Luke 9:51-56 "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (52) And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. (53) But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. (54) And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, 'Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?' (55) But he turned and rebuked them. (56) And they went on to another village."
Jesus didn’t turn & rebuke the Samaritans, these half-breeds of the Jews who were against Him. Instead, His rebuke was reserved for the ones who were claiming to be His disciples, yet had no mercy for their enemies. James & John were desirous to be quick to avenge the wrongs of the Samaritans, while Jesus only desired an avenue of mercy for His antagonists.
Sin besets man; it mendaciously ensnares him in scrupulous study of others’ wrongs. The endless trappings of judging others distracts the mind & heart from healthy self-inspection. The normal proclivities of the natural man & lying spirits is to lead man to judge another rather than himself. One of the most popular staples of television today are the “court TV” shows. We like to sit in judgment of another & think “I would never do that” or “I would never go that far”. Judging another’s seemingly greater sin makes us feel better about ourselves.
James & John deserved rebuke because their indictment of another went beyond their indictment of themselves. The only reason they had not rejected Jesus as well is because He chose them-
John 15:16-17 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (17) These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Jesus, in union with the Father & Spirit, chose James, John, & every other true believer in Christ out of the mire of their own degradation. We cannot rightly bring a conviction to bear on another for rejecting Christ; for we would be in that place ourselves were it not for God’s merciful election.
We must remember that we are not better than they on the basis of our acceptance of Christ, for our acceptance of Him is not our doing.
More so, He chose you & appointed you towards a goal- to bear fruit. Among the riches of Christ’s fruit is the ability to love the unlovable. As the believer expresses love towards the unbeliever, he is mirroring what Christ has done for him. The Spirit takes this expression of true Godly love & rains conviction down on mind & soul…
Romans 12:9-21 “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.(10) Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (11) Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (12) Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (13) Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (14) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (15) Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (16) Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. (17) Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. (18) If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (19) Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." (20) To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Again, the purpose of God’s love within us is to bear fruit. We manifest Godly love by doing as He does- loving the unlovable. The Spirit joins with us in our time of “weakness” (as the world would consider such actions to be) to open the eyes of the unbeliever to a genuine display of Christ’s love. In such times, we truly demonstrate Christian love.
God does abhor evil, but all the while genuine love pours forth from Him for the worst degenerates. His kind of love within the believer does not pull up stakes when evil rolls into town; it stands firm, looking forward towards Christ-like love, instead of forlornly back at man’s selfish & shallow form of love.
Let us return to finish our opening text-
Luke 9:57-62 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." (58) And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (59) To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." (60) And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (61) Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." (62) Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Always looking ahead to Christ’s measure of mercy & grace, instead of backwards at our own, is the goal.
Following Jesus means loving the unlovable…
Jesus indeed saw the Samaritans’ sin, but pressed on ever the more towards Jerusalem. He pressed on in love for the Samaritans’ sake, for the cross would be awaiting Him in in that place (though at a later date). Our opening verse (Luke 9:51) makes clear the cause for His fixation on Jerusalem- preparation for His appointed time to be "taken up". His greatest expression of love was waiting for Him there; from His first miracle (John 2) onward, the cross was never secondary, it was always His primary focus & goal (John 12:27). For the cross was His primary act of benevolent love for the Samaritans, & all us as well.
Philippians 3:7-14 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (8) Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- (10) that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (12) Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (13) Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
One God, One Honor
John 5:15-23 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. (16) And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (21) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (22) The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (23) that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
What does Jesus refer to as He requires “all” to “honor” Him? We should consider every way we honor the Father, & not withhold that honor from the Son either. One thing the Father is clearly due is worship for His benevolence, mercy, forgiveness, & love. We should bless His name for being that guiding light of goodness for the slacking sojourner. We should be thankful and full of praise for the One who holds the scales of justice, the one who sees every injustice done by every soul & is a vanguard for the wrongly oppressed.
But that’s the point; all these qualities of God we see mysteriously manifested in the ages before Christ, we see expressly manifested in the age of Christ.
In the Old Testament, God showed the glory of His righteous nature from on High- there was a physical disconnect between the dwelling place of God & that of mankind. God was clearly higher, better, & stronger than man; He demonstrated that as He set His kingdom up & ruled the observable physical dimension from the unseen spiritual dimension. Though He did do so, Christ did not need to make the verbal claim to be that God, the One whose sovereignty rules over all creation- both Heaven & Earth- for Jesus demonstrated His Godliness by His nature.
Because God was set apart from man, accordingly we may have thought “He’s never felt physical pain, the pangs of hunger, or the distress of human temptations- because He‘s God. He can‘t know my pain until He‘s walked a mile in my shoes.” But through Christ, God did walk- not a mile in man’s shoes- but a lifetime. For thirty years before He was to initiate His ministry, God labored & toiled for His daily sustenance just as we do, yet because of His higher nature, He knew no sin. As He began His ministry, He went without for longer than most any man has ever gone without food, yet He was without sin. In this greatly emasculated, enfeebled condition, He spurned grand temptations to grasp something more than was due Him at that time. In no less a place than in tremendous poverty, in a place of unfathomable suffering, this God in man’s shoes rejected the allure of sinfulness. Conversely, mankind had dominion, comfort, & riches beyond belief in the Garden of Eden, yet demonstrated his lesser nature by craving still more. For man, enough is never enough, yet Jesus demonstrated His Godliness by embracing a dearth of dominion, comfort, & riches for the sake of another- namely, His elect children.
John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Every one of us is that aforementioned “slacking sojourner” in need of a light for his path. Part of the manner we worship Christ is by following in His steps. We truly worship Him “in Spirit & in truth” by endeavoring ever more to walk a mile in His shoes- to feel but a moment of His pain- & therefore more so perceive His magnificence. As we fight the good fight to do good instead of evil- to live out the commands of the Sermon on the Mount, we grasp the enormity of what is true goodness. It is there, in that place, that we begin to truly comprehend breadth and length and height and depth of God’s unique nature…
Ephesians 3:13-21 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. (14) For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, (15) from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, (16) that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19) and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (20) Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, (21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
He is to us firstly God, & we should worship Him for that foremost- for even if He were what the Deists claim Him to be- a God unconcerned with our needs- He is still due worship for the mere fact that He is God & we are not. Even in such a minimalist’s view of God’s goodness, He is still Creator & we are still the created.
But our view of God goes beyond that of that of the Deists’ sect, for we believe that He indeed has demonstrated Himself beyond reason alone. He has clearly revealed His nature to us through Christ.
God has revealed his nature to us through the manifestation & ministry of His beloved Son
Sadly, many today dishonor the Son of God in order to increase their own self-image. They desire to discredit Christ so as to credit themselves. This motive is not often readily apparent at first glance, but as we know, human nature naggingly portends prodigious pride more as the rule than the exception. No different than when Adam & Eve first partook of the forbidden fruit, we always desire more than we have. No matter the extent of our abundance, we want more. More power, influence, fame, knowledge, & wealth. The riches of Christ simply don’t fulfill the natural man’s appetite for self indulgence. But they were never meant to; for darkness & light cannot cohabitate- that fact is a witness of Christ’s glory & requisite honor.
What does Jesus refer to as He requires “all” to “honor” Him? We should consider every way we honor the Father, & not withhold that honor from the Son either. One thing the Father is clearly due is worship for His benevolence, mercy, forgiveness, & love. We should bless His name for being that guiding light of goodness for the slacking sojourner. We should be thankful and full of praise for the One who holds the scales of justice, the one who sees every injustice done by every soul & is a vanguard for the wrongly oppressed.
But that’s the point; all these qualities of God we see mysteriously manifested in the ages before Christ, we see expressly manifested in the age of Christ.
In the Old Testament, God showed the glory of His righteous nature from on High- there was a physical disconnect between the dwelling place of God & that of mankind. God was clearly higher, better, & stronger than man; He demonstrated that as He set His kingdom up & ruled the observable physical dimension from the unseen spiritual dimension. Though He did do so, Christ did not need to make the verbal claim to be that God, the One whose sovereignty rules over all creation- both Heaven & Earth- for Jesus demonstrated His Godliness by His nature.
Because God was set apart from man, accordingly we may have thought “He’s never felt physical pain, the pangs of hunger, or the distress of human temptations- because He‘s God. He can‘t know my pain until He‘s walked a mile in my shoes.” But through Christ, God did walk- not a mile in man’s shoes- but a lifetime. For thirty years before He was to initiate His ministry, God labored & toiled for His daily sustenance just as we do, yet because of His higher nature, He knew no sin. As He began His ministry, He went without for longer than most any man has ever gone without food, yet He was without sin. In this greatly emasculated, enfeebled condition, He spurned grand temptations to grasp something more than was due Him at that time. In no less a place than in tremendous poverty, in a place of unfathomable suffering, this God in man’s shoes rejected the allure of sinfulness. Conversely, mankind had dominion, comfort, & riches beyond belief in the Garden of Eden, yet demonstrated his lesser nature by craving still more. For man, enough is never enough, yet Jesus demonstrated His Godliness by embracing a dearth of dominion, comfort, & riches for the sake of another- namely, His elect children.
John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Every one of us is that aforementioned “slacking sojourner” in need of a light for his path. Part of the manner we worship Christ is by following in His steps. We truly worship Him “in Spirit & in truth” by endeavoring ever more to walk a mile in His shoes- to feel but a moment of His pain- & therefore more so perceive His magnificence. As we fight the good fight to do good instead of evil- to live out the commands of the Sermon on the Mount, we grasp the enormity of what is true goodness. It is there, in that place, that we begin to truly comprehend breadth and length and height and depth of God’s unique nature…
Ephesians 3:13-21 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. (14) For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, (15) from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, (16) that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19) and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (20) Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, (21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
He is to us firstly God, & we should worship Him for that foremost- for even if He were what the Deists claim Him to be- a God unconcerned with our needs- He is still due worship for the mere fact that He is God & we are not. Even in such a minimalist’s view of God’s goodness, He is still Creator & we are still the created.
But our view of God goes beyond that of that of the Deists’ sect, for we believe that He indeed has demonstrated Himself beyond reason alone. He has clearly revealed His nature to us through Christ.
God has revealed his nature to us through the manifestation & ministry of His beloved Son
Sadly, many today dishonor the Son of God in order to increase their own self-image. They desire to discredit Christ so as to credit themselves. This motive is not often readily apparent at first glance, but as we know, human nature naggingly portends prodigious pride more as the rule than the exception. No different than when Adam & Eve first partook of the forbidden fruit, we always desire more than we have. No matter the extent of our abundance, we want more. More power, influence, fame, knowledge, & wealth. The riches of Christ simply don’t fulfill the natural man’s appetite for self indulgence. But they were never meant to; for darkness & light cannot cohabitate- that fact is a witness of Christ’s glory & requisite honor.
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