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THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – STAY WITH IT

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STAY WITH IT

“‘You’ll even be turned in by parents, brothers, relatives, friends. Some of you will be killed. There’s no telling who will hate you because of me. Even so, every detail of your body and soul – even the hairs of your head! – is in my care; nothing of you will be lost. Staying with it – that’s what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry, you’ll be saved.'” Luke 21:16-19.

How terrible, that a parent will betray a child and siblings each other for the sake of an ideology that has no foundation in truth! Such is the power of deception that it even overrides family loyalties.

There are countless stories of these kinds of betrayals from the Communist era, for example, that ripped family and friends apart. There are devotees of other religions today that are equally ruthless in the name of their god and teach that anyone who is not one of them must be destroyed.

But, unlike the gods who ‘require’ this kind of behaviour to protect them, Jesus assured His followers that He was in charge and would protect them, even down to the hairs on their head! Herein is the difference between lies and truth. If a god cannot take care of himself and demands that his followers go on the rampage, and riot and murder to guard his name, does he sound like the sort of god that attracts both trust and security?

What if you did something to annoy him? If he requires you to kill even your own family for him, what guarantee do you have that he won’t take you out for some infringement? How much security is there in a god who is capricious and unpredictable?

Once again, Jesus was utterly truthful. He faithfully warned His followers that there was trouble ahead for them if they remained loyal to Him. He gave no guarantee of physical safety if they followed Him but He did assure them that no part of them would be eternally lost. How many times have we already seen that He always viewed life from the perspective of eternity? Life did not end at the grave. It was only a part of the whole, a preparation for what lay ahead beyond death.

Persecution would not destroy them, however tough it was, but it would weed out those who were only in it for what they could get out of it. It would be part of a refining process by which faith in Him would be stripped of props and false expectations and would be anchored in His trustworthiness alone.

Jesus wanted His followers to trust Him so completely, in His character and His promises, that they would stake their very lives on what He had said. And they did! History reveals the story of many thousands during the first three centuries of the church who gave their lives rather than deny Jesus, and they did it joyfully because they believed His promises.

People foolishly follow the words of someone who claimed to speak for their god with no proof of their authenticity. Jesus Himself spoke these words, “‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'” John 11:25-26 (NIV).

Once again we are left with a choice – to believe and follow the teachings of a god who never speaks for himself, who offers no infallible proof or his existence, and has to rely on fallible humans to speak for him, or to believe in the one who said He would die and rise again and did it, not for Himself but for us, so that we can entrust ourselves to His proven trustworthiness.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – FUTILE FAITH

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FUTILE FAITH

“A bystander said, ‘Master, will only a few be saved?’ He said, ‘Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life – to God – is vigorous and requires your total attention…'” Luke 13:23-24.

Jesus consistently refused to pander to mere curiosity-seekers. His response to this man’s question seems rather rude until we understand what He was saying from His perspective. What would be the point of His self-sacrificial mission to earth if all it produced was people who gathered useless information to satisfy their desire to know about God and not to know God?

Jesus did not come to earth and lay down His life to gather around Him a crowd of freeloaders who have no interest in the meaning and purpose of life in the kingdom of God. There is a tendency today of ‘accepting Jesus’ as an escape route from hell and a solution to all our problems rather than a commitment to the life-time commitment to become who we are, sons and daughters of the living God.

The life we have been given is an apprenticeship for the life to come. What we do with it now will determine what God does with us in the “hereafter”. He gives us the choice and then works with us according to the choices we have made. This is not a joy-ride to heaven. It is vigorous and requires our total attention. The Apostle Paul reiterated Jesus’ sentiments in Philippians 2:12b,13 – ” …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 purpose.”

Jesus was constantly referring people back to a consideration of their own lives before God. Those who reported the cruelty of Pilate who murdered worshippers in the sanctuary, were warned they that would suffer a similar fate if they did not repent. If we have any involvement with Jesus of Nazareth, it can only be a personal and lifetime commitment to Him as our Master and Lord.

There is a world of difference between the present-day gospel message which is essentially saying, “Come to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins so that you can go to heaven when you die,” and the message of the apostles who declared, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ,” Acts 2:38 (NIV).   

The good news of the kingdom of God was never intended to be an escape route from earth. It is a promise of hope and the renewal of a corrupted earth and a mandate for those who recognise and bow to the Lordship of Jesus, to bring heaven to earth.  By living out the life of Jesus in the power of His Spirit here on earth, His Father’s benevolent and gracious rule can be extended through His people wherever they are.

God’s promise is that every knee will bow to this Jesus whom He has elevated to the highest place and given a name above every name.  Even those who refuse to acknowledge Him now will bow, including His arch-enemy, the devil, and that will be their admission of defeat and their self-inflicted removal from the presence of God forever.

So, once again, Jesus says to every reader, ‘Be warned. You choose….”

The Mystery Revealed

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THE MYSTERY REVEALED

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full members of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;

He will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

And this is my covenant with them

When I take away their sins.” Romans 11:25-27

In the end they just can’t get away from God’s mercy!

Unlike the gods of human imagination who are mostly out to “get” their worshippers and are easily offended like their creators, the God of the Bible is big on mercy. No matter how Paul reasoned or argued, he always came out at the same place. Mercy! Unlike much of our erroneous ideas about God, He has no intention of destroying people if He does not have to.

The history and destiny of His people is inextricably tied up with the destiny of the Gentiles. Israel had no exclusive claim to God’s love. They were chosen to be His messengers and mouthpiece to the rest of the world. “For God so loved the world…” Why should He not love the world? Every human being of every nation is created in His image and for His glory, not just Israel, but He needed a specific group of people to model Him to the rest of mankind.

The fact that they failed does not cancel out their calling and God’s purpose for them. He did not “un-call” them because they failed just as no child can be “un-born” even if he disappoints his family. His parents may disown him but he is still a family member whether they acknowledge him or not.

Paul called it a mystery. There are many “mysteries” in Scripture – things we don’t understand because they are beyond human imagination or human experience; for example, the sovereignty of God. How can God carry out His will in our lives and yet, at the same time, hold us responsible for our choices? It’s a mystery!

But Paul is not talking about this kind of “mystery”. In the Bible, God hid truths which could only be revealed when all the facts were in place. One of the big mysteries, which only came to light after Jesus died and rose again, was the relationship of Jew and Gentile in God’s big story. The Jews thought they were “it”, but God had a different agenda for them. Through them He planned to bring the whole world into His story.

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 3:6.

Unfortunately, because of their prejudice and bigotry, the Jews could not stomach the idea that God cared about the Gentiles as well but, in spite of their resistance, they were and will always be descendants of Abraham and God’s covenant people. And that makes them players in God’s story until the final chapter.

And what is the final chapter? They will take their place in the story, where they belong.

“As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.” Romans 11:28-32.

And how will it happen? Once again, in His own incomprehensible way, God will bring together His choices and man’s choices into perfect harmony to fulfil His will. The Jews, just like the Gentiles, will receive mercy through faith in God’s Son, when they finally recognise who He is.

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son…On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” Zechariah 12:10; 13:1.

Acknowledgement

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A Night To Remember

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A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

“The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?’ They said, ‘Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live — and everyone in your house included.’

“They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master — the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home dressed their wounds and then — he couldn’t wait till morning! — was baptised, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God: everyone in the house was in on the celebration.” Acts 16:29-34 (The Message).

What a reversal of roles!

Did Paul and Silas ever dream, when they got up that morning, that the day would end like that? Locked in a maximum security cell with their feet in leg irons under heavy guard wasn’t exactly on their agenda. They were minding their own business when the slave girl harassed them and called forth Paul’s reaction — evict the demon and restore peace. The outcome was more than they bargained for.

Their response to the vicious treatment they received left all the other prisoners shaking their heads. Praying and singing instead of swearing and protesting! How could these men be so nonchalant about their predicament? And then the earthquake! Not only Paul and Silas were free, but all the other prisoners as well — and no one took the opportunity to escape! Now that’s surprising — and supernatural — God would have been guilty of executing a jailbreak!

And then the jailer’s response! From a typical authoritarian Roman civil servant, he became a humble enquirer. What did he perceive, in these events, that shook him to the core? He had locked up many a guilty criminal but never had he seen men behave in this way and never had any god intervened so decisively to free his innocent devotees. There had to be more to this than he could fathom.

Fancy a jailer begging his prisoners for mercy! This whole scenario is mind boggling. Paul and Silas grabbed the opportunity to tell him what he wanted to know but they did nothing to capitalise on the strange turn of events to secure their freedom. The jailer had no authority to release them and they put no pressure on him to do anything illegal.

It was the jailer’s initiative to take them home and try to undo some of the injustice they had suffered. Since when did a jailer every entertain prisoners in his home, wash and dress their wounds and feed them like royalty — and all this in the early hours of the morning? His new-found faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the boundless joy that overflowed from his heart produced this passion to serve these two servants of the Lord.

It’s no wonder Paul could write these words: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28 (NIV). Little did they know that, by the end of that day, a whole family would have been born into the kingdom of God through their suffering.

Every word that Paul penned to the beloved saints in church after church was written in blood and suffering, but every experience was worth it. He could say with utter confidence, “We know…” His Master, Jesus, had to learn obedience through His suffering — not by trial and error, but by obeying — and Paul, likewise, learned that the fruit of his suffering was eternal in its value.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV).

Light and momentary troubles? In the light of the eternal value of those who believed through his suffering, yes!