Tag Archives: servant

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – THEY WILL RESPECT MY SON!

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THEY WILL RESPECT MY SON!

“Jesus told another story to the people. ‘A man planted a vineyard. He handed it over to farmhands and went on a trip….In time he sent a servant back to the farmhands to collect the profits, but they beat him and sent him off empty-handed….’

“Then the owner of the vineyard said,’…I’ll send my beloved son. They are bound to respect my son.’

“But when the farmhands saw him coming, they quickly put their heads together.’…This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all to ourselves.’ They killed him and threw him over the fence…

‘What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? Right. He’ll come and clean house. Then he’ll assign the care of the vineyard to others…’“.’” Luke 20:9-16a.

What a daring story! Although Jesus was not afraid of outright exposure, which He sometimes used to strip off the masks of the religious frauds who tried to make out that they had impeccable religious performance records, a story like this one did the job just as well. Since parables were a rabbinical device to be heard or read for identification, they would have had to get the point, which did nothing to endear Jesus to them!

There is both symbolism and character portrayal in this parable. The vine was often used in the Old Testament as a symbol of Israel. “I will sing for the one I love a song about His vineyard: My loved one has a vineyard on a fertile hill…” Isaiah 5:1 (NIV).

“Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.” Hosea 10:1 (NIV).

Both Isaiah and Hosea saw Israel as God’s vineyard, planted in their own land and tenderly cared for but treacherously unfaithful to their Creator.

In this story, the focus is on the leaders of God’s ‘vineyard’. The owner entrusted his vineyard to caretakers while he was away. He expected the farmhands to care for it faithfully and to give him the profits which rightfully belonged to him. Instead, the farmhands treated the property as though it were theirs and drove off any attempt to retrieve what was his.

What an exposure of the attitude of Israel’s spiritual leaders! They treated the people, not as a trust, but as their possession, teaching them falsehood and leading them astray so that they could maintain power over them. They resented Jesus’ intrusion because His passion was to show His people what God was really like and to set them free from these unscrupulous overlords.

They respected neither the prophets who were sent to challenge their power and their false teaching, nor the Son Himself who came from the Father to set the record straight and to restore His people to the Father. They had only one intent – to kill the Son so that they could retain the power to dominate His people.

Spiritual leadership is a sacred trust from God and those who are appointed to lead are both responsible and accountable to God because the people are His. What happens to them is the outcome of who leads and how they lead. Leaders and people are bonded together for one purpose – to be a reward for the sacrifice Jesus made to rescue us from the clutches of the devil and to reconcile and restore us to the Father.

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account…” Hebrews 13:17a (NIV).

Israel’s religious leaders forgot their sacred trust and were treated accordingly. To those of us who lead comes the reminder that we do not own the people. Our task is to be faithful imitators of our Rabbi so that we can attach them to Him, not to ourselves, for the eternal reward is His, not ours.

Our reward will be to hear His words, ‘Well done, good and faithful 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.

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