2nd Evangelical Free Church

What does Jesus tell His disciples to do about their enemies?

Luke 6

 

The portion of this chapter termed the Sermon on the Plain is Jesus' teaching on discipleship. Jesus directed the sermon only to His disciples whom He has just called. Thus Jesus outlines for them and us the characteristics of the life to which He had called them. Discipleship is marked by persecution, injustice, insults, and loss but also by blessing and joy. Joy results from the love that the disciples would display for their enemies even in the midst of trials. This love is what opposes and overcomes evil. This is in fact what God the Father does for all of us and since we are His servants, we are expected to do the same.

 

The teaching we find here is one of the most difficult passages in the Bible. It is not difficult to understand, but it is difficult to put into action. Not only are we to forgive people who mistreat us, we are to love them. We are to do good to those who persecute us. Love goes beyond just mere forgiveness. If we love those who insult us, we will choose not to retaliate or seek revenge. We will not only choose to not take offense, but we will go out of our way to bless them. The love that Christ commands here is not merely an emotional feeling or a positive regard for someone. It is a radical action performed in response to oppression, abuse and malice. This love contradicts the love that the world values.

Meditate & Apply: How can we behave like this when traveling on the subways and highways during rush hour or shopping at our favorite store? Are these commands to be taken literally? And if so, to what extent?

Who are the ministers of the new covenant?

Luke 5

 

In this chapter we see Jesus acting in ways that demonstrate that He has come to change the world in a radical way. He will change religion and worship as He sweeps away the old and replaces it with the new. He calls as His disciples simple fishermen and sinners such as Levi. These will be the ministers in the new covenant, not the descendants of the Levites, not the priests and teachers of the Law who never cared about the rest of the world, never preached to sinners or Gentiles lest they defile themselves. The new ministers are these very people they shunned as unclean, unlearned and common.

 

These new ministers or agents of God will pursue others to attract them and lead them into the kingdom in the way that a fisherman lures fish into his nets. The bait may seem to consist of miracles and healings, but the real lure that holds attraction to hurting and despairing sinners is forgiveness of sins. The paralytic and the friends who brought him to Jesus had faith in the healing power of Christ. That is why they were so determined to have Jesus touch him. He received what he wanted but also got what he really needed: forgiveness. Though this is a real incident it also teaches us that sin is a paralysis that immobilizes the heart and will. Worldly psychologists and psychiatrists can do nothing to resolve this for the root cause of sin can only be destroyed at the cross.

Meditate & Apply: What bait do many modern churches use to lure people in? What bait should be used, that is, what should be the content of the message conveyed to sinners? 

What is the devil doing here?

Luke 4

After Jesus is baptized, he goes out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. This tells us that Jesus’ ministry is one in which He will do battle with the devil. In the opening confrontation, Jesus is the winner: He does not succumb to the temptations. Then He goes to Nazareth to officially proclaim the start of His ministry. He is going to attack and destroy the works of the devil and the consequences of sin by preaching the good news of God’s love to the hurting and oppressed people. In addition He will heal the sick and give sight to the blind. These will greatly affect Satan’s hold on the world.

 

The temptations that the devil used to try and trap Jesus show us that he may not really have known who he was dealing with. Jesus was not able to sin, but Satan did not know this. The incident shows that Satan has a command of scripture as he can cite it from memory. Though he cannot fool Jesus, he can and often does fool us. He may tempt those in the world with the lusts of the flesh, but we Christians often require a form of temptation that uses God’s word to justify selfish behavior. If we can use Scripture to justify such actions it may seem as if God wants us to act in a certain way. Satan also works through false prophets who twist God’s word so that it seems that God’s will is that all His children deserve to indulge themselves, to be healthy, wealthy, famous and proud. Thus we can live like the world because we think that it is what God wants when in reality it is what we want. When we fall prey to the devil in this way, then we are useless to God.

Meditate & Apply: What tempts you the most?

What is the ministry of John?

 

Luke 3

Luke introduces the account of Jesus’ ministry with a description of His forerunner or prophet, John the Baptist. His ministry indicates that God is about to do a new thing, to create a new covenant, to do away with the old system of religion and Law. John is a minister of that new covenant. The chief elements, on the human side, are repentance and baptism. No longer will God accept animal sacrifices and grain offerings. He desires a changed life, a new heart, repentance, an admission that one is sinful and wicked. The public proclamation of such an admission is proclaimed by baptism, which indicates that one has died to self and the old ways, a total change of life. Thus repentance must be marked by the fruit of righteousness as well as a concern for the poor and oppressed.

 

Jesus too comes to be baptized, not because He is sinful but because He desires to fully identify with His people. The appearance of the Holy Spirit and the voice from heaven indicate to us that He has a unique relationship with God, He is the Son of God and thus He is God. But Luke wants us to know that Jesus is also a man. So at this point he presents us with the genealogy of Jesus to remind us that Jesus is descended from Adam. Since this genealogy differs in significant ways from the one in Matthew, many scholars believe that Luke uses it to trace Jesus’ human ancestry through His mother Mary while the other is the legal genealogy through his legal father, Joseph. Because Luke has already told us that Jesus had no human father, this seems to be a perfectly legitimate way of showing the true humanity of Jesus.

Meditate & Apply: What are the fruits in your life that show you have repented? Or are there any?

A humble birth.

 

Luke 2

Luke opens the narrative of Jesus’ nativity by relating the events that caused it to happen in the town of Bethlehem in fulfillment of prophecy. While kings and kingdoms moved forward with their own agendas and plans, the Lord was using them to accomplish His plan. The King of Heaven became man in a foul smelling and rank manger in a small insignificant village in a remote corner of the mighty Roman Empire. The one who would change the course of history, who in fact determines and sets the course of kings and kingdoms came in a quiet and humble way.

 

The only ones who noticed His birth were a mixed assembly of witnesses. There was a glorious company of heavenly angels, of course, who put on a splendid worship service glorifying and praising God who had fulfilled His promises to man. The rest of the group was composed of a rather insignificant number of people who would have lacked credibility. There was a small group of crude and smelly shepherds. They saw the heavenly spectacle and the baby Jesus but who would believe them? Then too there was a doddering old man and an elderly widow both of whom, though respected by the Jews, would have been dismissed as too old and senile to make sense. It was these simple yet righteous people that God chose to use and to bless just as He still does today.

Meditate & Apply: How would Hollywood have handled Jesus’ birth? As you think of this, reflect on the ways Hollywood has handled it.

The meek and lowly exalted.

 

Luke 1:26-80

The angel of the Lord also appeared later to Mary to tell her that she was to give birth. Yet, unlike her kinsman, Zacharias, Mary was a simple country girl, unschooled in the scriptures. Still she knew the Lord and had faith in Him. She knew He was capable of mighty deeds, yet the message the angel Gabriel gave her made no sense since the supernatural conception of a child by the Holy Spirit was something never heard of before. This is why she did not share the punishment of Zacharias. In addition, Mary was willing to do what the Lord commanded even if she did not fully comprehend how it was to happen.

 

Mary knew, as she expressed in her song, that the Lord exalted the lowly. He called the least likely people to accomplish His work, not the rich, famous and mighty. The words that Zacharias uttered joined with Mary’s in proclaiming the greatness of God. Zacharias rejoiced in the fact that our God is ever faithful and always keeps His promises. He is a God who delights to extend mercy. His ways and His will confound human beings because He does things contrary to what the world thinks is best. He always favors and blesses the lowly, the humble, the insignificant, and uses them to accomplish His greatest works.

Meditate & Apply: Do you think God would use you? Why?

An answer to prayer.

 

Luke 1:1-25

As we open up the Gospel of Luke we encounter the miraculous events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist who was to be the prophet who would announce the arrival of the Messiah. John’s parents, of the priestly class of the Jews are described as righteous and blameless. Though faithful and pious they had no children, though they probably would have prayed for one since barrenness was considered to be a curse from God. Despite this, Zacharias was blessed by a great honor: to offer incense before the Lord in the Temple. While he was doing this he encountered an angel of the Lord who told him that the Lord was going to allow Elizabeth to give birth to a son.

 

This was an answer to the prayer Zacharias was praying at the time which, since he was in the Holy of Holies, was a prayer for the salvation of Israel, for the deliverance and redemption of all Jews, for the Messiah not necessarily a prayer for a son for himself. What the angel says of the ministry of this son, John, is found in Malachi 4:5-6, the last words of the Old Testament spoken 400 years earlier. This prophecy was now coming to pass. Zacharias should have known this. In addition as a priest well-versed in the scriptures, he knew God was capable of doing mighty miracles as he had done for Abraham and Sarah. For his unbelief in the very face of God’s messenger he was struck mute as a sign that the Lord is always faithful to His promises despite the circumstances.

Meditate & Apply: God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us; He will not lead us into more pain and temptation than we can bear. Why then do we worry, and cave into temptation and fear?

The perfection of God.

Ezekiel 47:13-48:35

 

As we reach the final verses of Ezekiel’s prophecy, the prophet gives us a theological lesson in the form of a geographical description. The division of the Promised Land is made in strips of land to each of the 12 tribes in equal proportions with the sacred portion allotted to the Levites and the Temple of the Lord, which is not located where Jerusalem is but some distance north of it in the geographical center of the land. The city of God itself is the place where God dwells with His people. The symmetry of the land is not to be taken as actual predictions of future events but as an indication of God’s perfection and order. The description of such utopian and physical perfection never occurred in Israel.

 

As we have seen before in Ezekiel, his visions are told in a form that his original audience could readily understand. It is we modern readers who mistakenly interpret them as factual descriptions of real events. We must realize that Ezekiel’s visions are of not of physical realities or predictions of actual events. They are rather to be understood as descriptions of theological truths and spiritual realities. We must further apply this principle when we approach other prophetic books for as we might realize that many of the elements of Ezekiel’s visions including this last one are reflected in those other prophetic books notably Revelation. Rather than read such visions as predictions of future history we must interpret them in the way the original audience did. The lesson we learn is that God will punish all evil and all evil doers including those who call themselves believers. We also learn that God’s sovereign plan is good. He will always triumph despite the fact that is often seems that He will not.

Meditate & Apply: Always be cautious when reading prophetic visions.

The river of life flowing from the heart of God.

Ezekiel 47:1-12

 

Ezekiel’s tour of the Temple is now complete. His guide now shows him the influence and effects that God’s holy rule will have on the land and people of the world. This is what is meant by the river that comes from the Temple. This river begins as a small stream that transforms all that it touches as it gradually widens to a strong flowing river that empties into the Dead Sea. That sea is now made fresh and full of life by that river which also provides vibrant life, fertility and luxuriant fruitfulness to all that surrounding land. The salt remains because salt too is a symbol of life as it counteracts decay.

 

It should be obvious that this river is the life giving Spirit of God which heals all of our sins and diseases and gives our lives spiritual peace and contentment. The walled Temple reminds us of the need for holiness and the Law of God but the river of life is all about grace. Grace and Law work in harmony in God’s economy. The river tells us that God and His rule it is not for us alone. The good news is that the Lord wants to take residence in the hearts of all mankind. The people of the world may possess everything but never do they rest easy, never satisfied, content or at peace. Only those in God’s Kingdom know this contentment. Though in this world they have little or nothing of material goods, they possess God’s peace in the certain hope of sharing the blessing of God’s eternal kingdom.

Meditate & Apply: How can you function as a channel of God’s blessing?

Why is the Temple allocated land of its own?

Ezekiel 45-46

 

The Lord describes for Ezekiel the allocation of the land. He starts with that portion which is to be sacred, set apart for God. As such it belongs to God and provides a buffer between Him and that which is unclean. The Temple is at the center of the nation, while the priests live on the adjacent land. The next portion is for the unnamed and unspecified prince who as a ruler is also allocated land. This indicates that he serves under the authority God and must always remember that he is not to build his empire at the expense of the Lord or the Lord’s people. The whole passage conveys this sense that God is at the center of all life, not man, so all we do must honor Him.

 

In addition to land allocation, the Lord mentions regulations for two feasts, Passover, and Ingathering neither of which bear much resemblance to the feasts as originally established by Moses. The primary concern here is for cleansing and purification from sin so that the people may have fellowship with God. This indicates a great change in the way the Lord wants to do things. Rituals and celebrations of the Lord’s salvation are important but purity and holiness lie at the heart of worship. The Lord’s people must obey Him with every aspect of their being, living lives of justice, humility and righteousness if they want to worship Him properly as well as take advantage of the blessings of His kingdom. 

Meditate & Apply:  How does our celebration of the Lord’s Supper remind us of the need for purity?