Tag Archives: poor

SOME PUZZLES OF SCRIPTURE – 4

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It’s amazing how often Scripture read out of context takes one down the wrong road and ends up far from its intended destination. Take, for example, the teaching that Jesus was poor.

The idea is derived mainly from His comment to the man who requested to follow Him. His reply suggests that He was too poor to sustain another permanent follower.

Jesus was by no means poor. Firstly, He was a rabbi and would therefore have been well supported by his many followers.

Secondly, a group of wealthy women supported Him with their resources and adequately saw to His needs and the needs of His disciples.

‭Luke 8:1-3 NLT‬
[1] “Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, [2] along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; [3] Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.”

Thirdly, we must not take 2 Cor 8:9 necessarily to refer to material and financial wealth.

‭2 Corinthians 8:9 NLT‬
[9]” You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”

It might, in the context of Paul’s teaching on giving, but Jesus’ wealth in heaven far outweighed anything He might have had on earth. His so-called poverty here was relative to His vast resources in the universe.

‭Psalms 50:9-12 NLT‬
[9]”But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens. [10] For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. [11] I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine. [12] If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it.”

Here on earth, Jesus had enough to sustain His life. He could even multiply loaves and fishes to feed a multitude or send Peter to catch a fish to pay their temple tax!

Another suggestion was that Jesus was apparently homeless, moving around from place to place with no permanent address.

Said one interpreter,

“Those that followed him in this work required them to leave their families and not have a place to call home. This homeless state is not pleasant for humans. Even animals have a place to call home here on earth, but not the Son of God.”

And another,

“He does not own a home. He doesn’t even have one to use, as a slave would. Despite His humanity, He does not belong in this world and has no safe place to dwell. Jesus’ itinerant lifestyle acts like a metaphor for the world’s rejection.”

And a third,

“The implied statement Jesus makes here is something like “this is not going to make you rich and famous, nor is it going to be easy.” Would the scribe really follow Jesus everywhere once he saw how tough that journey could be? The lack of response or further information about this man suggests that he would not and did not.”

Contrary to the ‘prosperity gospel, the Bible does not teach that God wants us wealthy. Jesus spoke more about the dangers of money and wealth than any other subject.

For example,

‭Matthew 19:23-24 NLT‬
[23] Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. [24] I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

Such a variety of interpretations hint at the fact that teachers and scholars don’t really understand what Jesus meant so they invented an explanation.

The first principle to understand is that the ancient Hebrew language, in which much of Scripture was written and in which Jesus would have thought, is very different from our own. Hebrews expressed themselves and originally wrote in picture langauge. Their pictures conveyed concrete ideas which formed comic-strip-like concepts. They did not think or write in the abstract. The meaning of their pictures is found in the context since one picture could convey more than one idea, depending on what was added to the root word.

To understand what Jesus was saying, we need to look at His pictures and find out what He was conveying.

‭Matthew 8:19-20 NLT‬
[19] Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” [20] But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens (to live in – writer’s brackets ), and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

(The word ‘kephale’ translated ‘head’ can mean ‘cornerstone’, the place where two walls meet. Jesus is the cornerstone of the church).

‭Jesus contrasted Himself with foxes and birds. What do foxes do in dens? What do birds do in nests? Foxes do not live in dens nor do birds live in nests. They reproduce in dens or nests.

Jesus was referring to His own situation. By contrast to foxes and birds, He did not yet have a ‘body’ on which to lay His head. (He was not yet the cornerstone of the church). He was not yet spiritually complete to reproduce Himself in others. The day would come when His body, the church, would be born, on the day of Pentecost. From that moment on, Jesus was the head of His body, and He could begin to reproduce Himself through His people.

‭Ephesians 1:22-23 NLT‬
[22] “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. [23] And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”

For that reason, He was not ready to take on more followers than His twelve disciples whom He had chosen to train for the task of reproduction after His death and resurrection.

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell on the Twelve in the presence of thousands, Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled. Three thousand believed Peter’s message and became the first of multiple millions who are still coming to faith in Jesus.

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – A BANK YOU CAN BANK ON

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A BANK YOU CAN BANK ON

“Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bank robbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. The place where your treasure is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” Luke 12:33, 34.

God’s economic system hits at the core of our fallen nature. As long as we are ensnared in the dominion of darkness, our disposition will be one of selfishness driven by greed. However, Jesus’ work on the cross sets us free from the one thing that will destroy us as surely as night follows day.

The Apostle Paul has given us another principle that appears to be a paradox. He said,“…Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12b, 13. You work out…God works in. Once again Paul declares that God works through our choices to perfect His work of grace in us.

The potential to be generous is the spontaneous outcome of salvation but we have to turn that potential into action. Both Jesus and Paul tell us, “Now work it out.” This is the miracle of what Jesus has done for us. Sin shackled us to a nature that has endless potential for greed and wickedness but, when we were transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of light, we were freed from that potential and released into a new potential. “Be imitators of God as dearly loved children…” Ephesians 4:1(NIV). There it is again, the family environment in which we are set free to develop our new nature in God.

Jesus urges us, “Now get on and become what you are.” Developing our generous nature has huge potential – firstly of imitating our Father and secondly, of growing our assets in an infallible banking system.

This has far greater significance that we can imagine. According to Jesus, eternal life is ‘knowing’ God and ‘knowing’ Him, Jesus, (John 17:3), but what does it mean to ‘know’ God? Strangely enough, we find a clue to knowing God in the Old Testament. Jeremiah was talking about Shallum, Josiah’s son, who succeeded him as king of Judah. He had been taken captive to Babylon. What was his crime?

“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labour…does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?  Did not your father (Josiah) have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord?  Jeremiah 22:13, 15, 16 (NIV).

We will develop an intimate knowledge of God by doing what He does. Growing our potential, then, means using every opportunity we can to be generous givers. The more generous we are, the more revelation we will have of who God really is, and the more we will experience intimacy with Him. And, after all, that’s where He is heading – leading us into oneness with Him – the essence of our marriage with Him at the end of time!

Never Forgotten!

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NEVER FORGOTTEN!

‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly. I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’ (Mark 14: 6-9).

What a contrast between the generous and scandalously wasteful gift this woman poured on the head of Jesus and the cruel criticism of the skinflints who had no intention of giving to the poor anyway. And just as lavish as her gift, so also was the praise Jesus heaped on her for her devotion. He read into her action far more than she even intended.

When she awoke that morning, did she have one thought in her mind? “Today I will give to Jesus the very best I have to show Him how much I love Him”; or was it a spontaneous gesture when she heard that He was in Bethany? Was she one of those who had received His forgiveness for the way she had lived? Was the alabaster jar of precious perfume the result of her soliciting to make ends meet? Had she invested some of her earnings in the one thing that had great value, or was it a gift from her beloved father to ensure that his child would be cared for by a loving husband?

Perhaps things had not worked out for her as she had hoped. No man would have her now. She was soiled beyond hope, according to Luke’s story, a woman of the street whom people despised. As for the religious leaders – they were out front in their contempt for this woman of the night, albeit some of them were also her customers, but incognito because never let it be told that they went to her house for their pleasure.

But she saw something in Jesus that she had never seen in any other man. He did not look at her lustfully or undress her with His eyes. There was genuine compassion and acceptance in His glance. Never a word of condemnation did He speak or look at her with the contempt she knew she deserved. He treated her with courtesy and dignity as a daughter of God, created in His image with the potential to reflect Him in her life. All she needed was to be set free from her shackles of shame and guilt, and be reinstated in His family as a beloved daughter.

She felt special and loved when she was near Him. When she heard that He was in the home of Lazarus and his sisters, she searched her house for a gift worthy of the man who had set her free. Her eyes fell on her alabaster jar on the shelf. There was nothing more valuable in her home than that. She didn’t care that it was irreplaceable. Never again would she do what she did to purchase her prize if that was the way she had acquired it.

Snatching it from the shelf, she hid it under her cloak and hurried off to the place where the feast was being held. Slipping in unobtrusively among the guests, she fell at His feet, broke open the fragile jar and deluged His head with the costly perfume. Its delicate fragrance began to waft through the room, overtaking the odours of cooking and food until everyone was aware of the perfume.

The nasty ones, of course, were immediately hit by the enormity of this wasteful act. “She’s crazy!” they muttered. “What was she thinking? Why didn’t she sell it, if she was really feeling that generous, and give the money to the poor?” Since when did the poor matter to them so much? If they really cared, why hadn’t they been as lavishly generous to the poor out of their abundance as they wanted her to be?

Jesus turned on them indignantly. He knew what they were muttering. He was always aware of thoughts and attitudes that hit Him in the solar plexus. He faced their mean-spirited criticism full on. “One thing is for sure,” He exploded, “This woman’s action, her devotion for me, which you so despise, is not only preparation for my burial, but also a memorial to her. You will be remembered for your mean and ugly hearts – exposed by your words; but her love and sacrifice for me will never be forgotten. Every person who reads my story, throughout the generations until the end of time, will know what she did for me.”

How would you like to hear words of praise like that from the lips of Jesus?

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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Wax Or Clay?

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WAX OR CLAY?

“But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’  He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to whatever was put into it.” John 12:4-6 NIV

Who was this Judas Iscariot? What kind of man was he? Why did Jesus choose him to be a disciple?

We have to glean bits and pieces about the character of Judas from the gospel story. We learn most about him from the events leading up to the crucifixion. It seems that there was no love lost between him and John, writer of the most “spiritual” gospel, according to the early church fathers. Even though John was an old man by the time he wrote, he could not resist having a dig at Judas as he remembered and recorded details about his part in the events of that terrible week.

Judas was the “treasurer” of the group. It fell to him to take care of the money bag, to buy the necessary provisions and to pay the taxes required by the Romans, and the temple tax, tithes and offerings as part of their covenant responsibility. Apart from that, John knew that he periodically helped himself from the money bag for his own private use but he did not divulge his source of information. Perhaps it was no more than a suspicion because he knew that Judas liked money.

Did Judas volunteer for the job or did Jesus appoint him to take care of the finances? If so, why? Didn’t Jesus know that he had sticky fingers? One can only see God’s grace offered to this man. Jesus gave him opportunity to change his behaviour by entrusting this responsibility to him. Judas could have risen to the occasion by choosing not to violate that trust instead of seeing it as an opportunity to enrich himself, but he didn’t.

In spite of the years he spent with Jesus, following, listening and even doing the works Jesus did, Judas’ heart was still hardened and unchanged because of his love of money. He remained unmoved by the compassion, kindness and generosity displayed by His Master; he certainly could not understand how He could accept Mary’s lavish adoration on this occasion when she “wasted” her precious dowry on His feet!

On one occasion Jesus had pointed out to His disciples that it was impossible for a man to serve two masters. The God of Israel and Mammon, the god of money were at opposite ends of the pole. God is the epitome of generosity; Mammon represents everything that is selfish and greedy – what the Hebrews called the yetzer harah, the evil eye, the “factory fault” with which every human being is born since Adam. The gap between God and Mammon is so vast that serving one is tantamount to hating the other. Therefore, if Judas served money it was impossible for him to love God.

For Mary to lavish such expensive perfume on Jesus meant that she valued Him far more than she valued her most valuable possession — something that was absolutely foreign to Judas, so foreign in fact that he was willing to sacrifice Jesus for the sake of money. Judas betrayed his greed by his objection, and John read him aright. For Judas it was not about the poor; it was about the money he could have had in the bag — another opportunity to remove his “salary” without authorization!

“Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ’It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.’ John 12:7 NIV.

Was John also hinting at one of the reasons why Judas betrayed Jesus? Once again, in a public assembly, Jesus had exposed the heart of Judas, and Judas must have squirmed at the humiliation! But Jesus never exposed hearts for the sake of revenge. As with the Pharisees, He wanted people to know themselves so that they would turn to Him for mercy. When Peter faced his exposure, he turned, but not Judas. He became harder and even more determined to get even with Jesus.

The same sun that melts wax, hardens clay!