Light

 Hello everyone. 

I will continue my exegesis of Luke 11, today looking at verses 33-36. Here is my translation:

33 No one lights a lamp, then places it somewhere hidden, or under a basket. Instead, they put it on a lampstand, so that all of those who come in can see its light. 34 Your eye is the light of your body. Whenever your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is evil, the body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore, be careful that your light is not darkened. 36 If, then, your body is full of light, without any darkness at all, then the full light of the lamp shines on you.

Jesus repeats the idea that he had presented in 8:16.  No one hides a light.  A hidden light serves no purpose and helps no one. 

This time, Jesus says (verse 34) that the eye is the light of the body and when it is healthy the whole body is full of light.  We see that the body is full of light, only if the eye is healthy.  If the eye is unhealthy the body become full of darkness. 

Obviously, Jesus is speaking on a spiritual level.  But we have to ask, 'how do we keep our spiritual eyes healthy?" We have to be careful about what we allow into our minds and bodies.  What are we looking at?  If we are bringing in spiritual truth, then our body will remain full of light.  If we are bringing in evil, we go dark.  In verse 35, Jesus says to his hearers “Be careful that your light isn’t darkened.”  

Some questions to think about: What are we allowing into our hearts and minds?  What are we watching?  This becomes something we have to be careful about.   Darrell Bock says, “”But if the eye is not sound, if the judgment is poor, then darkness results and spiritual light is nonexistent….What we are is related to what we take and accept as true.  We are responsible for our spiritual condition by how we respond to our environment.” (Bock, 1101.) 

A spiritually healthy person is full of light.  They walk in the light (see 1 John 1:7) and reflect the light of Jesus with their lives. (see 2 Cor. 3:18) In verse 36, Jesus says, “the full light of the lamp shines on you.”  We want the full light to shine on us. We appreciate light because it helps us to see.  Light removes the darkness and allows us to walk through without bumping into things.  Jesus’ light allows us to walk through a dark world and avoid some of its traps. It is to our advantage to walk in light rather than darkness.

Tom

Darrell Bock, Luke Volume 2: 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996.

The Sign of Jonah

Hello everyone.

I will continue my exegesis of Luke 11.  Today, we will look at verses 29-32.  Here is my translation: 

29 As the crowd gathered, he began to speak, “This is a wicked generation. It looks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it, except for the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign for this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in judgment of the men of this generation, and will condemn them, because she came from the far reaches of the Earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and someone greater than Solomon is here. 

32 The people of Nineveh will rise up in judgment of this generation, because when Jonah preached to them, they repented, but someone greater than Jonah is here.

To remind of what has been going on, we would back verse 14. Jesus has cast out a demon from a man that was mute. Some had accused Jesus of being in league with Satan, while others tested him, asking for a sign. Jesus has dealt with the accusers, but now will talk to those who wanted a sign. They will be given a sign, but they will also be given judgment.

Jesus is very straightforward with these sign-watchers. He starts by telling them that their generation is wicked. They are pressing Jesus for some kind of sign that he is from God. He has shown them countless miracles and yet they do not believe and still ask for a sign. What kind of sign is going to be good enough for them to believe?

So, he tells them that they are only going to get one sign, the sign of Jonah. Remember Jonah? Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish and then he appeared to the Ninevites. Jesus, soon enough, will spend three in the tomb and then rise.

Jonah’s reappearance led the Ninevites to repent. Jesus’ resurrection and reappearance does lead some to repent, like his brother James, but most do not. Truth be told, they asked for a sign and Jesus gave them an incredible sign, he came back from death. That is a sign that is hard to beat, but was still not a good enough sign for them. What were looking for? Were they looking for Jesus to create lightning flashes across the sky or turn the sun into darkness? Jesus could have done those things, but his resurrection was a far better sign than that.

So Jesus states that this generation was going to be judged harshly. He also makes reference to the Queen of Sheba. The Queen had come a long distance just to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Jesus says that both she and the Ninevites would all rise up in judgment against that generation, because rather than seek wisdom, refused to listen to Jesus’ wisdom and they refused to repent.

The people of Nineveh repented when they heard the message from Jonah, and the Queen of Sheba had traveled a great distance to seek wisdom from Solomon, but Jesus is greater than both Solomon and Jonah, but they were refusing to listen to him. These words must have been very difficult for Jesus’ audience, as he tells them that a Gentile queen and a Gentile city would judge them, God’s chosen people.

If nothing else, at least generation can serve as a bad example for us. They show us how not to be. They asked for some miraculous sign, while ignoring what was right in front of them. So let's sure that we do the opposite of what they did, and diligently seek the wisdom of Jesus, and let that lead us to repentance.

Tom

Full House

Hello everyone

In my post I wrote about binding the strongman.  The devil is the strongman, but Jesus is stronger.  He is the stronger man, that can bind up the strongman.  Jesus has said all of this in response to accusations that he was in league with the devil.  Today, we will look at how Jesus finishes his rebuttal to his accusers and how one woman in the crowd responds.  Here is my translation of verses 24-26:

 24 When an unclean spirit comes out of someone, it goes through arid places seeking rest, but doesn’t find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house that I came out of.” 25 When it gets there, it finds the house swept out and put in order. 26 It then goes and brings back seven other spirits that are even more evil than itself. They go in and live there, making things worse in the end than they were in the beginning.

Jesus has just stated, in verse 23, that a person is either with him or against him.  Now he begins talking about those who have been exorcized of demons. He is still responding to the charge that he was casting out demons through the power of Beelzebub.  Alan Thompson says “The previous warning against neutrality seems to remain in view here.  Experience of an exorcism without an accompanying trust in the “stronger one” still leaves one weak and vulnerable to Satan’s destructive designs.” (Thomspon, 189.) 

Jesus tells his audience,that when an evil spirit comes out of a person, it goes into arid places, seeking rest, but is unable to find it. Without finding rest, the spirit then decides to return to its previous home. So, where can a demon find rest? One would assume that they find it in another person.  Jesus says they go to arid places to find rest. Does this mean that demons wander around in isolated places, like the desert?  It appears that upon finding no rest, the demon decides to return to the one that it had previously inhabited.  It finds the house swept clean and put in order, but it is just a clean empty house.  The owner of the house has not replaced the evil spirit with something positive.  Finding an empty house, the evil spirit moves back in.  It becomes a squatter in the house, but he brings seven other evil spirits with him. According to Jesus, the person involved here ends up even worse off than he was in the beginning. Why?  Since he didn't fill himself up with good things, he left the door open for all of the evil to return, and it did. 

After Jesus finishes his rebuttal, a woman in the crowd speaks up. Here is may translation of verses 27-28: 

 27 As Jesus said these things,  a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that gave birth to you, and the breast that nursed you.” 28 Jesus responded, “Even more blessed are those that hear the word of God and obey it.”

Remember, Jesus has just finished a rebuttal to those who would accuse him of being in league with Satan,and now a woman speaks up, offering praise to Jesus and a blessing to Mary.  She says, “Blessed is the womb that gave birth to you, and the breast that nursed you.”

Jesus responds to this, saying, “Even more blessed are those that hear the word of God and obey it.”   Jesus is not correcting the woman, or showing disrespect to his mother.  What he is doing is showing that he is not seeking praise as much as he is seeking those who would be obedient to God. 

He has already established that obedience to God’s word makes one a part of his family, and so those people are even more blessed.

In five verses, we get two different stories back-to-back. Can they be tied together? Certainly. In one story, we see Jesus telling about those who may have exorcised their demons, but without refilling themselves with something positive, they will likely fall prey to the same demon, and more, making their situation worse. In the next story, Jesus lifts up those who hear God's word and obey it. They are ones who are truly blessed. The connection is obvious. As we rid ourselves of our 'demons,' let us refill ourselves with the Word of God, and then obey it.

Tom

Alan Thompson, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B&H Academic, 2016.

Binding the Strongman

Hello everyone.

Today, I will continue my exegesis of Luke 11.  We will look at verses 14-23, where Jesus is casting out demons, and he is accused of casting demons out by the power of Beelzebub. Here is my translation:

14 Then, one day, Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute.  When the demon came out, the one who had been mute, spoke, to the great amazement of the crowd. 15 But some among them said, “It is through Beelzebub, ruler of the demons, that he casts out demons.” 16 Still others, testing him, were seeking a sign from Heaven from him. 17 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom that is divided against itself gets destroyed, and when a house is against itself, it falls down. 18 So then, if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? You say that it is through Beelzebub that I drive out demons.  19 But if I am driving them out through Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? By this, they will be your judges.  20 But if, however, it is by the finger of God that I am casting out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 21 When the strong man, who is fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are safe.  22 But when a stronger man attacks him, he is overpowered, and the armor that he had trusted in, is taken away and his plunder is divided. 23 Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me, scatter. 

Jesus continues to teach and heal, and he continues to amaze, this time, casting out a demon that was making a man mute.  When the previously mute man began to speak, the crowd was amazed. (In the parallel passage in Matthew 12:22-23, the man is said to be both mute and blind and Jesus heals both infirmities.) 

However, some in the crowd float the idea that Jesus is casting out demons, through the power of Beelzebub. Matthew’s account attributes this idea to the Pharisees. (Matt. 12:24) Beelzebub is described here as the ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων (archonti tone daimonione).  Ἄρχοντι can be translated as ‘ruler’ or ‘prince.’ So they are ascribing to Jesus, either the ‘ruler of demons,’ or the ‘prince of demons.’ So, as some are wondering out loud whether Jesus is the “Son of David,” (Matt. 12:24) his detractors throw out there that this power is not divine, but demonic. 

No one is denying that Jesus is powerful.  They are willing to admit that much about Jesus, but they attribute that power to a different place, (Satan) that fits their own narrative better.  They bring their criticism of Jesus to a new level.  He is not just a Sabbath-breaker or a blasphemer, but now he is in league with Satan.

Others in the crowd are not ready to go that far in their criticism, yet are not ready to embrace him, either.  They test him, seeking some sort of sign, as though his continued expressions of power mean nothing.  What sign do they need?  This crowd had had just witnessed a great miracle, but this wasn’t enough. 

Jesus offers logic and reason to defend himself against ridiculous accusations, such as being in league with Beelzebub.  A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.  A house divided against itself cannot stand.  They will fall down.  If Satan is working against himself through Jesus, his kingdom will sooner or later fall apart.  Jesus makes this point: It is not through Satan that he casts out demons, but it is because he is stronger than Satan that he can cast them out.  Jesus uses this logic to show that their accusation and reasoning doesn’t make any sense. Satan would not work against himself. 

Jesus then asks them a question.  If it is through Beelzebub that he drives out demons, what force is at work when their own people drive them out? Are all Jewish exorcists, then under the power of Satan. Jesus attributes his power to the finger of God.  God’s finger is powerful, more powerful than Satan. 

Jesus uses a parable to illustrate his power.  He talks about the strong man’s house.  No one goes into the house of the strong man and plunders it. Before you can plunder the house of the strong man, you first have to incapacitate the strong man. Jesus talks about overpowering the strong man.  In order to do that you have to be stronger than the strong man.  So Jesus is not in league with him, Jesus is stronger than he is, breaking through the armor πανοπλίαν (panoplian) that the strong man had trusted in. 

In fact, when Jesus came into the world, he entered the house of the strong man to plunder it. Then, once the strong man is bound, then his house can be plundered.  Jesus is trying to do that very thing.  Many belong to Satan, the strong man.  Satan is guarding his own house, not wanting to lose anything that belongs to him.  But, Jesus is trying to plunder them from Satan’s house and He is the more powerful one of the two. 

We have to always remember that Satan is not Jesus’s evil counterpart, because Satan is not equal to God.  He is not as powerful and is subordinate to Him. Jesus is the greater power. Satan is the "strong man,' but Jesus is the "stronger man."

Read verse 23.  Either you are with Jesus or against him.  Darrell Bock makes the point that there is no Switzerland in the spiritual battle. (Bock, 1084.) We either gather with Jesus, or we scatter. It makes sense to be on the side of the stronger man, as he bound up the "strong man," and no one can bind him.  

Tom 

     Darrell Bock, Luke:Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996. 

Teach Us to Pray, Part 3

Hello everyone.  

After telling a parable of the bold friend's request in Luke 13:5-8, Jesus applies it with three imperatives.  Ask, seek and knock.  In The King Jesus Translation , Dr. G. Steve Kinnard translates these imperative phrases this way, “Keep on asking", "Keep on seeking", and "Keep on knocking." 

I like Dr. Kinnard's translation and it led me to think.  I remembered learning about something in my Intermediate Greek class.  There are different uses of the present tense.  According to Daniel B. Wallace, one of these uses was called "iterative."  It means a repeated action.  Given the context of the parable, this translation makes a lot of sense.  We, as disciples of Jesus, are to be continually asking, seeking and knocking. 

Darrell Bock says that in these three imperatives we are receiving three invitations: (Bock, 1060-1061)

• Αἰτεῖτε (Aiteite) - Ask, an invitation to pray.

• Ζητεῖτε (Zayteite) - Seek, an invitation to pursue God and His will. 

• Κρούετε (Krouete) - Knock, an invitation to enter into God’s presence. 

Each action has a result that comes with it:

• In asking, we will receive. 

• In seeking, we will find.

• In knocking, the door will be opened. 

In verses 11-13 Jesus continues, telling us of his Father, who wants to answer our prayers.  He talks to those among them who are fathers, and asks them whether they would give a snake or scorpion to one of their children who asked for a fish or an egg. Think about it, what kind of father, when asked for general sustenance, would give his child a venomous animal? That would be a terrible father, and God is not a terrible father.  He is a good and kind father. Who wants to answer our prayers.  (That does not mean that He grants our every desire.  Even here, Jesus is not saying that.) 

Jesus makes the point that these men, even though they are sinful, know how to take care of their children, how much more does God know.  (The word sinful is translated from the Greek word πονηροὶ (ponēroi), which can be translated as “wicked, evil, bad, degenerate.” I don’t think Jesus was trying to be mean here, but his audience understood that compared to God, this is what they were.) 

God is a good father, who gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. If we ask for the Holy Spirit to sustain us, would He send us a demon, instead? He wants to give the Spirit to us. Bock says this about it: “The specific good gift Luke has in mind is the Holy Spirit.  Since the prayer comes from a disciple, the request is for God’s presence, guidance and intimacy.  God will provide a specific good thing for his disciple.  The one who walks with God should be bold and diligent in asking for such benefits”. (Bock, 1062-1063.)  Think about the ‘shameless audacity’ that I wrote about in my last post.  Can we ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit with shameless audacity?  Can we seek to be in His presence, or to have His guidance like that?  This is how Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray.  Let us all, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking for the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Tom 

G. Steve Kinnard, The King Jesus Translation, Luke 13:9. 

        Daniel B. Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2000. 

Darrell Bock, Luke: Volume 2: 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996. 

Teach Us to Pray, Part 2

Greetings

Today, I will continue to look at how Jesus teaches his apostles to pray. In the short parable that Jesus tells in verses 5-8, the disciples are presented with a terrible problem.  One of them receives a visitor late at night, but they do not have food for them.  According to Bailey, this was a serious breach of hospitality, not only for the individual, but for the whole community. (Bailey, 123)

In this story, the guest arrives late at night, and the host has no food for him.  According to custom, he has no choice but to get food from somewhere.  Without the modern convenience of 24 hour stores, he must turn to his neighbors for help. 

The man who is being petitioned initially says, “No.”  He expresses his annoyance, Μή μοι κόπους πάρεχε. (May moi kopous parache) “Do not cause me trouble,” or perhaps, “Don’t bother me,” is his first response. He and his family are in bed. Likely, these villagers live in a small one-room house with everyone sleeping together on a mat.  So getting up to take care of this neighbor would likely wake everyone in the house.  This whole situation was very inconvenient for the one being petitioned. 

In similar fashion, God doesn’t grant our every request.  He often says, “No.” Sometimes, however, like the man being petitioned here, God grants the request later.  

Jesus says that the man eventually will get up and give the petitioner whatever he needs. He doesn’t do it out of friendship.  He does it because of the man’s Ἀναίδειαν (anaideian) Ἀναίδειαν is an interesting word.  Darrell Bock tells us that the word is difficult to translate into English, but that its meaning is something of a combination of boldness and shamelessness.  According to Bock, the word does not stress persistence or repetition, as much as it stresses the boldness of the request. (Bock, 1059.) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament defines the word as “lack of sensitivity to what is proper, carelessness about the good opinion of others.”  The petitioner did not care what other people thought.  He was desperate to get food for his guest.  

The NIV translates this word as “Shameless audacity.”  I like it and used it for my translation as well.  The man has some audacity.  He has a need and is shameless in his request, disturbing other people in the middle of the night in order to get what he needs. Remember that this is within the context of Jesus teaching his apostles how to pray.  

I notice that Jesus uses the word χρῄζει (chrēzei), or 'needs." here. The man gets what he needs.  This is not a parable about praying to get what we want, but about getting what we need. We see Jesus  instructing them (and us) to pray for their needs to be met, with shameless audacity. 

Tom 

Teach Us to Pray

Hello everyone.

We are going to continue our journey through the Gospel of Luke, today, by starting the exegesis of chapter 11. In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus talks about prayer.  In this post, we will look only at the first four verses. 

Jesus prays a lot.  This is the sixth time that Luke records Jesus praying.  This time, when Jesus finishes his time of prayer, one of the disciples asks him to teach them all how to pray. Here is my translation of his response, 

" “When you pray, say: 

     'Father, all reverence to your holy name.

       Let your kingdom come.

3   Give us the bread that we need today.

4  Forgive us of our sins, as we forgive all of those who are indebted to us. 

   And do not lead us into temptation.'"

Jesus' prayer begins by recognizing his intimate relationship with God.  God is Jesus' Father.  He is our Father, as well.  We are fortunate to be able to call upon a kind and compassionate figure, a Father, as God.  After calling upon God as our Father, the statement in Jesus’ prayer is ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου. (hagiasthētō to onoma sou), It is a call to hold God’s name in reverence and awe. Often translated as ‘hallowed be your name.’ But, 'hallowed' is not a word we really use much in modern English.  The Greek word ἁγιασθήτω (hagiasthētō) means to sanctify, consecrate, make holy, to hold in reverence.  I translated it as “all reverence to your holy name.’ 

So we begin with intimacy, 'Father', but we quickly move on to recognize God’s holiness and greatness. We are indeed fortunate that such a holy and powerful God is also benevolent and kind. Even His name is holy. It is spoken with reverence and awe. 

After declaring that God’s name be made holy, he then asks for God’s kingdom to come. According to Darrell Bock, this is a request that God visibly manifest Himself.  Jesus is indeed bringing the kingdom of God, and His kingdom will “show to all the greatness of God’s love, justice and righteousness." (Bock, 1053.) Bock also points out that, in prayer, Jesus begins by setting a tone of worship and awe, establishing God’s character and authority.  After we have done this, then we can make our requests.  In his prayer, Jesus makes three. 

First request: Give us the bread that we need today. 

According to Alan Thompson, the use of the word ‘bread’ here represents ‘food’ in general.  This is then likely a request that God meet our daily provision of necessities. (Thompson, 182-183.) This reminds me of the whole “turn bread into stone” conversation when Satan was tempting Jesus, back in Luke 4.  Jesus had been led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and he refused to use his miraculous powers to feed himself.  Instead,he trusted God for his provision.  Now, Jesus tells us that we are to lay that request before God, each day.  It also reminds me of Matt. 6:25-33, where Jesus tells us not to chase after food and clothing, but to seek his kingdom and his righteousness and allow God, who knows what we need, to take care of those things for us. 

Second request: Forgive us of our sins.  

This second request, our forgiveness, comes with a condition.  We are to ask God to forgive us, as we are forgiving toward other people. Jesus uses the word ἁμαρτίας (amartias)- sin, when talking about us and our relationship with God.  When he is talking about our relationship with others, he uses the word ὀφείλοντι (opheilonti) which is a participle meaning “those who are indebted to us.”  Jesus also puts word παντὶ (panti) in there.  This means “all” or “everyone.” We are to forgive all who are indebted to us.  What does this mean? Darrell Bock says, “The request shows that forgiveness is not presumed but comes with awareness: a forgiven person is a forgiving person. In fact, the right to ask assumes a willingness to respond similarly.” (Bock, 1055) This attitude takes humility.  In order to be that forgiving, we need to have the correct view of our own failings.   

Third request: Do not lead us into temptation.

This is a request in which the ultimate goal is that we do not sin against God.  Sin is powerful and we are, on our own, generally pretty weak.  We need God’s help to live righteously.  Perhaps, with God guiding our path, we will avoid some of the temptations that could lead us astray. 

In three short requests, Jesus has given us great instruction on prayer, as we seek God’s provision, protection, guidance and forgiveness. Jesus has more to say about prayer in Luke 11. Part 2 will be coming soon. 

Tom 

     Darrell Bock, Luke: Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996.

      Alan Thompson, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B&H Academic, 2016.