Monday, December 27: Luke 23- Prophet, priest and king

Many writers and Bible teachers talk about Jesus fulfilling the roles of prophet, priest and king. Some see in the gifts of the Magi, allusions to those three functions. For some reason, before I even began reading, I was thinking about the gifts of the Magi and Jesus being prophet, priest and king. Surprisingly, as I read the account of his trial and crucifixion, I saw those roles lived out by Jesus.

KING: Jesus agrees with Pilate that he is a king. Verse 3: So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. Again in verse 11, Herod’s men make fun of Jesus’ kingship. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. Jesus is a king, God’s king and he knew it.

PRIEST: A priest stands between people and God.  They speak on behalf of the people to God. One major function of the priest was to bring God’s forgiveness and atonement to the people. In verse 34, we see Jesus declaring forgiveness on those who tortured and killed him. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." ….

PROPHET: Admittedly this may be a stretch, but prophets were often miracle workers, who displayed God’s power in deed and word. All Herod wanted was to see Jesus, the miracle worker, do a big show. Jesus refused. Verse 8: When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. Prophets were not magicians-for-hire, they were the mouthpiece for Almighty God.

I spent time this morning thinking about Jesus, baby in a manger and Savior on the cross… I contemplated Jesus, prophet, priest and king and how each role calls me to respond to Jesus!

Jesus, thank you for standing between me and the Father… brings God’s forgiveness and atonement (priest) and speaking and demonstrating God’s power and might and word (prophet). And, Jesus, bless You for being King., I worship You as King of my life and King of my world.  Lead me and direct me, O Jesus, my King! Amen.

 

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Saturday, December 25: Luke 22- sing, weep, sing.

Merry Christmas…

The jubilant songs of the angels has morphed into the taunts and insults of the soldiers. Jesus’ torturous march to Calvary has begun.

My heart sings and weeps and sings again as I play and replay the life of Jesus in my head. At Christmas my gaze is almost exclusively on the manger and the entrance of God’s son into our world to redeem and save us. Angelic choirs announce the occasion.  Wonder and awe fill the ‘air.’ My house is decorated with smiling snowmen and angel tapestries. As one holiday song goes, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…”

And yet today’s reading reminds me that manger and birth are only half the story. Jesus came to give His life to redeem those who believe. For me, on this Christmas day, the reading of Jesus’ last hours before Calvary fills in the entire story.

Honestly, my breath is short and my eyes filled tears.  This is how much God loves me! This is how much God loves the world. This is how much God loves you.Jesus came and died for you and for me, to pay a price we could never have paid and to give us a right standing before God we could never have earned!

I can’t stop the newsreel of Jesus’ story in my head. Calvary is not how the story ends. Three days later the stone is rolled away. “He is not here. He has risen!” the angels declare.

Yes, my heart sings and weeps and sings again as I play and replay the life of Jesus in my head.

All to Jesus I surrender;

      all to him I freely give;

      I will ever love and trust him,

      in his presence daily live.

 

      I surrender all, I surrender all,

      all to thee, my blessed Savior,

      I surrender all.

Amen.

 

Friday, December 24: Luke 21- Gift giving.

I am so used to thinking of Jesus as a baby in a manger on Christmas Eve, that it felt strange listening to Jesus talk about the destruction of Jerusalem and through that lens talk about His Second Coming. Jesus’ Second Coming is an Advent theme, but it is not a theme that often captivates my thinking. Maybe it should…

The verses that the Spirit seemed to highlight for my pondering this morning came at the opening of the chapter. In verses 1-4 Jesus observes the giving of money into the temple treasury. Some commentators suggest that since this wasn’t the temple tax, it was money given for the care of the poor. Listen in as Luke recounts the event. As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Tonight in my house all my family will be present. Before we will go to bed, people will sprinkle gifts they have purchased for family members around the tree and tomorrow morning, we will rise and open our presents. It is fun to think about family member and buy them presents they truly want. Even as my kids have grown into adults, it is fun to see their faces as they open their gifts. I gain enjoyment watching their delight.

The text, however, presses my liberality in other directions… giving to God, giving to the poor, and not holding back in these giving selflessly. Some might say even the woman gave recklessly, she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.

This woman’s giving was not stimulated by slick marketing or the abundant wants, it was devotion to the Lord God Almighty…

Lord God, how do I grow in the kind of giving this poor woman exhibited? I know that this kind of giving pleases Jesus and I want to please Jesus, too, in this arena of my life and in every arena of my life. Holy Spirit, teach me, show me lead me… Amen.

 

Thursday, December 23: Luke 20- An unpopular wondering..

   My wonderings this morning (and I call them wonderings because I am not sure if my wonderings are accurate and true or not…)

Whenever I read the discussion between Jesus and the Sadducees about heaven and whose wife the woman will be in heaven (vv 27-39), I wonder what heaven will be like. Particularly I wonder if we will know the people in heaven we have known on earth? Common belief is that we will know our families and our loved ones and it almost seems as if we will live in our families forever in heaven. Yet, verses 34-36 cause me to wonder if that is accurate? Here’s what the text says, Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.

Okay, it doesn’t say anything about knowing other people but it does imply that marriage doesn’t exist in heaven. And if there is no marriage, are there families in heaven like there are families here on earth?  I just don’t know, which is why I call this a wondering.

Where I am much more secure in my thinking, is that heaven will be such a glorious place with God so present and knowable that my earthly understandings of life will not matter.

Another thing that set me at ease is that God created us as humans to live in relationship with other humans (Adam and Eve in the garden and this was before The Fall!!!). So, somehow our relational needs will be completely and totally and perfectly fulfilled in heaven. How that will happen is God’s design and God’s decision and I am comfortable with that.

I hope my wonderings haven’t created problems for you. When I have wonderings spawned from the text like this, I rest in the understanding that God’s ways are higher and better than my ways.  I am willing to wait until I see God face-to-face to find out the answer.

Lord, I am so blessed that You, God, have revealed Yourself to me. I know I cannot fully know You this side of eternity. My mind simply cannot fathom all You know and have revealed. I am a flawed and limited human being. I trust You for my ultimate salvation and I trust You will the specifics of my future this side of eternity and forever. I love and trust You. And I will follow You no matter what You ask of me and no matter the path You want me to walk.

Lord, I am blessed, too, by the family members and friends that You have placed around me. You have always taken care of me and I know You always will.

May Your name be praised… In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

 

 

 

Wednesday, December 22: Luke 19- Work the best you can, but be sure to work

I am so familiar with Matthew’s parable of the Talents (Mt 25:14-30) that the differences in Luke’s telling of the parable of the minas caught my attention. (By the way the differences shouldn’t create any concern, since Jesus likely used parables more than once and could have tweaked them to fit differing contexts.)

In Luke’s account, 10 servants receives the same amount of money, one mina (3 months wage) to invest. When the king returns, one servant hands him 10 minas (yes, a ten-fold ROI). Another servant gives the king 5 minas (a five-fold ROI). The last servant mentioned gives the king no ROI.  He squandered his opportunity not even gaining the king any interest.  What he had is taken from him and given to the servant who proved the best money manager.

What an interesting parable… the king rewards according to ability.  The more the ROI, the greater the reward and no ROI (no initiative) gains a rebuke. The king’s response stimulates a number of thoughts.

First, the king accepts the hard work of each servant according to his/her ability. Those who produced were given opportunities to use their skills now with bigger projects, i.e. cities.  But the king does not suffer fools.  The one who did nothing with what the king gave him was rebuked and dishonored in front of everyone. I thought about Jesus’ message. God will reward according to effort + ability. Ability is innate.  We can hone abilities but we can’t manufacture them. Some people have more and different abilities than others.  God honors the use of whatever abilities He has given.

Effort, however, is clearly within our control. I can choose to apply myself or not. God rewards for effort. Now that gives me pause. How much effort am I giving to God’s kingdom advancement? This is where the Holy Spirit wants me wrestle and think and pray.  How about you?

Lord, help me to give you A+ effort… Amen.

 

Tuesday, December 21: Luke 18- the manger and the cross

It felt strange or disconnected. I spend much of my day preparing for Christmas –the Christmas eve service at my church and Christmas day with my family- and then I read about Jesus telling his disciples that he is going to Jerusalem to die and rise again. "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again" (31-33). Christmas and Easter –a cute newborn baby and a cruel cross- seem like two puzzle pieces that don’t fit together…?!

Yet as I pondered the seeming incongruence I was feeling, it was as if God turned one of the puzzle pieces and immediately they slid perfectly together.

The manger and the cross are both symbols of God’s extraordinary love for you and me and all the human race. In the manger God comes to us, becoming one of us (!), identifying and connecting with us so that He can lead us back into a relationship with Himself. The cross, then, is the necessary payment that makes the reconnection between us humans and God who loves us. Both are necessary to complete the task of putting sin-filled humans, like me, back into a relationship with the almighty and perfect God of the universe.

I don’t normally think about Good Friday and Easter at Christmas time but as I do this morning, I am glad God put these together for me in my devotions this morning. What an incredible picture of God’s supreme and sacrificial love for me, for you, for everybody…

Lord God, thank You for demonstrating Your love. Jesus, thank You for your birth, Your life, Your death and Your resurrection. Holy Spirit, thank You for unveiling my eyes and allowing me to see how much You, the Son and the Father love me… Amen.

 

Monday, December 20: Luke 17- Increase my faith.

In a moment of stunning honesty the disciples cry, “Increase our faith!”

Their cry interrupted Jesus, who was speaking some strong words to His disciples. Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him (1-4)

Take a moment with what Jesus has just said. Jesus calls us to look at our lives. Is our living causing another person to become all bound up in sin? Is my (your) example or advice leading people into sin? The penalty is pretty extreme. Pay attention to how you live(!) intones Jesus.

Then He escalates the situation, saying that we must forgive a repentant brother or sister every time they ask, even if they sin against us 7 times a day and repent 7 times a day. (Now I don’t know about you, but I wonder how sincere is their repentance if they sin against me 7 times in a day. This is a hard word!)

It is at this point that the apostles say to Jesus, "Increase our faith!" (5).

To which Jesus gives an interesting reply, If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you (6).

I have some mustard seeds in my office.  They are a tiny dot of a seed, not much larger than the period at the end of this sentence. Obviously, a little faith goes a long way.

Jesus continues with another hard saying.  He teaches us that doing our duty to God is only the bare minimum, we should do much more than mere duty (read verses 7-10 again).

To which I want to reply, “Increase my faith, Lord!”

Listening to Jesus I am so far from even doing my duty, much less living beyond duty into sacrifice… “O, God, increase my faith!”

I am humbled by this morning’s word from Jesus. I join the apostles, recognizing how far short I fall of Jesus’ expectations.

Lord Jesus, increase my faith and beyond that, increase my resolve to live out the faith I have fully. And, Lord, sit with me today as I evaluate my life, so that my manner of living would point others to You and not away from You. Help me to be lavish with my forgiveness to all who sin against me.  Help me to regularly ask for Your forgiveness, repenting of my sins to You and to the sister or brother whom I sinned against. For Your glory, Jesus. Amen.