied, “Dear woman,[2] why are you saying this to me?[3] My time has not yet come.” His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.” 

Now there were six stone water jars[4] there for Jewish ceremonial washing[5], each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” and they did. 

When the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper wine when the guests are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!”[6] 

Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this Jesus went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

I could spend a lot of time on how, throughout church history, people found every minute detail loaded with meaning, and they may well be right. Check my footnotes. I just don’t have time to address everything. I am going to hit three bigger picture observations from this event.

JESUS SANCTIFIES THE ORDINARY

From the beginning, Jesus was not about spotlights, glamour, or show. He uses “the foolish things of the world” right out of the ministry gates. This is consistent with what Paul later writes to the church in Corinth.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish (uneducated) things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak (without influence) things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly (lacking nobility) things of this world and the despised (without merit) things—and the things that are not [esteemed]—to nullify the things that are [esteemed], so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)[7]

Jesus uses the things that “are not”:

• servants, not prominent community leaders.

• clay pots, not silver bowls.

• water, the most basic liquid on the planet.

• a poor person’s wedding.[8]

• “Galilee of the Gentiles.”

• 5 recorded disciples, and he had to ask a couple of them to join.

• “They believed in him” after this, as if maybe not all of them were quite sure what they had signed up for.

 Jesus sanctifies the ordinary. This is the way of the kingdom. He calls ordinary disciples. He hangs out with the ordinary people in common places. He transforms ordinary things into extraordinary gifts. Jesus didn’t need movers and shakers, halls of power, mansions, a spotlight, or an honored place with the Pharisees.[9] In fact, he tended to resist all those things throughout his ministry. He sanctified the ordinary.

If you think of yourself as ordinary, don’t let that discourage you. Jesus intends to sanctify you. He will take the “are not” part of you and make something of it for your good and His glory.

JESUS PROPS UP HYPERLINKS (earthly realities analagous to heavenly realities)

Jesus brings wine to a wedding (two images LOADED into the New Testament in reference to the church – the bride – and Jesus – the groom. More on that later). The first thing official act John records is Jesus ensuring the success of an earthly institution that was going to be referenced to describe heavenly realities.[10]

Theologians use the word “accommodation” to describe how God communicates to people. He accommodates us by using language and imagery we can understand.  Think about how your language changes with your kids as they grow older. How you explain something to them when they are 3 is very different from when they are 8, or 15. The realities of the heavenly kingdom are often explained in the institutions, language, and images of earth. This is an accommodation to help us understand things about God and His Kingdom.

• God as a Father and Husband

• Church as a Bride or a Mother

• Christians as children of God, brothers and sisters with each other

• Marriage as a covenant of mutual love, care and respect.

I have been blessed to have those analogies bring an overall good response in me: Great dad and mom and extended family; I love being a husband a father; my sisters are amazing; marriage gets deeper and better the further it goes. None of these people or institutions have been perfect; sometimes it’s been really hard. I don’t want to make it glossy where its not. It’s just that when someone says to me, “God is our Father,” that brings me comfort, not anxiety, fear, or disgust.

We have hyperlinks embedded in us. We hear those words or think about those things, and we are taken to a place in our hearts and minds. We make a connection. I think we, as the people of God, have a vested interest in strengthen the integrity of these things so we and others don’t have terrible hyperlinks embedded in us. We do this by a) valuing them ourselves in word and deed, and b) bringing gospel health and healing in the culture around us through spreading the Good News of the life-saving, life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. 

• I am interested in the church teaching and modeling godly fatherhood (and a holy view of masculinity in general), as well as bringing gospel-centric stabilization to fathers and men everywhere. When people hear that God is a Father, I want to help “make straight the path” to the salvation and transformation Jesus offers rather than settle for potholes on the road to the Kingdom.

• I am interested in the church teaching and modeling godly motherhood (and holy view of femininity in general) as well as bringing gospel-centric stabilization to mothers and women everywhere. When people hear that church is their mother, I want to help “make straight the path” to the salvation and transformation Jesus offers rather than settle for potholes on the road to the Kingdom.

• I am interested in the church building holy marriages/families and then stabilizing marriages/families all around us. When people hear that the church is a bride with a divine groom, or God adopts as his children, I want the to help “make straight the path” to the salvation and transformation Jesus offers rather than settle for potholes on the road to the Kingdom.

This isn’t about political action, though surely God has ordained government to restrain evil and support what is good. I’m talking about first being salt and light, and then being scattered throughout our neighborhoods to bring gospel preservation and truth in what we say and what we do.

For that matter, this is true of the language we use to describe aspects of God’s character – and thus God’s action in the world. We, as followers of Jesus, have an interest in properly defining and living out things that are part of God’s nature and will for the world

• Love needs true definition and consistent incarnation so that when we talk about God’s love and our love for God and others, we bring gospel illumination to a very murky word. 

• Justice needs true definition and consistent incarnation so that when we talk about a just God’s justice, we bring gospel illumination to an often misunderstood word. 

• Mercy and grace need true definition and consistent incarnation so that when we talk about a God’s mercy and grace, people have already seen a gospel illumination in the mercy displayed by God’s people.

 In all these things, we have the opportunity to “make straight the path” to Jesus through our words and our lives.

JESUS: GROOM AND MASTER OF CEREMONIES

Jesus rebuked his own mother – respectfully – when she asked him to do something about the wine problem. Commentators, preachers and theologians disagree on what is going on here. The equivalent Hebrew expression in the Old Testament had two basic meanings:

1. When one person was unjustly bothering others, they could say "What to me and to you?" meaning, "What have I done to you that you should do this to me?" (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18 ).

2. When someone was asked to get involved in a matter that was not their business, she could say, "What to me and to you?"Or, "That is your business, how am I involved?" (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8).”[11]

 So did Jesus mean:

• “This is not our problem. If they run out of wine, they run out of wine.” That would seem at odds with Jesus’ character.

• “It’s not time for me to do miracles.” Which is basically what he told Satan in the wilderness when he didn’t do a miracle, so I struggle with that explanation.

• Some say he was just honoring his mother’s request – but then what happened to, “I must be about my Father’s business”? Or the times he tells people they must prioritize God over people, including their families?

 I have an opinion that I hold in an open hand. I think he is saying, “I am not responsible for thiswedding feast. I am not the master of ceremonies or the groom. Not yet.” Not yet. But that hour will come. After all, Jesus as the groom taking the church as His bride[12] is a primary image throughout the New Testament.

The Mishnah Kiddushin (where the Talmud deals with “dedication” or betrothal) talks about how a groom secured a bride. This is a different culture, to be sure, so whatever you think of the process, watch for the analogy.

·      The groom (and/or his father) traveled to the bride’s home to “purchase” her with a “bride price.”[13]

·      When the bride consented, the marriage contract, or ketubah, was established

·      The father handed the groom a cup of wine, which he gave to the bride and said, "This cup I offer to you."

·      If she drank it, they were betrothed. They had given their lives to each other.

·      This betrothal (kiddushin, meaning “sanctified” or set apart) made them legally husband and wife

·      During that time between betrothal and marriage, the groom would construct a home.

·      The groom would return for his bride without advance warning. The bride needed to be ready (see the parable in Matthew 25:1–15).

·      The groom’s arrival was announced with a shout, and the wedding feast commenced shortly.

·      On the 7th day of the wedding feast, the bridegroom lifted the veil of the bride. This moment of revelation was called "the apocalypse," or, "the unveiling." 

·      For the first time she was fully revealed to Him, and the marriage would be consummated.

So….

·      Jesus traveled to earth to “purchase” His bride, the church, for the price of His blood. Purchase from whom, you ask? Hmmm. Well, the Bible says that outside of Christ, “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (I John 5:19) We are in bondage to the Devil as “master” and at times even a “father” (John 8:44, I John 3:8), prince of this world (John 12:31; Ephesians 2:1-3) or ruler (John 16:11). I think this means we are born into (or have sold ourselves into) Satan’s headship as our abusive father/husband/master. Jesus offers betrothal that dissolves our ties to the ruler of the darkness of this world and makes us members of God’s household, no expense spared.[14]

·      Jesus gives a bride price: the Holy Spirit. The church consents.

·      The marriage contract is established; the church is sanctified, or set apart, exclusively for Jesus.

·      God the Father handed Jesus the cup of His suffering; Jesus says, "This cup I offer to you." #lastsupper

·      In communion, we symbolically accept His life and give him ours. We are betrothed (“sanctified”), but waiting for the final consummation.

·      During that time Jesus is “preparing a place” for us (John 14:2-3).

·      Jesus will return for the church (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The exact time of his arrival is not known (Mark 13:33). The church needs to be ready![15] “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” (Revelation 19)

·      His arrival will be announced with a shout (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

·      In Revelation, "The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ” we see the "unveiling" of the Bride as she is received by Christ, the Bridegroom. 

·      The consummation for the church? “Then we will fully know as we are known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Final note. Seven blessings were pronounced at the wedding. The 7th Blessing summarizes the others, after which the bride and the groom share wine:

"Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord, King of the universe, who has created joy and gladness, bridegroom and bride, mirth and exultation, pleasure and delight, love, brotherhood, peace and fellowship. Soon may there be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the jubilant voice of bridegrooms from their canopies, and of youths from their feasts of song. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who makest the bridegroom to rejoice with the bride."[16]

 We are closing with communion today. It was the betrothal ceremony initiated by Jesus 2,000 years ago. “This do in remembrance of me.” He is preparing a place; he will return, and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and His bride, the church, will begin. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

"Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord, King of the universe, who has created joy and gladness, mirth and exultation, pleasure and delight, love, brotherhood, peace and fellowship. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who through your Son has made the way for bride, the church, to rejoice with the bridegroom – our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May our words and our lives fill the streets with the jubilant voices of joy and gladness.”

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[1] Ancient commentators speculated this was the wedding of John the Baptist or another near relative - which is why Mary would know of this hugely embarrassing shortage of wine, and perhaps explaining why a shortage of wine was a problem for Jesus to help solve. Also, notice Mary does not ask for a miracle. She asks for Jesus to help solve a problem. Some think Mary may have been hinting they should leave: “A question of great interest arises - What did she mean by her appeal? Bengel suggested that Mary simply intended: "Let us depart before the poverty of our hosts reveals itself." (Pulpit Commentary)

[2] This is a respectful way of addressing a woman within that culture.

[3] What do you have against me? What is there between us? What do we have in common in this matter?” It’s “a phrase that emphasizes distance and often hostility.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible) It was a Hebraic idiom that means in essence “What do we have in common?" Demons spoke similar words when confronted by Christ ("What business do we have with each other, in Mk 1:24+, Mk 5:7+). (Precept Austin)

[4] “That there are six (one less than the perfect seven) indicates that the Law, illustrated by water being reserved for Jewish purification, was incomplete, imperfect, and unable to bestow life. This water is changed into wine, symbolizing the old covenant being fulfilled in the new, which is capable of bestowing life. The overabundant gallons of wine illustrate the overflowing grace Christ grants to all.” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[5] Those pots were to be used for washing for ritual purity. “To employ waterpots set aside for purification for non-ritual purposes violated custom; consistent with Jesus’ values elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus here values the host’s honor above ritual purity customs.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the New Testament) 

[6] "The Old Covenant is the inferior wine: Jesus is the good wine.

[7] “These verses should serve as a rebuke to Christians who curry the favor of prominent and well-known personages and show little or no regard for the more humble saints of God.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[8] Most commentaries speculate that the hosts had cut it close on the wine to save money.

[9] If you find yourself chasing and clinging to the powerful, beautiful, famous people in the spotlight of culture or church, that’s not a spotlight found in Scripture. Be careful. God’s favor is not on the boastful and proud.

[10] Earthly marriage and weddings are important enough to prop up, even if they are only echoes of the Marriage Feast of the Lamb and the wedding of Christ and the church. 

[11] Explanation from the NET Bible

[12] For example, Revelation 21:2, 9–10;  19:7; 22:17. “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.” (2 Corinthians 11:2–3).

[13] When a dowry is paid, it is paid by the bride’s family. This did not happen in Judaism.

[14] “Betrothed to God at a Price.” https://www.patheos.com/blogs/beyondalltelling/2019/04/betrothed-to-god-at-a-price/2/

[15] In Revelation 19:1-9 : “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they who are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

[16] Translation from https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/313725/jewish/The-Seven-Benedictions-Sheva-Berakhot.htm

Harmony #4: “Stay and Follow” (John 1:35-51; 2 Peter 1:3-9)

When we read about the calling of the first disciples last week, Jesus used two key phrases:

So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher), “Where are you staying?” Jesus answered, “Come and you will see...”On the next day Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 

We talked about the “come and see” part last week. Today will focus on the following, which I am going to call “stay and follow” so it matches with “come and see.” J  Last week we talked about the challenge of sprinting toward Jesus when faced with choices so that we increasingly reflect His character. When that happens, people who ‘come and see’ Jesus aren’t soured on Jesus by what they see in the people of Jesus. In addition, there is an increasing number of people are having such a bad experience in churches that they are leaving church so they don’t leave Jesus.

Today, let’s talk about what it looks like to follow Jesus well so that rather than being roadblocks on the way to the cross, we are “‘preparing the way for the Lord, and making straight paths for him.”[1] Our text is from 2 Peter 1:3-9. 

His divine power has given us everything we need to experience life and to reflect God’s true nature through the knowledge of the One who called us by His glory and virtue. Through these things, we have received God’s great and valuable promises, so we might escape the corruption of worldly desires and share in the divine nature. 

 To achieve this, you will need to add virtue to your faith, and then knowledge to your virtue; to knowledge, add discipline; to discipline, add endurance; to endurance, add godliness; to godliness, add affection for others as sisters and brothers; and to affection, at last, add love.  

For if you possess these traits and multiply them, then you will never be ineffective or unproductive in your relationship with and true knowledge of our Lord Jesus the Anointed;  but if you don’t have these qualities, then you will be nearsighted and blind, forgetting that your past sins have been washed away—2 Peter 1: 3–9

  To [share in the divine nature], you will need to add/supply/equip (epichoregein)…”

Epichoregein comes from a word that means "the leader of a chorus." Greek plays needed ‘choruses’ – groups that gave commentary and filled in the plot line for the audience. This was expensive. Wealthy people would voluntarily fund these choruses at great cost. Epichoregein eventually became associated with other generous and costly things: equipping an army with supplies; equipping a soul with virtues.

Peter said for Christians to equip their faith in this way: be lavish, be generous, overwhelm your faith with the following gifts that will enable your faith to flourish. It’s like they are singing along with your life, constantly giving commentary and filling in the plot lines. There’s a great line in Hamlet when Hamlet turns to his cousin – who won’t stop talking – and says, “You are as good as a chorus.” That’s what we want our virtues to be in our life. This adding/supplying/equipping language reminds us that Christians cooperate with the grace of God.

“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13).

It’s a sanctifying faith in which our human wills cooperate with the divine will. Think of the Parable of the Ten Virgins (five wise and five foolish) going to a wedding. Only the five with oil in their lamps end up going. A German theologian named John Bengal wrote:

"The flame is that which is imparted to us by God and from God without our own labor; but the oil is that which a man must pour into life by his own study and his own faithful effort, so that the flame may be fed and increased."

The list here is the oil which we pour onto the flame God has given us. These lists were a common literary tool (often for memorization purposes) in the ancient world and the early church. [2]

FIRST STEP: FAITH

The list begins with faith: “trusting, holding to, and acting on what one has good reasons to believe is true in the face of difficulties” (Tim McGrew) Maybe think of it this way: Faith is a lifestyle of confident trust. Each step we take in this list moves us into sharing more fully in life in and with Christ.

It’s worth noting that faith is not a feeling, though feelings can and do accompany faith. Faith is a life orientation, a purposeful allegiance, a world’view’ that orients our world’do’ (@ copyright 2022 J) It has to do with things to which we trust the weight of our lives (like this chair, and your chair). We do this all the time with physical things: ladders, cars, airplanes, skyscrapers, etc.

A number of years ago, I went out on my deck one spring to find that a portion of it had sagged about a foot down the house wall. Turns out whoever built it hadn’t fastened it right. So I fastened it, propped it up, etc. When I walk out on my deck now, I put my weight on it.

We also do this with people. Maybe a friend, a counselor, a doctor, a spouse, a parent. We lean on them; we sag on them; we trust who they are, and what they say and do.

Faith has to do with trusting Jesus such that we put the weight of our life on him.

SECOND STEP: VIRTUE

The word is arete, which is virtue, courage or moral excellence. It was used by the Greeks to describe land which is fertile; it also described what the gods did (or were at least supposed to do). It was used to describe people who had the moral backbone not to back down in the face of difficulty.

Our lifestyle of confident trust must be joined with a commitment to moral excellence as seen in the character of God and the person of Jesus, and it must be held tightly in the face of challenges or persecution. We want the land of our life to be fertile soil in which good things grow.

When we tilled our garden this year, my wife and I both commented on how rich the dirt looked. Well, yeah. We put stuff in it last year: compost, manure, leaves. We made it fertile so things would grow.

We start by trusting Jesus; from that, we look to the virtuous character of Jesus as a standard for the soil of our lives, and we take what God has given us and work into the soil so that good virtues grow well.

THIRD STEP: KNOWLEDGE

The word is gnosis - practical knowledge, or practical wisdom.

Worth noting: this comes after virtue. Knowledge in the hands of non-virtuous people can be disastrous. This is why the phrase “Knowledge is power” always made me uneasy. It was posted everywhere to encourage people to get an education. Well, sure, but if you educate a moral fool, you just give power to a moral fool. Knowledge itself is not enough. It is meant to be given to a virtuous person. If you want to be known for your knowledge, please desire to be known for your virtue first.

Key takeaway, though: knowledge matters. We don’t all have to know the same things or know the same amount about the same things. That would actually be quite boring. But we should have a habit of studying God’s two main revelations to us: His work and His Word. His work is general revelation (God’s creation); His Word is special revelation (the Word of God in print and in Person). From both of these we learn more about our Creator, as well as his design and purpose for us.

Don’t we study words and work all the time? When I first came on staff here, I needed to know how to be in a leadership position in the church. Ted hired me to be youth pastor; I had been helping Anne as an assistant when she led youth. I listened to Ted and Anne’s words – and watched their work, both of which happened because I spent time with them. I got to know them. I still do this with those in leadership in this church and others because I still need to learn. I listen to their words and watch their work.

Spend purposeful, focused time learning to know God through His Word and His work.

FOURTH STEP: DISCIPLINE

A person full of virtue and knowledge will know the importance of and see the appeal of self-control. The Greek word used here, egkrateia, is what happens when reason fights against passion and prevails. This is a realistic view of life. Being a Christian does not necessarily remove our passions; it tames, orders and directs them.  As we become a servant of Christ, our passions become a servant of us.

For example: I’ve told my boys that the best way to deal with sexual desire isn’t to try to pretend it’s not there or to get rid of it. God made you to have sexual desire. The passion is not a problem; it’s a gift meant to lead toward great pleasures within covenant marriage. The question is this: is your passion directed in the service of God? Is it ordered toward the good? What does it look like to harness that energy in the service of God and His world? It’s more than just this area, of course.

• There is a holy and a sinful form of anger.

• There is a holy and a sinful form of sorrow.

• There is a holy and a sinful form of happiness.

• There is a holy and a sinful form of longing.

• There is a holy and a sinful form of desperation.

• There is a holy and a sinful form of a work, and play, and relaxation….

Jesus did not come to obliterate our desires; he came to redeem them. And part of that redemption involves putting banks around the raging rivers of emotions that want to flood the world so that we bring life to the world rather than ruin.

FIFTH STEP: ENDURANCE

Cicero defines patientia, its Latin equivalent, as "the voluntary and daily suffering of hard and difficult things, for the sake of honor and usefulness."

Odds are good that if you have faith, virtue, true knowledge and self-control, endurance [or steadfastness] will follow. A dude from Alexandria named Didymus wrote of Job (and this combines what we looked at in the self-control section):

“It is not that the righteous man must be without feeling, although he must patiently bear the things which afflict him; but it is true virtue when he deeply feels the things he toils against, but nevertheless despises sorrows for the sake of God.”

The Greek word used here (hupomone) is more than endure, though. It is full of anticipation and hope. Jesus, “for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). This is what we are talking about.  There is no moment in life that does not contain hope, either for this life or the next.

Maybe recovering from surgery is a good analogy here. The pain…the physical therapy…the need to stop doing certain things you love…. We set them aside for what awaits on the other side: (hopefully) health. We pay the cost because of the greatness of the reward that awaits.

SIXTH STEP: GODLINESS

The word use here, eusebeia is hard to translate, apparently, but it’s about the closest you get to a word that could be translated as religion, worship, or piety.  Basically, it is simultaneously worshiping God and serving others. It reminds me a little bit of the Hebrew word shalom, which includes peace with God and others.

To the Greeks, Socrates embodied this (for historical context, Socrates died about the time the Old Testament ends). A writer named Xenophon describes as follows:  

"He was so pious and devoutly religious that he would take no step apart from the will of heaven; so just and upright that he never did even a trifling injury to any living soul; so self-controlled, so temperate, that he never at any time chose the sweeter instead of the better; so sensible, so wise, and so prudent that in distinguishing the better from the worse he never erred."

Okay, that is definitely an exaggeration, but you get the idea of what the Greeks thought of when they thought of this word. Even pagan cultures had a notion of what true religion was supposed to accomplish in a person.

I don’t want to re-preach last week’s sermon, but we saw it there in the early church. God intends righteous words and righteous lives to be inseparable. God intends knowledge of what’s holy to translate it into actions that themselves are holy. 

SEVENTH STEP: FAMILIAL AFFECTION

Philadelphia literally translates as “love of the brethren.” If people are generally seen as a nuisance that get in the way of the projects that are really important to us, something is out of tune. I’m not so sure this means that we super-duper like every individual person as much as it means we ‘have affection for’ the community of God’s people (which will include trying to like them as best we can with God’s grace).

Epictetus was Stoic philosopher who would have been a contemporary of Peter. He is famous for saying that he really had an impact on the world because he didn’t get married and produce snotty-nosed children. He once said,

"How can he who has to teach mankind run to get something in which to heat the water to give the baby his bath?"

Peter sees it differently (and these are my words, not his):

“How can those who want to teach mankind not run to do things just like that?” 

I think this has to do with a mindset, a posture, an orientation of actively pursuing being in community with others. I thought of this Wednesday night at the park. There were people who knew each other well and others who didn’t, but they wanted to be together and get to know each other. That desire to know and be known by others oriented them in a particular way. Now, you don’t have to be at the picnic for that to happen J It just an example that stood out to me Wednesday night.  

* * * * *

So far, the list is about who you are called to be, because that is really important. It finishes with what we are supposed to do as a result of being a particular kind of person.

EIGHTH STEP: LOVE

Agape love is a deliberate choice to work for the highest good of another, engaging in sacrificial action toward that goal. It comes from our will, not our emotions or feelings (though emotions and feelings may be a part of it). It is deliberately and sacrificially loving the unlovable when there is nothing that makes us want to love. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, (Gal. 5:22) a sign that we are sharing in the divine nature.  

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and every one who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8) 

There is a phrase I like: “If God calls you, He will equip you.” God calls us to agape love, yes? He has given us the equipment we need.

• faith (a lifestyle of confident trust)

• virtue (moral excellence)

• knowledge (practical wisdom)

• discipline (self-control)

• endurance (hopeful patience)

• godliness (worshiping God/serving others

• philadelphia love (affection for others)

He has equipped us in this way to allow us to “share in the divine nature” – which, I think, finds its culmination in agape love as an expression of genuinely knowing and becoming like Jesus.

“For if you possess these traits and multiply them, then you will never be ineffective or unproductive in your relationship with and true knowledge (epigenosis) of our Lord Jesus the Anointed.”

No matter who you are or where you are in life, if you are on this path, you life is not useless and unproductive, but fruitful. These spiritual graces can be added to faith in any circumstance by anyone, and you will never be ineffective or unproductive in your relationship with and true knowledge of Christ.

Now, let your chorus sing as that it points toward the Composer and Conductor who makes all of this possible.

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[1] What Isaiah prophesied John the Baptist would do (Mark 1:3).

[2] You see lists several other places in 1st century church writings: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23); righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11);  faith, self-control, simplicity, innocence and reverence, understanding, love (The Shepherd of Hermas)

Harmony #3: “Come And See” (John 1:35-51)

The next day John was standing there with two of his disciples. Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When John’s two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, “What do you want?”

So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher), “Where are you staying?” Jesus answered, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. Now it was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated Christ). Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

On the next day Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” (Now Philip was from Bethsaida , the town of Andrew and Peter.) Philip found Nathanael (Bartholemew?) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!” Jesus said to him, “Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” He continued, “I tell all of you the solemn truth—you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Come and See

If you’ve ever had someone try to explain a new game to you, eventually they probably say something like this, “Let’s just start to play. It will make sense once we get started.” And sure enough – often, it starts to click when you actually begin to experience what before had just been theoretical.

I’ve discovered it’s one thing to know about a sport and another thing to know a sport. I know basketball because I have tasted and seen that basketball is good. I know about football, but I don’t know football. I know about pickleball, but I don’t know pickleball. And all of you pickleball fans are like, “Come and see. Play it once, and you’ll know why we show up places at the crack of dawn.”

That’s the idea, I think. Jesus says to those looking and wondering, “Come and see.” Then that becomes the approach they pass on to others. There is a reason for this.

• If you just see Jesus but don’t draw closer, it will be just head knowledge and not heart investment.

• If you just draw closer but don’t actually want to see Jesus clearly, you may well invest your heart - but in false image of Jesus.

“Come and see” is a call to learn and know who Jesus is , as well as what it means to follow him. “Taste and see,” said the Psalmist, “that the Lord is good.”

A couple truths follow from this.

Following Jesus means not following …not Jesus.

Brilliant insight, I know, but we have to leave one thing to go to another thing. Have you seen those videos where two people are with a dog, and they suddenly sprint in opposite directions to see which one the dog follows? Eventually the dog always chooses one.

That’s the idea here. You can’t serve God and ____________. The Bible uses language of loving and imagery of clinging to describe what it’s like to attach ourselves to God. You can’t love/cling to God and something else. We are called to be ‘all in’ for Jesus. This reminds of marriage language – the ‘leaving’ a family and ‘cleaving’ or clinging to the spouse. You have to leave one to cling to the other – and that’s an exclusive kind of clinging. It’s different from all our other attachments.

Jesus specifically highlighted one particular thing we can’t love along with God: mammon/money/material things. But he also uses language of things we love vs. things we hate as a way of saying (as his audience would have understood) that loyalty demands preferential allegiance in all areas of life. At the end of the day, when our loyalty options sprint in different directions, we can’t choose both. Our loyalty will be revealed by that to which we give preferential allegiance in terms of time, money, study, emotional investment, formative influence, etc. We can’t share preferential allegiance with God and….

• Money. Clinton’s “It’s the economy, stupid” was both a winning political insight and a sad reflection of human motivation.

• Family. If it’s Jesus vs. family pressure, it’s got to be Jesus.

• Friends. Who will you follow when there is a fork in the road of righteousness vs. unrighteousness?

• Vocation. If your work makes you compromise your faith, your choice has already been made.

• Culture. All cultures have beastly values motivated by a dragon.

• Politics. There will always be sketchy things at odds with the Kingdom and the King we serve.

• Organizations. Denominations and conventions do not deserve allegiance. The SBC is making this abundantly clear right now, though picking on them alone would be timely but unfair.

There will be something or someone that we treat as ultimate, and God has made it clear that He has no interest in sharing that space with other things. When it comes to our primary, life-orienting allegiance, Jesus demands exclusivity.

Seeing Jesus means looking away from…not Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with beauty and truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy. (Philippians 4:8)

This word translated as “fill” here comes from logízomai:

• the root of the English terms "logic, logical"

• properly, compute, "take into account"

• reckon (come to a "bottom-line")

• reason to a logical conclusion (decision).

The things Paul listed are supposed to be the thing on which we build a firm foundations that properly organizes how we conclude we ought to live in the Kingdom of God. In order for that to happen, the virtuous things in the list need to carry the weight of our spiritual, mental and emotional formation.

It’s worth noting that Paul – who wrote that verse – was clearly versed in Greek and Roman culture and entertainment. We have no idea how much of it he was forced to be aware of and how much of it he freely chose. We just know he wasn’t isolated from his culture. The early church records show that Christians used Greek and Roman stories (like Aesop) as part of the training for their kids. So this isn’t necessarily building a wall between us and culture, but when there aren’t walls, we sure need to talk about fences.

It’s so hard, in a world that demands our attention constantly, to keep our focus on Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith, to make sure He is the one who gets the first and last word in anything that is meaningfully formative in our lives. I think the first fence we must build is an awareness that culture has its own list of “whatsoevers” with which it wants to fill us: “Whatsoever things are…

• Mammon (money and things = the good life)

• Sexy (value wrapped up in being physically desirable)

• Scandalous (love of gossip)

• Self-expressive (I can do/be/say what I want all the time everywhere)

• Adrenaline-building (the good life must always be exciting!)

• Anger-inducing (cancel culture, for example, thrives on the next outrage)

• Performance-based (we earn our value; so do others)

• Fear-mongering (Chicken Little Syndrome - “Life as we know it/our culture/our world is going to END if we don’t deal with…”)

• Reputation protecting (coverups, dishonesty, gaslighting to save reputation and power)

…think on these things.”

But we don’t have to go straight to culture to deal with these issues. Do you remember when Jesus told the Pharisees they were making disciples of hell? The Pharisees, who tried so hard to get every last detail right? The Pharisees, who missed the mark so badly that Jesus told them they were actually accomplishing the exact opposite of what they thought they were?

Can we be honest? People haven’t changed over time. You bet the Romans had issues – but the Pharisees were throwing stones from a glass house. We have to be careful. Church culture can have its own list of “whatsoevers” on which it causes follower of Jesus to dwell that can also lead away from Jesus: “Whatsoever things are…

• Luxurious (prosperity gospel: wealth = God’s blessing/approval)

• AMAZING (only extraordinary people and events have an impact)

• Flashy (the spectacular vs. acts of service to build the kingdom)

• Performance-based (downplaying grace – and the gift of rest)

• Adrenaline-building (our faith is only alive when we feel all the feels!)

• Anger-inducing (“Can you call down fire on the Samaritans?” )

• Fear-mongering (Chicken Little Syndrome - - “Life as we know it/our culture/our world/the church is going to END if we don’t deal with THAT!”)

• Reputation-protecting (coverups, dishonesty, gaslighting to save reputation and power)

…think on these things.”

Can we chat about the state of the church in the United States? I am not picking on us, by the way. I am feeling this because of recent headlines about things happening in the American church, and we are part of that broader community, so….

When Jesus invited people to come and see him, the moment he got disciples, the folks were going to see the disciples too. Hanging out with Jesus included hanging out with the people who followed Jesus.

When people “come and see” Jesus, what will they see in the followers of Jesus, in the family they are now supposed to enter and in which they are intended to flourish? Does it look like a new kind of Kingdom with a glorious King, or does it remind them of the Empire which they just left?

The Southern Baptist Convention made headlines this week because of decades of responding badly to abuse within the circle of SBC churches as well as in leadership. By “badly,” I mean 700+ leaders guilty of moral and legal crimes, and the SBC as an organization shaming victims, covering it up, not reporting crimes, moving perpetrators on to new congregations.

Now, those on the outside looking in are saying, “Come and see? No thanks. I see Jesus, and I like Jesus, but I also see the people of Jesus, and I’d like to keep my distance.”

Many on the inside are saying roughly the same thing. Russell Moore, who was President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2013 to 2021 and currently works for Christianity Today:

“If people reject the church because they reject Jesus and the gospel, we should be saddened but not surprised. But what happens when people reject the church because they think we reject Jesus and the gospel? People have always left the church because they want to gratify the flesh, but what happens when people leave because they believe the church exists to gratify the flesh – in orgies of sex or anger or materialism?

That’s a far different problem. What if people don’t leave the church because they disapprove of Jesus, but because they’ve read the Bible and have come to the conclusion that the church itself would disapprove of Jesus? That’s a crisis… What they are really asking is about integrity – about whether all of this holds together.

Challenging an evangelical movement about conduct that is “not in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14 ESV) often prompts a charge of fostering disunity…Yet unity is not silence before injustice, or the hoarding of temporal influence, but a concern for the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church – provided that the scandal they encounter is the scandal of the cross rather than the scandal of us.”

We may say it’s not fair – we were supposed to see Jesus, not the flawed follower of Jesus. But we are ambassadors; we are “the hands and feet of Jesus,” a phrase full of promise – and peril. “We are the only Bible some people will ever read,” is a great motto when things are going well and a damning indictment when they are not.

So is there anything we can do so that when anyone in the church or outside of the church is here to see Jesus, we help to clarify their vision rather than cloud it? Yes.

I just bought a book by Alan Kreider called The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire. He’s looking at the first few centuries of the church and asking how it grew so, well, improbably? Here’s a summary of a much more complex answer:

“The Christians’ focus was not on “saving” people or recruiting them; it was on living faithfully—in the belief that when people’s lives are rehabituated in the way of Jesus, others will want to join them.”

I don’t think he means to say they didn’t spread the good news of Jesus. I think he is just stressing that the first Christians understood that living was witnessing, and that inconsistent living would drown out even the most passionate words. When we become someone new in Christ - and then live as someone new in Christ - there is something really compelling about the Kingdom community – and thus the King. And this is, indeed, what happened in the early church. From the Epistle to Diognetus which was written in 130 A.D, concerning followers of Jesus:

They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring.

They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and restored to life.

They are poor yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things and yet abound in all; they are dishonored and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of and yet are justified; they are reviled and bless; they are insulted and repay the insult with honor; they do good yet are punished as evildoers.

When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. To sum it all up in one word -- what the soul is to the body, that are Christians in the world.

Tertullian, a North African scholar who lived from around AD 160-225:

"We are a body knit together as such by a common religious profession, by unity of discipline, and by the bond of a common hope. We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This strong exertion God delights in.

We pray, too, for the emperors, for their ministers and for all in authority, for the welfare of the world, for the prevalence of peace, for the delay of the [return of Jesus]. We assemble to read our sacred writings . . . and with the sacred words we nourish our faith, we animate our hope, we make our confidence more steadfast; and no less by inculcations of God’s precepts we confirm good habits….

On the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; but only if it be his pleasure, and only if he be able: for there is no compulsion; all is voluntary. These gifts are . . . not spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house;such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines or banished to the islands or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God's Church, they become the nurslings of their confession. But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us.

See, they say, how they love one another, for they themselves are animated by mutual hatred. See, they say about us, how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves would sooner kill."

In 256 Cyprian wrote this to his his people:

“Beloved brethren,[we] are philosophers not in words but in deeds; we exhibit our wisdom not by our dress, but by truth; we know virtues by their practice rather than through boasting of them; we do not speak great things but we live them… It [is] not at all remarkable if we cherish only our own brethren with a proper observance of love.” Instead, Christians should do “more than the publican or the pagan.” They should exercise “a divine-like clemency, loving even their enemies . . . and praying for the salvation of their persecutors.”

Alan Kredier imagines Cyprian warming to his point in this way:

“You Christians, you are my people and flock, you know the mercy of God, and you demonstrate this by providing visits, bread, and water for other believers who are suffering. I praise God for your faithfulness. Now I am calling you to broaden your view, to exercise ‘a divine-like clemency’ by loving your pagan neighbors.

Visit them, too; encourage them; provide bread and water for them. I know that in recent months some pagans have been involved in persecuting you. Pray for them; ‘pray for their salvation,’ and help them. You are God’s children: the descendants of a good Father should ‘prove the imitation of his goodness.’”

___________________________________________________________________________________

I posted this in the wrong format. Here are footnotes that went with the original.

“Come … and you will see,” he replies. This language is consciously designed to describe discipleship: to “follow” (Gk. akoulotheo), to “come and see,” and to “stay, remain” (Gk. meno) each describe aspects of discipleship. (NIV Application Commentary)

Andrew is constantly bringing someone to Jesus (John 6:8; 12:22).

“Cephas” is Aramaic, and “Peter” Greek, for “rock.” Nicknames were common, especially to distinguish various persons with the same name (such as Simon; cf. Mark 3:16–18), although adding the father’s name (“child of”) could serve the same purpose (for Simon’s father, cf. also Matt. 16:17; John 21:15–17). Rabbis sometimes gave characterizing nicknames to their disciples (m. Avot 2:8). In the Old Testament, God often changed names to describe some new characteristic of a person (Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Joshua; as a negative declaration see Jer. 20:3). For this naming, cf. also Mark 3:16; esp. Matt. 16:17–18. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary On The New Testament) “Neither Petros in Greek nor Kephas in Aramaic are usual names but are actually nicknames (like the American “Rocky”), which often point to some feature of a person’s character.” (NIV Application Commentary)

 Nathanael is not listed among the apostles; in all three Synoptic stories Batholomew is listed with Philip (Matt. 10:3). But Jesus had other disciples  (Luke 10) who worked with the Twelve; Nathanael may have been one of them. (NIV Application Commentary)

The joke on Galilee started in the time of Solomon. From 1 Kings 9: 10-13 (keep in mind that Galilee and Nazareth are in the land of Cabul): “Now at the end of the twenty years…King Solomon gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre… so Hiram went out from Tyre to inspect the towns that Solomon had given him, but he was not pleased with them. “What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” asked Hiram, and he called them the Land of Cabul, as they are called to this day.” Also, this: “By 724 BC, Assyria had captured northern Israel.  In its place, a wave of Gentile immigration repopulated the region, bringing with them a legion of pagan idols and ways of life. ‘The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria [the capital of Northern Israel] in place of the sons of Israel.  So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.’  (2 Kings 17:24) For this reason, the region took on the name Galil ha’Goyim (Galilee of the Nations or Galilee of the Gentiles). These Gentiles incorporated Jewish customs into their own pagan practices, developing a range of superstitions and false doctrines.” (“How Can the Messiah Come from Galilee?” https://free.messianicbible.com/feature/can-messiah-come-galilee/

Jesus plays on the Old Testament Jacob, or “Israel,” who was a man of guile (Gen. 27:35; 31:26); see John 1:51. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary On The New Testament). In the language here, there is an evident allusion to the ladder that Jacob saw in a dream, and to the angels ascending and descending on it, Genesis 28:12. “What Jacob had dreamt was in Christ realized. “(Expositor’s Greek New Testament)

Psalms 46: “Come and see what the Lord has done, the amazing things he has done on the earth.” Psalm 66:5: “Come and see the works of God; how awesome are His deeds toward mankind.” John 4:29, the Woman at the well: “Come, see a man…”

“Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

That his name was Paulus means, as a Jewish man, he almost certainly had a Roman mentor. It’s one reason he was primed to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He knew Gentiles.

 I’m not picking on CLG. I’m looking at church history, the American church in the headlines, etc.

 “The number of Americans now affiliated with a church is just 47 percent. What’s significant is not just the low number, but also the speed of the plummet – from 69 percent twenty years ago to 47 percent now. And the numbers are even worse than they appear. Generation X is less affiliated than Baby Boomers, Millennials less than Gen-X, and Generation Z looks likely to be even less affiliated than them all… the most reliable studies available show us that as little as 8 percent of White Millennials identify as evangelicals, as compared to 26 percent of senior adults. With Generation Z, the numbers are even more jarring – with 34 percent (and growing) identifying as religiously unaffiliated.” http://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/witness/integrity-and-the-future-of-the-church

Gospel Harmony #2: The Baptism And Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-4:11; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 3:21-4:15)

Now in those days, when all the people were baptized, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. But John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” So Jesus replied to him, “Let it happen now, for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.”[1] Then John yielded to him. After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water and praying, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son; in him I am well pleased.”[2]  So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old.

 Why did Jesus need to get baptized? I think Jesus is honoring the system God has in place for humanity. If Jesus would have dismissed it as unimportant, and we are to follow the model of Jesus, well…. So he is first following the pattern God gave to his people. Second, I think he entering into the symbolism of or foreshadowing his death and resurrection.  

“His immersion typified His baptism in the waters of God’s judgment at Calvary. His emergence from the water foreshadowed His resurrection. By death, burial, and resurrection, He would satisfy the demands of divine justice and provide a righteous basis by which sinners could be justified.” (Believers Bible Commentary)

When we take communion, we talk about how it a) ‘remembers Christ’ and b) reminds us of our participation in the story in the sense that we, too, should be ‘broken and spilled’ out for others to point toward the Savior who gave His life so we could live. Baptism is similar. We commemorate what Jesus did for us, and we show our commitment to dying to the old us and rising into the new us, which is made possible through Jesus’ work.  

Temptation of Jesus  (Mt 4:1-11; Lk 4:1-15; Mk 1:12-13)
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led—driven[3]—by the Spirit into the wilderness with wild animals[4] to be tempted/tested[5]. After he fasted forty days and forty nights[6], eating nothing, Jesus was famished. 

The devil, the tempter, came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’“[7]

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point[8] of the temple[9], and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ [10]” Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 

Then the devil led him up to a very high mountain and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur.[11] And he said to him, “To you I will grant this whole realm—and the glory that goes along with it, for it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish.[12] I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.”[13] 

 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” So when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from Jesus until a more opportune time. Then angels came and began ministering[14] to his needs.[15]

Three points of note, like every good sermon :)

First, Jesus triumphed in the test. That’s a necessary characteristic for God to deserve our worship and allegiance. In fact, there’s good reason to believe that what Jesus successfully resisted is meant to highlight his ability to do what Israel could never do. Jesus' numerous quotes from Deuteronomy in response to these wilderness temptations recall another time and place where God's chosen people met testing in the wilderness and failed.

• Israel (called “son” in Exodus 4:23) was led into the wilderness after its “baptism” in the Red Sea.

• Forty years vs. forty days (a time of testing)

• Israel demanded physical bread in the wilderness; Jesus offers bread for the souls of those in life’s wilderness.

• The Israelite’s worshipped a nation’s idol for help; Jesus rejects the allure of nations as his worship and service remained true.

• They had tested God at Massah (Ex 17:1-7). Jesus refuses to demand God's protection on his own terms.[16]

As the New Covenant people of God, we will journey into the wilderness of this fallen world after baptism as we struggle towards the Kingdom. We should expect to face what Israel and Jesus faced, but we have the power of the one who overcame the test to strengthen us. 

Second, Jesus dominates Satan. It’s not a narrative full of tension. They aren’t dualistic universal powers evenly matched. When Jesus says, “Alright, time for you to go,” Satan goes. The angels weren’t letting out their breath: “Whew! That was a close one! ” It’s a good reminder for us about where the powers of evil rank in the universe. This is not to say Satan is to be taken lightly. Satan claims to in some sense own the nations, and both Jesus[17] and writers of Scripture refer to Satan[18] and other princes[19] who do indeed have some kind of power in the nations[20] (didn’t Revelation make that clear)? But a prince is not a King.

Immediately after his trial in the wilderness, Jesus begins to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand, and He begins casting out demons, the servants of Satan. You can already visibly start to see Satan’s power coming undone in spite of his claim to the kingdoms of the world.

Third, Jesus was tempted as we will be. [21] Because I am working on the assumption that this 40 days mirrors Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness, I am looking to read the temptations through that lenses.

• The Stones/Bread incident has something to do with the importance of valuing God’s spiritual nourishment over physical provision.

• The Temple ‘testing of God’ has something to do with wanting the signs more than the Giver of the signs.

• The Ruling The Nations incident has something to do with what god we turn to when the going gets tough, and because what we worship dictates how we worship, this is going to look at ends and means.

Now, let’s chat. Evil is what happens when Satan (who does not create anything) takes a good thing God created and distorts it. That’s all he can do. He seeks to disorder what God ordered. When we are tempted, we are usually tempted to take a good thing God created and use it in a way that distorts its purpose in us or in the world. Let’s look at these temptation one at a time to see how this works.

Turn Stones To Bread Test

Pleasure is from God; wanting to be free of pain is normal; wanting to be comfortable rather than uncomfortable is understandable. Pleasure isn’t the problem – we are going to have it relentlessly in eternity.[22] I think God’s original intent absolutely included the space for us to simply enjoy His good creation. It’s the disordered love of pleasure, the worship of pleasure, the gnawing fear that I might not be as comfortable as I want to be and so I will do ANYTHING to keep my comfort, even stop doing a spiritually important thing for a physically pleasant thing such that I am choosing happiness over holiness.

Controlling circumstances can be a good thing if we are talking about having agency as people with free will. We can choose good friends; get out of bad situations; be responsible. That’s all good. That kind of agency is a gift from God. It’s the desperate need to control and manipulate so everything around us is always on our terms that becomes the problem.

Rule The Nations Test

Power is not a bad thing. God has power, and that doesn’t count against him. In fact, gentleness is only possible for those who have power. We are told to be gentle, not to become powerless. Having self-control (power over self) is a fruit-of-the-spirit power. Being able to lead is a good thing. If you are a righteous person, having clout in the world gives you opportunity to do amazing things. Think of what Daniel and Joseph and Esther accomplished. Power is not the problem. The problem is when it begins to corrupt – and unless we are God, in inevitably does. Study after study has shown that our brains literally change when we have power: It damages our prefrontal cortex (so we lack empathy), leads toward rule-breaking (“This doesn’t apply to me”); it stifles generosity.[23] What God gave us to steward the world becomes the thing that hurts the world.

Controlling others even has its place (#parents #law enforcement #referees). Anytime we draw boundaries in our lives that determine how people can interact with us, it’s a form of control, and is often very healthy. Proverbs, for example, is full of descriptions of wise rulers.[24] But when that control manifests in our family and friends as bullying, unhealthy coercion, a demand that others ALWAYS SHOW UP ON OUR TERMS and only do things like we want them done – well, now our power has a problem. Jesus called this “lording over others.” [25]

Dive From The Temple Test

As for controlling God – well, there’s not two sides to that coin. Satan’s temptation here was, “Force God to act to prove He’s watching and He cares.” Yeah, that’s not how it works. “Don’t tempt God.” God obviously does miracles. We know this from the Bible, and many of you can testify as to some way in which it has been clear that God has moved miraculously in your life. But these are gifts, not obligations.

• Job shows us: “You give and take away; blessed be your name.”[26]

• Jesus shows us: “Let this cup pass, but not my will, but yours be done.”[27]

• Paul begged for a thorn in the flesh to be gone, but God’s response was, “Check out my grace,” and Paul said he would gladly glory in his infirmities to the power of God grace could rest upon him.[28]

 We pray boldly for God to intervene in the world, but if God never what we think should be done, He would still be God, worthy of our worship.

Anytime we want to test God to make Him prove Himself on our terms, we are in trouble. Anytime we demand the God keep showing up in spectacle, we are missing the point. Israel had miracle after miracle, and it did not strengthen their faith. They just wanted more signs and wonders, as if God had to continuously earn their admiration and loyalty. At some point, the awe of seeing God at work turned into a demand to see God at work in ways that benefitted them – and now we tie back into the sinful flex of power (trying to control God) and the inordinate love of pleasure (to make my life easier).

* * * * *

 I think we have to ask a key question whenever we are tempted or tested: “What will it cost to get and keep what I want?” With Jesus, the cost was obviously right in front of him: he had to acknowledge Satan as the one from whom all blessing flow:

“I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.”

Jesus' reply rejects the offer totally: 

"Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."

Jesus is certain that only One deserves his service: God. By putting worship and service together in the verse, Jesus makes it clear that our allegiance and our actions are inevitably intertwined, and both are meant to honor God. So let’s go over the three temptations.

If it costs holiness to get happiness, it’s too much. “I just want to be happy.” I get it. I, too, want to be happy. At what cost?  If you have to stop doing a spiritually important thing for a physically pleasant thing, it’s too much. And…will I really be happy if I am pursuing happiness outside of God’s design? Happiness is a hard taskmaster, giving what C.S. Lewis called “ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure.” Holiness is demanding also, no doubt about it, but the rewards are real, eternal, and lasting.

If it costs good means to achieve good ends, it’s too much. I noted earlier that the Ruling The Nations incident has something to do with what god we turn to when the going gets tough, and because:

• what we worship (ends) dictates how we worship (means)

• the means will determine who we are in the end.

• We can’t separate where we end up from how we get there. (Perhaps Moses striking the rock to get water is a good example here. He accomplished God’s end goal with disobedient means – and God did not separate those two things. It was an act of disobedience.[29])

“[George] Barrett characterizes this "the old but ever new temptation to do evil that good may come; to justify the illegitimacy of the means by the greatness of the end.”[30]

In Christian circles, there has been a lot of discussion in recent history of a “third way,” which is really just a refocus on 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be ready to offer a defense, humbly and respectfully, when someone asks why you live in hope. Keep your conscience clear so that those who ridicule your good conduct in the Anointed and say bad things about you will be put to shame.” This “third way” has focused on presenting a winsome, engaging faith that stresses the core of the gospel as it walks between political and social polarities. This approach engages and speaks truth, but really tries hard to not throw extra road blocks into the road on the way to the cross. You don’t call names; you don’t insult; you don’t misrepresent others (because you don’t want to be misrepresented); you love and pray for your enemies instead of vilify them.

Recently, a new movement has challenged this because (as the argument goes) the other side it making it really hard to play nice, so it’s time FOR CHRISTIANS to take the gloves off and play mean. It’s too much. We could win a cultural battle and lose a spiritual war. It’s too much.

If it costs the humility and service of the cross to get the glory of the spectacle, it’s too much. Jesus came to serve. When Jesus said he would draw all people to him when He was lifted up, this was about his crucifixion. Jesus told his followers to ‘compel’ people into the kingdom through sacrificial love, not coercive power. We are supposed to be ambassadors who show the richness of a kingdom where everybody totes around a cross, wears a yoke, washes each other’s feet, gives a coat to those who steal our sweatshirt, and ‘esteems others better than themselves.”[31] Christianity was always meant to change cultures the same way God changes people: from the inside out, through radical love and service to “the least of these,” not through lights and glitter from the stage of a church or in the halls of power. 

Israelites demanded signs over and over[32]; the disciples wanted Jesus to call down fire on the Samaritans[33]; the Jewish people expected a Messiah who would overthrow Rome and put them in control. All of these were rebuked. Revelation showed us that the power of the Lion shows up in the sacrifice of the Lamb. If we want to see the glory of God more clearly, I think we are supposed to pray to see the sacrificial love of the Lamb more clearly. If we want those around us to see the glory of God more clearly, I suspect they will see it when the sacrificial love of the Lamb is displayed in our lives.

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness when he was full of the Spirit. Expect the wilderness. When the Holy Spirit takes us there – and he will – it’s purposeful. Stand on God’s word. Resist the devil. Look to the One who perfectly withstood the test to empower you through the Holy Spirit.

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[1] Righteousness is ‘a condition acceptable to God (Strong’s) or “what is deemed right by the Lord” (HELPS).

[2] “All three members of the Trinity were evident. The beloved Son was there. The Holy Spirit was there in dove form. The Father’s voice was heard from heaven pronouncing His blessing on Jesus.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[3] “The verb “drove” is strong, giving the idea of divine and scriptural necessity. (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[4] “This detail emphasizes that the wilderness is [thought to be] a place of curse where the devil is master (Matt. 12:43; cf. Eph. 2:2). (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[5] Same word as when Jesus showed us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation/testing”.

[6] “Possibly a symbolic reference to the forty years of Israel’s wilderness experience (Deut. 1:3).” (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[7]  All of Jesus’ quotations in this narrative come from or around Deuteronomy 8.

[8] “Josephus speaks of the dizzying height of this location. A later rabbinic tradition (which may or may not go back to the first century) says that “when the King, the Messiah, reveals himself, he will come and stand on the roof of the Temple.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[9] The passage quoted (Deut. 6:16) again recalls Israel’s experience in the wilderness. (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[10] “Ps. 91 is an exhortation to trust in God; Satan attempts to replace trust with a test, casting doubt on God’s faithfulness.” (ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[11] Luke’s oikoumenē (“inhabited world”), often used of the Roman empire, gives this temptation a stronger political flavor and so stresses Satan’s offer of messianic rule over the nations (cf. Ps. 2:8). (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[12] “The devil’s claim to possess delegated authority over the world fits Jewish ideas prevalent in Jesus’ day about the devil’s rule over the wicked nations (Jn 14:30; Eph 2:2; 1Jn 5:19;  the spirit of falsehood noted in the Dead Sea Scrolls). Nevertheless, the devil’s authority was limited; authority to delegate ultimately belongs to God (Da 4:32).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[13] “I can give it to anyone I want” (4:6). Similar arrogant boasts were made by the Caesars. The emperor Nero once said, “I have the power to take away kingdoms and to bestow them.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Of The New Testament)

[14] From diakonos, from which we get the word deacons.

[15]  Angels accompanied Israel in the Exodus (Ex. 14:19; 23:20; 32:34; 33:2)

[16] Many have also made correlations with Jesus as the second Adam being successful where Adam failed. https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/how-does-jesus-temptation/

[17] Jesus calls Satan the “prince of this world” in John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11.

[18] Ephesians 2:2

[19] Daniel 10:13

[20] 1 John 5:19

[21] The ‘self-empowerment’ list is from https://gralefrittheology.com/2015/05/17/how-the-temptations-of-jesus-relate-to-everthing-about-you-society-and-the-world/

[22] Psalm 16:11

[23] https://www.businessinsider.com/what-power-does-to-your-brain-and-your-body-2017-12#powerful-people-who-make-more-money-live-longer-healthier-less-stressful-lives-8

[24] Proverbs 20:26, 28:16, for example.

[25] Matthew 20:25

[26] Job 1

[27] Matthew 26:39

[28] 1 Corinthians 12

[29] Numbers 20

[30] Wikipedia, of all places, which has a nice summary of this episode in the Biele. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation_of_Christ

[31] Philippians 2:3

[32] 1 Corinthians 1:22

[33] Luke 9:51-56

Gospel Harmony #1 In The Beginning Was The Word - John 1:1-18

We are going to begin a journey through the life of Jesus as presented through the 4 Gospels. It’s going to take a while J. I am going to take the approach of harmonizing the four accounts in what’s called ‘harmonizing’ the accounts into a unified story.[1] You can find a good “harmony of the gospels” version online called the The NET Bible Synthetic Harmony of the Gospels Study Edition.[2]

There is an upside and a downside to this approach. The upside is getting all the details from all the writers into one spot, because they often add unique details that help to provide fascinating insight. [3]

The downside is that each author has a particular audience and a particular focus, and thatinsight from looking at each kind of particular storytelling can be lost in the background. [4]

 I will do my best to incorporate the uniqueness of the perspectives as we go through this.

* * * * * 

We are going to start with Genesis. Sounds odd, but John’s account – the last on written, the one stressing the deity of Jesus – starts not with a genealogy of Jesus, the Son of Man, but the identity of Jesus, the Son of God. So that's where we will start.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.[5] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.  He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; however, the only God, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.  -  (John 1:1-18, ESV)

* * * * *

“When time itself began, the Word (Logos)[6] already was. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

1. The Word (God the Son) was both with and is God (The Father). Neither of them ever came to be. They just are[7].

2. There must be some sort of plurality in God. This is referencing the notion of the Trinity, of 3 persons with 1 essence. Yes, it’s mystery, but we’ll look at it more in a little bit.[8]

3. The meaning of “ in the beginning with God” in Greek suggests The Word was “front and center” during Creation.[9]

“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.[10] What was made had life in it, but THIS LIFE was the light of men: the light that shines in the darkness[11], and that the darkness does not understand or comprehend, and has not overcome.[12]

The Word created everything that had a beginning. This is what philosophers call a claim to First Cause. Paul makes this point in Acts 17:24 when he was finding common ground with the Greek philosophers.[13] A basic claim of Christianity is that God made everything and set it in motion. If we stop there, then this is the God of Deists, who winds the clock of the world and just lets in run without really caring or interfering after that. But John doesn’t stop there. God’s personhood makes Him inevitably personal, and as he will show personable persons relate to others.

The ‘light’ reference seems to be a riff off of Genesis 1. “Let there be light” is more than just a command for physical light to dispel darkness; the “light” of Christ dispels spiritual darkness, moral murkiness, truth in all its forms. Jesus’ light would bring clarity, reconciliation, healing, and forgiveness. It would also be this light that his followers would reflect, however dimly, to point a dying world to the source of light.[14]

Adam Clarke suggests a reference here to Genesis 3:20, when Adam called his wife's name Eve, חוהchava, ζωη, LIFE, because she was the mother of all living. Then Jesus was the seed of LIFE (the woman) that was to crush the head of the serpent (the Satan/evil/death) and give true life to the world.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all[15] might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light[16], which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world[17].

John introduces another John, John the Baptist. John the Baptizer had his own disciples – we see later the there were people who were known for receiving “the baptism of John” vs. the baptism of Jesus. But John was not about John; he was about Jesus. It’s a good reminder for all of us who ‘prepare the way of the Lord.” It’s never about us. It’s always about Jesus. In fact, if we become the focus, we have undermined the message.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know know him (through personal experience). He came to his own, and his own people did not associate with or come along side him.  But to all who did receive him – who actively took hold of him[18], who had confidence in his character and reputation (name) -  he gave the right to be born/regenerated as children of God, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of the will of God.

to become the children of God. Same root word for all the things that “came into being” at the beginning of this section. This, too, is a new creation, but a spiritual one.

not of blood…will of the flesh… will of man – John: “For all of you in the back, I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING WE DO!!!”

the will of God  - through his own unlimited power and boundless mercy, prescribing salvation by Christ Jesus alone).[19] Salvation is a free gift from God. We have earned nothing. God extends to us his grace. That is our only hope.

Anyone who did receive Jesus (trusted in him, relied upon him, believed in him, took hold of him) – these were His. [20]

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us[21], and we have seen his glory[22], glory as of the only Son begotten from the Father[23], full of grace and truth.[24] (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he existed before[25] me as the first and foremost.[26]’”)

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” – The eternal God stepped into time. The immaterial became material. The limitless took on our limitations. The light that John the Baptizer had spoken of stepped into our darkness. The creator entered his creation without fanfare or ceremony.

“How can the godhead be in the flesh? In the same way as a fire can be in iron: not by moving from place to place, but by the one imparting to the other its own properties but without undergoing itself any change. It causes the iron to share in its own natural attributes. The fire is not diminished, and yet it completely fills whatever shares in its nature. So it is also with God the Word. (Basil the Great)

Literally, he tabernacled among us. The original word signifies building a booth, or setting up a tent or temporary hut. While the disciples had the fullest proof of his Divinity by his miracles, they had the clearest evidence of his humanity by his ‘pitching a tent’ with them, eating, drinking, and conversing with them.[27] 

The disciples saw God’s glory revealed in Jesus (see 2 Cor. 3:6–18).

1.    First, there was His moral glory, a perfect life and character manifested in His life in exquisite balance.

2.    Second, there was miraculous glory revealed was through his signs (e.g., John 2:11)

3.    Third, there was the visible glory which took place on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1, 2).[28]

4.    Fourth, there was his covenantal glory revealed on the cross, his ultimate act of love and the ultimate expression of God’s heart for people (12:23–33). The Law was full of truth, but it didn’t “lean toward us” like Jesus did. The law was intended to make clear the tragedy of sin and convict us of our trafficking in it (Romans 4:15; 2 Corinthians 3).  Christ brought grace to absorb and cover the condemnation hanging over our heads (Romans 5:15-21; Galatians 3:10). 

“The word was made flesh. That physician made a salve for you. And because he came in such a way that by his flesh he might extinguish the faults of the flesh and by his death he might kill death, it was therefore affected in you that, because the word was made flesh, you could say, ‘And we saw his glory’.” (Augustine)

For from his fullness and abundance we have all received (laid hold of) grace upon grace as He leans toward us, freely extending to give himself to us.[29]For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

When God revealed his glory to Moses in Exodus 33–34, he revealed that He was “abounding in [covenant] love and [covenant] faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6). The Law unpacked reality, and surely there was a form of grace in that (even just a revelation of truth about God and the world is a good thing). But the NT is clear that the Law was incomplete and lacking; God’s people had been waiting for the fullness of grace and truth embodied in Jesus.

“The law threatened but did not bring aid; commanded but did not heal; made no but did not take away our feebleness. Instead, it prepared the way for that physician who was to come with Grace and Truth. He is the kind of physician who… might first send his servant so that he might find a sick person bound [aware of his sickness]. [The sick person] was not healthy; he did not wish to be made healthy and just in case he should be made healthy, he posted that he was so. The law was sent; it bound him.” (Augustine)  

“The word of God became flesh so that we might see that once the wound and the medicine; what had fallen into death and him who raised it to life; what was overcome by corruption and him who chased away the corruption; what was trapped in death and him who is superior to death; what was bereft of life and The Giver of Life.” (Cyril of Alexandria)

No one has ever seen God (the essence of deity; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known (explained and interpreted him).  -  (John 1:1-18)

Throughout history, God has revealed aspects of his character and nature so that people could understand in some small degree. Not until Christ did this revelation have any fullness. All of God’s attributes, the fullness of his character, the depth of his true nature – all in Christ.

 * * * * *

Let’s wrap this up with some implications of the Incarnation:

Value/Worth of Humanity

“Do not be amazed then that you are made a son or daughter by grace; do not be amazed that you are born of God according to his word. The Word himself first chose to be born of man so that you might be born of God unto salvation.. God had a reason for wanting to be born of man, because he considered [you] as someone important.” (Augustine) 

“It is similar to when a great King has entered into some large city and taken up residence at one of the houses there. Because of his dwelling in that single house, that city is deemed worthy of high honor. No enemy or bandit any longer descends on it and subdues it. On the contrary, it finds itself entitled to total protection because the King has taken up his residence at a single house of there. So too, has it been with the monarch of all. For now that he has come to our realm and taken up residence in one body among his peers, from this time forward the whole conspiracy of the enemy against humankind is checked, and the corruption of death, which before had prevailed against them, is done away with. For the human race would have gone to ruin if the Lord and savior of all, the Son of God, had not come among us to meet the end of death.” (Athanasius)

 The Great King took up residence in the world because He so loved the word, and would not leave it to ruin. The whole conspiracy of the enemy against humankind is checked, and the corruption of death, which before had prevailed against them, is done away with. The Great King so loves you that He offers to take up residence in you would not leave it to ruin. He intends for the whole conspiracy of the enemy against you to be checked, and the corruption of your soul unto death, which without Him will prevail against you, can be done away with.

Hope

“The word was made flesh in order that the flesh might begin to be what the Word is.”(Hilary of Poitiers)

We are not God; we will not become God. But the Bible insists that we can increasingly be shaped into an image that reflects or reveals Him with increasing glory not just in eternity, but beginning now. Every Christmas, we sing, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” Is there any greater compliment that can be given to us, than when we here, “You’re beginning to look a lot like Jesus.”  In is there any greater hope than that is available to us?

Mission

“The Christmas spirit is the spirit of those, who like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor—spending and being spent- to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care, and concern, to do good to others—not just their own friends—in whatever way there seems need.” (J.I. Packer, Knowing God)

On this night of the Humble One, Let us be neither proud nor haughty.
On this day of forgiveness, let us not avenge offenses.
On this day on which God came into the presence of sinners,
Let not the just man exalt himself in his mind over the sinner.
On this day on which the Lord of all came among servants,
Let the lords also bow down to their servants lovingly.
On this day when the Rich One was made poor for our sake,
Let the rich man also make the poor man a sharer at his table.
On this day a gift came out to us without our asking for it;
Let us then give alms to those who cry out and beg from us.
This is the day when the high gate opened to our prayers;
Let us also open the gates to [those who] have sought forgiveness.

Today the deity imprinted itself on humanity, so that humanity might also be cut into the seal of deity.” (Ephrem the Syrian)

 In other words, as we become like him, we….become like him. His Incarnation is a model for our incarnational living. We must go and ‘pitch a tent’ among those who need to see Jesus.

COMMUNITY

And in the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Henceforth, any attack even on the least of men is an attack on Christ, who took the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all that bears a human form. Through fellowship and communion with the incarnate Lord, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time we are delivered from that individualism which is the consequence of sin, and retrieve our solidarity with the whole human race. By being partakers of Christ incarnate, we are partakers in the whole humanity which he bore. We now know that we have been taken up and borne in the humanity of Jesus, and therefore that new nature we now enjoy means that we too must bear the sins and sorrows of others. The incarnate Lord makes his followers the brothers of all mankind. ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

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[1] Chart courtesy of https://slidesharetips.blogspot.com/2020/06/what-are-gospels-about.html.

[2] https://bible.org/assets/pdf/Peyton_GospelHarmonyV.2.pdf

[3] https://www.stevethomason.net/2021/03/24/where-did-the-palms-and-hosanna-go-in-luke/

[4]  https://slidesharetips.blogspot.com/2020/06/what-are-gospels-about.html

[5] “His Word exists and is forever with the Father, as radiance accompanies light.” – Athanasius

[6] “In several passages in the writings of John ὁ λόγος denotes the essential Word of God, i. e. the personal (hypostatic) wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in the creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah and shone forth conspicuously from his words and deeds.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

[7] Hint: This is why God called himself “I Am” in the Old Testament, and it is also why Jesus called himself “I Am” in the New Testament.

[8] “All three Persons of the Godhead were involved in the work of creation: “God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). “All things were created through Him (Christ) and for Him” (Col. 1:16b).” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[9] “arxḗ – properly, from the beginning (temporal sense), i.e. "the initial(starting) point"; (figuratively) what comes first and therefore is chief (foremost), i.e. has the priority because ahead of the rest ("preeminent").” (HELPS Word Studies)

[10] Origen wrote of evil as “the things are not” or as “nothing”, since evil is the negation or the corruption of the good; thus, evil is not included in “all things.”

[11] “Metaphorically, used of ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness, and the resultant misery.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

[12] Adam Clarke’s preferable translation of this phrase, emphasizing two kinds of life: common, animating physical life vs. spiritual life.

[13] “The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth…”  Adam Clarke notes, “The Platonists make mention of the Logos in this way: - καθ' ὁν, αει οντα, τα γενομενα εγενετο - by whom, eternally existing, all things were made.”

[14] “In the NT, the manifestation of God's self-existent life; divine illumination to reveal and impart life, through Christ.” (HELPS Word Studies)

[15] Literally, every single part which makes up the whole, in this case - humanity.

[16] “Alēthinós) sometimes carries something of the Greek meaning of 'real,' but it is the real because it is the full revelation of God's faithfulness." (HELPS Word Studies) 

[17] The ordered ensemble of the cosmos in its entirety. This is about creation, not worldview systems.

[18] “…emphasizes the volition (assertiveness) of the receiver.” (HELPS Word Studies)

[19] HT Adam Clarke

[20] “This provides the initial definition of "believe" by equating it with "receive." When we receive a gift, we demonstrate our confidence in its reality and trustworthiness. We make it part of our own possessions. By being so received, Jesus gives to those who receive him a right to membership in the family of God.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[21] “This separates Christianity from Islam and Judaism. The Jerusalem Talmud says, “If man claims to be God, he is a liar” (Ta’anit 2:1), while the Qur’an says, “Allah begets not and was not begotten” (Sura al-Ikhlas 112).”  https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-shocking-implications-of-incarnation/

[22]  Literally means "what evokes good opinion, i.e. that something has inherent, intrinsic worth." (HELPS Word Studies)

[23] The only incarnation, the only human born by a woman through the power of the Holy Spirit. One of a kind.

[24] Reality; the opposite of illusion.

[25] “Before” is “first (foremost) meaning "what comes first" (is "number one").” (HELPS Word Studies)

[26] Literally, he “I AM” before John, who was born first into the world. It’s a reference to Jesus’ eternal existence.

[27] Adam Clarke. Also, “Here is also here an allusion to the manifestations of God above the ark in the tabernacle: see Exodus 25:22; Numbers 7:89; and this connects itself with the first clause, he tabernacled, or fixed his tent among us. While God dwelt in the tabernacle, among the Jews, the priests saw his glory; and while Jesus dwelt among men his glory was manifested in his gracious words and miraculous acts.”

[28] HT Believer’s Bible Commentary.

[29] Explanation in HELPS Word Studies: Grace is “leaning towards to share benefit."