Tag Archives: Friend

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – DOES GOD ENJOY BEING NAGGED?

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DOES GOD ENJOY BEING NAGGED?

“Then He said, “Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend travelling through just showed up and I don’t have a thing on hand…'” Luke 11:5-8

Jesus concludes His teaching on prayer with a little story which, at first, seems to have little to do with what He has just said. What is He getting at? Is it about prayer and relationship? Is it about prayer and persistence? Why would one need to nag God about what He knows we need anyway? Is Jesus contradicting what He has taught elsewhere, that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him?

This parable is not a comparison but a contrast. Is God like the reluctant friend? No, not at all. Unlike human relationships which are fickle and selfish, God, our Father, always provides for our basic needs no matter what the time of the day or night.

So why, then, do we have to ask Him? Because prayer is about having fellowship with God as our Father, not about getting God to come into our space to meet our needs because He is not aware of what is going on with us until we inform Him.

God is smart.

He knows that we are essentially independent. He is a passionate Father who longs for fellowship with His children. How else can He get us to come to Him if He automatically meets every need without our having to ask Him? Like babies dependent on their mothers’ breasts, we are dependent on God for our very breath. Our needs drive us to prayer just as a new-born child’s hunger drives him to cry out for milk.

This is where prayer begins but it should never remain at this level. Jesus was teaching His infant disciples the first principles of prayer like the ABC of Grade 1 learners. This attitude of total dependence is the foundation of prayer but we must build on it the superstructure of fellowship with our Father as mature sons, not whining and begging for “things” but sharing with the Father His heart for the world and learning to bring “up there, down here” by imitating our Rabbi in His disposition and mission.

The Bridegroom’s Friend

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THE BRIDEGROOM’S FRIEND

“An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan – the one you testified about – look, He is baptising, and everyone is going to Him.’

“To this John replied, ‘A person can receive what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but am sent ahead of Him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.'” John 3:25-30.

What beautiful imagery and what a gracious response!

John was a hugely popular preacher. He had drawn crowds into the desert to hear his fiery sermons, and the people were not even offended when he said some rather derogatory things about them. “Basket of snakes! Fatherless people!” A polite way of insulting them! He baptised many, initiating them into repentance and an expectation of the Messiah whose arrival he had been sent to announce.

Popularity could have gone to John’s head like it has many preachers whose charisma has gathered a large following. Slowly but surely they lose their focus, bask in their fame and begin to gather a following around themselves. They subtly alter the message to suit the ears of their followers and the scene is set for yet another cult.

John’s popularity was a test for him. What was he preaching and teaching while his ministry ran parallel with the ministry of Jesus? Did he still point people to the Messiah and away from himself? He was a rabbi. It was legitimate for him to have a following of disciples. It seems that they were more protective of John than he was of himself.

On this occasion some of them got into an argument about baptism (ceremonial washing) with a Jew, probably one of the religious leaders because John, the author, put a certain connotation on the word “Jew”. We don’t know what the argument was about, but to settle it, they asked their rabbi, John. We can gather from his reply that it was probably about the increasing popularity of Jesus.

Both Jesus and John were baptising their followers. Which one was right? Should they follow John or should they follow Jesus? Using the imagery of a wedding from the culture of his day, John put their query into perspective. After their betrothal, the bride and bridegroom has preparations to make before the wedding. The bride’s task was to separate herself from all other men and to prepare her bridal gown (Revelation 19:6-8). The bridegroom was to return home to his father’s house to build the bridal chamber in preparation for the consummation of their marriage (John 14:2, 3).

Both the bride and the groom had attendants who waited for the groom to return, and attended them during the wedding ceremony. John saw himself as the attendant or friend of Jesus, the bridegroom, who was there to announce His arrival and to see to His needs during the celebrations. The attention was not to be on him but on the bridegroom. His was only a support role.

John’s ministry was unique. No one else has ever been assigned the role of “groomsman” in the history of the church. Believers in Jesus together form the corporate bride, but we do well to take note of John’s attitude, especially those of us who are in the limelight because of our position as leaders in the church. How easy it is to be carried away by popularity and to forget that we are not the bridegroom!

Throughout John’s short ministry, he had only one passion – to point people to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” ‘I am not the Messiah,’ he insisted when he was questioned about his identity. He did not even see himself as a person but as a “voice” calling in the desert, “Prepare the way for the Lord.”

To those who were debating his and Jesus’ popularity, John’s firm response was, ‘He must become greater; I must become less.’  It was fitting that he disappear off the scene, even in an ignominious way, so that all the focus would be on Jesus, the Messiah, whose arrival he had faithfully declared.

Acknowledgement

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.

 

Does God Enjoy Your Nagging?

Bible Study, , ,

DOES GOD ENJOY YOUR NAGGING?

“Then He said, ‘Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend travelling through just showed up and I don’t have a thing on hand…'” Luke 11:5-10

Jesus concludes His teaching on prayer with a little story which, at first, seems to have little to do with what He has just said. What is He getting at? Is it about prayer and relationship? Is it about prayer and persistence? Why would one need to nag God about what He knows we need anyway? Is Jesus contradicting what He has taught elsewhere, that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him?

This parable is not a comparison but a contrast. Is God like the reluctant friend? No, not at all. Unlike human relationships which are fickle and selfish, God, our Father, always provides for our basic needs no matter what the time of the day or night.

So why, then, do we have to ask Him? Because prayer is about having fellowship with God as our Father, not about getting God to come into our space to meet our needs because He is not aware of what is going on with us until we inform Him.

God is smart.

He knows that we are essentially independent. He is a passionate Father who longs for fellowship with His children. How else can He get us to come to Him if He automatically meets every need without our having to ask Him? Like babies dependent on their mothers’ breasts, we are dependent on God for our very breath. Our needs drive us to prayer just as a new-born child’s hunger drives it to cry out for milk.

This is where prayer begins but it should never remain at this level. Jesus was teaching His infant disciples the first principles of prayer like the ABC of Grade 1 learners. This attitude of total dependence is the foundation of prayer but we must build on it the superstructure of fellowship with our Father as mature sons, not whining and begging for “things” but sharing with the Father His heart for the world and learning to bring “up there, down here” by imitating our Rabbi in His disposition and mission.