Being People of the Word: Essenes, Zealots and Pharisees

Last week, I noted I’ve been listening to the Bema Podcast with Marty Solomon. Once again, this week’s material borrows heavily from his podcast, specifically episodes 73-81, which can be found at bemadiscipleship.com.

We started to look at what happened to the Jewish people before the arrival of Jesus, when they had returned from exile and splintered into 5 groups, all of which had reached different conclusions about how best to live as people of God in Greek/Roman culture. Jesus had a plan to build a group of disciples – that will become the church – from a potentially volatile mixture with representatives from all approaches. If we can learn from all of them, perhaps we will find a way forward during divisive political times that reflects the teaching and life of Jesus.

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LAST WEEK

The Sadducees, the priests in the Temple, became corroborators with Hellenism, enablers who believed Alexander the Great’s euangelion: “Good news!  The Kingdom of Greece had arrived!” They loved the focus on self, wealth, power, and comfort. When their insider privilege was threatened by Roman advance, they invited the wealthiest man they knew (Herod) to keep Rome happy with his money and them happy with their continuing status quo by naming him the King of the Jews. They turned into corrupt bullies who were wiped out when the Temple fell. The encouragement: embrace the priestly role God has given to all of us. The caution: not like the Sadducees, whose love of the Empire corrupted their leadership in the Kingdom.

The Herodians were more the cultural version of the Sadducees. They liked the goodies of the self-centered Hellenism, and what had been a community of generosity for the poor and powerless became a community focused on all the pleasures this world had to offer. We said the good thing they brought was that they knew the culture. They were perfectly situated to have a Kingdom impact in Greek and Roman culture. However, they fell in love with the very worldview that conquered them and lived not only in the world, but as the world.[1]

This brings us to the Essenes, Zealots and Pharisees.  

Essenes

They thought the corrupt system of the Sadducees was inviting God’s judgment, so they went to the desert to spend what time they had left preparing. Well, most of them did. Priests like Zachariah, who likely had Essene connections,[2] stayed in the system and did his duty. Maybe this is a Group #6: those who believed the temple system was completely corrupt but felt like they couldn’t give up on the call that God gave to priests. Let’s call them the Zachariahns.

The Essenes liked Jeremiah 6:16: “Stand at the crossroads, ask for the ancient past, ask where the good way is, and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.” The Essenes wanted to be ready for the day when God’s people would again ask about the good way. They went out to the desert to know the path and to walk the path by devoting themselves to knowing, writing, and living the text.

They were serious. Writing the text was a four-person job. One person recited the word from a scroll while another person stood behind that person make sure they got it right. The scribe writing the word had a person looking over his shoulder to make sure he wrote the right word in the right way. Every time they got to the name of God, they all would take a break for a ritual bath in a mikvah before they wrote what they were allowed to write for the name of God just to be sure they were clean enough to do so.[3]

The mikvah was done in a baptistry filled with ‘living water’, water that came from God and moved of its own accord, which meant from either an underground spring or rain. The minute they carried it in a bucket, it was no longer living water. So, they channeled rainwater from the local wadi (a dry streambed that would flood during rainy season) through a plastered canal that ran to the village. They needed to be clean. They were serious about responding to God properly (as they understood it). They were all in.  They also liked Isaiah 40:

“Comfort, comfort my people, speak tenderly to Jerusalem…tell her that her sin has been paid for… A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every mountain brought down and every valley raised up. The rough places made smooth and the rugged places a plain and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.’”[4]

So, what is the upside of the Essenes? They were all in when it came to knowing and walking the path. They would not put up with corruption in the Temple. They were preparing themselves to stand at the crossroads and speak tenderly to the people when they arrived so the glory of the Lord would be revealed, and they could help people find rest for their souls.

What’s the downside? They’re not talking to anybody. They wanted to stand at the crossroads, but they were not at the crossroads. They were in the middle of the desert waiting for the crossroads to come to them.

ZEALOTS

Remember, the Zealots are part of the Hasidim, the pious ones, who headed to Galilee with the Pharisees as they rejected the compromise of the Sadducees and dedicated themselves to a righteous, uncompromising life. To the Zealot, it was going to take bloody violence to solve their problems and pave the way for the Messiah as God saw how committed they were and responded to their zeal.[5]

They were zealous not only against the Romans but also against the corrupt temple leadership. At one point, a Zealot went into the Temple courts and stabbed a sitting High Priest to death in the Temple courts.

They became insurgents who often used the tactics of terrorists. #sicarri They attacked Hasmonean dynasty (both the priestly class and the Greeks) for an entire century. Jesus will warn his disciples prone to violence that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. The way the Zealot movement ended will prove his point.

A Zealot named Hezekiah led a revolt in 43 BC. Rome came after them. At first, they were just looking for the Zealots fighters, but those Zealots would just hide. So, Rome went after the women and children. In response, the Zealots hid their families in the Caves of Arbel.

The Roman army went to Arbel, set up scaffolding on the cliff face, then lit fires and blew the smoke into the cave so that everybody hiding inside had to come out. They grabbed them with pitchforks and threw them off the scaffolding to their death.

To give you an idea how this story arc ends, let’s skip to AD 66. Rome decided to put statues of Caesar in the Sadducee-led Temple. A bunch of Pharisees met the ships as they sailed into Caesarea and lay in the road to stop this from happening. Tensions were high. Eventually, a revolt that began outside of Caesarea ended up with 20,000 Jews executed in the countryside.

This started a revolution. At one point, several Roman legions found themselves trapped by the Zealots in a fortress in Jerusalem, so they negotiated a settlement to march out of the city to safety if they laid down their arms. As soon as they laid down their arms, the Zealots slaughtered every Roman soldier in the Fortress.

Eventually, Rome pushed them back to a city/fortress called Gamla. A Zealot fighter named Joseph told the residents how to fortify the city before going out to fight Vespasian. He got captured in Galilee[6] and apparently told them how to take Gamla. 4,000 Jews died in the fighting; 5,000 Jews jumped to their own death rather than be conquered.

Masada will be their last stand around AD 70, where close to 1,000 Jewish people led by the remaining Sicarri killed themselves rather than be taken alive. That will be the end of the Zealots.

So, what’s the upside for a Zealot? Zeal. Fire. They care enough about the cause of the Kingdom to give their lives. If God’s people were always committed to give their lives for the cause of Christ, our lives would serve as a powerful witness to the glorious truth for which we live.[7]

What’s the downside? They are fighting for the King the wrong way. There are killing people to expand and/or protect the Kingdom of God, and that’s not the way of the kingdom. The Messiah’s way happens when crooked paths are made straight, not when they are paved in blood. Zealots need to channel their zeal into holiness not expressed in ways that destroys the people who need to hear the message of the Kingdom.

PHARISEES

The Pharisees were Hasidim who decided to respond to the corruption of the priests by enticing the Messiah to come and cleanse the Temple thanks to their absolute devotion to the way of God. They were full of zeal for obedience, not attacking Rome. They were committed to the text, but they did not retreat from society. They lived in the culture, but did not think Hellenism was a euangelion. They were focused around the Galilee Triangle, which I only point out because it will come up later.

The Pharisees believed God would deal with Rome when God was good and ready. They had the entire Old Testament as proof. When God decided it was time to judge or reward a nation, God would make it happen. Meanwhile, they focused on absolute obedience to His commandments. They would develop the Mishnah, thousands of laws that acted like a fence around the 613 laws of the Torah. Surely, that much fencing would keep them safe from breaking the Torah’s laws! I found a PDF online. It was 780 pages long.

This is why the Pharisees were so hard on those who broke even the most minor law. If they could all just be obedient enough, God would save them. If they weren’t, He wouldn’t.

We see this once again in the architecture. Remember Zippori, the Herodian town with mosaic sidewalks and floors? Not so in the towns of the Galilee Triangle (Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida). Their synagogues have big, roughly cut stones. You won’t find mosaics on their floors or in their courtyards. They were not there to enjoy the luxury of Hellenism.

In the Herodian Quarter, we saw the outline of a Sadducee house with 17 bedrooms. The Pharisees, in contrast, lived in insulas, multifamily dwellings of up to 10 families. They weren’t trying to have their own house, or courtyard, or their own stuff. That was the siren call of Hellenism. The Pharisees believed God called them to share if they were committed to each other as a community. Insula living is a practical example of this.[8]

Jesus critiques the Pharisees, and rightly so. Yet they are his ministry focus for three years.He generally avoided the Sadducees.[9]He called and worked with Herodians, Essenes and Zealots. However, he only pronounced woes on the Pharisees. “Those whom the Lord loves, He chastens.” (Hebrews 12:6) He’s purifying one segment of Judaism: the Pharisees. As odd as this may sound, they have gleaned the best from the other groups. They are, however, missing two crucial things that really, really matter. Here, he addresses the Galilee Triangle to highlight what they still need.

Then He began to denounce the cities where most of His mighty works had been done because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon and than for you. And for Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? Will you be brought down to Hades? For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day, but I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment in the land of Sodom than for you.” (Matthew 11:20–24)

 The Tyre and Sidon reference goes back to a passage about arrogance in the book of Isaiah.[10]The Sodom and Gomorrah reference has to do with a failure of compassion and hospitality.[11] Two groups of people epically condemned for their pride and hostility are going to judge the Pharisees, the Hasidim, the “pious ones.”

The Pharisees had the Text; they had devotion; they had at least a stated commitment to obedience; they had zeal for the way of God and longed for the Messiah to arrive. What they didn’t have was humility/repentance and compassion.

  • When we won’t eat with sinners like Jesus did; when we lack a life-orienting compassion for the poor, the outcast, the sick, the immigrant, the tax collectors and Samaritans in our midst, we are Pharisees who need to learn mercy and compassion.

  • If we claim the name of Jesus and insist the 10 Commandments be posted so that American can learn Judeo/Christian morals, and we break those commandments consistently and even boldly, we are hypocritical Pharisees need to learn repentance and humility.[12]

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So, disciples of Jesus, “What do we do with the United States?” How do we learn from and value each other in the midst of the different responses represented in this room? Is there a way to find unity in our diversity? Jesus thought so; we should too. Let’s focus on what was of value from the different approaches. Perhaps in piecing them all together we can find wisdom.

We need zeal, but it needs to be zeal for the written word of God and Word made Flesh, not a zeal for civil war and violence of any kind.  We don’t want that holy, zealous fire to go out, but we don’t want it to flare up such that it burns others. Zealotry requires observation, supervision, self-reflection. It requires us to see if we are scorching those around us. It’s probably going to take a community that cares about each other to help us figure out how to keep the embers from going cold and from starting a destructive wildfire.

We need to be committed to the Word, both written and made human in Jesus. We need Essenes whose love of the Word written and incarnate inspire all of us to love the Word as well.[13] If we all valued what God had to say as much as they did, and if we all let it order our lives like they did, that in itself would be huge. It’s probably going to take a community that cares about each other to make this a labor of love and not legalism, a community where we see the exciting Christ-like transformation that the Word brings to our lives.

We need to know the culture. The early church did not isolate. They boldly redeemed culture Hellenistic images.

The first Christians didn’t move out of the neighborhood once they became disciples of Christ. They saw a broken and dying world often odds with their new citizenship – and it broke their hearts. They stayed there and sought to bring the reality of new life in the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. How do we do this without becoming Herodians? It’s probably going to take a communitywhere a lot of thoughtful conversation, prayer and study help to keep us in the world but not of it.

We must understand the effectual power of obedience.[14] The Pharisees were wrong to believe that they had to earn God’s return by being good enough. They were not wrong about the importance of a consistent, obedient walk in the path of God. When faithful obedience becomes the consistent rhythm of our life, we are free from the controlling power and the terrible harvest of sinful choices; we will increasingly understand why Jesus said God’s path brings life; and we will impact others in life-giving ways.[15] But…obedience can be hard, both knowing what to do in hard/confusing situations and acting on what we know. It might take a community of accountability, truth and grace with which to link arms so we can find the path and walk in it.

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It turns out we need each other to mature and grow into the kind of church community that looks like a “new humanity” Jesus talked about in Ephesians 5. We are united in Jesus and filled with His Spirit so that this ‘body’ with many parts works together as God intended (1 Corinthians 12).

  • We want Essenes with the Herodians to remind them to stay true to the Word; we want Herodians with the Essenes to get them out of their ineffective isolation.

  • We need the Zacharians and the Essenes to be in communication: “You might need to get out of that corrupt system of politics and religious institutions.” “You might need to stay in it.”

  • We want Pharisees with the Zealots to remind them to be zealous for obedience, mercy and holiness, not violence, antagonism, and revenge.

  • We want the Zealots and Pharisees with the Sadducess to remind them that the Empire is not the Kingdom, and that the urge to compromise must be resisted.

 We need Jesus to remind us all that a lifestyle of repentance, humility and mercy must go with love of the word and The Word, so that we will be able to stand in the crossroads of the world with truth, grace, and integrity, preparing the way so that the glory of the Lord will be revealed.

We can do this. We have the text (Bible), the Word (Jesus), the Holy Spirit. We are equipped to be a new kind of humanity whose Jesus-centered community displays the loving power of God by demonstrating the miraculous power of a transforming Savior, who breaks down barriers and reconciles us to Christ and


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[1]We have to watch out for what Michael Gorman calls a set of myths that we can begin to believe about the empires in which we live. A “myth of righteousness” sets values of the Empire on par with the values of the Kingdom (in which both are seen as part of the euangelion, the good news of God’s plan for the world). A “myth of greatness” becomes defined by the standards of Babylon and Rome: financial, political, and/or military strength as the markers of success. A “myth of innocence” sees the power, prosperity, and peace of the (apparently) righteous and great Empire as achieved by and sustained by thoroughly righteous means and people. A “myth of worthiness” demands an appreciation of and allegiance to the state as a profoundly moral responsibility for Christians. (from Reading Revelation Responsibly)

[2] If his son, John the Baptist was trained by Essenes, Zechariah would have been the one to make that happen. “Everything about John the Baptist smacks and rings of Essene theology and worldview, except for the way that he engages the populist…The Essenes separated themselves and wanted culture to come to them when the end times came.” (Marty Solomon, bemadiscipleship.com)

[3] They had an error rate over a large amount of time of 2%. It’s remarkable.

[4] They believed that if they would stay true to their call, God would show up. Interestingly, the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea less than three miles away. That’s where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Hmmm.

[5] This inspired them to buy into what some have called the ‘myth of redemptive violence,’ the belief that that evil can only be defeated by good people violently wielding power “Redemptive violence gives way to violence as an end in itself. It is no longer a religion that uses violence in the pursuit of order and salvation, but one in which violence has become an aphrodisiac, sheer titillation, an addictive high, a substitute for relationships. Violence is no longer the means to a higher good, namely order; violence becomes the end.” (Walter Wink, “The Myth Of Redemptive Violence.”)

[6] Vespasian adopted Joseph as a son, changing his name to Josephus Flavius, famed Jewish historian.

[7] The early church is going to be full of this kind of zeal. The blood of the martyrs, not the blood spilled by Zealots, will be seed of the early church.[7]

[8] Peter and Andrew, James, John, and possibly Philip were from Bethsaida.

[9] Generally. He cleanses the Temple at the beginning and end of his ministry.

[10] Isaiah 23-24

[11] “Ancient stories give hints about the evil in Sodom. Travelers who came into the city would be robbed, stripped, and held captive within the city. They would wander the streets slowly starving to death, to the great amusement of the citizenry. One account relates that visitors to Sodom were offered a bed according to the Middle Eastern laws of hospitality, but it was a bed of torture. Short people were stretched. Tall people had their legs cut off. If a traveler had no money, he would be given bricks of gold and silver with his name on them! But nobody would sell him bread and water, even for all that gold and silver, so the traveler slowly died of starvation. The Sodomites gathered around the corpse and took back the gold and silver.” http://www.susancanthony.com/res/dennis/canaan.html

[12] Another example is the (proper) denunciation of sexual abuse, grooming, human trafficking, etc. So… In a nine-week  period ending in April of 2023, attorney Kristen Browde kept track of all people arrested in the US for charges of child sexual abuse. Out of 308 cases…39% were in Christian ministry positions. In 2022, the SBC released a list of 700 pastors accused of sexual abuse. Over 7,000 claims of sexual abuse by church staff, congregation members, volunteers, or the clergy were made to just three insurance companies over a 20-year period (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2007). Add to it what happened in the Catholic church. Woe to those who call out the sexualization of our culture and the grooming of children in others when they do the same. It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for those in Sodom and Tyre.

[13] 45%  of people who claim to be Christian in the US read their Bible at least once a week? 45%. Everyone else is once a month or less. 35% say they seldom or never read it.

[14] We also need to value the role we have as priests. We talked about this last week, so I’m going to refer you back to those notes J

[15] Add to that the idea that our life, not just our words, becomes a witness. When we say, “Good news! The Kingdom of God is here!” people will look at how our lives have been impacted to reach some conclusions about whether it’s good news or not. 

Being People of the Word: Sadducees and Herodians

Some of you have been asking if there is some way to talk about Christians and politics in preparation for what is sure to be another volatile election. A podcast I have been listening to covered some ground this week that I hope can lead us into introspection and discussion.

This involves what happened to the Jewish people before the arrival of Jesus, when they had returned from exile and splintered into 5 groups, all of which had reached different conclusions about how best to live as people of God in Greek and then Roman culture. I don’t usually do history, but this particular window of time seems relevant to where we are now.

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 In 586 BC, the Jewish people headed into Babylonian captivity. While in exile – lacking a temple - the synagogue took root.[2] Synagogue was about an entire lifestyle centered around Torah symbolized by the very architecture of the synagogue. Yes, they had it before exile, but this is different. They assumed their exile was because they didn’t obey the Torah. This would not happen again. So text-centered synagogues developed in exile and continued when they returned to their land in 538 BC to rebuild, as recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah.

In 332 BC, approximately 200 years later, Alexander the Great began to conquer the West as a warrior/evangelist with a euangelion, the Greek word for gospel or “good news.”  This euangelionwas Hellenism, a worldview that is all about me. Previously, every worldview centered around the gods: what made the gods happy, or angry; what were the gods were doing? Hellenism changed all that. Pythagoras said, “Man is the measure of all things.” People are the new rulers; the gods bear their image, not the other way around. It’s no longer about what the gods  want; it’s about what I want. Ask not what you can do for the gods; ask what the gods can do for you.

Alexander’s “good news” was not always at the point of the sword. There were easier ways to conquer a culture. He asked for four things.

  • Education: He can control what people learn, think and know.

  • Healthcare: Everyone wants to be healthy, and the Empire will be their doctor.

  • Entertainment: Distraction brings complacency as they are (once again) being educated

  • Athletics: Competition and tribal identity will keep the adrenaline flowing.

Notice, none of those things are bad things. It was just that under Alexander’s Hellenism, it was easy to begin to love your conqueror, because he gave you comfort, leisure and luxury. His euangelion was simple: “Good news! The Kingdom of Greece has arrived!” and people believed it.

When he died, he handed this Greek empire over to four different rulers. Ptolemy ruled the area of Judea where the Jews had resettled. Much like Alexander, he didn’t need a big military show of force. He said, “Here’s Hellenism. I think you will like it.” They did, for the most part.

By 167 BC, the Seleucids (another of Alexander’s predecessors) had taken over Judea. Eventually they entered Jerusalem, and…..disaster. Seleucus sacrificed a pig on the temple altar. A group that will eventually be known as the Zealots were furious so they led the Maccabean Revolt (which is the story of Hanukkah).

They defeated the Seleucids in Jerusalem and got the temple back. When deciding who was going to rule now, they went back to the text (because they were people of the text) and decided God’s original plan was for priests to rule, not kings.  So, they handed the kingdom over to the priests – the Hasmoneans (167-63 BC = the Hasmonean Dynasty.)

Within 20 years, the Hasmoneans had became completely Hellenistic. They loved the power, money, luxury and entertainment. Josephus wrote that there weren’t enough priests to run temple services because the priests were at the Empire’s entertainment spectacles. This is the priestly class that will become known as the Sadducees. (The Herodians will be those who share their views to a large degree but are more of a political party.) The Sadducees are the one party that does not appear to be represented in Jesus’ disciples.

The Maccabeans did not care for this turn of events at all, and they and a lot of others headed to Galilee. These Hasidim, the ‘pious ones,’ intended to build a devoted Judaism totally committed to the way of God. Two groups emerged: Zealots and Pharisees. Both are devoted to following God, but Zealots were devoted with the sword, and Pharisees with absolute obedience.

Paul was a Pharisee, and likely Jesus and most of the disciples as well. Jesus had two followers who were Zealots: Simon the Zealot and Judas “the” Iscariot (sicarii, "dagger-men," a group of Zealots who carried a knife with them at all times and vowed that if they ever found a Roman soldier alone they would kill him.[3])

Meanwhile, the Essenes were a group of disenchanted priests who couldn’t stand the corruption. They moved to the desert and set up a places like Qumran. #deadseascrolls They were the Jewish Amish. John the Baptist was likely Essene; Jesus was baptized by him, which suggests Jesus trained at times under his teaching.

Rome eventually conquered Judea. Rome, by the way, loved Hellenism. They just added to it the “pax romana,’ the peace by the sword (an idea that the developing Zealots will embrace). Their euangelion was similar to Alexander’s: “Good news! The Kingdom of Rome is here!”

 When the Sadducees saw Rome on the horizon, they started working on a solution to stay in power because they didn’t want to lose all that stuff that the built up over the last century: buildings, luxury, power, advantage, privilege, comfort.

Enter Herod the Great, the son of the king of Idumea.  His people, the Nabataeans, owned the spice trade. The whole thing. Think of one people group owning all of the oil in our world.  Herod was by far the wealthiest man to ever walk the face of the earth.

The Sadducees knew they could never combat Rome’s power. But…Rome needed money. They went to the wealthiest man on the planet, and said, “If you’ll marry one of our daughters, you’ll be kind of Jewish? And you can be the king of the Jews.” So, Herod married into the priestly line and offered his wealth as an asset to Rome – specifically, to Julius Caesar – in exchange for being the King of the Jews. Julius liked that idea a lot. Herod’s reign lasted from 37 BC to 4 BC, approximately two years after Jesus was born.

When Herod died, he split his kingdom among his three sons: Philip got the north, Archelaus got southern Judea, and Antipas got central Judea (Galilee). Archelaus in southern Judea is a horrible ruler who almost immediately gets replaced by Rome with…. Pontius Pilate. 

That catches up the historical dynamics that led to the splintering of the Jewish community. They were all trying to grapple with, “What do we do with Rome? How do we live as people of God in this context? How will we usher in the age of the Messiah?”  Do you….

  • run from it and focus on learning in order to be faithful (Essenes)

  • ignore it and focus on obedience to entice the Messiah’s return (Pharisees)

  • become a part of it and enjoy what it has to offer while waiting for the Messiah (Sadducees and Herodians)

  • attack it and pave the Messiah’s way in blood (Zealots)

 This is the world into which Jesus is born. Galatians 4:4 says,

“ When the right time arrived, God sent His Son into this world (born of a woman, subject to the Torah) 5 to free those who, just like Him, were subject to the Torah. Ultimately He wanted us all to be adopted as sons and daughters.”

Of all the points in human history, this was just at the right time. Perhaps one of the reasons is because of the tension within God’s people. This was the time to unite them around the Word become flesh, the Text in bodily form. Fascinatingly, Jesus seems to have called disciples who represented all four of the approaches[4] with the plan to make them a team centered around The Living Torah, the Word in the Flesh.

 That sounds like a terrible idea to me, but not to Jesus. This would be a sign of the power of the Kingdom and its King. Jesus will show them how making peace with God will lead to making peace with others, breading down every barrier and creating one new humanity (Ephesians 2).

This sounds like a message we need in today’s political and religious climate. So, we are going to look more closely at these groups, try to find ourselves in them, looking at their strengths and weaknesses, and discern how to unite around Jesus. Today we will cover two groups that had a lot in common: Sadducees and Herodians. Next week, Pharisees, Zealots, and Essenes.

SADDUCEES[5]

When the now thoroughly Hellenistic Sadducees convinced Herod to be their king, he offered the high priesthood to the highest bidder from the 7 main families. Annas won the bidding. The Chief Priesthood will not leave his family until the temple is destroyed in AD 70. When we read about Caiaphas and Jesus clashing, Caiaphas is a descendant of Annas.

These seven families became a corrupt religious mafia. Josephus talks about the priesthood gathering in tithes and offerings and then not paying the other priests, just getting and more and more financially secure while their fellow priests suffered. They had their own Temple Guard, their muscle (think of Jesus’ arrest). They were corrupt bullies who used the cover of the temple to indulge in the power, prestige and luxury Rome offers at the expense of all those they exploited.

To give you an idea of the luxury of the priests, in the Herodian Quarter in Jerusalem archaeologists discovered a priestly home with17 bedrooms and 21 mikvah baths. In another priestly home they found a wine cellar full of bottles valued (when adjusted to our dollars today) at about $5,000 to $10,000 per bottle of wine.

Meanwhile, there were two Sanhedrins (the ruling body), a formal and informal one. The formal Sanhedrin was 70 or 72 people, half Pharisees and half Sadducees, to balance the Jewish leadership. The informal one met in the high priest’s house where this Sadducee Deep State made decisions that WOULD BE RATIFIED (#wink) by the formal Sanhedrin if the voters valued their lives. There corruption was so bad that some biblical scholars wonder if the “abomination of desolation” referred to in Daniel was not, in fact, the sacrificing of a pig on the altar (as is commonly assumed), but is this time of ruling by the Sadducees in which God’s house was profaned in more serious ways than pig’s blood.

Jesus spent three years with the Pharisees, and in spite of all their conflict they tried to save his life twice. He spent one week with the Sadducees before they kill him. I wonder if the many times Jesus told people not to report being healed was to avoid getting on the radar of the High Priests of the Sadducees.

So, what should we think of this group? The wrong is obvious: They are corrupt bullies. The power and luxury of Empires are corrosive partners with leadership of the people of God. It destroys the true faith, it creates terrible cynicism and frustration in those trying to do true worship, and it ultimately fails. When Rome destroyed the temple in AD 70, that Empire they tried to partner with wiped the Sadducess and the Herodians off the face of the earth.

The Bible describes Zachariah as a “righteous” priest, adding an adjective that shouldn’t have been necessary. Unfortunately, many in the role of priest weren’t righteous. To be a priest was a good thing, but to be a corrupt priest who loved the means and methods of Empire was horrible, and it goes against everything that the priesthood is supposed to represent and stand for. When those who claim Jesus and are supposed to embody holiness, servanthood and love become morally compromised, arrogant and selfish, we have lost the plot of God’s story.

The positive is they deeply desired to be in a role that was a God-ordained role. God has a role for priests. 1 Peter 2:9 reminds us, 

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation..that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

That’s us. There is a God-ordained role that we need to serve in well. What are you doing in your life right now? You are doing it in a priestly role as part of the priesthood of all believers, and God plans to use you where you are. What do we priest have to watch out for? The allure or power, luxury, safety, and comfort, especially when the means to get it involves collusion with the Empire.   

HERODIANS

If you weren’t a priest, but your approach to Hellenism was very similar to that of a Sadducee, you were a Herodian. This was almost more of a political party that said, “I can have a little bit of Rome – maayybe a lot of Rome - and I can have a little bit of God and Hellenism, and I can put the two together quite comfortably.”

To be sure, the core things Hellenism offered (education and healthcare, entertainment, athletics) were not in and of themselves problematic. The wealth available through the Empire was not the problem. The things aren’t necessarily the problem. However, Hellenism used good or neutral things to tell the wrong story: life is ALL ABOUT YOU.

This feels like it hits close to home. America has historically liked a definition of freedom that says it’s all about me. We love rugged individualism: “don’t tread on me”; “nobody puts baby in a corner”; “It’s my life, I can do what I want.” The right to pursue my happiness how I define it is right there in key American texts. We want to be able to sing “I Did It My Way,” and sing “I will Follow You, Jesus” without there being a conflict. Let’s not look away from how close this is to us as we talk about the Herodians.

Zippori is our poster city for what happened to Herodians. Zippori was a Jewish village that led a revolt against Rome. Rome destroyed it, then one of Herod’s sons rebuilt it as a Herodian colony inhabited almost entirely by Jews, who quickly embraced the goodies of Rome.[6] For example:

  • Instead of giving their excess to the poor, they had sidewalks paved with mosaics, which would have been an unheard of distraction and waste of resources in a traditional Jewish village.

  • The Jewish homes were full of beautiful mosaics in geometrical patterns (you weren’t supposed to make images of people) which would have been seen as selfishly lavish 50 years prior.  

Once again, it’s not that art is bad. Surely one can appreciate art and have money and love God. But to the Jewish population historically, this flourishes went against the ethic found in the text on how to use money and resources with an eye for the poor and powerless. And that compromise, though small, opened the door to some more compromising rooms. Literally.

  • The geometric mosaics were in the public-facing area of the house. In the same house, in more private spaces, we see not just images (!) but images of Greek and Roman gods like Pan, the god of sexual fertility. Perhaps they were thinking, “I don’t worship that. I don’t go to the temple of Pan. I worship the God of Israel. It’s just a story.”

  • Meanwhile, in the main living area, the centerpiece on the floor is a mosaic of the Egyptian mythology of the Nile.[7] Egypt. The nation that enslaved their ancestors and whose gods Yahweh humiliated.

  • In the same town, different house, we find the Mona Lisa of the Galilee. This mosaic has 22.5 million pieces (!) in it. In the center is the lady of the house, but the spiral path around her tells the Greek mythology, with scenes of daily life connected with the rites of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and orgy. The story ends with Dionysus drinking Zeus under the table.

It’s in a Jewish home that’s supposed to be centered around the biblical text that is instead centered around the Roman story. What may have started as a relatively innocent compromise spirals toward serious spiritual compromise. Paul later writes to the churches about this very issue.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces (Galatians 4:8-9) 

The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? (1 Corinthians 10:19-22)

“Anthony, that reference is dated. Give us something more modern.” Can do. In the rotunda of the US Capitol building has a mural called The Apotheosis of Washington (1865). It depicts Washington as having ascended into the heavens and becoming exalted or glorified. He wears the colors of Roman emperors, with a rainbow arch at his feet, flanked by the Roman goddesses of Victory and Liberty. There are six scenes around him, 5 of which have Roman gods/goddesses:

  • Science, Minerva, surrounded by inventors.

  • Marine, Neptune, with warships in the background.

  • Commerce, Mercury, giving a bag of gold to a financier of the Revolutionary War.

  • Mechanics, Vulcan, with cannons and steam engines.

  • Agriculture, Ceres, with a mechanical reaper.

  • War, Columbia, the personification of America, aka Lady Liberty

 Can you feel the dissonance if we would ask to make sure a copy of the 10 Commandments or the Beatitudes were posted there along with a dare I say blasphemous image of Washington doing what Jesus did, surrounded by Greek gods and a freshly minted American god of war? That dissonance has not ended. We still put side-by-side thinks that don’t fit comfortably together. Methinks the Herodian urge remains alive and well.

Now, the positive. Jesus loves Greeks and Romans as much as He loved any person that’s ever been a part of this story, and He wants to redeem their story. Citizens of Herod mattered very much to God, and who knew this world better than the Herodians? They are perfectly placed for God’s mission.  

  • You wanted to redeem theater? Who better than the Herodians?

  • You wanted to use athleticism as a platform to tell God’s story? Who better placed to be an athlete than Herodians?

  • Who was better placed to impact the Herodian world for the God narrative than the educator, doctor, artist or a mosaic maker?

 They are perfectly placed to impact the world around them because they understand it, they are in the middle of it, they engage it every single day. The challenge is not falling into it and letting it consume and compromise you. The danger is idolatry, serving Mammon rather than God.

We have to watch for the subtle shift in values that tripped up the Jewish people and the first Christians. Enjoying life can become indulging in life, which can become a gluttony of pleasures (feasting every day like the Sadducee in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus), which can become exploitation. “You’re heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,” the prophet Isaiah scolded in Isaiah 5, and it’s not a compliment. It’s a timeless warning.

That this is the danger of the Herodian. We want to talk about our worship of God while remaining comfortable in our wealth. We want privilege, influence and control while being able to think of ourselves as following in the footsteps of the one who came not to be served, but to serve. We want to feast on safety, comfort and pleasure without even thinking about what it costs to get what we want, who might be hurt in the process, and what we might be keeping for ourselves that the early church described as belonging to the poor.

Here, I think, is the bottom line dilemma for the Sadducees and the Herodians: They were gathered around the Roman mosaics rather than the biblical text. They forgot about the point of synagogue as a lifestyle, where their lives spiritually and practically centered around the text. Rome now guided their imagination and thoughts. Rome told them what the good life was like. Rome told them how to think about people, about God, and about themselves. They took their eye off the text.

One very important lesson we learn from them is that, as aliens and exiles sojourning through the life in the United States of America, the text that centers us is the Bible. It’s not the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. It’s not college professors or TV talk show hosts or politicians or conference speakers.

The church community is centered around the Word - both the text and the Word become Flesh – and like-minded followers of Jesus. The answer to “What do we do with Rome/the United States?” will not be found in the texts of the Empire. It’s found in the Word. We gather and study and pray week after week after week 1) to learn the Word of God so that we can walk in the life-giving path of God, and 2) to experience the life-changing reality of the Word made flesh.  

For the disciples, their goal was to know what their rabbi (Jesus) knew, in order to do what their rabbi did, for the reasons that the rabbi did them, in order to be just like the rabbi in their walk with God. 

Nothing has changed for disciples today. The goal is to know what Jesus knows, in order to do what Jesus does, for the reasons that the Jesus does them, in order to be more and more like Jesus in our walk with God.[8]

 

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[1] I am deeply, deeply indebted to Marty Solomon at Bema for almost all of today’s information. I am borrowing heavily from his podcast and printed notes, which can be found at bemadiscipleship.com, episodes 73-81.

[2] There are seven elements commonly found in synagogues. A mikvah was a ritualistic cleansing bath. The basilica, the pillared section of the synagogue both held up the roof and allowed for high windows, because “You read God’s Light by God’s light.” The bema seat was a slightly raised platform in the center of the room to stand on when reading the text for discussion. The chief seats were benches around the outside of the synagogue reserved for the more seasoned in the community, those who knew Torah best. The Torah closet held the few scrolls in each synagogue. The Seat of Moses is where a reader sat to give an introductory read to the text. Finally, every synagogue had a study room.

[3] There is a theory “that Judas, when he betrayed Jesus, was not just giving Jesus up for the sake of the money, not because Satan made him do it, not because he was possessed by a demon, and certainly not because God made him do it. Rather…Judas was trying to initiate a confrontation between Jesus and the authorities so that the war could begin.” https://revkevnye.com/2010/04/27/the-judas-theory/

[4] The Herodians represent the Herodians/Sadducees. There were no Sadducee disciples.

[5] The Sadducees came from line of priestly families that date all the way back to the time of David and Solomon. They get their name from being in the line of Zadok whose descendents are Zadokim in Hebrew. In English, we say “Sadducee.”

[6] Zippori is three miles away from the Nazareth of Jesus. In between Nazareth and Zippori is a stone quarry. Joseph was, in the Greek, a tektōn, likely working with stone more often than anything else. It is likely that Joseph worked in a stone quarry between Nazareth and Zippori that was owned by Herod. It is likely Jesus was raised in a household for whom Herod wrote the paycheck. There’s also good chance that Jesus was raised with Herodian exposure. Jesus at one point quote Euripides from a play called Trojan Women. “Troy, Troy, how I long to gather you as a hen gathered its chicks…” He talks about hupokrites, the word for actors. If he was Jewish and attended Roman theater, there was some Herodian influence there. It’s a good reminder that the things themselves (like plays) were not the problem. It’s the story you believed about them.

[7] “Now, again, do they worship the Egyptian gods? No. I can almost guarantee you, this family doesn’t worship the Egyptian gods, but this is what they put in their dinner table. By this point, most of my group is like, “Yes, they are compromising.”  I love to just lay it on my listeners and say, “Wait a minute, is this not exactly where you and I live?”  We watch (insert name of show or movie or song list here). Our centerpiece is a little different, but I have figured out in my mind, I can appreciate and think critically about art over here and I don’t worship this. What do we do with that? Most everybody that says, “Oh yes, they’re definitely compromising here,” will immediately have to backtrack when asked, “Wait a minute, isn’t this exactly what you do when you go back home?” And the answer is, “Absolutely.” This is where we live. We are Herodians.” (Marty Solomon)

[8] Once again, I am deeply indebted to Marty Solomon at Bema Discipleship for this material.

He, Too, Saved Israel (Judges 3)

We’ve been hearing in the past few weeks from Luke about how Jesus stressed the importance of valuing people who seem unimportant, unvaluable, maybe even bad. We have talked about the Great Reversal:

“Those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” (Luke 13) 

“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14) 

This is kind of the flip side of the coin, but it reminds me of other places where Scripture gives a really, really low priority to seeking earthly glory. 

“Do you think I care about the approval of men or about the approval of God? Do you think I am on a mission to please people? If I am still spinning my wheels trying to please men, then there is no way I can be a servant of the Anointed One, the Liberating King.” (Galatians 1) 

“That’s why it is hard to see how true faith is even possible for you: you are consumed by the approval of other men, longing to look good in their eyes; and yet you disregard the approval of the one true God.” (John 5:44) 

I’ve been thinking about this because it’s graduation season.

When I started teaching, I realized pretty quickly that graduates were often flooded with messages about how amazing they are supposed to be now, with “amazing” typically meaning that they chase after cultural markers of glory, value and importance. “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” I actually like that Dr. Seuss’s poem acknowledges the ups and downs and life, but the ending seems inevitable: you’ll move mountains that everyone will notice and applaud you for.

I’m not sure that’s the best message. It’s rare to hear a message that one of the most important “places you’ll go” is being a good friend, or volunteering to help those in poverty, or simply being a good parent or employee, or leading a small group at church, or being part of Big Brother/Big Sister, or babysitting kids for overwhelmed parents, or offering free help in your area of expertise, or simply being kind.

And yet there are mountains that need moving in someone’s life for which those are the tools. The Empire might not think it’s important, but I promise you the Kingdom does.

One of the books of the Bible that fascinates me is the book of Judges. It shows a cycle of God’s faithfulness to his unfaithful people, but that’s not what I’m thinking of today. It gives such different coverage to the Judges in a way that I think is meant to be revelatory about how God intends for us to think about our lives. It’s Old Testament – we don’t have time to unpack how to hear these stories like the original audience would have heard them – but some day we’ll get to these. But, here’s the story as found in Judges 3. 

“Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD [they were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years), and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud… The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.  Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.

He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it.  At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king."  The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him.

Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat,  Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly... Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.  Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. 

While [the servants assumed Eglon was taking his good old time in the bathroom], Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them. 

"Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped.  That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Y’all, give it up for Ehud. Three cheers and a whole bunch of paragraphs for Ehud!

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. He too saved Israel. (Judges 3: 15-31)

For some context:

Judges 4-5 – Deborah gets two chapters and a song (Shamgar gets, like, a ‘shout out’.)

Judges 6-8  - Gideon gets three chapters

Judges 9 - Abimelech gets a chapter (and he killed his own brothers, which seems like it should count against him)

Judges 11 and 12 – Jepthah gets two chapters (he made a terrible oath he should never have kept and ended up sacrificing his daughter)

Judges 13-16 – Samson gets 4 chapters, and he was hardly a role model.

Judges 3 - Shamgar gets one verse that almost sounds like it should be read with a yawn. 

Then we get some other references similar to the reference to Shamgar:

Judges 10: 1-5 “…a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. He led Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir. He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys.”

Tola rose to save Israel (cool!) and apparently did (?) and then the next guy had a lot of donkeys. Hmmm. Keep in mind, the beginning of Judges notes this:

“Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.”

If you were a judge at all, God himself had raised you up to save His people, and He was with you as long as you lived. And some of them have their stories recorded for all the world to read, and some of them got a nod and a retirement watch.

Let’s say you’re Shamgar; you saved your nation by killing 600 enemy warriors with a big stick with a pointy end, and you basically get an “atta boy.” That’s like...

  • giving a history of the NBA, and then saying, “And Michael Jordan also played basketball.” 

  • or discussing a history of music, and saying of Beethoven, “He too wrote music.” 

  • or saying of Ohio State, “They too had a football team.”

Tola and Jair were raised up by God himself, and all they get is that they lived, they died, and their sons rode donkeys from town to town, which seems like bit of really unnecessary trivia.

Today, when people are treated like this, they go on TV and say things like, “I’m being disrespected.”  We are a culture that increasingly seems to think that we all deserve our 15 minutes of fame, and if it doesn’t happen naturally, well, there are always reality shows, and YouTube, and blogs. Ashleigh Brilliant once wrote, “All I ask of life is a constant and exaggerated sense of my own importance.”  To whatever degree that’s funny, it’s probably because it is an accurate reflection of the natural human condition.

I think the Biblical narratives of stories like these point us toward a hard reality in the Christian walk:  Sometimes, God will raise us up, and use us mightily, and it will not be noticed, and we will never get the credit we think we deserve.   

Unsung Heroes, by Riva Pomerantz 

I was delighted when my husband bought a beautiful name plaque for our front door... until I noticed the door. Years of fingerprints, remnants of gummy tape, stickers, and I don’t even want to think about what else, had etched themselves onto the once-white door. A quick glance from beautiful nameplate to horrifying door brought me to the only possible conclusion: clean the door. 

So two hours later, the door was sparkling white and the nameplate was handsomely ensconced in its center. When my kids got up in the morning and saw the complete metamorphosis of the front door, they were—of course—awed.“Look Daddy!” they told my husband. “They cleaned the door.” My husband told me of their reaction with some amusement. 

“They cleaned the door?” I practically yelled. “They is me! I cleaned the door! What do they think? Magic fairies come while we all sleep and clean the furniture, put away the toys, bake cookies...” So in the grand scheme of door-cleaning, I remain an unsung hero.

Unsung heroes. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is this role of unsung hero, because we have in us a drive to be noticed, to stand out, to be somebody in the eyes of other people.

For one, it’s hard for us to watch other people around us be ‘successful’ (by whose standard?) when we aren’t.

  • Have you ever been playing a sport, and you are really struggling, but the rest of your team isn’t, and your team is still winning, but you have a hard time being excited because you personally aren’t doing so well?

  • Have you ever gotten upset when the person who shares a testimony about God saving them from a particular sin or overcoming a tough circumstance in life, and everyone cheers and affirms them, and then invites them to speak in front of other groups, and they become a widely-known role model everyone admires, and you think, “Hey, that’s my story too, but no one knows…” 

  • Or…there is a lot to feel good about in your life, but it’s not, “I was in a gang of cannibal human traffickers,” so you never get the spotlight. It’s more like, “I have struggled most of my life with low self-esteem – maybe even self-loathing – and I think I am finally starting to see myself as Jesus sees me.” And it’s hugely important. It’s life-changing. This healing is not only changing you, it’s changing how you are a friend, a child, a parent, an, employer, a sibling.

There are two equally subtle and dangerous temptations: to think you are just not important and no one can benefit from learning what God has done in our life, or that you are super important and everyone should know about what YOU have done in your life Both thoughts are toxic.

But the Bible is clear: In the Kingdom of God, God’s validation is the only validation we need.  

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men.  

I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4) 

The point is not that you should never do good deeds in public, and the point isn’t that people who do charity out of selfish ambition are going to hell. The point is that if you do good things in a really public way for the reward of the praise of people, you will get your reward. It just won’t be that great. It feels good in the moment, but it feeds an addiction for validation. Someone once said,

“None are so empty as those who are full of themselves.”

The applause of people is nothing compared to the rewards of the Father. An example from the Apostle Paul:

 “The Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth.” (2 Timothy 4:17) 

If Paul were alive today, we would all clamor to read the book or see the movie about his deliverance from lions, we would ask him to be on GodTube for an interview about the lions…but I suspect Paul would quickly lose his “celebrity” status, as he would ignore the lions and talk about the Lord who gave him the strength to fully proclaim the Good News to the world.  If he ever mentioned it, there would be one small comment or one small footnote that would start off,“Around the time I was delivered from lions...”

My hunch is that Paul knew that a story about Paul being delivered from the lions was going to become a story about Paul, not about the One who delivered Paul.  And in the kingdom of heaven, if the story glorifies us, why tell the story? 

Back to Paul. When Paul does talk about himself in the Bible, it is because his audience had become so caught up in Christian Celebrity Worship that Paul basically said, “Okay, if you want to play that game, I win. Here are my credentials.  Now settle down and get back to the things that matter most.” (See 2 Corinthians 10 and 11) Here’s a practical example of something Paul wrote in Philippians 4:22.

All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household.” 

Who converted a lot of Caesar’s household after Caesar threw him into jail in the Preattorian barracks attached to the palace? That would be Paul. How easily Paul could have written, “All the saints send you greetings, especially those I converted from Caesar’s household in spite of intense persecution to my personal self.”  But the story is not about Paul. There was no need for him to worry about whether or not people knew about what he did.  God knew, and that was enough.[1]

So the question today is this,

Can I live my life with no regard for the glory and recognition of others, but with complete focus on faithfulness and obedience to Christ wherever He leads me?

Are we willing to take the time to let God help us build our character –to address sin in our lives, and character flaws, and quirks that are maybe hindering our relationship with God and others – are we willing to do that when maybe no one will ever really notice?

Are we willing to work really hard to be a godly spouses and parents – setting priorities on our time, putting the needs of our spouse and kids above our wants, doing whatever we can to steward our household – are we willing to do that - and see it as part of our high calling in Jesus which has immense importance?

Can we go out of our way to volunteer – in kid’s ministry or nursery or committee work or cleaning the building or in the community - can we do that cheerfully even if nobody sees and applauds the way those moments are changing lives in ways that ripple into eternity?

Can we love the people who seem unlovable, embrace the people who seem unembraceable, forgive those around us who have done things that seem unforgivable…that’s hard enough, but can we do it knowing we might never get a pat on the back on this side of heaven?

Can we be broken, and spilled out, in the service of Christ, for our spouses, and our kids, and our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, those people who make us take up a cross…Can we do that even if the only time we hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” is on the other side of the grave?

What does a life look like…what does the world look like…when we embrace this view of the kingdom of God?

Maybe your life will be written in lights. And if so, and it was God who wanted your story known, then tell your story to the glory of God.  It’s not like Deborah and Gideon were bad people because their story was told. And I’m not suggesting we don’t try to give people honest recognition for their kindness and service.

It’s just that that won’t happen to everybody, and maybe the record of your life will be of the “He too saved Israel” variety.

Maybe “She, too, wrestled with/overcame addictions,” will be the most people say about you, which will never capture why that started in the first place and how profoundly hard the struggle was .

Maybe “He, too, had a family,” is the most that will register with people, which will never capture the self-sacrificial love that was necessary to make your family a success.

Maybe “She, too, overcame a difficult past,” is the most people will know about you, which will never do justice to the pain you experienced, and the long, slow process of healing that God has taken you through.

Maybe “They, too, were in ministry,” is all that people will note about you someday, which will never reflect the years of your life spent in quietly helping those who so desperately needed Jesus.

Maybe, “She, too, got out of bed yet again and did the next thing right,” is your legacy, and it will be profound by Kingdom standards.

Maybe, “They, too, didn’t know what to do with their life, but they knew how to live the day well,” resonates with you, and you are heroic in your faithfulness.

Maybe, “He, too, was such a good friend” is the primary eulogy at the end of your life, and that short sentence will capture a lifetime of kingdom witness that the Holy Spirit used to move mountains in people’s lives. Maybe “the places you’ll go” was too the side of other people, and all of heaven rejoiced.

In the Kingdom of Heaven, we have a Heavenly Father who is waiting for the day when we will enter into His presence.  And on that day, millions of unsung heroes will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your reward.”

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[1] Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:5-6: “You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else…”

 

Harmony #70: You Cannot Serve God and Money (Luke 16:1-31)

In the past several weeks, we have been reading through a portion of Luke that’s been telling a story within a story: the Great Reversal in the Kingdom of God, where the Pharisees’ religious markers of importance and success gets flipped on their head. Specifically, this revolves around religious and social status: the poor, the sick, the outsider, the sinner, the lost are not only valued and loved by God, but they might be closer to the heart of the Father than those assumed to be tight with God. Let’s see how this theme has been building before tackling chapter 16.

·  Luke 10 -The Parable of the Good Samaritan (“Who was his neighbor? The one who had mercy.”)

·  Luke 11:1-13 - After teaching the Lord’s prayer and talking about the generous provision of earthly father, Jesus says, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” So, our true wealth is spiritual resource.

·  Luke 11:37-53 – The ‘woes’ to the Pharisees: “You neglect justice and the love of God…you love the important seats…you don’t lift a finger to help burdened people…you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” They don’t take care of others physically or spiritually.

·  Luke 12: 13-21 – the Parable of the Rich Fool: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

·  Luke 12:22-34 – “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

·  Luke 12:35-48 – two parables about faithful servants, concluding with, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

·  Luke 13: After the run in with the Pharisees for healing on the Sabbath, he tells the Parable of the Narrow Door, in which people who thought they were wonderfully religious are told by God, “I don’t recognize you/I never knew you.” He concludes the parable with, “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

·  Luke 14: When Jesus notices people choosing the places of honor at a meal, he rebukes them. He concludes with, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Then he tells the Parable of the Great Banquet, in which those assumed to be invited didn’t care to participate, and those assumed unworthy were eager to join.

·  Luke 15-  “He eats with sinners.” The three ‘lost’ parables: the sheep, the coin, the sons, focus on the incredible value of each individual person, with the Parable of the Two Sons echoes the Parable of the Great Banquet, in which those assumed to be invited didn’t care to participate, and those assumed unworthy were eager to join.

Today we are on Luke 16. Luke has not lost his stride. He is still on the Great Reversal: what we expect to happen by worldly standards gets upended by Kingdom standards.

·  The last will be first and the first will be last.

·  The societal/religious outcasts that are more eager to join God’s feast than are the religious insiders.

·   Those closest to the heart of God are not there simply because they keep religious rules (specifically those that impress other people); they are those who are merciful, generous, kind, and committed to justice.

And the measuring stick Luke keeps coming back to is money. What we do with our wealth, the provision God has given to us, reveals how close we are to the heart of God. The passage we are going to read today wraps up this focus with two parables about money, and Luke is going to be more blunt and sobering than ever.

Parable of the Clever Steward: Handling Money (Luke 16:1-13)

Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets. So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.’

“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m too ashamed to beg. I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

“So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ The man replied, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

 “The master commended the dishonest steward (steward of unrighteousness) because he acted with clever trickery.[1] For the people of this age are more shrewd in dealing with those of this age than the people of light (in living as those with their eyes set on the age to come).[2] And I tell you, make friends for yourselves (of God) by how you use worldly wealth,[3] so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal tents (of Abraham).

“The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.[4] If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own?

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

This is jarring parable. At first glance, it sure looks like Jesus is commending a dishonest, conniving cheat for being smart enough to avoid the consequences of his cheating. It seemed to contrast with the challenge to faithful stewards of both a little and a lot. So, let’s chat.

I’ve been listening to and reading a dude named Marty Solomon a lot lately. He is really good at providing the cultural and Jewish context in which these parables (and Scripture in general) are written. I have found his explanation of the parable to make the most sense. He believes the parable is about learning to value people and relationships more than money. Let me explain (using his words).

The manager would have been taking a commission for administering the owner’s affairs: in this case, collecting debt. Much like complanies that help people pay off really high credit card debt, he would reduce the debt so it could be paid in a lump sum payment, then collect up to 20% or 25% of the debt collected. His boss gets money, he gets money, borrowers are happy. If he was really generous, he could wave his negotiating fee. That 25% can go toward the borrower, the boss, or a little of both.

Solomon thinks that is what is happening here. This manager has worked out if he sacrifices his commission for each of these debtors, then he can gain the payment of debts quicker for the owner. If that’s the case, this manager is not acting in some shady fashion to cover up his prior dishonesty. He is sacrificing his own commission to make things right, which is worthy of commendation. His rejection of the money he could collect does two very important things.

1. It builds the reputation of his boss. As far as the debtors know, this is the boss’s order. They would likely respond with gratitude and admiration, and the boss looks better than he ever has.

2. The manager will be popular with potential future employers. He wants to ingratiate himself into the townspeople’s homes so he can get a job in the town after this has blown over. Yes, he is a scoundrel, but he knows a clever way to set things right.

Basically (according to Solomon), he has figured out how to strengthen his relationships. He finally realized where the priorities ought to be: people, not things or money. Initially he was dishonest and greedy, but his solution is self-sacrificing in order to make things right. Now it makes sense for Jesus to commend him through this parable for finally seeing the light, so to speak.

To be sure, Jesus is clear that this is how “people of this age/generation” do things in contrast with the people of light. The manager’s life is not meant to provide is with a role model. However, even the pagan lover of money realized that, when push came to shove, it was his relational investment in people that mattered the most. The parable doesn’t say his heart changed in that he stopped loving money, but he eventually figured out how to use his access to money to strengthen his relationships rather than break them. Finally, right priorities.

Jesus, of course, moves it closer to home for his audience: If we are concerned about our well being in this life, how much more should we be concerned about our well-being in the next life?

“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth,[5] so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal tents (of Abraham).”

Or,

“Put yourself in a good position through your use of money, which so easily leads you astray, so that when this age is over God will receive you into his eternal dwelling.”[6]

I don’t think Jesus is trying to say that the wise use of money somehow buys our way into heaven. Remember, “Where our treasure is, our heart will be also.” Being generous and not greedy with our money is a sign that we know that the things of God are true treasure – and that’s where our heart is. What we do with our money is a sign, not a bribe.

Between today’s two parables sit Luke 16:14–18, which show Jesus rebuking the Pharisees for loving money, exalting themselves in self-justification, and ignoring the Old Testament’s authority. All three themes are woven into the next parable,[7] that of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

The Rich Man & Lazarus (Luke 16:14-15, 19-31)

The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him. But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.

 “There was a certain rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen[8] and who feasted sumptuously every day. But at his gate[9] lay a poor man named Lazarus (“God helps”)[10] whose body was covered with sores, who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side [at the banquet feast of the righteous].[11]The rich man also died and was buried.

 In Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus[12] to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire.’

“But Abraham said, ‘Child,[13] remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us,[14] so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so[15], and no one can cross from there to us.’

 “So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house (for I have five brothers)[16] to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’

“Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ “ [17]

This is another Great Reversal: it is the poor beggar who was ushered into the feast, not the rich man. That was NOT what his audience of Pharisees expected to hear. For any beggars within earshot, it would have been the most hopeful teaching they had ever heard.

Before we get to a couple key points, I should note that I don’t think this parable was meant to help people build a theology of Heaven and Hell (Paradise and Hades). A couple reasons.

·  First, it starts like previous parable Jesus has told (“There was a certain man….”

·  Second, Lazarus is nowhere said to be righteous; he’s a beggar, that’s all. That hardly qualifies one for Heaven.

·  Third, nowhere else does the Bible teach that those in Paradise will watch those in Hades suffer and be so bothered by it that they will wish to help them. That hardly sounds like a Paradise characterized by joy.

I think this parable is the finishing touch on the previous 5 chapters. It’s a framework that uses the Pharisee’s beliefs to tell a Great Reversal parable to the Pharisees “who loved money” [v.14) that brings home the seriousness of this issue. This is about the state of their souls both now and into the age to come.

So, what shall we take away from this?

First, Jesus portrays money as a competing master, a faux god, an idol that people worship. Messing with our wallets and bank accounts might say more about us than we know.

Is money a means to an end or the end itself? And if it’s only a means (good start!), what is the end goal? Accumulating wealth, or stewarding the wealth God gives us to help those around us?

Do we think wealth = importance and value? Because if we do, we will judge the importance and value of ourselves and others by this measure. Even worse, do we think money reflects something about our importance and value in the eyes of God, as if wealth or poverty are moral markers in people’s lives? Oof.

I suspect our view and use of money has something to do with a test of trust and value: do we trust God or money to take care of us, and do we value people more than our money? Over and over, Old Testament and New – and in the past few chapters in Luke - we hear that how we use our resources in the generous care and service of others is a window into our hearts. Are we serving God or money?

Second, the first words out of the Rich Man’s mouth ought to have been, “Please forgive me Lazarus, for the way I treated you.” The issue is not his money; the issue is his attitude and action toward his neighbor, the poor, the underprivileged, the sick and the lame. 

“The true test can never be a simple dollar amount. It must be our sensitivity to the poverty and pain we find around us. A heart unwilling to help others—because it might be risky, or they might not deserve it, or it might cost us too much—is a heart unwilling to recognize the desperate help we ourselves need from God.”

(“Is the Rich Man and Lazarus a Parable?” Peter Gurry)

“What this parable attacks is wealth that does not see poverty and suffering. It attacks the idea that possessions are…owned without responsibility to God and other people… The parable does not tell us how the wealthy are to help the poor, but it insists the poor are brothers and sisters of the wealthy and that the injustice of the juxtaposition of wealth and poverty cannot be tolerated… 

Lazarus is still at the gate. Parables like this one insist that Christians must not be like the rich man who cares only for his own kind and cannot see the poor until too late. We dare not have a gospel with an evangelistic emphasis and no concern for the poor Any gospel that is not good news to the poor is not the gospel of Jesus Christ (see Luke 4:18-22)… 

Kingdom-driven decisions regarding possessions…would lead to the reduction of hoarding and consumerism, change how we view and attain security, enable various ministries, and relieve the plight of the poor. Economic decisions are not easy, but the church should not only lead the way but demonstrate by its use of money the reality of its gospel…God forbid that we not see, not care, and not act to alleviate the plight of the poor.” (Stories With Intent)

I don’t think Jesus is just warning people here, though he is clearly doing that. I think he is offering life as well. How does one store up the kind of treasure that heaven values? By being generous, by actively looking out for the poor and needy, by using money/stuff to build relationships with people in a way that displays the heart of God and the values of the Kingdom.

God loves to give good things to us, even when it is at great cost to Himself (as seen through the death of Jesus). The more we begin to find pleasure and even joy in giving of our material things, the more our heart aligns with God’s heart, and the more we begin to understand why  it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the spiritual wealth of kingdom through Jesus.


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[1] “The tricky cleverness, by which the steward had endeavoured at once to escape detection, and to secure friends who would help him in his need, was exactly what an Oriental landlord would admire as clever, even though he saw through it.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

 “Prudently. I would suggest shrewdly… recognizing in it a skillful adaptation of the means to the end - affirming nothing in the way of moral approbation or disapprobation, either of means or end, but leaving their worth to be determined by other considerations.’" (Vincent’s Word Studies)

[2] “They make better use of their earthly opportunities for their own lifetime than the sons of the light (John 12:36; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5) do for their lifetime; or even than the sons of light do of their heavenly opportunities for eternity.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

[3] “Be good stewards even of the lowest talents wherewith God hath entrusted you, and particularly of your property. Make yourselves friends of this, by doing all possible good with it, particularly to the children of God.” (Benson Commentary)

[4] “There are rabbinic parallels to this principle. One notes that God “does not give a big thing to a man until He has tested him in a small matter; and afterwards He promotes him to a great thing.” The illustration is then given of Moses and David, who were faithful with sheep and so were given leadership over the nation.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[5] “Be good stewards even of the lowest talents wherewith God hath entrusted you, and particularly of your property. Make yourselves friends of this, by doing all possible good with it, particularly to the children of God.” (Benson Commentary)

[6] Stories With Intent, by Klyne Snodgrass

[7] There is a LOT of discussion about whether this is a parable or if Jesus is talking about an actual event. I think it’s a parable for a number of reasons. Ask me about it if you like J If it overlaps with real people, it’s probably still a parable that is stepping on the toes of some in his audience. See footnote #8 and #11.

[8] This is a description of the high priestly garments, according to Exodus 39.27-29.

[9] From Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange: “In Jesus' story, Lazarus was laid ‘at the rich man's gate’ (Luke 16.20). This could refer to the gate that guarded the temple. Perhaps not coincidentally, Luke mentions another beggar at the temple gate in Acts 3.2, 10.”

[10] Though Lazarus was a common name, the only other Lazarus listed in the NT is Lazarus, the brother of Mary Magdalene and Martha. (John 12:1–3; Matthew 26:6). See footnote #11 on the possibility of the Rich Man as Caiphus. Jesus may be giving them a hint that when he raises Lazarus from the dead, it won’t make a difference to Caiphus. See John 11.

[11] “The phrase probably alludes to a feast where guests reclined beside one another around a table. The place beside the host was the position of highest honor. Pious Jews expected to [be a part of this].” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[12] “When the Rich Man…sees Abraham, he recognizes Lazarus. ‘Send Lazarus…’ Lazarus could have be forgiven for yelling out, ‘Oh, so you know me now, do you? ‘Clearly, Dives has known exactly who Lazarus was, he just chose to ignore him.” (Marty Solomon)

[13] “ ‘Child/son’ is [teknon] the equivalent of “my dear boy”. It is the same term the father used in in Luke 15, when faced with the elder son who has still not repented and is petulantly still holding out against what he knows he should do.” (Marty Solomon)

[14] “That gulf is fixed…by the justice of God and the obstinacy of the ungraced human heart. The rich man… cannot see - because he will not see it - that he is the cause of it…In this profound sense we can speak of God’s divine judgment as self-imposed. (“Is the Rich Man and Lazarus a Parable?” by Peter Gurry)

[15] Kenneth Bailey sees in “those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able,  a hint that there is, in fact, someone willing; specifically, Lazarus. If this is true, it speaks volumes about Lazarus’ long suffering and his willingness to forgive. In other words, the deplorable nature of the Rich Man did not give Lazarus a reason to stop having a heart of compassion for him.

[16] “Jewish historian Flavius Josephus stated that Caiaphas’ father-in-law Anas had five priestly sons; Jesus might have been stepping on some real toes (Israel Bible Center, https://weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/rich-man-lazarus-based-real-life) 

Also, see this. https://theopolisinstitute.com/the-parable-of-lazarus-and-the-rich-man/

[17] “The Pharisees believed in a future life and judgment, but did not live in conformity with that belief in the pursuit of wealth.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

“When in Hades, the rich man begs that Lazarus be sent to his five living brothers to spare them the same fate. Abraham denies the request, pointing out that they already have the Scriptures. Even if someone were to rise from the dead they would not believe. The statement is a veiled reference to the religious leaders, who are presently rejecting the scriptural prophecies concerning Jesus the Messiah and who will continue to reject him even when he rises from the dead.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

Harmony #69: Parables of the Lost Son, Lost Sheep & Lost Coin (Luke 15:1-32)

Last week, we read in Luke that Jesus had just told the Pharisees that when they host an elaborate meal, they should be inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind: basically, those that polite religious society had written off for reasons we talked about last week. Then he told the parable of the Great Banquet, where he showed that even though all are invited to the spiritual feast at God’s table, those who look to be the most obvious guests aren’t that interested, and those who look to be the least likely guests are elated to join the feast. Cue 3 parables.

 Now all the tax collectors[1] and sinners were coming to hear him. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Sharing a meal was regarded as a sign of social acceptance in Eastern culture.[2] To the Pharisees, this kind of gesture appeared to validate the sin of those with whom Jesus was eating.[3] Jesus is having none of it. He is valuing people by giving them the dignity of treating them as image bearers of God, worth relational investment simply because they have an inherent value and dignity given to them by God.

Clearly, his presence changed people as his character and teaching introduced them to the Kingdom of God. #Zaccheus  However, the text doesn’t say everybody he ate with began to follow him. It doesn’t mean everyone we ‘share a meal’ with will want to follow Jesus. That didn’t stop Jesus from dining with all, and it shouldn’t stop us either.

To be sure, Scripture warns against too close of fellowship with those who revel in their sin (Psalm 1:1; Proverbs 1:15; 14:7) out of concern it might draw us into sinful, destructive behavior (as the parable of the Prodigal Son will make clear today). We need to know ourselves, our weaknesses, our boundaries. But in this instance, the influence is going the other direction.[4]  #salt #light

So Jesus told them this parable: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and he loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

 Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent. [5]

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them,[6] does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

These coins, by the way, were probably worn as a headdress or on a necklace. They represented her savings and perhaps formed part of her dowry. Losing it would be shameful as well as financially problematic (it’s 10% of her wealth).[7]

Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.’[8] So he divided his assets between them. After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle.

Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. [9]

“But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.[10] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers. So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But the father said to his slaves, ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Bring the fattened calf and kill it![11] Let us eat and celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the slaves and asked what was happening. The slave replied, ‘Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got his son back safe and sound.’

But the older son became angry and refused to go in.[12] His father came out and appealed to him, but he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands.[13] Yet you never gave me even a goat[14] so that I could celebrate with my friends! But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

Then the father said to him, ‘My son,[15] you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’ “ [16]

There are so many things one can take away from this story.

1.  Note the different circumstances:

  • the lost sheep wandered and gave up (lost sheep usually lie down and gives up on trying to find its way back)[17]

  • the lost coin ‘fell away’ from a necklace or a headdress

  • the lost son rebelled (both sons did, actually, but in very different ways).

 It’s a good reminder that there are different reasons why people are far from the Father or not in fellowship in the household of His Kingdom. Their reason for being where they are is not as important as the response of the God character in all the parables. God is portrayed as both seeking them out and waiting eagerly for their restoration.

2.  They are all precious.

“We should also recognize that our search is for something precious, costly and dear just like the coin the woman has lost…She does not argue that the loss of one is not a tragedy, because there are still nine left. It is not the quantity that counts, but the value of each coin as an individual piece. It does not matter whether it was a large or small coin…all are her coins!  

Likewise, as individuals we are each valued by God. Each of us is a unique being because of the dignity and value that God has conferred upon us. Nobody should regard herself or himself as low, useless, rotten and unproductive. And because each of us is unique, it matters deeply when one of us is lost. The loss of one is as serious as the loss of all…  Because each of us is so precious, we must also constantly be searching for ways to guarantee that no human life will be lost, degraded, exploited, abused or violated.” (Africa Bible Commentary)

3.  God is a seeking, caring God.

“What is revealed about the character of God is value he places on even the least deserving and the care he extends to such people. God is not passive, waiting for people to approach him after they get their lives in order. He is a seeking God who takes the initiative to bring people back, regardless of how ‘lost’ they are.”[18] 

And if we take our cues from God, that’s our position also. We are not called to be judgmental, dismissive, cold, or aloof toward those who are lost, wandering, fallen or rebellious. We are called to move closer to them, to seek them out, to run toward them and embrace them when we see them, and to rejoice in restoration.

4.  The lost things did not lose their status; they all remained within the claim of the owner:

  • it was still the shepherd’s sheep, just lost in its wandering;

  • it was still the woman’s coin, just lost in its hiding

  • the boys were still their Father’s sons, just lost in their own unique rebellions

 God is not only searching for them, He is longing for their return into fellowship. This gives hope not only to the “tax collectors and sinners,” but to the very Pharisees who are bringing charges against Jesus. These are parables of hope, after all. God’s heart is restoration.

5.  The prodigal son had insulted his father. Asking for that which you would normally get when your father died was viewed as wishing he was dead. Then, he sold what his father gave him (including land!) and left the household (think ‘lived outside the parameters of the Kingdom’). He indulged himself on extravagant sin, thinking that was the path to the good life (#Solomon #Ecclesiastes), but it led him to pain, loss and shame. Even all the friends he had when he had money left him. He appears to experience regret because the consequences of his sin have left him destitute.[19] It wakes him up.

6.  His rehearsed speech was this:” “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.” The hired worker was a day laborer. He wasn't asking to live in the house. He’s just asking for provision from the Father that he earns and takes with him. However,

“The prodigal declares that he is not worthy of his own identity and wants something less, but he is no hired hand. Grace lets you be who are supposed to be even though you do not deserve to or may not want to.”[20]

7.  His father begins running toward him before he can say a word. In the context, it sure looks like the father has been faithfully watching the road. The father ran. That’s embarrassing already, be he would likely have lifted up his robe to run better, which is even more embarrassing. Kenneth Bailey, author of The Cross & the Prodigal, explains that if a Jewish son lost his inheritance among Gentiles, and then returned home, the community would perform a ceremony (kezazah) in which they would break a large pot in front of the prodigaland yell, “You are now cut off from your people!” So, why did the father run? He probably ran not only because he was glad to see the son returning, but also in order to get to his son before the son entered the village and was rejected by the people.[21] 

8. The son manages to say the first part of his planned speech (“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”) The Father cuts him off before he can make the request to be merely a servant and basically yells, “Son!” before giving him the clothes of a son.

“He receives [him] cordially, affectionately - takes [him] to his bosom; for so the word implies. What mercy! Jesus receives sinners in the most loving, affectionate manner, and saves them unto eternal life! Reader, give glory to God for ever!” (Adam Clarke)

9. Note the elation/celebration for the 1 in all three stories. It wasn’t as if the other 99, or 9, or the older son didn’t matter. As the father tells the son, “You are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours.” Sounds a lot like, “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

There is something here that calls out jealousy, pride and entitlement. When we have lost the ability to let the spotlight shine on someone else and to join in a celebration of the lost being found or the spiritually dead finding new spiritual life, we are really far from the heart of the Father. We have lost the heart of the Kingdom.

Those who are not lost wandering, fallen away or rebellions have been living with full access to all that belongs to the Father. They were living in a Kingdom full of the resources of the King. The idea that Older Son here can’t rejoice is a tragic commentary on his heart. In fact…he may be as prodigal as his brother. It’s just not as obvious.

10.  Note the way entitlement, pride and jealousy bring out the worst in the older brother.

He refuses to enter the home during a village-wide celebration, which shamed his father.

  • He calls his own brother “your son” rather than “my brother” – which the Father corrects by calling the Prodigal “your brother.”

  • He complains about not getting a goat; meanwhile, “All that I have is yours!” Like, he could have had a feast anytime.

  • ·    He doesn’t address his Father properly when he speaks to him. He starts with, “Look!” which to Jesus audience was very disrespectful.

  • Also, note that once the party started, no one went to get him. Everyone else seems very comfortable not having him around.

 The entitlement, pride and jealousy of the Older Brother are just as destructive as the kind of living the Prodigal embraced. The destructiveness just isn’t as easy to spot, because it exists behind a façade of good works. Yet in the end, who is rejoicing to be with the Father? The son who experienced forgiveness and grace.

11.  Note how the Father says to the older brother, “‘My son, you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” He doesn’t reject him. He pulls him closer, reminds him of his status, and corrects him oh, so gently. Both sons were wrong. Both need correction that leads to repentance to redirect their hearts and hands into that which brings life, not death. Both sons remained loved by the Father. Don’t forget, it’s the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4); we see it demonstrated here for both sons.

12.  The parable ends on a somber note. It’s not clear if the older son joins the banquet of celebration. He can – he is welcome and wanted. Will his injured pride and sense of entitlement stop him from rejoicing and feasting because his own younger brother, who was lost and dead, is now found and alive? Will he be able to see the miracle in front of him – the spiritually dead was brought back to life; that precious family member presumed lost is now back and ready to live fully in the Father’s house?

“While the ending is disappointing, the image people are left with at the end of this parable is an image of the waiting, running, embracing, kissing and partying One who has compassion for the lost who are still a long way off (15:20) and for those who have always been near (15:31).  

A banquet of great joy is provided by this waiting One, who is none other than the waiting, running, embracing, partying and kissing God. The parable describes God’s goodness, grace, boundless mercy and abundant love.” (Africa Bible Commentary)

 

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[1] “Tax collectors were regarded with special contempt as they were widely considered by the people to be agents of their oppressors.” (NKJV Evangelical Study Bible)

[2] NKJV Evangelical Study Bible

[3] Rabbi Ishmael wrote in Mekhilta Amalek, “Let a man never associate with a wicked person, not even for the purpose of bringing him near the Torah.” (Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass)

[4] NIV Cultural Background Study Bible

[5] “Walking in his footsteps as he searches for the lost is not easy in a world burdened with lost sheep in the form of refugees and those affected by slavery, colonialism, dictatorship, the debt burden, HIV/AIDS, unemployment, homelessness, sexual abuse and gender inequality. (Africa Bible Commentary)

[7] NIV Women’s Study Bible

[8] “Demanding one’s share of the inheritance before the father died was tantamount to saying, “I wish you were dead”; an ancient audience might have expected the father to discipline the son, perhaps by beating him.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[9] “Moralists commonly observed that those who were friends only for the sake of pleasure would abandon one when the money ran out. A normal ancient story might have ended here, with an obvious moral for listeners: don’t disrespect and abandon your father, or you might end up like this! Yet Jesus’ story continues.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[10] A very different phrase from King David after his sin with Bathsheba and killing of her husband, when he wrote in the Psalms, “Against you only (God) have I sinned….”

[11] “Would feed the entire village. A person of means invited as many people as possible to a major celebration.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[12] “Ancient hearers might have expected the father to discipline this son. The father…going outside to entreat him reinforces the humiliation.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[13] “Failure to greet his father with a title (“Father” or “Sir”) was offensive.”  (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[14] “ ‘The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye, becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy.” (Ambrose, quoted in the Orthodox Study Bible)

[15] “The father reaffirms his love for the elder brother; the way is open for him — and for Jesus’ religious critics - if they are willing.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[16] Interesting take from Eastern Orthodoxy: “The [shepherd], the woman, and the father are seen as representing Christ, the Church, and God the Father. ‘Christ carries the sinner, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives.’” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[17] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass

[18] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass

[19] One of the forms of the “wrath of God” is reaping what we sow. See the Bible Project’s “Saved From God’s Wrath.” https://bibleproject.com/podcast/saved-from-gods-wrath/#:~:text=God%20demonstrates%20his%20wrath%20by,which%20ultimately%20leads%20to%20death

[20] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass

[21] https://www.biola.edu/blogs/biola-magazine/2010/the-prodigal-sons-father-shouldnt-have-run

Harmony #68: The Feast Of The Kingdom (Luke 14:1, 7-24)

Imagine you are invited to a meal in 1st century Palestine. The fact that you are invited means several things:

  1. You matter.

  2. You are at least close to the same socio/economic class.

  3. You are ‘okay’ in that the host doesn’t mind being seen with you.

But once you get there, it’s not just about the honor of being a guest. The game is afoot!

  1. The closer you are seated to the host, the more important you are. You might get an almost entirely different meal consisting of much better food, or you might even be in a separate room with the host while everyone else is in a different room. If you are seated at the end – sure, it was good to be there, but stay in your last place lane if you know what’s good for you, and good luck with the Ramen noodles. A Roman poet named Martial who loved him some satire criticizes the different quality of food served to guests: “Since I am asked to dinner ... why is not the same dinner served to me as to you? You take oysters fattened in the Lucrine lake, I suck a mussel through a hole in the shell; you get mushrooms, I take hog funguses…Golden with fat, a turtle-dove gorges you… there is set before me a magpie that has died in its cage. Why do I dine without you, although Ponticus, I am dining with you?”

  2. The closer you were, the later you arrived, just so everyone could see you get ushered to the front. If you assumed you would be last, you could get there early and try to claim a place close to the front, but you ran the risk that when the really important people got there later, they would move you to the bottom in front of everyone. Rabbi Akiba said, “Go two or three seats lower than the place that belongs to thee, and sit there till they say unto thee, ‘Go up higher’; but do not take the uppermost seat, lest they say unto thee, ‘Come down’: for it is better that they should say unto thee, ‘Go up, go up’; than that they should say, ‘Come down, come down.’” (Adam Clarke)

It turns out meals – especially feasts on special occasions – were a lesson in merit and distinction that revealed your social, economic and maybe even religious status in the eyes of others.[1] This brings us to today’s text.

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee…and noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host. So the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then, ashamed, you will begin to move to the least important place.

“But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you.For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” [2]

But when you host an elaborate meal, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then you will be blessed/blissful, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous/just.”[3]

I don’t think Jesus was saying that we shouldn’t invite our friends over for meals.[4] Luke’s story is about more than social circles or proper etiquette with guests. 

 In Jesus’ time, there were serious economic, political and religious problems wrapped normal-looking moments. What should have been a time of fellowship became a time of pride and competition. What should have brought people together pushed people apart. What should have added value to people’s lives actually judged their value.[5] Paul talks about this in his advice to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 11: 17-33).

In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 

So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 

Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter...So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.

Paul goes on to say that people are sick and some have even died because of this problem. There are a number of ways that passage has been interpreted; I lean toward a very practical application. People were having sometimes fatal health issues because they lacked proper nourishment – or had too much. Paul called this “despising the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing.” It is vitally important that church communities have a keen eye for those in need, while avoiding the kind of self-indulgence we see in this passage.

This leads to what is called The Parable of the Great Banquet.

When one of those at the meal with Jesus heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!” But Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests.[6] 

At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going out to examine them. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’ 

Okay, these are all terrible excuses.

First, there would have been an RSVP sent out far ahead of time for a date to which these folks committed. (Say, Tuesday, the 25th of June.) The servant went out on the day of the event to tell them it was time. This wasn’t a surprise. It’s just that the food was hot and it was time to eat on the previously agreed upon date.

Second, the quality of the excuses are terrible.

  • “No one buys a field in the Middle East without knowing every square foot of it like the palm of his hand.” (Kenneth Bailey). This dude had certainly seen that land already.

  • Same with the oxen. Five yokes was…a lot. Bro was rich. He did not get rich by not knowing what he was buying.

  • No way was the marriage happening at the same time, because no one would schedule a major banquet at the same time as a wedding. Meanwhile, men were exempt from military service for their first year of marriage (Deut. 20:7; 24:5), but this is not a war.

 Bottom line: they didn’t want to go. They were fascinated by the things right in front of them and didn’t want to be distracted, so they made excuses. Jesus had just lamented this in Luke 13:34-35, reminding them “how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.” 

“So the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ Then the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’  

So the master said to his slave, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads and urge[7] people to come in, so that my house will be filled.  For I tell you, not one of those individuals who were invited will taste my banquet!’ “[8]

I think we have to be careful with this parable and not make it bear more weight than is intended. It doesn’t fit cleanly with “Jesus is throwing the party” because that would imply that Jesus first invited his friends and important people, and then when they couldn’t come, he went with his back-up plan of the marginalized and outcast. He had JUST WARNED against this kind of favoritism, so I am confident we should not read the parable in a way that supports a favoritism reading.

Some dude at the meal  - so, someone who is part of the “in” crowd - had just said, ““Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!” Then the text says, “But Jesus said,” as if he is going to contradict him. He doesn’t contradict his statement; he contradicts his expectations by clarifying who will be at that feast.

The audience expected it to be the deserving –specifically, them. But Jesus’ responded, “Everybody is invited to the great banquet.” It is the Father’s good pleasure to give the Kingdom to all who respond to the invitation of Jesus.  

But you have to accept the invitation to enter in. Your title, your family background, your standing in the synagogue, your reputation, your past good works, the fact that you are at that meal with all the prestigious folks – none of those things mean you are or will be at the feast of the Kingdom.

The point isn’t that the “poor and crippled and blind and lame” (v. 21) and those who live in the “highways and country roads” (v. 23) were a back-up plan. What was scandalous to his proud audience was that are just as welcome. They probably didn’t expect these people to even respond to the message when they heard it (like the “tax collectors and sinners” Jesus had been eating with recently). Twice already, we have read where the people assumed it was sinners who were sick (John 9) or on whom calamity fell (Luke 13).

The Pharisees were those who assumed they were invited to the feast of the Kingdom. They were put together, healthy, religious, prosperous. They sat at the top of the table. Of course they would be invited. God was lucky to have such amazing followers. Jesus is about to tell the parable of the Prodigal Son (The Two Brothers). This is the older brother in that parable, the one who lived on the father’s land and missed the feast.

Then there are the Prodigal sons, those who assume they would not be invited: poor, crippled, blind, lame, living on the margins of society where unwanted people lived. This invitation was too good to be true.

When the parable says they were urged (‘compelled’ in many translations), they weren’t forced; a better translation is that they were lovingly persuaded to join the feast. There was a place already prepared for them. They were wanted. They mattered.[9]  It was the Father’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom.

Side note: we might be shocked to know who is ready to respond to the invitation of the Kingdom. Our culture is a spiritual battlefield, no doubt, but it’s also a relational mission field that’s ripe for harvest. I love how Jesus embodied how to do both when he ate with tax collectors and sinners. Surely, the Kingdom of God was storming the gates of hell in that moment.

“The witness of the church should be characterized by the joy of inviting people to the banquet God has prepared…both present and future.”[10]

We see in this parable that the law-keepers who knew the most in their heads about the kingdom were the most calloused and non-committed to the invitation to actually “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)  It was those they assumed who knew the least and lived the worst who turned out to be hungry for the goodness of the feast that is Christ and his kingdom.

I wonder how much the church would grow in the United States if we were characterized by going out of our way to befriend those who look to be the furthest from Christ, who appear to be the least likely to follow Jesus, and joyfully inviting them to the feast that Jesus is hosting?

  • What if we worked with and cared for mothers considering abortion and offered them physical, emotional and spiritual hope rather than putting a sign in their face and yelling at them? Which approach matches the approach of Jesus?

  • What if we brought a loving, engaged presence full of truth and grace to schools whose curriculum or philosophy concerns us – mentoring kids, helping in the library, being a teacher’s aide, helping with a campus ministry – rather than angrily disrupting school board meetings?

  • I wonder how Jesus would be present with people wrestling with gender identity? I just can’t picture him as a keyboard warrior posting snarky memes. I can picture him inviting them to a meal, validating their worth as an image bearer of God, and introducing a righteous presence full of grace to walk with them through their confusion and into the freedom of truth.

Surely, in those moments, the servants of the king are going into the highways and country roads and offering a compelling reason for others to join the feast Jesus offers in the Kingdom.

Let’s talk about that feast and the Kingdom. In the Kingdom, God gives us a feast of salvation and sanctification, the guidance of His Word and His Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, the beauty of living in communion with God and righteous community with others.

“Whatsoever things are true, honest (honorable), just, pure, lovely (acceptable and prized), and of good report (repute)…think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

“The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

“Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7)

That’s the kind of thing that characterizes the Kingdom.  That’s a compelling list. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us these things when we follow Jesus into the Kingdom of God in response to the Spirit and the Word of God.

It doesn't’ mean that life will be easy or perfect. It’s just that the more we experience the work and presence of Christ in our life, the more these things will begin to characterize our life in Christ and with others. And when entire communities begin to increasingly be characterized by these things, we start to see what it means that “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We are going to share communion today. From 1 Corinthians 11:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The early church combined communion with fellowship meals. The wealthy brought more or all of the food in that setting; I suspect those struggling to eat well got to take the leftovers home. It’s a practical image of how God gives provision in His Kingdom. It’s a reminder that God’s plan for provision through Jesus’ sacrificial death was meant to be embodied by the generous, loving, sacrificial presence of His people: financially, emotionally, relationally, practically.

We are a body, together. As we take communion today, let’s remember that that the sacrifice of Jesus has made us onewithChristwhile drawing us into a Kingdom that makes us onewith each otherthroughChrist. And in righteous church community, we will see why God is so pleased to give us the Kingdom as we experience God’s provision.


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[1] “The early church struggled against traditional and societal pressures to maintain such social distinctions (see 1 Cor. 11:17–34.)” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Of The New Testament) Keep in mind that the Gospels were written after the letters of the New Testament. I suspect certain episodes from the life of Jesus were highlighted for a reason.

[2] His words echo the prophecy of Ezekiel, who predicted that there would be a day when, “the lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.” (Ezekiel 21:26) Similar guidance appears in a popular Jewish book at that time. “The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord.” (Sirach 3:18)

[3] The first clear reference to the resurrection of the righteous appears at Daniel 12:2

[4] “What he [inspires] here is charity to the poor and what he condemns is those entertainments which are given to the rich, either to flatter them or to procure a similar return; because the money that is thus criminally laid out properly belongs to the poor.” (Adam Clarke)

[5] “Experience has shown that seeking the chief seats leads to corruption, with exploitation of the poor and oppressed.” (Africa Bible Commentary)

[6] “On this mountain [Zion] the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples ...” (Isa. 25:6) Isaiah makes it clear that the messianic banquet is for “all peoples,” there was a tendency in Judaism to reject the notion that Gentiles would be included. The first-century b.c. Psalms of Solomon offers a prayer that the Messiah will “purge Jerusalem from gentiles” and “will destroy the unlawful nations with the word of his mouth. At his warning the nations will flee from his presence.” Jesus is about to radically alter this exclusive view of messianic salvation. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[7] “By prayers, counsels, entreaties. No other kind of constraint is ever recommended in the Gospel of Christ every other kind of compulsion is antichristian, can only be submitted to by cowards and knaves, and can produce nothing but hypocrites.” (Adam Clarke)

[8] An interesting parallel to this story appears in the Jerusalem Talmud. When a village tax collector named Bar Ma’jan dies, the whole town comes out to mourn. Why? He had invited the city officials to a banquet, and when they failed to come, he gave orders that the poor should be invited so that the food would not be wasted. (Adam Clarke)

[9] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[10] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass

Harmony #67: The First Shall Be Last (Luke 13:10-30)

Last week, we looked at the parable of a struggling fig tree assumed to be useless that was rescued by the one who has not given up on that tree’s future. Cue the story of Jesus healing a woman on whom society had given up.

 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and a woman was there who had been disabled by a crippling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, “Dear woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”

Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water? Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?”

We are still talking about the hypocritical nature of the Pharisees, as we have been for several weeks. This is all variations on a theme.

  • Chapter 12: they could read the physical/earthly seasons but not the spiritual/heavenly seasons.

  • Chapter 13: they were worried about physical death but not about their own spiritual death.

  • Now, they would loose their donkeys on the Sabbath to get water but not loose a ‘daughter of Abraham’ from the power of Satan.[1] (Look for Abraham to get a shout out again shortly.) The spiritual leaders of the people have not been giving their people the spiritual food or moral leadership they need.

When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.[2]

Being a follower of Jesus does not always mean trouble and persecution. It also includes the rejoicing of those around us as the goodness and provision of the Kingdom of God spills over into the world. Jesus, his disciples, and the early church experienced both of these realities. Generally speaking, the average person seems to have been attracted to this loving, generous, transformed new Kingdom community. It’s why the church grew at a near miraculous rate. Generally speaking,those in the halls of power hated them. The loving, generous provision of those with servant’s hearts committed to a spiritual Kingdom with God as their King undermined the power and coercion of the Empire. Something to watch for:

  • When people in the halls of power love us followers of Jesus, we should consider that perhaps we aren’t spiritually subversive enough when we offer a biblical, counter-cultural way of life.

  • When our neighbors hate us instead of rejoicing that we are near, we should consider that perhaps we aren’t being ‘the hands and feet of Jesus’ in a way that reveals the heart of Jesus.

It turns out that people like to know they are worth caring about. One thing that strikes me in Jesus’ ministry as how he led with care that matched the situation: practical, emotional, spiritual. Someone once gave me a sign to put up in my office that read, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Point taken. The Pharisees mockingly called Jesus a “friend of sinners” because He spent so much time with them - even having meals with them (which was a huge gesture of the honor and friendship). May we all earn the same label they gave Jesus.

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

In both cases the beginning is small. The mustard seed was considered ‘the smallest seed you plant in the ground’ (Mark 4:31). The yeast is only a tiny part of the dough. Both of them grew: the seed developed into a tree in which birds could take refuge (the Gentiles? The citizens of the Kingdom?). The yeast will double the size of the dough. #justaguess

This is how the Kingdom works: small beginnings, a few disciples, one life changed at a time. But, as Zechariah 4:19 says,  “Who dares despise the day of small things?” From this has grown the global Kingdom of God of which millions and millions have participated.

Don’t despise the small prayer. Don’t despise the small act of service. Don’t despise small times of devotions. Don’t despise the small act of kindness. Don’t despise small steps forward. Don't despise small victories in yourself or others.

You want to get ripped? One day at a time. Even small workouts. Get smart? The small moments of each day are filled with opportunity. Play an instrument? The small moments of practice matter. Strengthen friendships? Small acts of connection. Go deeper in Scripture? Any act of study is good. Have a stronger prayer life? Small prayers are fine. Fix your eyes on what Paul calls the “prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus,” and then take one right step at a time.

Then Jesus traveled throughout towns and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”

Okay, Jesus has just talked about the Kingdom of Heaven as small. This tracks with Jewish belief.[3]  Jewish people expected a banquet for the righteous few in the next age of God’s kingdom (Isaiah 25:6). Meanwhile, guess who that righteous few were? With a few exceptions, it was all the Jewish people. Jesus is about to upend this notion. The Gentiles will participate in the blessings of the kingdom even as some of the Jews do not.

So he said to them, “Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door (straight gate), because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, let us in!’ But he will answer you, ‘I don’t know where you come from.’

Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know where you come from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out.

Then people will come from east and west, and from north and south,[4] and take their places at the banquet table in the kingdom of God.  But indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

I think the first key to understanding this parable occurs here: “when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.” Jesus is talking specifically to the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, who assumed they would enter the kingdom. I suspect he is even more pointedly talking to the Pharisees, the ‘first’ part of group that was the ‘first’ (and perhaps the exclusive) recipients of the Kingdom.

Jesus shows them knocking at the door of the kingdom (they can see it: they are so close!) but they can’t access the Kingdom even though they (literally) ate and drank together with Jesus[5], and he literally talked in their streets.

It turns out that it will be those assumed to be unwanted or rejected who have really understood and responded to who Jesus is. #thewomanatthestartofthispassagewhopraisedGod

I think the second key is to ask when and where the Kingdom is. In just a couple chapters, Luke records Jesus making it very clear:

 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21)

The Kingdom had already started. The feasting had already begun.[6] And…oof…the Pharisees are missing out.

* * * * *

There are three other passages in which Jesus uses some of the same language and imagery.

In Matthew 7, Jesus used a similar analogy about a narrow path/door; in the context, it’s the path of humility, repentance and grace filled with people who will “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (7:12)

In Matthew 8, after a Gentile Roman centurion’s profession of Jesus’ authority and power when Jesus healed his son, we see familiar language. Jesus remarks on the centurion’s faith and says,

Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.[7] But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12) 

Matthew 19:27-20:16 uses familiar language and includes a whole parable. After the Rich Young Ruler refuses to follow Jesus because he loved his money, Jesus gave a teaching to his disciples on the dangers of wealth. He assures them there is a reward for following God (eternal life!), and then warns them that wanting to be ‘first’ – the best, the most favored, the elite – is going to mean they will be the last to appreciate the good gifts of life in the Kingdom. At both the beginning and the end he reminds them, ”The last will be first, and the first will be last.[8]

  • In Matthew 7, the narrow gate/road is something chosen now. Missing the Kingdom now means missing out on the riches of the kingdom: salvation, repentance (and forgiveness), grace, truth, real communion with God. Plus, a community of humble and generous people, who are committed to love, whose lives are defined by the Golden Rule. #lifemoreabundant  

  • In Matthew 8, kingdom life is now (the faith of the centurion and the healing of his son) and later (“many will come”) - the “now and not yet” aspect of the Kingdom. In this situation, the frustration and anger felt by the religious leaders seems to be the fact that they can see people living in the Kingdom of God right in front of them, but they can’t seem to experience it themselves.

  • In Matthew 19, it’s about something later, a future kingdom reality.

So, the “not yet” part of the Kingdom of Heaven is - obviously - yet to come, but the feasting had already begun. It’s happening now. Remember what Jesus told his disciples last week: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

After a short interlude in which Jesus is warned that Herod is looking for him, he gives what seems to be his closing thoughts on the previous several chapters of material.

(Luke 13:34-35; Matthew 23:37-39)

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!

Look, your house is forsaken and left to you desolate![9]  [The Shekinah – the glory of the Lord - has vanished from you now.[10]] For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ “[11]

May I point out the hope in today’s passage? It’s not just for those of who are like the woman whose story opened this section. It’s for us Pharisees.

In the Matthew 19 parable, Jesus called them all ‘friends’ even as he warned the grumbling ‘firsts’ that they would be the last to enjoy the goodness of the Kingdom. Today’s parable didn’t say, “The first don’t stand a chance.” It implies they will enter, but they will be the last ones to enter, perhaps “as those saved through the fire.”[12] Pride, power and hypocrisy are a tough combination to give up and replace with humility, servanthood, and integrity.

But remember last week when we talked about the farming analogy of Israel being grafted back into the Kingdom even after it had been cut off? Romans 11 again:

“Branches… were removed because they did not believe… If those branches that have been cut from the tree do not stay in unbelief, then God will carefully graft them back onto the tree because He has the power to do that...”

Hope remains. The people may be forsaken and desolate, but Jesus - the blessed one who comes in thename of the Lord -  will not leave them forsaken and desolate. Just because it’s their history doesn’t mean it’s their destiny. One day they will have the opportunity to say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Some commentators suggest he’s just pointing toward the moment when he enters Jerusalem to the Jewish people saying that line. Maybe, but I agree with the commentators who suggest this is primarily about the moment when people genuinely see who Jesus is, and recognize the goodness of salvation and life in the Kingdom offered on the other side of the cross and the empty tomb.[13]

God intends for His Kingdom to come, and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. It begins now with our repentance, God’s forgiveness, and the resulting salvation as we are delivered from spiritual death and from chains of sins and given the freedom of life in Jesus with the family of God, the community of the church.

How does God intend that to look? Love. Care. Provision. Hope. Joy. Peace. Patience. Gentleness. Goodness. Kindness. Self-control. (You might be recognizing the fruit of the Spirit.) Being in a community of brothers and sisters united by Jesus who are committed to loving each other.

I invite you today to enter the Kingdom of God if you haven’t. Give your heart, soul, mind and strength to Jesus, and embrace the Kingdom of God in its life-changing beauty.

It is here, now.


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[1] The verb for “set free” concerning the woman is the same word used for untying the donkey (luō). (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament) 

[2] The next chapter in Luke has a very similar story. (Luke 14:1-6) “Now one Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely. There right in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. So Jesus asked the experts in religious law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, “Which of you, if you have a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” But they could not reply to this.”

[3]  “The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of only a few... . Many have been created, but only a few shall be saved.” (2 Esdras  8:1–3) 

[4] “They shall come from the east, and from the west” points to Isaiah 49:12; Isaiah 14:6.

[5] See my earlier footnote on Luke 14:1-6.

[6] “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Luke 12:32

[7] Remember: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

[8] “That would be more similar to a saying found in the rabbinic literature: “Some obtain and enter the kingdom in an hour, while others reach it only after an lifetime” (b. ʻAbod. Zar. 17a).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[9] The language of being forsaken and desolate seems to refer Jeremiah 12.

[10] The Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges likes that as the translation.

[11] A quote from Psalm 118.

[12] 1 Corinthians 315

[13] “It is a most frivolous interpretation of these words to make them merely refer to the Hosannas of Palm Sunday (Luke 19:38)…They clearly refer to the future and final penitence of Israel. Hosea 3:4-5; Psalm 118:26 (Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges)

Bengel’s Gnomen sees his triumphal arrival in Jerusalem as “not the full and exhaustive fulfillment…the time is yet future when the Jews, according to Psalm 118:22; Psalm 118:26, Zechariah 4:7; Zechariah 12:10, shall recognize Him...”

“The promise… can only refer to the far future, to the day of the penitence of Israel…when the people shall look on him whom they pierced, and shall mourn. But that mourning will be turned speedily into joy.” (Pulpit Commentary)

 

Harmony #66: Bearing Fruit (Luke 13:1-9)

Once again, I am finding that Jesus often teaches in a classic rabbinic way that invites the hearers to really dig. Is it this? Maybe this? We are supposed to search for the hidden gold of truth. I found today’s passage to be no exception. I have been digging. I offer what I found, while noting that others have found different things here. I look forward to discussion afterward.

Once again, context is crucial for today’s passage. In Luke 12(the previous chapter)…

  • Jesus warns about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (v. 1-3) Look for the word “hypocrites” to show up later today.

  • Don’t be afraid of those who merely kill the body (v. 4-5); have a more eternal perspective.

  • He encourages his disciples, whose physical comfort was sparse: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (v. 13-21). This, too, becomes important later.

  • He tells a couple parables (v.35-48) about the importance of being faithful servants who understand the master, know what to do, and then do it faithfully. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Watch for what he has to say about those who has been entrusted with the “much” of being spiritual leaders of His people with access to the valuable revelation God has given them in the Old Testament and the person of Jesus.

  • Then he says, “I have come to bring fire,” (v. 49) the purification of the Word and the testing God allows or brings into our lives. He’s establishing the need for serious change. It’s probably going to have something to do with forming faithful servants who understand the master, know what to do with what they have been given, and then do it faithfully.

The next two paragraphs have something to say about understanding the master, knowing what to do, and actually doing it. (v. 54-59).

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west (Mediterranean Sea), immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind (desert) blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time (‘season’)? 

“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

In other words, you hypocritical leaders of the people (“to whom much has been entrusted”), you understand the importance of being reconciled with an earthly judge when you have done wrong; why are you not concerned about the wrongs for which you will have to answer when you answer to God for what you with what’s been entrusted to you?

Now there were some present at that time (‘season’) who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He answered them, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things?[1] No, I tell you! But unless you repent, you will all perish in like manner!  

Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem?[2] No, I tell you! But unless you repent you will all perish in like manner!”[3]

They seem to be smarting at Jesus’ implication that they have something for which to repent. They wanted Jesus to affirm that people who were killed by the sword or the collapse of the tower must have been sinful. Those standing in front of him were still alive; ergo, they don’t have sin to answer for! Case closed!  (Once again, they are thinking about this life rather than having an eternal perspective).

Jesus is about to say, “Oh, you have missed the point!” through a parable about the sin for which they need to repent. 

Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the vineyard keeper, ‘For three years now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue to deplete the soil?’

”But the vineyard keeper answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it. Then if it bears fruit next year, very well, but if not, you can cut it down.’ “

So, let’s talk about the variety of ways this has been interpreted. If it is unsettling to not have a clear consensus, just remember that the rabbis were in their element debating passages that could be understood and applied several ways. Some ambiguity – and the freedom to interpret – was deeply ingrained in Jewish religious life.

First, who are the fig tree and the vineyard? Old Testament writers use the image of the fig tree (Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1) and the vineyard (Isaiah 1:8; 3:14; Jeremiah 12:10; Isa 5:1- 7) to describe God’s people. Jesus will talk about us being part of a vineyard (He’s the vine; we the branches[5]). 

Second, Some commentaries suggest that this is a reference to Jerusalem’s upcoming destruction of the Temple in 70 AD as a result of Jewish sin. After all, the city collapsed and tens of thousands of Jewish people died from Roman swords. I don’t think that’s the point of the parable. After all, Jesus just made that point that they shouldn’t automatically conclude that people who get killed did something wrong. If anything, Jesus is pointing away from trying to put an = sign between bad things and bad people. The Romans destroyed the temple in response to a violent Jewish revolt, not in response to the kind of things Jesus is talking about here.[4]

Third,, some commentaries see God the Father as the owner and the vineyard keeper as Jesus. This seems to pit God the Father and Jesus the Son against each other. They are not on the same page about what to do with this seemingly lifeless fig tree. This feels like a mean Old Testament God being constrained by a nice New Testament Jesus so God doesn’t destroy a sinner. This kind of fracturing of the Trinitarian unity of God creates problems for me.

So this parable seems to be about God’s people and two other characters: one who impatiently wants to destroy a seemingly useless tree,[6] and one who wants to save it and nurture it.

Fourth, what happened to the fig tree after the story ended? Is there an ending the audience assumed? It turns out there is. Let’s talk about that first, because it set’s the table for everything that follows.

* * * * * *

According to my #commentarycrush Adam Clarke, there is a very similar story in an ancient Greek agriculture book called the De Re Rustica (spanning 1st century BC and 1st century AD)[7].

“How to make a barren tree fruitful.” Having girded yourself, and tied up your garments, take [an] axe, and with an angry mind approach the tree as if about to cut it down. Then let some person come forward and [stop you from] cutting down of the tree, making himself responsible for its future fertility. Then, seem to be appeased, and so spare the tree, and afterwards it will yield fruit in abundance. Bean straw (manure of that material,) scattered about the roots of the tree, will make it fruitful."

So, I’m not saying this is great agricultural science, but this story was a known story with a known ending at the time of Jesus. To give you an idea of lasting power of this story, Clarke also cites a dude named Ibn Alvardi (1200s) who prescribed the following as the mode to render a sterile palm tree fruitful:

"The owner, armed with an axe, having an attendant with him, approaches the tree, and says, ‘I must cut this tree down, because it is unfruitful.’ ‘Let it alone, I beseech thee,’ says the other, ‘and this year it will bring forth fruit.’ The owner immediately strikes it thrice with the back of his axe; but the other preventing him says, ‘I beseech thee to spare it, and I will be answerable for its fertility.’ Then the tree becomes abundantly fruitful." 

Clarke’s conclusion: 

“Does not our Lord refer to such a custom?” (Adam Clarke)

I think He did.

Who is looking at the tree and seeing nothing but a fruitless waste of space?  Who is ready to pronounce judgment on how this tree looks to them? The man in charge of the farm: the leaders of the Jewish people. The Pharisees, who loved to look on the outside while God looked on the heart. 

In this parable, a struggling fig tree that is assumed to deserve judgment is rescued by the one who has not given up on that tree’s future. (Note: Jesus follows this by healing a woman on whom society had given up. He gives her a future. More on this next week.)

What does the vineyard keeper do in the parable?  He advocates for not giving up on the life of the tree. He lays out his plan for replenishing the soil with nutrients from, literally, dung.  He is personally going to look this tree’s health. The owner may think the tree is a lost cause, but the vineyard keeper knows that the tree’s history is not its destiny.

The apostle Paul was also on board with this, as we see in Romans 11. If we go back to the Old Testament, God’s plan was for His people to be the means by which salvation would be spread throughout the world.

“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6-7) 

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)

In Romans 11, Paul’s overall point is that the Jewish people failed to do that. #nofruit #nolight  Consequently, the gospel message was taken directly to the Gentiles (of which Paul is a forerunner in the early church). However – super important - this fruitless fig tree of Israel was not cut down.

So I ask: did God’s people stumble and fall off the deep end? Absolutely not! They are not lost forever; but through their misconduct, the door has been opened for salvation to extend even to the outsiders… So if their misconduct leads ultimately to God’s riches coming to the world and if their failure turns into the blessing of salvation to all people, then how much greater will be the riches and blessing when they are included fully…? 

Imagine some branches are cut off of the cultivated olive tree and other branches of a wild olive (which represents all of you outsiders) are grafted in their place. You are nourished by the root of the cultivated olive tree. It doesn’t give you license to become proud and self-righteous about the fact that you’ve been grafted in. 

I can almost hear some of you saying, “Branches had to be pruned to make room for me.” Yes, they were. They were removed because they did not believe; and you will stay attached, be strong, and be productive only through faith….If those branches that have been cut from the tree do not stay in unbelief, then God will carefully graft them back onto the tree because He has the power to do that... 2 

I am going to let you in on the plan so that you will not think too highly of yourselves. A part of Israel has been hardened to the good news until the full number of those outside the Jewish family have entered in. This is the way that all of Israel will be saved…You see, when God gives a grace gift and issues a call to a people, He does not change His mind and take it back. 

There was a time when you outsiders were disobedient to God and at odds with His purpose, but now you have experienced mercy as a result of their disobedience. In the same way, their disobedience now will make a way for them to receive mercy… 

For God has assigned all of us together—Jews and non-Jews, insiders and outsiders—to disobedience so He can show His mercy to all. For all that exists originates in Him, comes through Him, and is moving toward Him; so give Him the glory forever. Amen.

 That’s the parable in action. Jesus is really good at bringing life from what appears to be death; he brings fruit from trees other have given up on.

So, from what is his Pharisee audience supposed to be repenting? Hmm.

  • They had been given the rich soil of Scripture and the clear revelation of Jesus, and the people they led were dying from lack of the nourishment of gospel truth.

  • They passed judgment on the hearts of people (I mean, those who suffered calamity were clearly terrible sinners, right?).

  • They didn’t understand the Kingdom at all. They assumed physical safety, health and wealth were the fruit that demonstrated spiritual life; meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples did not have wealth or physical safety (most would die martyrs), and yet they had the true riches of the Kingdom.

These hypocrites, who had been entrusted with much, claimed to know God and His will, but they couldn’t have been further from it.

Where the Pharisees saw death, Jesus saw life. Where the Pharisees saw a waste of space, Jesus saw a future blessing. Where the Pharisees saw uselessness, Jesus saw the potential for flourishing. When the Pharisees pushed off, Jesus pressed in. The vineyard keeper knew the truth:

“If you’re ready to chop down the tree every time it fails to bear the fruit you think it should, pretty soon you’ll find yourself surrounded by nothing but a bunch of dead stumps.” (Leah Schade)

The vineyard keeper says:

  • Trust in God’s provision and patience.

  • Don’t keep trying to figure out how bad people are really are – get in there and minister to them. Dig in the rubble if their lives have already collapsed. Be sobered by the temporary nature of your life also, and consider the state of your heart.

  • Don’t give up on those whose branches seem fruitless. Tend the soil of their – and your - heart, mind and soul with truth of God’s word, with prayer, with love and faithfulness. You may be shocked at what next year’s harvest brings.

 I appreciated a somewhat poetic post from Leah Schade as I was researching this. She gets the final word.

I will fear no evil, for thy rod and thy staff and thy shovel and thy wheelbarrow full of compost – they comfort me.  I fear no evil because I look forward to seeing what God is going to do about this. How God is going to take a dead tree and throw manure around it and bring it back to life. 

So I stand here looking at that empty tree, shaking my head.  And I watch that Gardener fervently, (seemingly) foolishly digging, digging, digging around that tree. And then the gardener beckons to me, and hands me a shovel.[8]


_________________________________________________________________________

[1] It was widely believed that sin invited tragedy. Job’s friend Eliphaz asked, amidst other bad advice, “Who, being innocent, has ever perished?” (Job 4:7).

[2] “Tragedy is no sure sign of sinfulness, just as the absence of tragedy is no sure sign of righteousness. All alike – those whose lives are tragic and those whose lives are tranquil – are sinners and all alike must repent before God.” (Africa Study Bible)

[3] “ωσαυτως, ομοιως, in a like way, in the same manner. This prediction was literally fulfilled. When the city was taken by the Romans [after a violent Jewish uprising], multitudes of the priests going on with their sacrifices were slain, and their blood mingled with the blood of their victims, and multitudes were buried under the ruins of the walls, houses, and temple.” (Adam Clarke) I think this is part of Jesus’ warning to Peter that those who live by the sword will perish by the sword. I don’t think this is what Jesus is talking about here, as I will explain.

[4] I’m thinking of something else Jesus said that’s probably more relevant to the Temple’s destruction: “Those who live by the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)

[5] John 15

[6] Just how much at fault was the tree? A tree does not decided whether or not to produce fruit. It’s a result of many factors. In this case, the vineyard manager seems to identify the problem: it has not been properly nourished in the soil into which it is planted.[6] Hmmmm. The owner has asked someone to tend to a vineyard and tree that is on his land – and his land has terrible soil. That sounds like an owner problem, which is yet another reason I don’t think the owner is God the Father.

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Re_Rustica

[8] Leah D. Schade, https://st-ignatius.net/rethinking-the-parable-of-the-fruitless-tree-in-luke-131-9/. A number of my closing thoughts are borrowed from her.

 

Harmony #65: Don’t Worry (Luke 12:16-32; Matthew 6:25-34)

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. For there is more to life than food and more to the body than clothing. Look at the birds in the sky, the ravens[1]:

They do not sow, or reap, or gather into storerooms or barns, yet God your heavenly Father feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? If worrying can’t accomplish a little thing such as that, why are you worried about other matters?

Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these![2]  And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith?

The ravens and the grass are purposeful images. Ravens were unclean, lazy birds in the eyes of the Jewish people. If God “provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call” (Psalm 147:9; Job 38:41), how much more will he provide for His children? If grass is so weak and yet God clothes grass with the glory of flowers, how much more will he adorn His children with good things? Back to the text…

So then, don’t be overly concerned or worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For all the nations of the world pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Worry accomplishes nothing. Tony Evans has a great analogy:

“Worrying is foolish because it cannot bring about change to your situation. Think of it as a rocking chair: it will get you moving, but it can’t take you anywhere.”[3]

It’s one thing to be aware and make a wise plan; it’s another thing to worry, which carries it with it the idea of this nagging, consuming crisis mindset. It’s not just worry about day-to-day things: it’s worry about anything, whether it’s out of your control or in your control. I can worry about my health future, some of which I can control (#KFC) and some I can’t (#genetics). What good does the mere act of worrying do? It just adds stress, which my body does not love.

 I had to deal with that after my heart attack. My world shrank in the months that followed: I didn’t want to be anywhere not close to a hospital just in case. I didn’t hike; I didn’t fly; I didn’t want to drive down the interstate. I had to make some choices. Was I going to make reasonably good health choices and enjoy life, or was I going to obsessively worry and be controlled by “what if”?

So, for all us, we have to make choices as well.

· The economy is going to go up or down, and our finances might be impacted by it no matter how much we plan. Do we believe God is still good, and that He watches over His children with care and love?

· The election is going to go one way or the other. Then what? Are we consuming news that escalates our anxiety about the impending downfall of our civilization, or do we believe God is preparing his church for whatever awaits us, and that He watches over His children with love and care? 

· Everything is getting more expensive. The more wars rage in countries rich in oil and grain, it’s going to get worse. Okay. How does losing sleep help? How does stewing in fear help? It just ruins our physical and mental health. God is still good, and He still watches over His children with love and care, yes?

Instead, above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

At this point in the story, Jesus is giving this teaching specifically to the disciples, not the whole crowd. I think that’s important. Those disciples set businesses aside, literally following him instead of making money. Meanwhile, he kept sending them out on short missions with hardly anything. My sense is that Jesus is reassuring them in particular about their very practical provision as they follow him. Jesus called them into His mission in that season, and He had a plan. Because of this, the disciples could concentrate their focus and energies on the interests of that kingdom.

If we are to make a broader application, we need to do so in light of the rest of Scripture and the history of the church. While church history is full of stories of miraculous practical provision (#GeorgeMueller), it’s also full of stories where Christians really struggled in poverty, persecution and starvation. The early church letters talk about churches going through extreme poverty. Not long after Jesus’ death, tens of thousands in Rome died of starvation in disease.[4]Did the Christians impacted by this lack faith? I don’t think so. Hebrews 11 has something to say about this:

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised;

who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.

They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated -  the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith… (Hebrews 11:32-39)

How do we balance these two seemingly contrasting pictures of God’s care and provision for those who seek the Kingdom vs. the dire circumstances of those being commended for their faith?

First, as I pointed out last week, the early church was radically committed to meeting the financial and physical needs of everyone in the church. If everyone was seeking the Kingdom and the righteousness of God, they would have committed to this generosity whole-heartedly. Truly, there was no need for anyone to worry in the regular course of life if they lived in Holy Spirit led community. God had a plan for provision – His people. That’s what happened in Acts; that’s what happened in the NT letters when one church was in dire need; that’s the ongoing plan for all church communities.

Second, God knows more than we do what we need in this life, and He has the provision to give us what we truly need to sustain us through this life and into the life to come. I suspect there is a deeper spiritual teaching here, as the Bible talks a lot about spiritual clothes and food.[5]  When Jesus asked, "Is not life more than food?" I think he’s pointing them toward the kind of food that matters most.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the original language carries the idea of eternal nourishment: “Give us that which we need to sustain us both today and for eternity.” Material provision is not unimportant, but it’s not of eternal importance. There is nothing that can separate us from the eternal provision found in the love of Jesus.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39

Notice: we will have trouble, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, the sword. In all these things we will have victory, not because they are absent, but because the strength of God’s love holds us close in the midst of all of them.

* * * * *

Some say the theme of this chapter is summed up in Jesus’ closing words to this section: 

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)[6]

Do you hear the tenderness and the love? “Little flock.” Literally, “little, little flock.” It was God’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom. What does that look like? Here’s two snapshots of the Kingdom.

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. (Romans 4:17-19)

 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17-18)

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid!” so many times during his life on earth.[7] He came to redeem, to save, to heal, to give hope and life, to demonstrate the love of God in the flesh. We read so many times in Scripture about how God intends to do us the favor of Fathering us like a perfectly good father is meant to do, which includes caring for us deeply and relentlessly.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your cares (anxiety) on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”  (Psalms 55:22)

“Blessed be the Lord, Who daily bears our burden, the God Who is our salvation.” (Psalm 68:19)

“Be careful for nothing: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall watch over your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

When Jesus said, “Take no thought for the things of tomorrow,” this encouragement broadly covers all the things we worry about: jobs, health, family, relationships. Everything that keeps us up at night. The things that give us anxiety and fear. If you have struggled with anxiety and worry, I don’t have to convince you it’s a terrible thing to be overwhelmed by anxiety.

The past year has held a lot of anxiety for me. It is God’s timing that I have begun to remember and process some very traumatic things that happened to me when I was a child. Part of what has happened is that I experience quite a few moments in life through the lenses of a 10-year-old traumatized boy. I had forgotten how big and scary the world can be, both literally and emotionally.

God has provision for me. Good friends, good counselors, the Holy Spirit, His Word. I have been forced to press into all of them in humbling and healing ways. One image of God that I have been clinging to is the image at the end of the passage we read today. If I may paraphrase how this image of God has landed in my life this year:

“Do not be afraid, little one, for your Heavenly Father is deeply pleased to give you the goodness of life in His kingdom.”

I have experienced God’s comfort and provision; I have also been grounded by studying Scripture as well as the insight from other followers of Jesus. I’ve already offered a number of Scripture. I offer this commentary for your consideration also.

“But He cares for us. My soul, has not Jesus proved it? Did He not care for you when He embarked in the work of your salvation? Did He not care for you when you were dead in trespasses and in sins? And when the Holy Spirit convinced you of sin, and broke your heart, and led you in holy contrition to the cross, did not Jesus manifest His care for you then by raising you up from His feet, enfolding you in His arms, and applying His atoning blood to your conscience, saying to your tempest-tossed spirit, 'Peace, be still,' and there was peace? The Lord cares for you still. He cares for your needs, for your trials, for your temptations, for your sorrows. Still more, He cares for… the doubts and fears and tremblings which sometimes assail you--for the darkness which often enshrouds you--for the loneliness and solitude of the way by which He is leading you home to Himself.”  - Octavius Winslow

“Treat cares as you treat sins. Hand them over to Jesus one by one as they occur. Commit them to Him. Roll them upon Him. Make them his. By an act of faith look to Him, saying, ‘This, Lord, and this, and this, I cannot bear. Thou hast taken my sins; take my cares: I lay them upon Thee, and trust Thee to do for me all, and more than all, I need. I will trust, and not be afraid…’"  -  F.B. Meyer

“You are staggering beneath a weight which your Father would not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden, would be to him but as the small dust of the balance… O child of suffering, be thou patient; God has not passed thee over in his providence. He who is the feeder of sparrows, will also furnish you with what you need. Sit not down in despair; hope on, hope ever… There is One who careth for you. His eye is fixed on you… He, if thou art one of his family, will bind up thy wounds, and heal thy broken heart. Doubt not his grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that he loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness… He has never refused to bear your burdens, he has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God.”- Spurgeon

Be your frame low, your heart dead, your faith weak—arise, and draw near to God… you feel as if there existed in this wide world no heart, no spirit, no mind that responded to, or that chimed and blended with your own. Yes; there is One!—Jesus cares for you.  – Octavius Winslow


SOME RECOMMENDED SONGS

·  Selah – I look To You

· Kari Jobe – I am Not Alone; Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest)

· Laura Story –He Will Not Let Go; Perfect Peace

· Needtobreathe – Lay ‘Em Down

· Finding Favour – Cast My Cares

· Alisa Turner – My Prayer For You

· I will Arise and Go To Jesus  (Julie Miller)

· Psalm 23 (Keith Green)

· I Trust Jesus (Matthew West; Jenn Johnson)

· I Will Fear No More (The Afters)


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[1] Ravens were unclean to Jewish people ((Lev 11:13–15; Deut 14:11–14),

[2] 1 Kings 10:4-5  “When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.”

[3] Tony Evans Study Bible

[4] “In A.D. 51, the emperor Claudius barely escaped a hostile crowd during a grain shortage and resulting famine that left Rome with only a fifteen-day supply of grain. During their revolt, the Jews in Jerusalem experienced great famine. Thousands died as relatives fought over… food. The most horrific example involved a young mother named Mary of Bethezuba who, because of her hunger, tore her baby from her breast and roasted it, devouring half the corpse. This abomination of infant cannibalism horrified both the rebels and the Romans.” - How To Read The Bible Book By Book
“In 65 when Nero was persecuting the church, a plague broke out in Rome killing 30,000 residents. Pestilence also broke out in Jerusalem due to overcrowding during the Roman siege in A.D. 70.” N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone

[5] Isaiah 61:10-11, 11:5; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; Revelation 19:8; Psalm 132:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Job 29:14

[6] Africa Bible Commentary

[7] Check out how often this phrase is used in the Bible at “Do not be afraid.” https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/HaveNoFear.html

 

Harmony #64: Choosing Between Two Masters (Luke 12:13-21, 33-34; Matthew 6:19-21, 24)

Then someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But Jesus said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator between you two?” Then he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. ”He then told them a parable:[1]

“The land of a certain rich man produced an abundant crop, so he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God.[2]

“Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out—a treasure in heaven that never decreases, where no thief approaches to break in and steal, and no moth or rust destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”[3]

* * * * *

 The Bible has a lot to say about money.

  • Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables Jesus told deal with money and possessions.

  • 10% of the Gospels deal directly with the subject of money.

  • The Bible has 500+ verses on prayer and 500 - verses on faith, but 2,000+ verses on money and possessions. There are a LOT more sections addressing poverty/the poor.

So, let’s talk about how to see and use money through the lenses of Scripture.

1. The Money We Have Is From God’s Provision

“Every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to use it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:19)

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 18:17-18)

2. We Are Stewards

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.  Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.  Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand… Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. (1 Chronicles 29: 10-16)

3. Money’s Has The Potential To be Destructive

  • Mark 10:24 - “How hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!”

  • Matthew 13:22 - “…the love of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word of God, and he becomes unfruitful.”

  • 1 Timothy 6:10 - “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith…"

  • Hebrews 13:5 - “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have…”

  • Ecclesiastes 5:10 “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”[4]

Christian singer Steve Taylor wrote a song called Cash Cow. It’s a strange mini rock opera, to be sure, but you don’t hear many popular Christian songs calling out the danger of money. Here’s a taste.

It was a morning just like any other morning ...in the Sinai Desert ...1200 B.C. It glistened, it glowed, it rose from the gold of the children of Israel (and most of the adults): The Cash Cow.

The golden Cash Cow had a body like the great cows of ancient Egypt and a face like the face of Robert Tilton[5] (without the horns). And through the centuries it has roamed the earth like a ravenous bovine seeking whom it may lick. 

From the Valley of the Shadow of the Outlet Mall to the customized pet-wear boutique; from the trailer of the fry chef to the palace of the sheik, the Cash Cow lurks.

Who loves you, baby? Who'll give you good credit? Who says you'll regret it? "I was young and I needed the money." "I had money, and I needed more money." "I was filthy rich--all I wanted was love. And a little more money..."

Woe to you, proud mortal, secure in your modest digs. You think you're immune? I, too, was hypnotized by those big cow eyes the last time I uttered those three little words, "I deserve better!"

What are the warning signs, that money is becoming a problem? I like Tim Keller’s list.

You can’t give large amounts of it away. You get scared if you might have less than you’re accustomed to having.  You see people who are doing better than you, even though you might have worked harder or might be a better person, and it gets under your skin. And when that happens, you have one foot in the trap. Because then it’s no longer just a tool; it’s the scorecard. It’s your essence, your identity. No matter how much money you have, though it’s not intrinsically evil, it has incredible power to keep you from God.  – Tim Keller

4. Money Has Great Potential For Good

“Now, my brothers, we must tell you about the grace that God had given to the Macedonian churches. Somehow, in most difficult circumstances, their joy and the fact of being down to their last penny[6] themselves produced a magnificent concern for other people. I can guarantee that they were willing to give to the limit of their means, yes and beyond their means, without the slightest urging from me or anyone else.

In fact they simply begged us to accept their gift of supporting their brothers in Christ. Nor was their gift, as I must confess I had expected, a mere cash payment. Instead they made a complete dedication of themselves first to the Lord and then to us, as God’s appointed ministers.

 I don’t want you to read this as an order. It is only my suggestion, prompted by what I have seen in others of eagerness to help, and here is a way to prove the reality of your love. Do you remember the generous grace of Jesus Christ, the Lord of us all? He was rich beyond our telling, yet he generously became poor for your sakes so that his poverty might make you rich." (2 Corinthians 8:1-9)

When we realize that others are in need, and we have the resources to alleviate that need, we should generously and joyfully do so. It is a sign of the reality of our love for God and others. God does not prosper us so we can indulge ourselves. God prospers us so we can extend the gift of generous grace to others.

“All the believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of his possessions were all his own, but they shared everything they had...it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”  (Acts 4:32-35)[7]

This is not government-mandated communism or socialism; this is Holy Spirit inspired, voluntary communalism. This is the financial implication of covenant community. We are part of a community that needs our contribution from the blessing God has given us. That could manifest in many ways, but here we see one clear and practical way: take care of each other’s physical needs.[8] The early Church Fathers were uncomfortably blunt on this issue.

  • Didache (100s) “Share everything with your brother. Do not say, “It is private property.” If you share what is everlasting, you should be that much more willing to share things which do not last.”

  • Irenaeus (130-200) “Instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide everything we have with the poor. And he said to love not only our neighbors but also our enemies, and to be givers and sharers not only with the good but also to be liberal givers toward those who take away our possessions.”

  • John Chrysostom (300s) “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs.”

  • Basil the Great (300s) “The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the man who has no shoes; the money which you put into the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help but fail to help.”

  • Ambrose (300s) wrote, “The things which we cannot take with us are not ours. Only virtue will be our companion when we die…The bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever... You are not making a gift of your possession to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his.”

5. Generosity is meant to be an act of worship, not a legalistic transaction followed by angry, begrudging givers. We will either worship wealth, or worship with our wealth.  Here’s how to worship with our wealth.

 “The important thing is to be willing to give as much as we can—that is what God accepts, and no one is asked to give what he has not got. Of course, I don’t mean that others should be relieved to an extent that leaves you in distress. It is a matter of share and share alike….

At present your plenty should supply their need, and then at some future date their plenty may supply your need. In that way we share with each other, as the scripture says, ‘He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack’…

Let everyone give as his heart tells him, neither grudgingly nor under compulsion, for God loves people who give cheerfully. After all, God can give you everything that you need, so that you may always have sufficient both for yourselves and for giving away to other people. As the scripture says: “He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.”

The more you are enriched by God the more scope there will be for generous giving, and your gifts, administered through us, will mean that many will thank God. For your giving does not end in meeting the wants of your fellow-Christians. It also results in an overflowing tide of thanksgiving to God.

Moreover, your very giving proves the reality of your faith, and that means that people thank God that you practice the Gospel that you profess to believe in, as well as for the actual gifts you make to them and to others. And yet further, people will pray for you and feel drawn to you because you have obviously received a generous measure of the grace of God. Thank God, then, for his indescribable generosity to you!” (Excerpts from 2 Corinthians 8-9)

6. In giving back to God, we reorient our hearts.

The NT does not mandate a tithe amount. Along with its many encouragements to be generous, it says this about the heart of the giver:

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

God’s not interested in a legalistic approach to generosity. Setting a number like 10% too easy; it lets us avoid our hearts. I suspect that God wants to use our relationship with our money like a fire in our lives (to use imagery from last week.  Do I think of what I have as mine, or am I a steward of what is God’s? Is my money merely for me and my family, or have I been given a resource that has communal obligations attached to it?  What does it look like to simultaneously be responsible for myself and my family while trusting God that I can be generous in ways that might even make me financially uncomfortable at times?  What should bring me greater joy: watching my retirement account grow, or watching my financially desperate brother and sister have their needs met?

“I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. If our giving habits do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we want to do but cannot do because our giving expenditures exclude them.” – C.S. Lewis

This, I think, is where our hearts get exposed. We love the stories of followers of Jesus who were radically generous with their money, trusting God to take care of them. We know it’s admirable. It’s just….really, really hard to think of doing that ourselves.

But God does a fiery work of purification through our love of generosity and kindness. There is something soul-transformative in giving. It frees us from the power of money, and it frees us to celebrate how God’s provision for His people (as a group) helps us to take care of each other.

I think we learn something about the heart of God, who is lavishly generous to us, when we are generous to others. Some ideas for generosity:

  • the church (for our spiritual mission and our benevolence fund)

  • your neighbor (Who is your neighbor? Everybody.)

  • missionaries/missions organization (His House, VidaNet, Esperanza, Sal, Heather and Mila Sanchez, the Ducrozet family)

  • organizations that work with those in need (locally, think Goodwill Inn, Father Fred, Single MOMM, Thrive, Freedom Farm and Affirm Ministries, Peace Ranch, Touching Hearts, Thomas Judd)

It doesn’t have to be much compared to others around you. We all have different amounts of resources. But being generous is part of God’s good plan to bless His people, both the giver and the receiver. 


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[1] This parable has a parallel in Ben Sirach 11:18–19: “One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial, and the reward allotted to him is this: when he says, ‘I have found rest, and now I shall feast on my goods!’ he does not know how long it will be until he leaves them to others and dies.” (NIV First Century Study Bible)

[2]  Scripture warns against merely storing grain when others were hungry (Pr 11:26).

[3] The Testament of Judah 19:1 (second century b.c.) reads, “My children, love of money leads to idolatry, because once they are led astray by money, they designate as gods those who are not gods. It makes anyone who has it go out of his mind.”

[4] Proverbs 11:28 - “He that trusts in his riches will fall…”

Psalms 62:10 - “If riches increase, don’t set your heart upon them.”

Luke 18: 24-25  Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Hebrews 13:5-6  “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have because He has said, “I will never leave you; I will always be by your side.” 6 Because of this promise, we may boldly say, “The Lord is my help - I won’t be afraid of anything. How can anyone harm me?”

[5] A prosperity gospel televangelist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tilton

[6] Deuteronomy 15:11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

[7] Perhaps they were taking their cue from Proverbs: One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. People curse the one who hoards grain, but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell. (Proverbs 11:24-26)

[8] “The Dead Sea Scrolls community also tried to live simple lives, and they were critical of wealth. Josephus claimed not one member of the sect had greater wealth or possessions than another. Upon joining the community, a person’s possessions were handed over to the leaders and became communal property.” (NIV First Century Study Bible)