Wednesday 8th September 2010

Luke 15.1-2 cont.

1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to Him to listen to Him

2 But both the Pharisees and scribes were murmuring saying that this man receives and eats with sinners.

The word and tense used for murmuring suggests more than a ripple of disapproval running through the Pharisees and scribes. They were continually expressing their dislike, and perhaps disgust.

The plain truth is that they could not understand why Jesus would want to associate with people ‘beneath the class’ of a teacher. They all knew that Jesus preached righteousness, always encouraging people to seek first the kingdom of God. It would appear to the Pharisees and scribes that the words of Jesus were not matched by His actions.

However, earlier in His ministry Jesus said: “I have not come to call righteous people but sinners to repentance” – Luke 5.32.

The Pharisees believed that there was no hope for the tax collectors and sinners. In contrast Jesus saw them as ripe candidates for salvation. John and Charles Wesley had the same vision. Many within the established church murmured against their open air preaching in the 18^th century, with the result that the Methodists movement could not be contained within the Anglican Church.

It seems that where there is a moving of the Spirit of God, there may also be those who murmur within the church against such a move.

Murmuring against what God is doing is nothing new. It happened amongst the people of Israel as God was leading them by a safe passage through the wilderness. We read of this in Numbers 21.4-5: Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient along the way, [5] and they began to murmur against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!”

The consequence of their murmuring was that God sent snakes amongst them, which bit many who then died. They were saved when God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole, so that if they were bitten they could look at the bronze snake and be saved.

There is a consequence to murmuring against God. If we ever find ourselves doing this, we best look to Jesus so that we can be saved from the consequences of such an attitude.

Tuesday 7th September 2010

Luke 15.1-2

1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to Him to listen to Him

2 But both the Pharisees and scribes were murmuring saying that this man receives and eats with sinners.

The popularity of Jesus was not with the acceptable classes of the population, such as the Pharisees, Scribes, rulers and synagogue leaders. It was with those who are described as sinners, and tax collectors.

The tax collectors were regarded as traitors, because they worked as agents of the Romans and also, because many of them were engaged in the legalised theft of the people. They often charged a higher rate of tax than was officially necessary, keeping the extra amount collected for themselves. Therefore, they would have the opportunity to live a lavish lifestyle.

The sinners would include those who did not obey every detail of the law, and those who were devoted to leading a life of sin. These would be the underworld of the time. They were a class of people who were despised by the Pharisees and scribes. W Barclay says that these people were labelled by the Pharisees as The People of the Land. There was an insurmountable obstacle between them, which meant that the Pharisees had no dealings with these people, they forbade their daughters to marry one of them, they would not trust them with any money, their testimony was disregarded and they would not allow them to be guardians of orphans. They would not permit themselves to be a guest of them or have them as a guest. In their efforts to avoid any contact with them the Pharisees had no business dealings with them, as far as possible.

In the light of this we can understand why the Pharisees were shocked at Jesus being in the company of The People of the Land.

What was it that attracted these people to Jesus? Why was it that the crowds came near Him to listen to Him?

We can easily see that the miracles would draw people to Him; we can also understand that His radical teaching and lifestyle would attract people. Perhaps they came to Him because they could see that He genuinely was from the Father.

May that be true for each one of us, that the world will see that we have been with Jesus.

Monday 6th September 2010

Luke 14.33-35 cont.

33 So it is for all of you who do not give up all his own possessions, they are not able to become my disciple.

34 Salt is good, but if it should become useless, how will it be salty again?

35 It is fit neither for the land or the manure heap, so it is thrown out. The one who has ears must listen.”

Perhaps we are unfamiliar with the thought of salt losing its saltiness. The salt we are familiar with apparently always retains its saltiness. However, the type of salt that was abundant for the Jews was different from the salt we use, and it was possible for the salt from the cliffs of the Dead Sea to lose its flavour. Therefore, it would become useless.

This is an impure rock salt that, when exposed to air loses its flavour.

We must assume that those listening to Jesus would have had experience of, or known about salt losing its saltiness and having to be thrown out.

The loss of salt would affect the whole of their life. If the salt they used lost its saltiness it would mean that their sacrifices were unacceptable to God, it would mean they would lose their friendship with God and it would mean their health would also suffer.

It would mean they would not be able to preserve foods.

As we look at the setting in which Jesus spoke these words, we see that it is one of sacrifice, the cost of being one of His disciples. By using the illustration of salt losing its flavour, Jesus is telling the Pharisees and scribes that unless they are prepared to make the sacrifice of taking up their cross to follow Him, they will be like salt that has lost its usefulness.

The question for us is: Where do we want to end up? Are we prepared to walk His way of sacrifice and find life or are we prepared to end up on the rubbish heap fit for nothing?

These are words of Jesus that are a challenge to us, to make us think about whether or not we are the salt of the earth that He has called us to be.

They are words that we may not always find easy, but if we follow His way and put Him first in all things we will be the salt that flavours the world with the taste of the Kingdom of God.

Sunday 5th September 2010

Luke 14.33-35 cont.

33 So it is for all of you who do not give up all his own possessions, they are not able to become my disciple.

34 Salt is good, but if it should become useless, how will it be salty again?

35 It is fit neither for the land or the manure heap, so it is thrown out. The one who has ears must listen.”

New born babies were rubbed with salt in order to promote good health. Jesus, in talking to Nicodemus, said: “Unless a person is born from above, he is unable to see the Kingdom of God”. It cannot be stressed enough how important it is for a new believer to be rubbed with the salt of Jesus, His word, in order to promote their continued good spiritual health.

Salt was also used as a preservative, signifying that God has entered into a permanent relationship with His people.

There are many references in the Bible to the everlasting nature of the covenant that God has brought us into. Jesus said in John 6.37: “those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them”.

In Hebrews 13.21 we read: Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting covenant, signed with his blood. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Some will be able to remember how it was common to use salt in the preserving of foods, in particular how, before the days of freezers, runner beans were placed in jars with layers of salt to preserve them.

We can think of other uses for salt, such as killing weeds in the garden. We are always thankful that Jesus has defeated the power of sin through His death of the cross.

We use salt to melt ice. The warmth of the love of God sent Jesus into the world so that, through believing in Him we have everlasting life.

Salt is also used to cleanse wounds, and clean various things. Jesus is the Salt that cleanses us from our unrighteousness, who cleans up our attitudes. Therefore, we need Him in every area of our life in all circumstances, so that we also act as the salt of the earth. In Jesus we are a cleansing agent to this world.

Saturday 4th September 2010

Luke 14.33-35 cont.

33 So it is for all of you who do not give up all his own possessions, they are not able to become my disciple.

34 Salt is good, but if it should become useless, how will it be salty again?

35 It is fit neither for the land or the manure heap, so it is thrown out. The one who has ears must listen.”

Matthew records Jesus saying the same thing under the heading of The Sermon on the Mount. (5.13).

At first glance this seems a fairly straight forward saying. However, for us to understand its impact it will benefit us to the importance of salt and its usage for the people of Biblical times.

The Jews had an unlimited supply of salt, which came from the shores of the Dead Sea, the hill of salt known as Jebel Usdum. It is thought that Lot’s wife was turned to a pillar of salt in this area.

From the day of Leviticus (1490 BC) salt was an essential part of the sacrifices that were to be offered to God. In chapter 2.13 we read: Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.

From this we learn that salt was used as a purifying agent; therefore, the salt added to the sacrifice would purify the offering as being acceptable to God. From this we can see that any sacrifice, which did not contain salt, would not be a pure sacrifice.

We can have confidence that Jesus is our pure sacrifice; which means He truly is the Salt of the Earth.

Salt was also used to season the offering, making it tasteful. If the salt used had lost its saltiness then the offering would not be acceptable.

It is through what Jesus did on the cross in paying the price of our sin that we have been made acceptable to our Father.

Through His sacrifice we have been sprinkled by His salt.

Salt was also used as a covenant of friendship, showing that through the pure salted sacrifice God had been brought the people into a covenant of friendship with Him.

This is exactly what Jesus has done for us. Paul wrote in Romans 5.11: So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.

Friday 3rd September 2010

Luke 14.33-35

33 So it is for all of you who do not give up all his own possessions, they are not able to become my disciple.

34 Salt is good, but if it should become useless, how will it be salty again?

35 It is fit neither for the land or the manure heap, so it is thrown out. The one who has ears must listen.”

In verse 33 Jesus gives us an indication of the cost of discipleship. It is the rejection of personal possessions. This may seem a hard thing to say. However, we must remember that he was talking to people who believed that their personal wealth was a blessing from God, and a reward for their supposed righteous ways of living.

There is some truth in this in that all that we possess has been given to us by our Father. Many of the great characters of the Old Testament benefitted from the wealth that God lavished upon them.

Jesus is making the point that wealth and possessions can be a massive obstacle to being His disciple. Many of those listening would have been wealthy and it would cost them everything to follow Jesus.

There was the occasion when a young rich man asked Jesus what he needed to do in order obtain eternal life. Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor – Luke 18.18-23.

Is Jesus saying that we should have no wealth and no possessions?

The answer is to be found in other things that Jesus said. In Mark 10.29-30 Jesus states that whoever gives up everything in order to follow Him, will receive a hundred times more in this life and eternal life. There is also the promise of persecution.

The cost of being a disciple of Jesus is that we must abandon anything that prevents us from being totally devoted to Him and His purposes. Such things can take various forms, such as money, pleasures, sports, family, careers etc. None of these things are wrong in themselves, but if we count them more important that following Jesus then they have become a great barrier to following Jesus.

Perhaps each day we need to ask Him what it is that we need to abandon in order for us to be His disciple. It will be different things for each of us.

Again it is good for us to hear that there is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus, but there is a far greater cost in not being one of His disciples.

Thursday 2nd September 2010

Luke 14.31-32 cont.

31 What king having ten thousand soldiers will not first sit down and seek advice to see if he is able with to war against the king who has twenty thousand soldiers.

32 Otherwise, while he is still a long way away he will send a delegation asking for the conditions of peace.

In verse 32 Jesus makes the point that when facing defeat in the face it is better to pursue a peace settlement than face annihilation. It is better to swallow ones pride than to enter a battle that one cannot win.

At a time when the cold war between East and West, and trouble was also looming in the Middle East the New York Times reported on June 27, 1954 that at a White House luncheon Sir Winston Church made the following remark:  “To jaw-jaw always is better than to war-war”.

Those of us who grew up during this time may remember the tension that existed between the nations of East and West, the espionage and intrigue, and the summits held by heads of states.

It was a time of jaw jaw, but also of stockpiling nuclear weapons that could destroy the world several times over.

In using this illustration of kings going to war the main thrust is that of knowing the true cost of being a disciple of Jesus, and the inadvisability of fighting against a king who has more recourses and power to win the ensuing battle.

Perhaps Jesus was also hinting at the fact that to engage in such a war is to be embattled against Him. As we have seen the cost of this is total defeat and eternity excluded from the presence of God, banished to hell.

In truth the cost of not being a disciple of Jesus is eventually far greater than being His disciple.

Therefore, it is for each individual to seek peace with Him. And He is all in favour of bringing us to that place of peace. It is for this reason that He died.

Jesus said: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives – John 14.27

Paul writes: Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us – Romans 5.1.

Let us give thanks to God that He has brought us into peace with our heavenly Father, a peace bought by His blood.

Wednesday 1^st September 2010

Luke 14.31-32

31 What king having ten thousand soldiers will not first sit down and seek advice to see if he is able with to war against the king who has twenty thousand soldiers.

32 Otherwise, while he is still a long way away he will send a delegation asking for the conditions of peace.

Again Jesus uses an illustration, which shows the cost of following Him, and the need to be prepared for a battle.

In the lead up to the Second World War there were many doubts raised as to whether or not this country was ready to engage in war against Germany.

Similarly, in more recent times doubts and questions have been raised about the wisdom of the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Is it possible that Jesus was making reference to the advisability of various groups trying to rise up against Rome? Israel was a hot bed of revolt and rebellion, with numerous groups making attempts to assert liberation from Rome; all with no success.

The people would have been aware of such attempts and the unwise decisions that led to ultimate defeat. (As we know from history these finally were completely destroyed by Rome in AD70 as Jerusalem and Israel were completely overrun).

We must remember that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. There may have been those (including Judas) amongst the crowds who may have believed that Jesus would lead an uprising against Rome.

Along with these illustrations and other words that Jesus spoke (The Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may have it back again – John 10.17), Jesus is leading the people to understand that His Kingdom is not one that advances through the wars of this world.

In Ephesians 6.12 Paul states that we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.

The decision to follow Jesus must be made in the knowledge that we do enter a battle, we are going to continually live in a war zone, but: How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord! - 1 Corinthians 15.57.

Tuesday 31st August 2010

Luke 14.28-30

28 Now if one of you wants to build a tower will you not firstly sit down and calculate the cost to see if you have enough to complete it?

29 In case when laying the foundation he is not able to complete it and those watching might begin to mock him,

30 Saying that this man began this building and was not able to finish it.

Jesus goes on to use two examples that show the importance of being aware of the costs that are involved in following Jesus. Obviously it is also extremely important to be aware of the costs involved in not following Jesus. It is the choice between life or death, between eternity with God or eternity without God.

Jesus uses the illustration of a man building a tower. It maybe that Jesus was referring to the towers that the owners of vineyards would build as observation posts, looking out for raiders and intruders.

Jesus says that it is wise to cost the building before construction begins, in case the builder runs out of money and is unable to complete the job. He would be mocked and shamed by others.

In today’s economic climate we see that, sadly a number of buildings have been started, only to remain uncompleted, because the project has run out of money. Whatever the causes for this, it is depressing and humiliating for the builders.

We live in times when people are encouraged to spend money they don’t have, and to borrow money they may not be able to repay. The modern world encourages people to start the building now and pay for it later, perhaps with little thought has to how to meet the financial costs of that.

Jesus tells us that before we commit our life to follow Him there is a need for realism to invade our soul, so that we understand, as far as possible, what the cost will be. To follow Jesus will cost us everything.

In our evangelism it is important to emphasize that following Jesus does mean leaving everything else behind, it does mean having only one focus and that is Jesus.

However, not to follow Him means we will lose everything.

Jesus said: For whoever, wishes to save his soul will lose it; but whoever will lose his soul on account of me and the gospel, will save it” – Mark 8.35.

Monday 30th August 2010

Luke 14.27

27 Anyone who does not carry his own cross and follow me is unable to be a disciple of mine.

Here Jesus plainly refers to the life of the Christian being one of hardship, trouble and strife. Following Jesus can be at one and the same time both the most exhilarating of experiences and also one of personal pain.

Everyone who comes to Jesus must necessarily carry their own cross.

Those who were listening to Jesus would understand the agony of a cross.

They were all approaching Jerusalem, travelling on roads constructed by the Romans. Perhaps many of them had seen numerous people hung on crosses, since this was a normal Roman way of execution. Life was cheap and personal suffering meant little to the battle hardened troops of Rome.

It is possible that as they journeyed towards Jerusalem they may have passed those who had been left hung up on crosses to die.

If so, then the words of Jesus would have a heart-rending meaning for those hearing them.

At that time the cross was a symbol of the world’s system punishment. Ever since the time of Jesus the world has sought to punish those who follow Him. Recently 10 people have been murdered by Taliban insurgents, because they were accused of preaching Jesus among Muslims. They are in a long line of those who literally have taken up their cross to follow Jesus.

The cross was a symbol not only of death, but the manner of that death. It was a symbol of having life taken from them.

To follow Jesus and to be His disciple means to be prepared for life to be taken from us.

As a follower of Jesus we are called and chosen to do as He did, which was to lay down His life in order to fulfil the purpose of God. In coming to Jesus, we willingly lay down our life in order to do the Father’s will. This is symbolised when we are baptised.