Losing to Win

Hello everyone,

Tonight I am writing a continuation of the my last post, that I wrote almost a month ago.  So, a quick refresher is in order.  Jesus has asked his disciples, who they think he is.  Peter correctly responds that Jesus is the Messiah of God. Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about this, and then tells that he is going to suffer greatly, be rejected by the authorities, and be killed. This is a tough message for the apostles, one that they do not really understand. And here is where we pick the story.

Jesus follows up this tough message with another tough message for his disciples.  He has been talking about being killed, and tells them that if they are going to follow him, they too must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow. (Luke 9:23)

Darrell Bock explains it like this: “Discipleship is summed up in three commands: ἀρνησάσθω (arnesastho, deny oneself), ἀράτω (arato, take up), and ἀκολουθείτω (akoloutheito, follow). The tense sequence shows that fundamental decisions made about the self and about day-by-day bearing of the cross emerge in a continual following of Jesus.”  Bock goes on to say that in this sequence the last part ‘following’ emerges when we practice the first two: denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily. (Bock, 852.)

There is foreshadowing here, as Jesus carried his own cross, telling his disciples they must carry their own.  The difference is that Jesus carried his cross to his place of execution, but his instructions to the disciples are to carry their crosses every day.  We can only be executed once, so what Jesus is saying to his disciples is metaphor.  Dying to ourselves is part of our daily walk with Jesus. 

Luke says that Jesus made this statement to everyone that was there, not just as an aside to his disciples.  Jesus was not afraid to speak plainly to everyone about the cost of following him.  

Jesus’ description of discipleship continues by stating that in losing life, we gain it.  Holding on to this life, leads to losing it, but giving life for the sake of Christ leads to gaining life.  This is backwards thinking to us. You gain when you give?  Our self-indulgent nature thinks that we gain when we take, not when we give. 

Jesus has laid out both the risk of following him and the risk of not following him.  The cost is high in both cases. To follow him, we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily.  In other words, we give up ourselves for him. That is a heavy cost. To choose to not follow him, according to Luke 9:24, we lose ourselves. Also a heavy cost. 

Jesus goes on to say that the value of saving our life in him, is priceless. Its value is greater than all of the wealth in the world.  Here is my translation of what Jesus is saying in verse 25, “How does a man profit, if he gains the whole world, yet loses and forfeits himself?” It's rhetorical, I suppose.  We understand that we can't put a price on salvation. 

In verse 26 Jesus tells his followers that they cannot be ashamed of him, or he will be ashamed of them in return on the day of Judgment.  We cannot be ashamed to publicly acknowledge Jesus as our Lord. As disciples of Jesus, we confess his lordship and accept his teachings. Jesus deserves our full allegience. 

Tom 

Not That Kind of Messiah

Hello everyone.

In my last post, we looked at how Jesus took a little bread and a little fish and fed multitudes. But in the beginning of that story, Jesus had actually been trying to get away from the crowds. In the verses after this great miracle, he does finally get some time alone with the disciples. (Luke 9:18) He uses the time to pray.  But then he asks them about what the crowds are saying about him: “Who do people say I am?”

We see the same big names being thrown around: John, Elijah or another of the prophets of old, raised from the dead. Theories and ideas must have abounded regarding who Jesus was. “Who is Jesus?” That is the question that everyone is seeking an answer to.  (We know from Mark 6:14-16) that even Herod and his circle was trying to figure it out.) 

Jesus asks about the crowds and who they think Jesus is, but the crowds lack the insight to really understand it. The apostles have gained some insight, enough, at least, for Peter to correctly answer the question.  But, even the disciples do not get the full picture. When Jesus asks, "Who do you say I am? (Luke 9:20) Peter responds to this question that Jesus is “the Messiah of God.” While Peter certainly didn't fully understand what his answer even meant, he was correct.  Jesus is the Messiah, who came from God. (Matthew’s account has Peter saying, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” Mark says, “You are the Messiah.”) Matthew also records that this is the place where Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of God.  Luke does not mention this, simply saying that Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone that Jesus was the Messiah.  

Why would Jesus give them this command? What follows may be the key to why Jesus would not want them to talk about this yet.  He begins to tell them about what must happen to him in the near future. He uses the Greek word Δεῖ (Dei), which means "it is necessary." It was necessary that he suffer greatly, be handed over to his enemies, be killed and then raised from the dead. Matthew 16:21-22 tells us that Peter rebuked Jesus for this message.

His apostles did not fully grasp what the Messiah was.  They probably thought, like everyone else, that the Messiah would come to liberate them from the Romans.  Jesus was just was not that kind of Messiah. 

So back to the question of Jesus command that they not reveal that he is Messiah. Undoubtedly there were people who thought Jesus might be the Messiah, but since they didn’t really understand what the Messiah was there to do, they were going to get the wrong idea. In fact, we know from John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand, the people tried to force Jesus to be king. (John 6:15) Again, he was not that kind of Messiah. Knowing that, in general, people did not understand his mission as Messiah, it was undoubtedly better not to get the crowds all stoked up. 

Of course, to the Jewish way of thinking, driving out the Romans and restoring Israel would have been great, but Jesus' Messiahship is greater then that.  He came to be a Messiah for all nations, not just the Jews and to rescue us for a far greater enemy than the Romans.  The Romans would eventually destroy themselves, but the "spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,' are still fighting. (Eph. 6:12) They forces are more powerful and longer-lasting than the Romans, and our Messiah came to rescue us from them. 

Tom 

The Lord Provides

Hello everyone.

We will pick up the story of Luke 9, in verse 10.  Jesus has given the apostles power and authority and sent them out to teach and heal.  Now in verse 10, they have returned to Jesus, reporting what they had done.  Having healed the sick and driven out demons, the apostles had to be very excited about what they had been able to do. They must have performed some powerful miracles, otherwise there would be nothing to report. 

Now, Jesus and his apostles attempt to withdraw away from the crowds, but the crowds follow them. Mark mentions that the crowds were so thick that Jesus and the apostles were unable to eat. Matthew gives a detail that Jesus has just learned about the beheading of John.  It is easy to imagine that Jesus had more than one reason to desire a time of quiet rest with his disciples.  They had just returned from an exciting mission.  His friend and relative John had just been executed and there would be a need a time to grieve and the crowds were overwhelming. 

Matthew and Mark both mention Jesus getting into a boat, while Luke says that they went to Bethsaida.  Perhaps Bethsaida was a short boat ride from where they were. No matter, Jesus and the apostles were not able to get away, because wherever they went, whether on a boat or not, it was not very far and the crowd followed. 

When the crowd caught up to them, Jesus, in spite of his own need for some alone time, welcomed the crowd and continued his mission of preaching and healing.  He feels sympathy for the crowd, even though they won’t leave him alone, and are not allowing him to get any rest. At this point in Mark’s account it says that Jesus had compassion on them, "because they were like sheep without a shepherd." (Mark 6:34) They were weak, vulnerable, confused, lost.  In his sympathy, Jesus begins teaching them. 

He teaches until late in the day.  The apostles finally come and say, “Send the crowd away, so that they can go into the surrounding towns and the countryside so that they can find food and lodging, since we are in such a remote place.” It wasn’t that apostles were unsympathetic to the crowds, they just lacked the faith and insight that Jesus carried. 

Here is a thought.  I am going to read into the text just a little:  Jesus tells his disciples to feed them.  He had just given them power to perform miracles.  Now they had an opportunity to perform one.  Jesus already knew what he was going to do. (John 6:3) He may have wanted to see what they could do, but the apostles are still looking at things through the lenses of limited faith.   

The disciples are limited by what they can see. As it turns out they have five loaves of bread and two fish. They comment that it is not nearly enough to feed that many people, unless someone went and bought food for them. They are not outside of the box thinkers.  They see only two options.  Spread out five loaves of bread and two fish that they have among thousands, or go buy food.  They did not yet see with eyes of faith and do not imagine the miracle that Jesus is about to perform.  

It is not difficult to imagine the wheels in their brains turning thinking about how much it would cost to provide food for that many people.  The money would easily run into the thousands of dollars.  The apostles did not have that kind of walking-around money. In Mark 6:37, the apostles respond that it would cost two hundred days wages to feed that many people. 

Any way, five loaves of bread and two fish is not much, but Jesus can take a little and translate into a lot.  Ultimately each apostle got to pick up a basket of leftovers.  Do you remember in Luke 4, when Jesus was being tempted by the devil,? Jesus had chosen not to turn stones into bread, but rather to trust God for his provision.  Jesus is now teaching his apostles to trust him for their provision. Darrell Bock points out that in a way the apostles do what Jesus has said.  They give the people something to eat.  Jesus breaks the bread and fish and creates more, while the disciples dispense it to the people. They are then able to minister to the people, but only through the power and provision of Jesus. (Bock, 832.)

How complete was Jesus' provision here? Luke uses the phrase Ἐχορτάσθησαν πάντες. (Exortasthasan pantes) All were filled or satisfied. Jesus' provision was absolute for all those who were hungry. There were 5000+ grateful and satisfied people who could attest to his provision. Jesus offers to fill us still.  

Tom 

Power and Authority

Hello everyone.

Luke 9 begins with Jesus bringing the Twelve together and giving them authority and power.  We have seen throughout Luke that Jesus is the one who has the authority and the power. Satan had claimed that he had the authority and the power and could give it to whomever he wanted. (Luke 4)  But, it appears that Satan was in error, as we see Jesus giving authority and power out to others. 

One of the powers that Jesus gives is to cast out demons.  Jesus is giving away the power over Satan’s minions to ordinary fishermen. Δύναμιν καὶ ἐξουσίαν (Dynameem kai Exousian)- which means "power and authority." Having authority means that you have the right to do something.  Having power means that you have the ability to do something.  Jesus is giving both of things to his apostles. These naturally go together, but having the authority to do something only really matters if you have the power to back it up.  

Luke also mentions that he gives them the power to heal diseases.  So we can see that Jesus is passing along some of the powers that have been drawing crowds wherever he went.  The one thing that isn’t mentioned here is Jesus making them dynamic teachers. This was another thing that drew large crowds to Jesus. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t preach and teach.  They were sent out to teach.  Verse 6 says that they went through the villages proclaiming the good news.  I am sure that they did great, but it is unlikely that they possessed Jesus’ unique dynamism. 

His instructions to them are interesting.  I think that this is not a universal message for those who preach and teach about Jesus, but apply to this particular mission. They are told to take nothing with them.  No walking stick. No bag. No food. No money. No change of clothes.  They are going to have to be totally dependent on God on this journey. They are also instructed to stay at the same house for the length of their stay in a town.  They will have trust in God for hospitality as well. 

In towns that did not accept them, they were to shake the dust off of their feet as a sign against that town and move on.  Again I think that this was part of the specific instructions given at that time for this mission.  I don’t think that would want to reject entire towns, or even certain people and never reach out  to them again. 

So, having been instructed by Jesus, the disciple left on their mission of going from village to village,  preaching and healing. Their ability to perform miracles backed up their message.  What was their message? Likely, their message was similar to the message Jesus started his ministry with - God’s kingdom was near, so they should repent. Mark 6:12 says that they went out and preached that people should repent. 

The shaking the dust off of the feet was symbolic that a refusal to repent would bring God’s judgment. Darrell Bock mentions that the shaking of the dust off of one’s feet was a gesture done by Jews upon leaving pagan territory, as a way of removing ‘uncleanness.” (Bock, 817)

Luke inserts here that all that Jesus has been doing catches the attention of Herod.  Herod, who has had John the Baptist beheaded, is reminded of John by hearing about what Jesus is doing.  The news that he was hearing about Jesus made Herod want to see him.  Some people are claiming that Jesus was John, returned from the dead, or Elijah or one of the prophets of old returned from the dead. Herod, like so many others, is trying to figure out who Jesus was.  There were lots of theories.  So for now, Herod’s attitude toward Jesus is one of curiosity.

Then in verse 10, the apostles return form their mission, sharing all that they had done with the authority and power that Jesus had given them. In the parallel passage in Mark 6, it says that on this mission they successfully cast out demons and healed the sick. (Mark 6:13.) Imagine the joy with which they reported their successes to Jesus.  They couldn't fail on this mission, because they had been given power and authority by the one had it all - Jesus. 

Tom 

She is Sleeping

Hello everyone.

In my previous post, I started the exegesis of Luke 8:40-56. It tells the story of two miracles performed by Jesus after returning to the Isrealite side of the lake. Upon arrival there, Jesus is met by Jairus, a local synagogue leader, whose daughter was very sick.  Jairus came to Jesus in desparation, and Jesus afrees to go with him.  Everything stops however, when a woman secretly appraoches Jesus, beleiving that simply touching Jesus' clothing would bring her healing. 

She was right. So now with the woman taken care of, Jesus can turn his attention back to Jairus. But as Jesus is finishing up, someone comes from Jairus’ house and tells him that his daughter has died and that he should not trouble the teacher any further. Jesus basically ignores the statement and tells Jairus to “just have faith.” 

Jesus' statement to Jairus is interesting.  He has just been informed that his daughter is dead.  To Jairus, like most people, thought that it was too late.  Death is something people do not come back from, but Jesus assured him that she would be healed.  Could his daughter be healed from ‘dead’? Jairus is going to find out.  Being with Jesus does not follow the conventional rules and his daughter would live. 

When he gets to the house, Jesus announces that the girl was not dead, but sleeping. Luke says that the crowd laughs, which seems like an odd reaction for a group of mourners. Jesus ignored them. Mourners were called in only when someone is dead.  So it seems that these people were not particularly close to Jairus and the family, just people brought in to mourn.  This might explain the dramatic shift from mourning to laughing. 

Jesus takes only the parents, Peter, James and John with him.  Only they are allowed to witness the miracle. Going into the room where the little girl lay dead, Jesus takes her hand and tells her to get up. Luke records that her spirit returned to her and she got up.  Jesus then commands them to feed her, and then commands them not to tell anyone what had happened. The crowd of laughing mourners, however, knew that the girl was dead, and were bound to notice that she was now alive. 

Jesus, the one who came into the situation with all authority, had effectively silenced the scoffers. 

Tom 

A Stolen Miracle

Hello everyone.

Today I will continue my exegesis of Luke 8 by looking at the verses 40-48.  This section of Scripture tells two stories.  It begins the story of Jairus' daughter and tells the story of a woman who suffered from bleeding for twelve years.  In this post, we focus mostly on the woman, and save much of the story of Jairus and his daughter for next time. 

If you remember, Jesus had crossed the lake, healed a man possessed of many demons and then returned to the other side. Crowds were waiting for Jesus there.  I’m not sure how long his journey to the opposite side of the lake was, but his absence was noted on the Jewish side of the lake and they were anticipating his return. 

When he returned, a man named Jairus was waiting for him.  Jairus was the leader of the local synagogue. Jairus seems like an unlikely person to be waiting in the crowd for Jesus, since most of the religious leaders were at odds with Jesus. Jairus had a difficult situation that brought him to Jesus.  His twelve-year-old daughter was dying, and he came in desperation. He came and begged Jesus to go with him and heal his daughter. Jairus had a combination of faith and humility that seemed to be absent in most of the religious leaders that Jesus dealt with.  Most of the Pharisees and teachers of the law would not turn to Jesus, even in desperation. Jesus agrees to go with Jairus, but the crowds were heavy and pressed around Jesus.  

A woman was there who had been dealing with a bleeding issue for twelve years, and no one had been able to help her, even though she had poured all of her money into this situation. Ironically, Jesus was on his way to heal a twelve year old girl, when he encounters a woman with a twelve year old problem. Lev. 15:25 says that if a woman has blood flow beyond her period, she is unclean for the duration. Also, any bed she sleeps in, or chair she sits in or anyone who touches her. So, this woman had been “unclean” for twelve years. She had sought a remedy for her situation and had spent all of her money seeing doctors, but the situation had not gotten any better. Her uncleanness puts her outside of the normal fellowship.  No one would touch her because it would make them unclean as well. 

She is taking a big chance touching Jesus' clothes, because she is making his clothing “unclean,” and by extension she is making Jesus unclean. The good news for her is that Jesus supersedes all of the clean/unclean rules.  Rather than Jesus, who was 'clean', being made "unclean", Jesus makes the unclean, clean. He is the rules, in reverse. 

Luke doesn’t tell us what the woman is thinking, but Mark gives us some insight into her thoughts. “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:28)  The woman is basically trying to steal a miracle, getting a healing without Jesus even realizing it.  Why did she think this plan would work?  I don’t know.  I have to admit that if she had revealed this plan to me before she tried, I would be very skeptical that it would work.  But it did work. 

One might ask, “why so secretive?”  Why not just approach Jesus and ask him for healing?” I suspect that the woman very embarrassed by her situation, and may have been concerned that Jesus would refuse because of her unclean status. Whatever the thinking behind it, her plan worked and her bleeding stopped immediately. It also apparently stopped Jesus in his tracks.  He was on his way to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter when this happened. Jesus, feeling the power go out, stopped everything to find out who touched him. 

I suspect that Jesus knew all along who it was. Being the prophet that he was, it seems likely that he did. With crowds all around him, Jesus asked anyway.  Peter points out that lots of people were touching him, as he was being swarmed by the crowd. Eventually the woman, realizing that she would not be able to hide, came forward. I am not sure what she was expecting or what she was so afraid of, but Jesus blesses her for her faith. Calling her "daughter,” and telling her that her faith had saived her. (verse 48.) Jesus treats her as a family member because of her faith.  Remember who Jesus said, earlier in this chapter, were his family? "Those who hear the word and obey it." (Luke 8:21.) 

Now that her faith had saved her, Jesus tells her then to ‘Go in peace.” Darrell Bock says (Bock, 799.) that peace is not an internal subjective feeling. It is a state that exists between the woman and God because of her faith. This had to be a great comfort to a woman who had been ceremonially unclean for twelve years. We, too can "go in peace" as close relatives of Jesus when we act in faith. 

Tom

     Darrell Bock, Luke, Volume 1 - 1:1-9;50, Grand Rapids, Mich. Baker Academic. 1994. 

Legion

Hello everyone,

In Luke 8:26-39 we read about what happens when Jesus crosses the lake into Gentile territory. It is a story that we are probably all familiar with.  Jesus encounters a man who is inhabited by many demons.  Remember that the disciples have just seen an incredible miracle, watching Jesus rebuke a storm.  Now they are going to see another incredible miracle, as Jesus casts out a legion of demons from one man.

When Jesus' boat pulls up on the other shore of the lake, he is met by a man with overwhelming need.  He is living completely out of control.  He lives among the tombs, and runs around naked.  The townspeople had not been able to contain him.  They had tried to chain him, but he broke the chains. (Verse 29) It seems that the demons had taken full control of the man. Alfred Edersheim says this in regard to the demon-possessed man, "The demonized are incapable of separating their own consciousness and ideas from the influence of the demon, their own identity being merged, and to that extent lost, in that of their tormentors." (Edersheim, 419.) 

The demons are so much in control that when Jesus asks the man’s name, it seems that it is the demons who respond, saying that their name is Legion.  Luke explains that he was called that because he was inhabited by many demons.  Mark records that the response was “My name is Legion, for we are many.” (Mark 5:9) It seems that the demons were in charge, and they were the ones who were talking to Jesus through the man, rather than the man speaking himself. 

The possessed man, although clearly under the control of the demons, falls down in front of Jesus.  The demons recognize Jesus' authority. They make a bazaar request from Jesus.  In spite of the fact they constatnly tortured their victim, they beg Jesus not to torture them. While they recognize Jesus' authority, they really don't understand him at all.  Torture is not on Jesus' agenda, even for demons.  His desire is simply to drive them out so that they will stop torturing this poor man,   In fact, Jesus was quite obliging to the demons.  Not only does not torture them, but when they ask him to go into the nearby herd of pigs, he allows it. 

The name Legion certainly implies that there were many demons inside the man.  Even though Luke doesn't give a number, Mark tells us that there were around two thousand pigs on the hillside that ran down into the water and drowned.  If we assume that there was a demon per pig, we would conclude that there were well over a thousand demons in the man.  So the battle was one (Jesus) against a thousand or more (the demons).  Jesus won easily. The demons understood from the outset that it was Jesus who had all of the power and all of the authority here. 

As mentioned previously, the demons are trying to avoid going into the Abyss, and beg Jesus to allow them to go into a nearby herd of pigs. Jesus allows it, but when they enter the pigs, the whole herd rund down the hill and drowns themselves in the lake. Now, according to petpigworld.com and several other websites. Pigs can swim.  So these possessed pigs chose drowning over demon possession.

After the pigs have run into the water and drown themselves, the swineherds run off to the town to tell people what has happened and the people come to see.  When the townspeople arrive, they see a couple of things.  First, there is no more herd of pigs.  Second the formerly demon-possessed man is clothed and in his right mind.  The man who demons had made so strong that he could break chains was now a normal rational man. 

One would think that they would be relieved and grateful.  Their response however, was one of fear. It would seem that Jesus’ healing of this man would lead to a different response than what it received from the people of the Gerasenes.  In fear, they asked Jesus to leave. To me, it seems that if Jesus could overpower and cast out a thousand or so demons, that I might want him to perform some miracle for me. That is not their thinking though, and they ask him to leave. 

Just like with the demons, Jesus is very obliging.  He leaves. Jesus is not one to hang around somewhere where he is not wanted. However, the man formerly known as Legion begs Jesus to go with him.  Ironically, Jesus has granted the wishes of the demons and of the townspeople who ask him to leave, but this man who wants to go with Jesus, is declined.  Jesus tells the man to go home and tell what God had done for him. The man goes beyond what Jesus asks of him.  He not only goes home, but declares what Jesus had done for him throughout the home city.  

Jesus travels across the lake, through a storm, encounters one situation, in which he rescues one man, then leaves and goes back to where he started.  It seems like a lot of trouble for one man, but Jesus was willing to do all of this for one person. 

Tom