Friday, March 29, 2019

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires the humility and the passion to go to those who are far from Jesus...


This week we have been looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. In this event from history Jesus was invited over to the home of one of the Pharisees one Sabbath. After the service at the synagogue, a natural practice in the culture of the day was to invite one’s friends over for a meal. This meal would be time of connection where people would invite those who were of a similar social status to reinforce their relationships with one another and to honor one another.

Luke then explained that Jesus, aware that He was being watched closely by this group of self-righteous religious leaders, responded by asking them a question: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" The Pharisees, however, refused to answer the question but instead remained silent. Upon receiving no answer to His question, Jesus miraculously healed the man and sent him on his way. And as the man who had been miraculously healed by Jesus went on his way, Jesus asked the self righteous religious leaders a second and much more personal question: "Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?"

Jesus exposed the reality that for these religious leaders, keeping God’s rules regarding the Sabbath took precedent over keeping God’s command to demonstrate God’s mercy. After healing a man and breaking one of their rules, Jesus then began to tell a series of parables.

Jesus point of His initial parable was that the person who considered themselves better than others and looked down on others by attempting to seize position, power, and glory for themselves will have the position, power, and glory taken away from them by God. By contrast, the person who has a humble attitude, the person who places others before themselves will have their reputation enhanced by God as a result of their attitude towards others.

In a second parable, Jesus attacked the insider vs. outsider mentality of the self righteous religious leaders of His day. Instead of focusing on what they would receive from those who are already on the inside, Jesus called those listening to focus on the needs of those outside without any expectation of receiving anything in return. Jesus point was that the focus of His followers is to be on the outsiders who are far from God. The focus is to be on receiving recognition from God, not from others who are already insiders.

One of the self righteous religious people at the meal responded by making a statement that was designed to make himself look spiritually mature. This self righteous religious person believed that, just as it was for those at this meal, the invitation to God’s dinner party for all eternity in Heaven would be for only a select few. From this self righteous religious person’s perspective, only a select few would be invited to be a part of God’s kingdom in Heaven. However this self righteous religious person’s statement led Jesus to launch into a third parable, which Luke records in Luke 14:16. Let’s look at it together:

  But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.'  "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.'  "Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' "Another one said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.' "And the slave came back and reported this to his master.

Now to fully wrap our minds around this parable, we first need to make sure that we notice a few things. First, did you notice that the man who was the head of the household gave two invitations to the dinner party that he was going to have? As was normal for the culture of the day, the head of the household issued the first invitation in verse 16.

This invitation would have been given well in advance and would have been similar to an RSVP in our culture today. This invitation was necessary so that the head of the household could make the necessary preparations in terms of food, beverages, and the like for the dinner party. Then, in verse 17, we see the head of the household sent his servant out with a second invitation. This invitation was to let the invited guests know that it was time to go to the party.

Second, did you notice that the invitation was to many, not to only a select few? Jesus tells us that the head of the household invited many. However, in verse 18, Jesus explained that they all alike began to make excuses. Now just as it is today, an excuse is simply an attempt to avoid something by making a statement that provides a reason to reject the invitation.

Now this leads us to the third thing that we need to notice, which is how lame these excuses were. All of these excuses involved preplanned activities, not last minute emergencies. So, basically what happened is that those who had been invited gave the impression that they were interested in attending the dinner, but in reality had no intention on actually attending the dinner.

Fourth, did you notice that all of these excuses come down to an issue of priorities? All of those invited either chose to make their possessions or their personal pleasure a priority over the invitation to attend the dinner party.

And fifth, did you notice that all of those that were invited would have been very similar to the people that were also in attendance at the meal that Jesus was at? These were people who appeared to be close to the head of the household in terms of their proximity and their social status. These were people who were well off financially and appeared to be insiders with the head of the household.

However, while they may have appeared to be insiders who were close to the head of the household, their rejection of the invitation to attend the dinner party revealed that their relationship with the head of the household was not a priority in their lives. After the servant shared with the head of the household the excuses of those who had been invited, we see Jesus continue His parable by revealing how the head of the household’s responded to their excuses in the second half of verse 21:

Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'  "And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' "And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'"

The head of the household, furious that so many had rejected his gracious invitation to have dinner with him, commanded his servant to go back into the city to invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame. In the culture of the day, these would have been outsiders who had little or no position, power, or influence. After extending the invitation to those who were outsiders, the servant returned to his master to explain that there was still room for more to attend the dinner party.

The head of the household, who desired that his dinner party be filled, responded by commanding his servant to go and invite even more people. This time, however, the servant was directed to travel far and wide so as to compel them to come to the dinner party. Now the word compel here literally means to strongly urge.

You see, the head of the household wanted as many people as possible to enjoy the dinner party. And the head of the household was willing to send his servant further and further away from home in order to extend the invitation. However, for those who thought that they were insiders who were close to the head of the household but rejected his invitation, they were not going to receive another invitation.

Now can you imagine what was running through the mind of the self righteous religious person who had wanted to make himself look spiritually mature? Jesus had just blown up all of his categories. The point that Jesus wanted to drive home to all the self righteous religious people at this meal was that God was extending an invitation to many people to be a part of His kingdom.

The point that Jesus wanted to drive home to all of the self righteous religious people at this meal was that God was willing to pursue people who were far from God and would be viewed as outsiders so that He could strongly urge them to accept His invitation to be a part of His kingdom. The point that Jesus wanted to drive home to all of the self righteous religious people at this meal was that God was on a mission to humbly and passionately invite not just a few privileged insiders, but many, many outsiders to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.

And it is here that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to inviting people to follow Jesus is a way that follows the example of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires the humility and the passion to go to those who are far from Jesus. In order to invite people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus, we must have the humility and the passion to go to those who are far from Jesus.

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we humbly place others who are far from Jesus before ourselves instead of looking down on others who are far from Jesus. And inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we passionately go to those who are far from Jesus by loving, serving, and investing in their lives.

You see, the Lord is passionate about reaching out and rescuing those who are outsiders who are far from Him. As a matter of fact, Jesus is far more committed to this reality than we are. And because Jesus is committed to reaching out and rescuing those who are far from Him, we can have confidence to invite those who are far from Him to follow Him. We can have confidence because Jesus desires to use us as the vehicle that He uses to reach out and rescue those who are far from Him.

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we recognize what is at stake in the life of the person who is far from Jesus so that we would respond to that reality by preparing ourselves to represent Jesus well as we extend the invitation to follow Jesus. This means that we are seeking the Lord’s presence, power, and direction when it comes to what we say and how we say it as we extend the invitation to follow Jesus. We are to be committed to knowing the person who we are investing and inviting to follow Jesus as well as the words that we are going to use as we invite them to follow Jesus. 

So here is a question to consider. Are you willing to humbly and passionately go to those around you who are far from Jesus? Are you willing to do something that will connect with someone that Jesus has already placed around you that is far from Jesus? Are you willing to take the time to love and serve someone around you that is far from Jesus in a way that enables you to connect with them in a tangible and practical way?

Because inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires the humility and the passion to go to those who are far from Jesus...

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Two parables on one's position toward outsiders...


This week we are looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Yesterday we looked on as Luke explained that Jesus was invited over to the home of one of the Pharisees one Sabbath.

In addition to Jesus and the Pharisees, Luke explained that a man was present at the meal who had dropsy. The Pharisees were watching Him closely, hoping to catch Jesus behaving in a way that would violate the religious rules of the day so that they would be able to discredit Jesus’ status and credibility among the people.  

Luke then explained that Jesus, aware that He was being watched closely by this group of self-righteous religious leaders, responded by asking them a question: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" The Pharisees, however, refused to answer the question but instead remained silent. Upon receiving no answer to His question, Jesus miraculously healed the man and sent him on his way.

And as the man who had been miraculously healed by Jesus went on his way, Jesus asked the self righteous religious leaders a second and much more personal question: "Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?" Jesus here was making reference to a command from God that is recorded for us in a section of a letter in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of Deuteronomy.

Luke then explained that the religious leaders could make no reply to this. The religious leaders could make no reply to this because Jesus had exposed the reality that for these religious leaders, keeping God’s rules regarding the Sabbath took precedent over keeping God’s command to demonstrate God’s mercy. Jesus exposed the reality that these religious leaders had set aside God’s command to be merciful to instead focus exclusively on a painstakingly perfect Sabbath observance.

Jesus also revealed the reality that one of the basic aspects of the Sabbath is to demonstrate mercy. You see the Sabbath was a time to reflect of God’s position as our Creator and God’s provision and mercy to His people as their provider. And the Sabbath was to be an opportunity to demonstrate the mercy of God in a way that reflected God to those around them who did not know God.

After healing a man and breaking one of their rules, Jesus then began to tell a parable. Now a parable is an earthly story designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth. So let’s look at this parable together, beginning in Luke 14:7-11:

And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Now to fully understand the significance of this parable, let’s take a minute and place ourselves at this meal that Jesus had been invited to. You see, as Jesus looked around at what was happening at this meal, He made an observation about the hearts of the self righteous religious people that were at the meal. As the meal was going on, Jesus observed how everyone was picking out the places of honor at the dinner table.

In the culture of the day, these would be the seats that were located next to the master of the house or the host of the meal. These were the VIP seats. Jesus, after making this observation, explained that instead of focusing on trying to get the VIP seats, their focus should be on occupying the last place.

In the culture of the day, the last place at a meal or wedding reception was the seat that was located in the corner, furthest away from the master of the house or the host. These were the seats that were the last to be filled; you did not want to sit in the last place. These were the obstructed view tickets in the upper deck.

Jesus then explained that the reason why one should focus on those seats was due to the fact that there is nowhere to go but up. I mean the person who invited you can only move you to a better seat. However, if you try to vie for the VIP seats, the person who invited you could decide that you are not worthy of those seats and publicly remove you from those seats. And as you might imagine, that would be quite embarrassing. You would be disgraced publicly, wouldn’t you?

However, if you are sitting far away from the VIP seats in the obstructed view seats and the person who invited you searches you out and places you in the VIP seats, you would be honored in front of everyone else, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. Jesus then hammered this point home with a powerful statement: "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Jesus point is that the person who considers themselves better than others and looks down on others by attempting to seize position, power, and glory for themselves will have the position, power, and glory taken away from them by God. By contrast, the person who has a humble attitude, the person who places others before themselves will have their reputation enhanced by God as a result of their attitude towards others. Now if that was not enough, Jesus continued by telling a second parable, which Luke records for us in Luke 14:12-14:

 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. "But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

In this parable, Jesus attacked the insider vs. outsider mentality of the self righteous religious leaders of His day. You see, these self righteous leaders were a part of the in crowd. And as a part of the in crowd, these self righteous religious people would have dinner parties for their other self righteous religious friends.

The expectation, however, was that if you were invited to one of these insider dinner parties, that you would invite the person who invited you to their party to your party. So, if these self righteous religious people would invite ten other self righteous religious people over to their house for a dinner party, the expectation would be that they would receive invitations to ten other dinner parties. However, if you were an outsider that did not measure up to the prestige and power of an insider so that you could return the invitation; you would not get an invitation.

Now here is a question: has anything changed? Is this not a natural temptation that we still face today? Are we not tempted to extend invitations to others so that we can be invited by others to be a part of the insiders?

What is true for us as individuals is also true for us as a church. As Andy Stanley points out, the natural trajectory of a church is to focus inward. The natural trajectory of church is to focus on the insiders who are already here at the expense of the outsiders who are not here.

Jesus responded to this temptation by challenging the self righteous religious people of his day to change their focus. Instead of focusing on what they would receive from those who are already on the inside, Jesus called those listening to focus on the needs of those outside without any expectation of receiving anything in return.

Jesus then explained that by focusing on those who are outsiders without any expectation of receiving anything in return, one would experience the blessing of being the recipient of God’s Divine favor at the end of God’s story, when followers of Jesus will be a part of God’s royal reign throughout all eternity as part of the kingdom of God.

Jesus point was that the focus of His followers is to be on the outsiders who are far from God. The focus is to be on receiving recognition from God, not from others who are already insiders. Luke then recorded for us how the self righteous religious people responded to Jesus challenge in verse 15:

When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

Luke tells us that one of the self righteous religious people at the meal responded by making a statement that was designed to make himself look spiritually mature. This statement, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “How especially favored by God are those who will get to go to the dinner party that God will have for us in Heaven”. 

You see, this self righteous religious person believed that, just as it was for those at this meal, the invitation to God’s dinner party for all eternity in Heaven would be for only a select few. From this self righteous religious person’s perspective, only a select few would be invited to be a part of God’s kingdom in Heaven.

However this self righteous religious person’s statement led Jesus to launch into a third parable, which we will look at Friday…

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Setting aside God's command to demonstrate mercy...


At the church where I serve, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “Invite”. During this series we are looking at several events from history where Jesus engaged and invited those who were far from Him to follow Him and live in relationship with Him. During this series, we are going to discover what Jesus said to invite those who were far from Him to follow Him and live in relationship with Him. During this series, we are going to discover how Jesus said what He said to invite those who were far from Him to follow Him and live in relationship with Him. And as we go through this series, our hope and prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our heads, hearts, and hands in a way that equips and empowers us to follow the example of Jesus when it comes to inviting those who are far from Jesus to follow Jesus and live in relationship with Jesus.  

This week, I would like for us to look at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. And it is in a section of the gospel of Luke that we see Luke give us a front row seat to a confrontation that reveals a timeless truth about how Jesus engaged and invited someone who was far from Him to follow Him. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Luke 14:1-6:

It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. 2 And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" 4 But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. 5 And He said to them, "Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?" 6 And they could make no reply to this.

Luke begins to give us a front row seat to this confrontation by providing for us the context in which this confrontation would take place. Luke explained that Jesus was invited over to the home of one of the Pharisees one Sabbath. As we have talked about in this series, the Pharisees were the self righteous religious leaders of Jesus day. And as a leader of the Pharisees, this man would have been someone who had a great deal of status in the community. He would have been one of the social elites of the community.

After the service at the synagogue, a natural practice in the culture of the day was to invite one’s friends over for a meal. This meal would be time of connection where people would invite those who were of a similar social status to reinforce their relationships with one another and to honor one another. These were meals that served to help those who had social status be seen in a way that reinforced their social status.

In addition to Jesus and the Pharisees, Luke explained that a man was present at the meal who had dropsy. Now dropsy was, and still is, a medical condition that is marked by a swelling of the body due to retention of excessive liquid from a person’s lymph glands. Dropsy is a very ugly and unattractive disease that can be extremely painful and is ultimately disabling. When Luke says that the Pharisees were watching Him closely, he is revealing for us the reality that this group of self righteous religious people were hoping to catch Jesus behaving in a way that would violate the religious rules of the day so that they would be able to discredit Jesus’ status and credibility among the people.  

Luke then explained that Jesus, aware that He was being watched closely by this group of self-righteous religious leaders, responded by asking them a question: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" The Pharisees, however, refused to answer the question but instead remained silent. You see, the Pharisees wanted the focus to be on Jesus and whether or not He would break one of the religious rules.

Upon receiving no answer to His question, Jesus miraculously healed the man and sent him on his way. And as the man who had been miraculously healed by Jesus went on his way, Jesus asked the self righteous religious leaders a second and much more personal question: "Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?"

Jesus here was making reference to a command from God that is recorded for us in a section of a letter in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 22:4, we see God give the following command to the Jewish people:

"You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox fallen down on the way, and pay no attention to them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up.

Luke then explained that the religious leaders could make no reply to this. The religious leaders could make no reply to this because Jesus had exposed the reality that for these religious leaders, keeping God’s rules regarding the Sabbath took precedent over keeping God’s command to demonstrate God’s mercy. Jesus exposed the reality that these religious leaders had set aside God’s command to be merciful to instead focus exclusively on a painstakingly perfect Sabbath observance.

Jesus also revealed the reality that one of the basic aspects of the Sabbath is to demonstrate mercy. You see the Sabbath was a time to reflect of God’s position as our Creator and God’s provision and mercy to His people as their provider. And the Sabbath was to be an opportunity to demonstrate the mercy of God in a way that reflected God to those around them who did not know God. After healing a man and breaking one of their rules, Jesus then began to tell a parable.

Tomorrow we will look at this parable together...

Friday, March 22, 2019

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we take the time and the risk to treat everyone as our neighbor...


This week we have been looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. As Jesus was engaging in a conversation with His disciples about a short-term mission trip that they had just returned from, a lawyer stood up and put Jesus to the test. 

This lawyer was setting a trap by asking the question "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Now this question, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Jesus, what must I do so that I can experience eternal life with God in Heaven? What must I do to be right with God so that I can obtain a ticket to Heaven?”

The reason why this question was a trap was due to the fact that there was great disagreement when it came to the answer to this question. And the lawyer believed that however Jesus answered this question, Jesus would end up offending someone.

Instead of providing an answer to the lawyers’ question, Jesus, sensing the lawyer’s insincerity, responded by turning the tables on the lawyer. The lawyer, unable to resist the temptation to show off how much he knew about God, responded to having the tables turned on him by Jesus by quoting from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Deuteronomy.

Jesus, hearing the lawyers answer to his own question, responded by affirming the lawyers answer. And in affirming the lawyers answer, Jesus quoted a section from a letter in the Old Testament of our Bible called the book of Ezekiel. Jesus basically said to the lawyer “You answered your own question correctly. Now make sure that you are living your life in obedience to your answer. To be right with God so that you can obtain a ticket to Heaven make sure that you are living your life in obedience to the Lord’s command to love the Lord with your total being and to love your neighbor as yourself, because you will show your love for the Lord by how you love your neighbor.”

The lawyer responded to having the tables turned on him by Jesus by asking Jesus a second question. "And who is my neighbor?" The lawyer recognized that his plan to trap Jesus had backfired. The lawyer desperately desired to vindicate himself. And the lawyer desperately wanted to demonstrate how smart he was and how much he knew about God. So the lawyer doubled down in his attempts to trap Jesus. 

Once again, the lawyer thought that he had trapped Jesus. The lawyer thought that he had trapped Jesus again because there was great disagreement when it came to the answer to this question. And the lawyer believed that however Jesus answered this question, Jesus would end up offending someone.

, Jewish people who were right with God were under obligation to love other people who were insiders that were right with God, but Jewish people did not have to love people who were outsiders who were not right with God. So there was great debate when it came to who was an insider and who was an outsider. There was a great debate when it came to who was right with God and who was not right with God. There was great debate over who needed to be shown love and who did not need to be shown love.  And now Jesus was being forced by this lawyer to enter into this debate.

Luke tells us that, once again, Jesus replied to the lawyers question by not directly answering his question. Instead, Jesus told a parable. Jesus began this parable by explaining that as a Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The Jewish man who was on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by robbers who robbed him, beat him, stripped him naked and left him half dead on the side of the road.

However, by chance a priest happened to be traveling on the road to Jericho when he came upon this half dead man lying on the side of the road. Yet, when this insider of insiders saw his fellow Jewish man beaten, naked, and left half dead on the side of the road, he responded by moving to the other side of the road.

Jesus then explained that just by chance, a Levite happened to be traveling on the road to Jericho when he came upon this half dead man lying on the side of the road. Yet, when this insider saw his fellow Jewish man beaten, naked, and left half dead on the side of the road, he also responded by moving to the other side of the road. Today, we jump back into this event from history as Jesus then continued His parable by revealing a third character in Luke 10:33-35:

  "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.'

Now if you were a Jewish person in the crowd listening to Jesus parable, at the moment Jesus referred to a Samaritan, you would have gasped in disbelief. You would have gasped in disbelief because of who the Samaritans were. You would have gasped in disbelief because of how Jewish people felt about Samaritans. You see, Samaritans were people who lived in Samaria. And at one time, Samaria was a part of the northern Kingdom of Israel.

Then, in 722 B.C., the Assyrian Empire conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In order to help control the regions that they conquered, the Assyrians developed a strategy that involved deporting large numbers of Jewish people and replacing them with large numbers of people from the nation of Assyria. The Assyrians who moved to Samaria worshipped false gods and simply added the worship of the One True God to their worship of their false gods.

Over time, the Jewish people began to intermarry and adopt the religion and culture of the Assyrians. The Samaritans rejected all of the Old Testament except the first five books and refused to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. Instead, the Samaritans built their own temple on Mt Gerizim in 400 B.C. Now as you might imagine, the Jewish people did not respond well to what was happening in Samaria. And over time a great deal of animosity built between the Jewish people who lived in southern Israel and the people who lived in Samaria.

The Jewish people came to view the Samaritans as “half breeds” and wanted nothing to do with them. So, if you were a Jewish person you would have gasped at Jesus introduction of a Samaritan into this parable. Samaritans were viewed as outsiders. Samaritans were viewed as people who were far from God. Samaritans were viewed as those who did not need to be shown love. Samaritans were viewed as the enemy.

However, this Samaritan did six different things for this injured Jewish person that demonstrated that he loved this Jewish person as a neighbor. First, the Samaritan took the time and the risk to engage the injured Jewish man. After all, the robbers could have been hiding in the distance waiting to attack him as well. Second, the Samaritan took the time and the risk to bandage the wounds of the injured Jewish man.

Third, the Samaritan took the time and the risk to anoint the cuts with oil and wine, which would have soothed the wound and disinfected the wound. All of these actions would have exposed the Samaritan man to potential danger. Fourth, the Samaritan took the time and effort to load the man on his mule while he walked alongside the mule. Fifth, the Samaritan took the time and effort to take him to the inn in Jericho.

And sixth, the Samaritan took of his own resources to provide care and comfort to the injured man by staying the night and paying for his future care by giving two days wages. In the culture of the first century, two days wages would have paid for the injured Jewish man to stay at the inn for twenty-four days in order to recover from his injuries. After telling this parable, Jesus then asked the lawyer a very pointed question. A question that Luke reveals for us in verse 36:

 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"

Now can you imagine the scene as Jesus asked the lawyer that question? Can you imagine the tension that would have been present? Can you imagine the tension that comes from knowing the right answer but not liking the right answer? After all, Samaritans were outsiders. Samaritans were far from God. Samaritans did not need to be shown love. Samaritans were the enemy. Can you imagine how long it took for the lawyer to provide the answer to that question? Luke then reveals how the lawyer answered Jesus question in verse 37:

And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

Now did you notice the lawyer’s response? I mean, he could even say the word Samaritan, could he? Instead the lawyer stated "The one who showed mercy toward him." However, Jesus does not let the lawyer off the hook, does He? Instead, Luke tells us that Jesus commanded the lawyer to go and do the same. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved.

You see, Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because love is not a noun. Love is a verb. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because there is a difference between knowing the truth about God and doing the truth of God. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because love is proved or demonstrated by our actions. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because being a neighbor is not about location or race. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because being a neighbor is about our actions regardless of location or race.

And it is here, in this event from history that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we take the time and the risk to treat everyone as our neighbor. Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we not allow ourselves to get sidetracked from the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus to instead engage in theological debates that are designed to show how much we know about God. Instead, inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we live out the truth about God in a way that demonstrates that we know God.

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we love everyone as our neighbor, because love is proved, or demonstrated, by our actions. Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we be willing take and risk our time, treasure, energy, effort, and sometimes even our safety for the person who is far from Jesus.

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we resist the temptation to restrict what Jesus commands us to do in order to make Jesus commands and demands more manageable. Instead of attempting to restrict or reduce Jesus commands and demands, as followers of Jesus we are to recognize that Jesus commands us to love everyone as our neighbor because loving our neighbor is about our actions regardless of location or race.

And inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we remember that inviting people to follow Jesus is often a slow process that takes time. You see, as Jesus engaged this lawyer, did you notice that Jesus was content to let him walk away without sharing with him the message of the gospel? Jesus let this lawyer walk away to ponder the issues in his heart that were exposed by Jesus.

When we read the accounts of Jesus life in the Bible, we discover that one of the main ways that Jesus engaged those who were far from Him was to ask good questions. And in the same way there will be times when people around us are not ready to hear the message of the gospel. And because of the reality, inviting people to follow Jesus will sometimes mean that we engage people in a way that does not always share the message of the gospel but instead simply asks them questions about where they are at when it comes to a relationship with Jesus while living a life that represents Jesus well. 

So here is a question for us to consider: If you were to find yourself as a character in this parable, which character would you be? Or better yet, if those closest to you were to place you as a character in this parable, which character would they say you would be?

Would you find yourself in this parable as the priest, who was considered an insider of insiders, but who was unloving to his fellow insider, let alone to anyone who was considered an outsider? Would you find yourself in this parable as the Levite, who was also an insider but who was also unloving to his fellow insider, let alone to anyone who was considered an outsider?

Or would you find yourself in this parable as the Samaritan, who while considered an outsider, loved the insider as though he was a fellow insider? If you were to find yourself as a character in this parable, which character would you be?

Because, inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we take the time and the risk to treat everyone as our neighbor...

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Doubling Down in an Attempt to Trap...


This week we are looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. As Jesus was engaging in a conversation with His disciples about a short-term mission trip that they had just returned from, a lawyer stood up and put Jesus to the test. 

When Luke says that this lawyer put Jesus to the test, he is revealing for us the reality that this lawyer was trying to trap Jesus with a question. This lawyer was setting a trap in hopes that Jesus would incorrectly answer the question in a way that would jeopardize Jesus status and credibility among the people. Luke then revealed the question that was posed to Jesus in order to trap Jesus: "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

Now this question, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Jesus, what must I do so that I can experience eternal life with God in Heaven? What must I do to be right with God so that I can obtain a ticket to Heaven?” The reason why this question was a trap was due to the fact that there was great disagreement when it came to the answer to this question. And the lawyer believed that however Jesus answered this question, Jesus would end up offending someone.

Instead of providing an answer to the lawyers’ question, Jesus, sensing the lawyer’s insincerity, responded by turning the tables on the lawyer. Jesus basically said to the lawyer “What do you think? What do you think God said about how we can experience eternal life with God in Heaven?” Luke tells us that the lawyer, unable to resist the temptation to show off how much he knew about God, responded to having the tables turned on him by Jesus by quoting from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Deuteronomy.

Jesus, upon hearing the lawyers answer to his own question, responded by affirming the lawyers answer. And in affirming the lawyers answer, Jesus quoted a section from a letter in the Old Testament of our Bible called the book of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 20:11, the prophet Ezekiel reminded the Jewish people that the Lord had given the Jewish people His commandments to reveal His nature and character and the nature and character that the Jewish people needed to possess and display in order to live in relationship with Him.

Jesus quoted this Old Testament passage as a command to the lawyer. Jesus basically said to the lawyer “You answered your own question correctly. Now make sure that you are living your life in obedience to your answer. To be right with God so that you can obtain a ticket to Heaven make sure that you are living your life in obedience to the Lord’s command to love the Lord with your total being and to love your neighbor as yourself, because you will show your love for the Lord by how you love your neighbor.”

Now I want us to imagine ourselves in this event from history as this lawyer. Place yourself in his shoes. You have just tried to trap Jesus with a question in a way that would jeopardize Jesus status and credibility among the people. However, Jesus just turned the tables on you in a way that forced you to answer your own question and that made Jesus look even better in the eyes of the people. You are this lawyer. What would you be thinking at this point? How would you be feeling? How would you respond? We see the lawyer’s response in Luke 10:29:

But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Luke tells us that the lawyer responded to having the tables turned on him by Jesus by asking Jesus a second question. "And who is my neighbor?" However, Luke revealed the true motive behind the lawyers question with the phrase wishing to justify himself. Now this phrase literally means to wish to vindicate himself.

You see, the lawyer recognized that Jesus had turned the tables on him. The lawyer recognized that his plan to trap Jesus had backfired. The lawyer desperately desired to vindicate himself. And the lawyer desperately wanted to demonstrate how smart he was and how much he knew about God. So the lawyer doubled down in his attempts to trap Jesus. 

The lawyer is basically saying “well Jesus if the Law says that I am supposed to love my neighbor as myself, who is my neighbor? And who is not my neighbor? Who do I have to love as I love myself? And who can I not love as I love myself?” Once again, the lawyer thought that he had trapped Jesus. The lawyer thought that he had trapped Jesus again because there was great disagreement when it came to the answer to this question. And the lawyer believed that however Jesus answered this question, Jesus would end up offending someone.

You see, in the Jewish culture of the first century, Jewish rabbis often taught that the Jewish people were to love their neighbor and hate their enemies. In other words, Jewish people who were right with God were under obligation to love other people who were insiders that were right with God, but Jewish people did not have to love people who were outsiders who were not right with God.

So there was great debate when it came to who was an insider and who was an outsider. There was a great debate when it came to who was right with God and who was not right with God. There was great debate over who needed to be shown love and who did not need to be shown love.  And now Jesus was being forced by this lawyer to enter into this debate. Luke then reveals for us how Jesus entered into this debate in verse 30-32:

Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. "And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

Luke tells us that, once again, Jesus replied to the lawyers question by not directly answering his question. Instead, Jesus told a parable. Now a parable is an earthly story that is designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth. Jesus began this parable by explaining that as a Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. To fully understand the context of this parable, however, we first need to understand something about the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

You see, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a dangerous road frequented by robbers. The road descended 3,000 feet over 17 miles. This road would be very similar to traveling from Golden Valley to Bullhead City. There were many places along the road where robbers could hide in wait of unwary travelers and attack them by surprise.

Jesus then explained that the Jewish man who was on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by robbers who robbed him, beat him, stripped him naked and left him half dead on the side of the road. The robbers left this man on the side of the road to die of exposure or attack from wild animals after taking everything that this man possessed.

However, by chance a priest happened to be traveling on the road to Jericho when he came upon this half dead man lying on the side of the road. This priest was a Jewish religious leader who was a direct descendant of Aaron who had the position, privilege and responsibility to lead the Jewish people in following the Jewish sacrificial system. This religious person would have been considered right with God and would have been the insider of insiders. In our culture today, this man would have been like a Senior Pastor of a church.

Yet, when this insider of insiders saw his fellow Jewish man beaten, naked, and left half dead on the side of the road, he responded by moving to the other side of the road. This insider of insiders responded by distancing himself and walking right past his fellow Jew to instead continue on to Jericho. 

Jesus then explained that just by chance, a Levite happened to be traveling on the road to Jericho when he came upon this half dead man lying on the side of the road. This Levite was a Jewish religious leader who was the priest’s assistant and was responsible for the less important tasks at the Temple. In our culture today, this man would have been like an Associate Pastor of a church.

Yet, when this insider saw his fellow Jewish man beaten, naked, and left half dead on the side of the road, he also responded by moving to the other side of the road. This insider also responded by distancing himself and walking right past his fellow Jew to instead continue on to Jericho. 

Now I want us to imagine ourselves in this event from history in the crowd listening to Jesus as He had this confrontation with this lawyer. I want us to place ourselves in this scene for a minute. If you were there in the crowd listening, would you think that these insiders were very loving to their fellow insider? If you were there in the crowd listening, would you think that these insiders were acting like insiders when it came to having a relationship with God?

Or, if you were there in the crowd listening, would you think that these insiders were acting like outsiders when it came to having a relationship with God? How would you have responded to what these insiders did when it came to their fellow insider? You would have been disappointed in them, wouldn’t you?

Jesus then continued His parable by introducing a third character. A third character we will meet on Friday…