Tag Archives: servant

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – GREAT GIFTS…GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES

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GREAT GIFTS – GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES

“The servant who knows what his master wants and ignores it, or insolently does whatever he pleases, will be thoroughly thrashed. But if he does a poor job through ignorance, he’ll get off with a slap on the hand. Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities.” Luke 12:47, 48.

There is something terribly wrong in the world today. God is glaringly absent, ignored or treated as though He does not exist. Read a glossy magazine, listen to the radio, watch the TV; it’s all the same. People’s gifts and talents are flaunted as if they were solely responsible for acquiring them.

No-one can use the excuse that he or she does not know where they got their gifts because the Bible assures us that everyone knows God. Romans 1:20,21 – “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, having been understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Everyone has been entrusted with something to manage for the Master until He returns, some more and some less, but the attitude is often that these gifts are for us to exploit for our own benefit and advantage. Whether it be beauty, art, music, drama, or any less visible ability, the motive is the same, either money or fame or both. Whatever the reason, it’s all about ‘me’. It’s the ‘evil eye’ at work again, the greedy and selfish nature in control.

There are at least three things that this way of thinking either forgets or ignores: God’s glory, God’s purpose and our future destiny. The manager in Jesus’ story is a glaring example. He was either deliberately rebellious, or irresponsibly ignorant. Neither is an excuse for failing to carry out the master’s requirements. His selfishness cancelled out wisdom. He was living for the moment and forgetting that the master would return.

Tragically, because self dominates, his attitude was even more serious; the greater the gift, the greater the garnering of wealth and popularity for himself. But God looks at it differently; the greater the gift, the greater the responsibility. God gives us gifts firstly so that we can show Him off. Every gift, talent and ability we have is to be honed and used as a witness to what kind of God He is. God is infinitely beautiful, kind and generous and one of the ways He reveals His beauty is through us.

Secondly, God gives us gifts to get the work of His kingdom done on earth. There are a myriad ways in which the things He enables us to do bring, reveal and explain His government on earth. In God’s system, there is order, harmony, purpose, beauty, generosity, mercy, compassion, etc, and these are accomplished through the gifts He has given us. To use them to enhance ourselves is to abuse them and to abort His plan on earth.

Thirdly, there is no way God will let us get away with rebellion or irresponsibility. Jesus will come back. He has promised. He will call us to account. He said so. His justice will be absolutely just because He gives us the choice regarding our future. Whatever we choose in this life He will confirm in the next. Our Romans passage makes it very clear. “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.” Romans 1:28 (NIV).

And so Jesus’ warning is a serious one. The ‘thrashing’ unfaithful managers receive will be eternal and so will be the loss, too terrible to imagine, including the loss of the very position He had destined them to occupy in His eternal dominion had they been faithful.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – HE UNDERSTOOD FAITH

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HE UNDERSTOOD FAITH

“Jesus went with them. When He was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell Him, ‘Master, you don’t have to go to all this trouble. I’m not that good a person, you know. I’d be embarrassed for you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I’m a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’

“Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd, ‘I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how He works.’ When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well.”  Luke 7:6-10.

What an unusual man!

He was obviously a person of some authority who was used to giving orders and used to being obeyed. Twice in the story, he sent people to Jesus to carry messages for him. He dispatched a group of Jewish leaders to ask for help, and then he sent friends to tell Jesus that he did not expect Him to come to his home but just to give the command and his servant would be healed.

He recognised in Jesus a man who carried the same sort of authority over spiritual forces as he carried over his subordinates. Did that mean that he attributed his servant’s illness to dark powers in the unseen realm? We who are “enlightened” with scientific knowledge would pooh-pooh that idea because we have a better understanding of where diseases come from and why human bodies malfunction.

But what lies behind these causes of imperfections and suffering in the natural world? Was it not the deception of the devil in the beginning that led the first pair into disobedience and all its consequences? However this man perceived Jesus’ authority, he trusted Him enough to know that His word was to be obeyed in the unseen realm.

He was also a man who knew the Jews well enough to honour their scruples about hob-knobbing with Gentiles. He did not expect Jesus to enter his house because he was a despised Roman. It was enough for Jesus to use His authority over sickness to dismiss it from a distance.

To what did Jesus respond – to the man’s reluctance to invite Him into his home or to the expression of faith that revealed his understanding of authority?

It was undoubtedly the man’s grasp of the meaning of faith that caught His attention. Jesus was not bothered by the scruples of His fellow Jews. He touched sick people; He embraced “unclean” people; He handled dead people, and none of these violations of taboos ever affected Him. The sick were healed; unclean people were made clean and the dead lived at the sound of His voice.

He marvelled that a pagan Roman soldier had a better understanding of faith than His own people who had a history of faithlessness and disobedience from the beginning. It seems that Jesus’ response to the soldier’s request was one better than his expectation. Luke doesn’t tell us whether He even spoke to the sickness from afar. He only reports that when the messengers got back to the captain’s home, the servant was up and well.

There is nothing that pleases the Lord more than the confidence we have in Him that doubts neither His ability nor His will to intervene when we cry for help. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NIV).

How can we have a faith like that? By soaking ourselves in God’s Word. “So faith comes by hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” Romans 10:17 (NLT).

Are you reading God’s Word? It’s the only way to faith.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – JESUS IS JESUS!

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CHAPTER SEVEN

JESUS IS JESUS!

“When He finished speaking to the people, He entered Capernaum. A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn’t want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking Him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and urged Him to do it, saying, ‘He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place.'” Luke 7:1-5.

Quite a guy, this Roman captain! A most unusual man! Not like the run-of-the-mill Roman soldiers, it seems. He had a heart for people, unlike most of the others who were ruthless in the course of their duty. He cared about his servant and was distraught when the man lay dying.

He was also sympathetic towards Jesus. He knew about Him; he may have even been on the outskirts of the crowd, listening to Him while he was on duty doing crowd control. Was he perhaps one of those who were among the soldiers who had heard John the Baptist and had been baptised by him in the River Jordan? We will never know.

There was no doctor and no medicine to cure his servant and he stood by, helplessly watching as his servant began to slip away from him. Then he heard that Jesus was on His way to Capernaum. So desperate was he to get help that he sent some of the Jewish leaders to Jesus, hoping against hope that Jesus would not spurn a Roman’s cry for help.

He could not go himself because he was not sure of the reception he would receive. Surely Jesus would respond if the most respected Jews in his community would speak for him? He hoped against hope that this Jew would look past his people’s treatment of His fellow Jews and have mercy on him. He had no doubt about His ability to heal. That was not the issue. But would He help a Roman?

The Jewish leaders, whoever they were, Pharisees, elders of the town, men in charge of the synagogue…who knows?…were ready to plead his case with Jesus. Evidently they held the captain in high esteem because he wasn’t like the other Romans. He had a heart for them. He used his money to build a meeting place for them. He may have even stood outside on a Sabbath, listening to the reading of the Torah and feeling a tug of response in his heart to the God of whom they read.

The Jews were quite willing to act as messengers. They were keen to help the man who had helped them. They went to Jesus with the story of a warm-hearted man who needed help and was worthy of Jesus’ intervention because of all his good deeds.

How did that affect Jesus? Had we been in His place, we might have been impressed by the man’s credentials. The very fact that these Jewish leaders were willing to act as messengers was quite unusual. They came because they were friends, not because they were obeying orders. They were with him in his trouble.

Would Jesus respond to their plea because of who the man was or because of who He was? Would the fact that he was a Roman influence Him? Would He, a Jew, go into the home of a Gentile? Would He help him because it was a group of Jews who acted as mediators?

Luke does not comment on the reason for Jesus’ response. However, if we fast-forward the story, when Jesus was hanging on the cross, suspended on nails that Roman soldiers had driven into His wrists and feet, we hear words from His cracked lips that encompass not only the ones who were responsible for His being there, but also the ones who had carried out the orders. ‘Father, forgive them…!’

Now we understand that the commendation of the Jews was quite unnecessary. Had this Roman captain been a typical soldier, cruel and uncaring, Jesus would have still responded to his request. Why? Because Jesus is Jesus!

You can also have absolute confidence in His mercy!

The Way Up Is Down

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THE WAY UP IS DOWN

Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.’ (Mark 10: 42-45).

Here’s another teaching of Jesus that did not sit well with His disciples. They belonged to the way of thinking that said, ’The way up is to stand on other people’s heads.’ Even as relatively uneducated men, they knew that this is what worked in the world.

But as usual, Jesus viewed life from another perspective. He took the inner life into consideration because it was the inner life that effected the outer life. It’s all very well climbing the corporate ladder by standing on other people’s heads, but what does that do to a person’s inside? Does it produce peace in the heart and harmony with one’s fellow human beings? I don’t think so. When one person gets ahead at the expense of others, it leaves a trail of disgruntled and discontented people.

The world views great people as those who are at the top looking down on others. Position, wealth, fame, prestige, popularity, visibility – these are all the qualifications needed to get to the top and to occupy the highest positions in society. ‘Not so you,’ said Jesus. ‘Things work differently in the kingdom of God.’

What prompted this discussion in the first place? James and John. They so badly wanted the places of honour next to Jesus when He took up His reign that they came and requested it outright, much to the annoyance of the other disciples. Why were they angry? Did they think that the brothers were being ‘unspiritual’ by asking for these positions? I don’t think so. I think they were fed up with them because they got in first. This kind of thing did not make for unity, did it?

People of the world and those who are citizens of God’s kingdom ought to have completely opposite views of greatness. For the worldly person, greatness is about what people think of me. I am great if other people look up to me as someone who has made it for whatever reason, or someone who has power to control other people. Wealth and position buy that control, and it makes me feel great when I can order others around especially when I know that they are afraid of me and will do what I tell them even though they might hate me because of fear.

Have you noticed, in your reading of the gospels, how people responded to Jesus? Did He lord it over them? What was the one thing the religious leaders kept on questioning Him about? What was it that the common people could not understand? His authority. Although He insisted that His authority came from God, they refused to believe Him. ‘He must be acting for the devil,’ the Pharisees decided, although that made no sense.

Strange, isn’t it, what people will believe when they refuse to give God the credit for what puzzles them. Take the origin of the universe, for example. Satan has successfully persuaded the majority of people in the western world to believe that it all just “happened” by chance. How much intelligence does it take to realise what nonsense this kind of thinking is? And yet people believe and accept it because “scientists” say so and they should know. Why? They do not want to believe that God created the heavens and the earth. If they do, they are accountable to Him. Bottom line. So they argue Him away – but He will not go way.

True greatness comes, not from climbing up but from bending down. The truly great person is the one who bends down low enough to lift others up. Worldly greatness stands on the head of others. True greatness in the kingdom of God sits down side by side with others. What happens on the inside of a person who bends down low enough to lift another up? Peace and joy. Satisfaction that I have done something good for someone else. And the outcome? Harmony. Togetherness. Bonding.

That’s what God’s kingdom is all about. Doing whatever it takes to restore harmony. Even if it means dying. It cost Jesus His life but was it worth it? A million times, yes. It’s the only way to live, really live!

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 War To End All Wars

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THE WAR TO END ALL WARS

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:6-8.

This was the mind-set of the human Jesus!

We will never know what it meant for Him to leave the realm of the spirit, where He reigned with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the indescribable glories of heaven and reduce Himself to the level of a human being. He entered the world He had created, beautiful and perfect in the beginning, only to be corrupted by a ruthless fallen angel and his minions of demonic allies.

Not only that, but the very humans whom He had made in His image to be His beloved family turned against Him. They were no longer family but enemies, filled with the same evil nature as their demonic overlords, rebels to the core, hating Him, defying Him wherever they could and living in the darkness of selfishness and greed.

How did He come? Not as God in a blaze of glory to take vengeance on His alienated family! Not in fiery chariot with a retinue of angelic warriors to make war on the master  Rebel, His own creation none-the-less who had chosen to make war against Him and drag a third of the angels with him. He could have done because He was Lord of all creation and of those who had risen up against Him. He came like every other human being, from the womb of a woman.

Satan had power, but only the power of deception, lies that had no substance and would disappear in a puff of smoke when challenged by the power of truth. Jesus came, not to destroy the devil by sheer force but to unmask him by a life of perfect obedience to the Father as a submissive and obedient Son, and then to die as an evildoer at the hands of His enemies.

No fallen human being has ever lived like that – absorbing every cruel and ruthless attitude and action without resistance or retaliation because the Father willed it; living in perfect harmony with the Father and loving His enemies for the Father’s sake. They skewered His body to a Roman torture stake until every drop of blood leaked from the wounds they had inflicted on Him in an effort to make Him sin, but He remained pure in heart to His very last breath.

Even in His dying moments, He loved those who did it to Him. He embraced with His love a terrified criminal dying next to Him. He forgave His tormentors with His final agonising gasps of breath. He died a violent and unnatural death at the age of thirty three, a young life cut off in His prime because His own people decided He was too good to live. And He won the war because He conquered death and came back from the dead

And Paul said, “I want you to live like that!” Are you crazy? Do you know what you are asking, Paul? You are expecting ordinary, sinful, selfish, self-centred and self-absorbed human beings to live like that? Impossible! No, it’s not, for two very good reasons.

The very nature of God has been implanted in those who have turned their lives over to Him.

“…He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world, caused by evil desires.”  2 Peter 1:4.

The very Spirit who empowered Jesus to be a perfect Son now lives in you, enabling you to be a submissive and obedient son.

“The Spirit you received does not make you a slave so that you live in fear again; rather the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15.

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16.

Paul held Jesus up to the Philippian church, not as a goal beyond their reach, but as a perfect model to follow even if they could not achieve it in this lifetime. It would not happen by trying harder but by gazing longer at Him.

“And we all who, with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

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.