Monthly Archives: August 2015

Miserable Money-Minded Misers!

Bible Study, , , ,

MISERABLE MONEY-MINDED MISERS!

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him. ‘But not during the festival,’ they said, ‘or the people may riot.’

While He was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly (Mark 14: 1-5).

Funny, isn’t it, how people suddenly have sympathy for the poor when someone else spends his or her money extravagantly! Of course, however, in their own way of life they never give the poor a thought.

Jesus was invited to a meal at the home of Simon the Leper. That’s strange. Lepers were outcasts of society. They were diseased and “unclean”. They had to remain in isolation, cut off from friends and family because their condition was infectious. Since “leprosy” was a term for a variety of skin diseases, not only true leprosy as we know it, the sufferer could recover and return home once he had been declared “clean” by the priest and had offered a sacrifice for his cleansing.

So, was Simon the Leper a recovered “leper” or was he perhaps one that Jesus had healed during the course of His many visits to Simon’s hometown, Bethany? We don’t know, but whoever he was, for some reason Simon had invited Jesus to a banquet. Luke tells the story of a bad woman who poured perfume on Jesus’s feet during a banquet at the home of Simon the Pharisee. Could they ne one and the same person? John records a similar incident in the home of Lazarus and his sisters after Jesus had raised him from the dead. His sister, Mary, showed her devotion and gratitude to Jesus by anointing His feet with expensive ointment.

For whatever reason the gospel records differ according to the writer’s purpose, this incident brings home an important lesson, one that Jesus encapsulated in His statement:

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matt. 6: 24).

Jesus used a rabbinic teaching method here, called a chiasm, to drive home an important point. There is a central thought in this construction to which two supporting statements lead up to and away from. Let me set it up as it should look to help you understand.

A  No one can serve two masters.

B  Either you will hate the one

C  and love the other

C’ or you will be devoted to the one

B’  and despise the other.

A’  You cannot serve God and money.

Can you now see how A and A’ match, and B and B’ and C and C’ are similar statements with C and C’ as the centre of the teaching? The rabbis used this very effective method of teaching for emphasis. The main point of what Jesus was saying was not that you cannot serve two masters, although this is true, but why you cannot serve two masters. You will either serve God or money depending on the one you love and are devoted to.

Those who criticised the woman for “wasting” her dowry did not understand the measure of her devotion to Jesus. It was not about the value of her gift but the measure of her love that they were, in the end, questioning. Their miserable, money-minded judgment of the woman showed up the identity of the one they served.

In John’s account, it was Judas who objected to Mary’s expression of love for Jesus because he obviously loved money, not his Master. In Luke’s account, the host was Simon the Pharisee, and he proved that he had no love for Jesus by withholding the common courtesies of a host for his guest; washing the dust off His feet and anointing His head with oil. It was left to an unsavoury, but repentant woman from the street to do what Simon failed to do for Jesus, with her own tears, her own hair and her valuable perfume which was her wedding dowry.

The lesson is clear. We can only show how much we love the Master by what we do with what is most valuable to us. When we lavish our love and our resources on those in need, we do it for Him and to Him.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

 

Watch!

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WATCH!

‘But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert. You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away. He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ (Mark 13: 32-37).

How could Jesus claim to be God and yet not know when He would return? Was He contradicting Himself? Was He or was He not God?

We must understand His statement in the context of His humanity, and also as wedding talk! After a Hebrew bride and groom had drawn up and signed their marriage contract – ketubah – the bridegroom would tell his bride, “I am going to prepare a place for you and, when my father approves of the bridal chamber, I will come again to take you to where I am.” She would respond, “When will you come for me?” and he would reply, “No one knows the day or the hour except my father.”

Does that sound familiar? Of course, Jesus was talking to them, in the language of a wedding that He intended to return for them when the Father sent Him back to claim His bride. One of the great themes of the Bible is a wedding. God chose Israel to be His bride, but she broke her betrothal promise time and again by committing adultery with the gods of the surrounding nations. God eventually “divorced” her by sending her away into captivity in Babylon.

Once again, on the day of Pentecost, Jesus proposed to His followers; they accepted, and the church became the bride of Christ – betrothed to her Bridegroom and awaiting the wedding when He returns. The Book of Revelation describes that great event – the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad, and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people – Rev. 17: 6-8).  

Did you get that? When Jesus repeated, over and over again, that His disciples must be ready, what did He mean? How can we be sure that we are ready for His return? It does not mean, as some have done, that we must quit our jobs, stockpile supplies and hide in a cave in the mountains to watch for His return. That is a foolish way to interpret what He wants of us.

To be ready means to be doing what He called us to do, faithfully, until He comes. What did He call us to do? He called us to be replicas of Him where we are, in our homes, at work, in society – showing mercy to all people because God has shown mercy to us. He called us to follow Him – to be His sons and daughters in the midst of His enemies, walking in the light of His Word and showing the path to others so that they, too, will return from their wicked ways and walk in obedience to God’s instructions.

The “bridal gown” which the bride was given to wear, in John’s vision of the future, is a picture of the lives of God’s faithful people. Fine linen symbolises the lives of those who follow Jesus – filled with deeds of mercy and compassion as a witness to the transformation of their hearts by God’s grace – from greed and wickedness to generosity – because the Holy Spirit had taken up residence in their hearts.

Like the five foolish virgins in Jesus’ parable, those who have neglected to take care of the needs of others will be shut out of the wedding celebration when the Bridegroom returns. He will reject their plea to open the door because He did not know them. They were strangers to Him because they were not like Him.

Jesus’ warning that they must be ready was to alert His disciples to their role in the kingdom of God as they await His return – not to become lazy or neglectful, or to return to their old ways but always to remain on the alert because the Master’s return will be unexpected. Like a homeowner who went away and left his servants in charge to see that the household continued to run smoothly in spite of his absence, they were to keep doing what they were assigned to do up to the very last moment.

In the interim, we are not to sleep but to be alert and to keep watch.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

The Lesson Of The Fig Tree

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THE LESSON OF THE FIG TREE

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree. As soon as the twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation certainly will not pass away until all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away (Mark 13: 28-31).

What is the fig tree and what is the lesson of the fig tree? When did the fig tree first feature in Scripture? Last question first.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they lost their God-awareness and became self-aware. They became conscious of their nakedness and tried to hide it with fig leaves. It was an attempt to put right what they had done wrong by their own unsuccessful efforts. God had to kill an animal to provide skins to cover their shame.

God often used the fig tree as a symbol of Israel, especially in the Minor Prophets. It was both a symbol of fruitfulness as well as the devastation their enemies would bring on them because of their disobedience to God’s teaching.  Was the symbolism also for the same reason as Adam and Eve’s – Israel’s attempts to cover their unrighteousness and gain favour with God by their self-effort?

The disciples would have quickly grasped Jesus’ allusion to their own nation. What He had just told them, would happen to Israel. Just as they recognised the imminent return of summer by the changes in the fig tree, so these “beginning of sorrows” would herald the destruction of Israel.

Jesus was dealing with two catastrophic events on earth – the overthrow of Israel as a nation, resulting in the scattering of His people for thousands of years – and the destruction of the old earth and the renewal of all things, heralded by His return. Once again, there is no timeline to place the events into a convenient progression of events, but signs that everything He predicted was about to happen. Not “when” but “that” these things would happen.

When were they to flee Jerusalem? When the Romans entered the city and desecrated the temple. That was the signal that they would unleash a terrible slaughter on the city. That was the time to get out – and fast. No time to go home and gather up their belongings. The history books tell us that, because of Jesus’ warning, believers were alerted and were able to escape the city with their lives.

Why did Jesus give them signs and not a date? It was always His intention for them to live ready every day – to be watchful and alert so that their lives would give off the fragrance of Jesus all the time. Had He given them a date, the temptation would have been to live irresponsibly until the date arrived. That is the nature of the human being – to sail as close to the wind as possible.

If they understood that He was coming but did not know when, they would have made sure that they were ready to face Him without guilt no matter when He came. His allusion to “this generation must have referred to the destruction of Jerusalem. No need to create fanciful interpretations. It was almost as if He superimposed one even on top of the other – the devastation of Jerusalem and the devastation of the earth. One event would mirror the other.

 

When the Romans attacked Jerusalem and devastated Israel, it was the unbelieving Jews who were destroyed. When Jesus returns to destroy the old order of things and set up His kingdom on a renewed earth, it will be the unbelievers who will be destroyed. Prophecy teachers have led us to believe that God’s people will be taken to heaven and the ungodly left behind. But that contradicts Jesus’ reference to Noah and the flood. Noah and his family were “left behind” while the unrighteous perished in the deluge. God refashioned the earth for those who were protected in the ark.

It will be the same when Jesus returns. He will destroy the old order and all those who belong to it. His people will be safe “in Him” and will reign with Him on a restored and renewed earth forever. There is no such thing in Scripture as a “secret rapture” and a second chance. Jesus’ return will be noisy and visible to everyone – heralded by the blowing of the last trumpet – and accompanied by a myriad angels and all those who have gone before us.

I’m sure you would hate to miss out on this greatest event in history. Jesus’ message to us all is, “Be alert, be on guard, be ready.” The desecration of the temple signalled the coming of the Romans, and His people were ready. When will He return as He promised? “No man knows the day or the hour” but it does not matter, if we are ready.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

After Suffering – Glory

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AFTER SUFFERING – GLORY

But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And He will send His angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens (Mark 13: 24-27).

What extravagant language Jesus used to describe the events surrounding His coming! Massive disturbances in the sky, as though the heavenly bodies themselves have to make way for the Son of God, as He comes in great power and glory to sweep up His chosen people from the outer reaches of the universe to accompany Him on His return to earth. What a gathering that will be!

He is the victorious one, but He chooses to share His victory with His beloved people. After all, it was for us that He came to earth, and suffered and died so that He could reconcile us to the Father and call us back into His forever family to share the bounty of His generosity. In an instant, His people will be gathered from everywhere to join Him in His triumphant return.

The terrible events, both in the natural world and in the suffering the enemies of God are inflicting on His people are but the labour pains which will give birth to a new heaven and a new earth. God will deal with those who oppose Him by taking it out on His people.

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might on the day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed. This includes you because you believed our testimony to you (2 Thess. 1:6-10).

Did you get what Paul wrote? He echoed the very words of Jesus – power and great glory; accompanied by the angels and the vast retinue of His people who will be the evidence of His victory – a massive, innumerable gathering of God’s family to celebrate Jesus’ triumph over His enemies.

And what about His enemies? He’ll have His feet on their necks alright! All those who have slaughtered His people in the name of their gods – under His feet. All those who have ignored, maligned and ridiculed His to escape their accountability to Him – under His feet. All those who have propagated lies about Him and done everything to distort and disfigure His Word – under His feet. All those who have lived as though He does not exist – under His feet. And the devil himself who spawned all the rebellion – under His feet. And then the last enemy, death – under His feet!

Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to His Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He ‘has put everything under His feet’ (1 Cor. 15: 25-27).

Beware, enemies of Jesus, for the Day of Judgment is coming. The door of opportunity is still open. Jesus has paved the way for everyone who believes in Him, who confesses Him as Lord and believes that God raised Him from the dead, to return to the Father. Death will close that door forever. Who, in his right mind, would refuse an offer of eternal life in the presence of the most loving and generous Person ever? Only those who are blinded by the devil and deafened to the voice of God by their own sinful, and stubborn hearts.

To His disciples He said, “Be alert! Be on your guard! Be ready!” To the world He calls,

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon (Isa. 55: 6-7).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

Be On Your Guard!

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BE ON YOUR GUARD!

‘When you see the abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get a cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant woman and nursing mothers!

Pray that it will not take place in the winter, because those will be days of distress unequalled from the beginning when God created the world until now – and never to be equalled again. ‘If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive.’ But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has shortened them. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible even the elect. So be on your guard. I have told you everything ahead of time’ (Mark 13: 14-23).

Did Jesus answer the disciples’ question? Yes and no. He gave them signs, not a timetable, of the things that would happen to alert them to impending disaster.

What He spoke about here had to do with the coming Roman invasion, which was a response to their question, ‘When will these things happen?’ Did He tell them when? No! But He told them what and that it would happen. What would be the signal for them to flee Jerusalem and not look back? The “abomination that causes desolation”. To what was He referring?

Centuries before, Jerusalem was invaded by Antiochus Epiphanes, one of Alexander the Great’s generals who inherited part of the Greek Empire when Alexander died. He was determined to Hellenise his part of the empire. The tiny land of Israel was a buffer between north and south and inevitably suffered as the general who governed Egypt collided with Antiochus whose territory included Israel. Many of the Jews adopted the culture of the Greeks, preparing the way for Antiochus to march into Jerusalem, invade the temple and offer a pig on the sacred altar. Daniel prophesied of this event, calling it “the abomination that causes desolation”.

It was to this event that Jesus referred, and prophesied that it would happen again when the Roman army reacted to the Jewish uprising. Jerusalem would be sacked, the temple torn town and burned and the people slaughtered by the thousands until the streets of the city would run with Jewish blood. Jesus saw it coming and wept over the desolation of His people, but He could do nothing to stop it because it was their choice to reject Him.

The desecration of the temple would be the sign for them to flee. So sudden and so devastating would this invasion be that there would be no time to go back for their possessions. When it happened they were to get out of the city as fast as possible. Pregnant women and nursing mothers would have it especially hard because they would be encumbered by their precious cargo.

What did Jesus mean by “If the Lord had not cut short those days”? Were the days when this was to happen to be less than twenty four hours long? I don’t think so. There was only one occasion in history when a day was literally lengthened, and that was in Joshua’s day (Josh. 10: 12-14). It was not the length of the days that was shortened but the number of the days.

Once again Jesus issued a warning that His disciples not be caught up in deception. Messiah was there before them – God’s true Messiah. Had He not proved to them that He was the one had sent to His people? He came, and the people rejected Him. They knew the Scriptures but they chose to follow their religious leaders whose their lives did not match their profession, and they paid the price.

False messiahs would come by the dozens, claiming authenticity by the signs and wonders they performed. Was this their badge of office? Jesus made it abundantly clear that there was only one true Messiah – the one authenticated by the Scriptures and by the witness of the Father, and His works. His works were done in the true spirit of Torah, the mercy and compassion of the Father, not to draw attention to Himself but to usher in the kingdom of God and to bear witness to the nature of the kingdom.

This is a warning to the people of God today. There are many false prophets who claim to be servants of God because they can do signs and wonders. The criterion for being true servants of the Lord is not miracles but character. Are they followers of Jesus? Do they point people to the Messiah or are they out to get fame and accolades for themselves? Jesus said, “Watch out for these people. They look like sheep but they are wolves in disguise.” They will destroy as surely as wolves prey on sheep.

There is only one test. Do they represent Jesus by their lives and their words?

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com