Woes to the Pharisees!

Luke 11: 29-54

Sorry I wasn’t able to post the past two days. But I’m back!

Jesus again takes aim at the Pharisees. He warns them about their hypocritical behavior. I read the “woes” in this passage though and I have to wonder — Is he talking about me too? How often can I do and say things just for show (v. 43)? How often do I expect others to live up to my extra-biblical standards? It’s so easy for us as believers to transition into those behaviors. We’re not any better than the Pharisees. I pray that God will convict me of where I’m behaving like the Pharisees.

 

Two sides of love

Luke 10: 25-42

There’s a tie that binds both of the stories in this passage together. Both focus on defining love, two different aspects of love. The Good Samaritan shows us that love requires action. We can’t just love someone in word but must in deed as well. Mary’s story in the second half of the passage shows us another side. Action and deeds without devotion isn’t what Jesus wants either. He wants us to do the right things for the right reasons. Are you loving God by loving others and are you loving others through a devotion to Jesus? That’s what this passage asks me everytime I read it.

Rejection

Luke 10: 1-24

Jesus told the first missionaries he sent out that those who reject them are really rejecting Him. We should remember that as well. It’s easy to get discouraged when people reject us because of our relationship with Christ. We must remember that we are his ambassadors. They reject Him not us. That’s a great Scripture to keep in mind when we’re telling others about Jesus!

Following Jesus without delay

Luke 9: 46-62

I identify with the unnamed man in verses 57-62. He first tells Jesus that he will follow Him wherever he goes. But it doesn’t take him long to qualify it – let me bury my father first. It seems like a simple and reasonable request. Yet Jesus gives him one of the most troublesome comments in all of the New Testament – let the dead bury their own dead. It sounds awful. It sounds rude. But Jesus saw the man’s request for what it was – an excuse. If he didn’t have a father to bury, he would have had something else to do.

I am very prone to giving out excuses. I’ll do what you want me to do, Jesus, but I need to go to this meeting first, or get this particular kind of training first. I’ll follow you, but I need to go visit someone first. I’ll follow you, but I need a few days of rest and relaxation first. Sorry Jesus. You’ll have to wait.

Jesus wants to move us on as well. If Jesus has called us to something, we need to do it without delay.

Who do you say that I am?

Luke 9: 18-45

Jesus’ disciples had a lot of answers when Jesus asked them to tell Him who He was – John the Baptist, Elijah, etc. Our world has a lot of answers to that question as well – a moral teacher, a radical religious figure, a political revolutionary, etc. But notice that Jesus gets more personal. He turns the question on the disciples: Who do you say that I am?

He is still asking that question today. He is asking us who we think He is. The answer is still the same. You are God’s Messiah, God’s chosen one. And if He really, really is the chosen one – the Messiah – then it means it only makes sense we comply with another part of this passage, to deny ourselves and take up our cross (v. 23) and follow Him. There’s really no other appropriate action toward someone who is the Messiah, the unique Son of God. If He really died and rose again, then nothing can be the same again and we owe Him our very lives.

In fact, I’ve often wondered, if the level of our commitment to Christ speaks more than our words about who we think Jesus is. If we have a low commitment to Jesus, when rubber meets the road, we probably don’t have a very high view of Jesus. We may say we believe He is the unique Son of God, but if our lives aren’t transformed what does it really mean? If He is who the Bible says He is, it has to change everything.

A call to a life of faith

Luke 9: 1-17

I think it’s interesting that God calls the disciples to such a faith-filled life. He doesn’t want them to hold on to anything that might tempt them to find security outside of Him. He tells them not to take bread, money, a traveling bag – or even an extra shirt. I wonder sometimes if the abandon that those first disciples held onto had a lot to do with how supremely God used them. They held nothing back when they served Him. They trusted him fully. I know they provide me with a tremendous model to follow. I want to follow Jesus with that kind of trust, with that kind of abandon. I want to follow him with the kind of trust that leaves everything to go after what he wants.

The faith to heal

Luke 8: 40-56

I wonder what Jesus meant when he said that the little girl in this story was asleep not dead. Was he trying to bring attention to the fact that she soon would be alive again? It seems like an odd statement to me. Regardless, it’s amazing to see what Jesus could do through the faith of others. He told the messenger from the synagogue leader’s house not to be afraid but believe. That belief (or trust) seemed to be a part of the equation for making her well. The family was showing trust just by letting Jesus in to heal her. It must have seemed impossible to them – just something that would add to their grief. I’m not sure I could be as trusting as they were. I hope I would be.

God’s family

Luke 8: 19-31

I don’t think people get how radical Jesus’ statement in verse 21 is. He redefines what family means for a child of God. As believers, our most important relationships aren’t through bloodlines they are through the blood of Christ! We talk about family values often as Christians. But why don’t we talk more about the family of God?

Being a steward of the Gospel

Luke 8: 1-18

You know I still find this parable a little confusing. I guess the key is we need to be spreading the Word of God wherever we go because we never know when it will be falling upon fruitful places. But why does Jesus go into such detail about the different types of soil where the seed may fall? In some ways, does he want us to be mindful of where we are dropping our seed? I think there is some realization that our seed is limited. We have limited resources. We have limited finances. We have limited time. There’s nothing wrong with choosing to sink those resources into places where the soil is ready for the truth of the Gospel. What do you think?

To whom much is given, much is expected

Luke 7: 36-50

Just a quick thought on today’s passage. I’ve always noticed that the people who seem to be the most effective evangelists (on average) are folks who have had the hardest lives before Christ (like the lady in this passage), those who needed a lot of forgiveness. But here’s the thing. We all needed a lot of forgiveness. It isn’t really about an amount. We were just as separated from God before Jesus as the worst mass murderer. We would have spent an eternity without Him if it wasn’t for the high price Jesus paid for us. We have as much of a reason to pass on the Good News as anyone.