Tag Archives: idolatry

6 BY THE WAY…CONTEXT MATTERS

Christian Life, ,

It’s amazing what we can make the Bible say when we pull a text out of context. I’ve written about some of these things before but let me highlight some of them again to illustrate what I mean. 

My first observation relates to Jesus’ trip with His disciples to Caesarea Philippi. Granted, the average reader may not understand the background to this region or the significance of what Jesus said to them there…so here goes!

Caesarea Philippi and its surrounds, a region in the north of Israel at the foot of Mount Hermon and near the source of the Jordan River, was the centre both of Caesar worship and the worship of the pagan god, Pan, right there in the land of Israel. 

“Caesarea Philippi is an ancient site at the base of Mount Hermon in northern Israel, famous for a massive natural spring that feeds the Jordan River. In the New Testament, it is the backdrop for Jesus’ conversation with Peter where he made his famous declaration about building his church. 

History and Geography

  • Located about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee.
  • Known originally as Paneas for the Greek god Pan, whose shrine sat by a cave once viewed as a gateway to the underworld.
  • Renamed Caesarea Philippi by Herod Philip to honor Caesar and himself.
  • Filled with pagan temples, including shrines to Zeus and Augustus. 

Biblical Significance

  • Recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark.
  • The setting where Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?”
  • The location of Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ.
  • The site of Jesus’ promise: “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it”.(Source: Google AI)

Why did Jesus take His disciples to the site of such disgusting and depraved human behaviour? He wanted to make a very important point. 

At the base of the huge rock near the city was a temple to Pan. Statues of Pan and other gods, worshiped by pagans, were placed in niches carved into the rock. A grotto a the base of this massive rock face was the source  of a major spring that fed the Jordan river…which pagans called “the gate of hell” because they believed that it was the gateway to the netherworld. 

In sight of the sexual orgies of pagan worship carried out in this region, Jesus asked His disciples…

…“Who do you say I am?””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

At that moment, the disciples were forced to make the distinction between what they were seeing and what they were learning about the rabbi they were following. As usual, Peter responded on their behalf…

“Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There is huge significance in Peter’s reply because, in his words, he got it right but, in his understanding, he got it wrong. (This will be my next observation). 

Jesus’ question and His reply to Peter’s answer give us the clue to His purpose for taking them there. It was a “hands on” lesson about who He was and what His mission was to accomplish. Against the backdrop of pagan debauchery, and in the very places where this behaviour was visibly practised, He would build His church. On this rock! Which rock? 

Could it be that Jesus meant…not Peter, as so many believe and nor even Peter’s confession…that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of  God…but on the very rock, and  places like this all over the world where idolatry was the religion of the people, Jesus would establish His rule and His kingdom in the hearts of those who were once pagans like these in places like these. 

Take Ephesus as a case in point. Ephesus was the centre of the worship of Diana…Artemis…another fertility goddess with all its disgusting behaviour.  After Paul had  preached the gospel there, something amazing happened…

“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus….Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God….God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬, ‭8‬, ‭11‬-‭12‬, ‭17‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This is exactly what Jesus meant when He said, “On this rock I will build my church…!” On the very sites where pagan worship happened, His truth would transform lives and become places where His body, the church, would live and grow, and be His witnesses. 

Jesus’ question to His disciples was the crux of their relationship with Him. The realisation of who He really was…and especially after His death and resurrection…would be the driving force of their mission to tell the world that Jesus is Lord. They had to see the power of who he was against the backdrop of the worst of pagan idolatry…and be convinced that it was His yoke…His yoke? His yoke…

“In Jewish culture of that time, a teacher’s “yoke” meant his specific interpretation of God’s law and how to live it out.” Google AI 

…that would change hearts and transform lives …from false beliefs and pagan idolatry to humble believers and followers of Jesus. 

Lost and Found

Christian Life, , ,

LOST AND FOUND

“Their grumbling triggered this story, ‘Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in all your friends and neighbours saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it – there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than of ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.'” Luke 15:4-7 (The Message).

Jesus’ stories always had a target audience. Sometimes they were used to teach and other times to expose wrong thinking or bad attitudes – especially of His religious opponents. In Hebrew thought, parables were intended, not for information but for identification. Who am I in the story?

This story was one of three, called chain parables. There was a theme running through them, except that the third story had the punch-line. In the first two, Jesus spoke of lost property, a sheep, a coin, of value to the owner. In both stories, the search yielded success – the valuable property was found and the owner called on the neighbours to celebrate. We assume that the neighbours obliged by rejoicing with him or her because there was legitimate cause for rejoicing.

In the third story, something changes; not a sheep wandering away, or an inanimate object like a coin being misplaced, but a wayward son choosing to renounce his father, his family and his heritage and to celebrate his ‘freedom’ by squandering his inheritance with equally worthless hooligans. Of what value was he? In that state, a disgrace to his father and family.

And yet, when he shamefacedly made his way home, his father did not reject him as one would expect, but welcomed him home with open arms, and ordered a huge celebration for the ‘lost’ son who had been ‘found’. But unlike the neighbours in the previous two parables, the elder brother did not value him as a returning lost brother but rejected him as a worthless good-for-nothing. He focussed on his behaviour, not on his intrinsic worth as a son.

And here is the point of the story. It was glaringly obvious who the elder brother represented. The Pharisees had just been criticising Jesus for eating with rejects. They saw no worth in the people who did not ‘behave’ as they did, forgetting that their attitude of superiority was a stench in the nostrils of Jesus, far more offensive than the sins of the ‘sinners’ they despised.

Particularly offensive to Jesus was the contemptuous attitude of those who refused to rejoice over the return of lost sinners. From His perspective it was nothing short of idolatry because they were elevating themselves above people and even above God. They were honouring themselves as the epitome of virtue and writing everyone else off as worthless.

There were two categories of people that Jesus warned about the fires of hell – the greedy and the hypocrite. Of no other groups did He tell stories to highlight God’s attitude to them. Unless they repented, they would be consigned to the garbage dump where worthless rubbish is burned.

The Pharisees thought sinners were worthless but they could not see that their own attitude stifled their potential and made their lives fruitless for God. The returning sinner was welcomed home and came back on track to fulfil his purpose in life. The interlude of his wandering away did not disqualify him from being a son. It only interrupted his fellowship with his father and his growth in becoming a mature son. It was not only an interruption but, in the long run, also a learning experience.

But for the hypocrite there was nothing of value in his attitude, only alienation from the father and the family. This series of stories should have alerted these religious prigs to the very thing in themselves that they judged in others. No wonder they could not rejoice over the return of lost sinners because they had no idea of just how ‘lost’ they were!