Luke 7

In my task oriented mind I saw that I had only one chapter to read this morning and I thought, "Great, this won't take very long!"  I forgot that the Bible is like a two-edged sword and is active and vibrant as we interact with its words.

This chapter deals with Jesus' authority over distance, death and sin, as well as having several responses to Jesus that we really need to consider.  John the Baptist has had some doubts while he was in prison and sends his disciples to ask if Jesus was the one, or if he should keep looking.  What a great question!  Why sit back and brood trying to figure it out on your own.  Step up and ask.  I wish people would do that with Jesus today!  Are you the One or should we look around for someone (or something) else.  What would our response be if someone asked us that question?

I also see the response of people to Jesus being a sometimes similar response I hear at the Church, complaining about this or that:  "This church is to this and that church is too that."  Give me a break and love and serve Jesus, and quit trying to get everyone to meet your expectations!

Then Jesus deals with sin, or rather he deals with our understanding of forgiveness and our response to being forgiven.  It is funny that Jesus flatters the pharisees at the same time he blows them out of the water. 

But my favorite statement in this passage today is verse 19 in the description of the Pharisees and lawyers response to John.  It says they rejected the purpose of God for themselves by not being baptized by John.  I wonder if that is connected to Jesus telling the Pharisees they have been forgiven little?

Oh how the scripture get me thinking, wondering and constantly turning toward God!

That's what I heard today.  What about you? 

Luke 5-6

Wow!  There is so much teaching in this section that is both challenging and inspiring.  I can picture myself being present listening to Jesus teaching and committing myself to live exactly as He would want me to live.  Even the most difficult of things.  I wondered about this and realized that Jesus' teaching is so different from the teaching I listen to today.  He calls us to a life to live that is directly from his own character, and from the character of His Father.  Luke 6:35-36 explains it for me:

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most high, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

If God is kind to the ungrateful and evil (which includes me), then I should be able to do that as well without thinking.  It is not only a choice, but the expected response because of what God has done for me. The automatic response.   The fruit that comes out of our lives indicates the reality of the tree that we are.  Apple trees produce apples automatically, not because it sits there and decides one day that it should have apples instead of peaches.

I just love the character of our God!  I want to live that out.

That's what I heard this morning.  What are you hearing?

Luke 3-4

Isaiah is quoted in reference to John's proclamation that, "all flesh shall see the salvation of God."  This is the key to Luke's gospel.  Luke reaches out beyond the conventions of the day that was very adult male dominated.  Jesus came for ALL people.  We will see this throughout all of Luke's gospel story.

Jesus' temptation is a battle we have almost every day as the Deceiver seeks to pull us away from, and redefine, the gospel message from Jesus.  The scripture is even misused by the Deceiver is order to pull us in wrong directions.  I think that is why it is so important to sink deeper into the gospel, to stay in the pool of what Jesus has done for us and not jump around into every faddish teaching that comes around that sounds good to our ears.  The Deceiver was promising blessing to Jesus and that He had a right to receive these extra things from God.  Jesus was clear that this was not the focus of his ministry.  Which was good because right out of the gate he is rejected in Nazareth.  Not only that, they tried to kill Jesus at the beginning of his ministry.  Being faithful to God does not mean that all things in our lives go well, even when we serve God faithfully!

That's what I heard this morning.  What about you?

Luke 1-2

Luke seems to approach the life of Jesus with a different focus, as an historian who is seeking the truth of the events in order to to remind his reader Theophilus of the truth of Jesus.  The details he provides give us clues to Jesus' identity as well as to give us confidence that what Luke writes is the truth, verifiable by history.

 I have always wondered what happened to all of these people who were aware of the miraculous events of both John and Jesus' births.  Did they follow their growing up years with interest waiting for everything to happen?  They would have to wait for 25-30 years and many of these folks would have died by then.  But for those who were still alive, did they have an expectation that any day things would begin to happen?

I also like the descriptions of the growing years of both John and Jesus.  John was described as growing and becoming strong in spirit, preparing him for his work as the impassioned prophet.  Jesus' growing years are described twice, both times focusing on becoming strong and filled with wisdom, increasing in stature and in favor with God and man.  This prepares us for his role as teacher/rabbi. 

But ultimately the descriptions by Simeon and Anna that Jesus is destined to be a Redeemer and and Savior will be the key to the end of Luke's written history.  And so Jesus ministry begins.  I look forward to reading His story again.

That's what I saw.  What about you?

Mark 14-16

As the elders of Israel tried to find a way to get rid of Jesus, all of the witnesses that came forward could not agree with one another.  But the elders persisted in trying to get their desired result.  They wanted Jesus dead.  They were not looking for truth but for what they felt was best for them at that very moment.  So they lied and plotted and planned until the real truth did come out, which was all they needed to decide to put Jesus to death by their laws.  It was the truth that was so offensive to them.  It was the truth of who Jesus was that they did not want to hear or want to be true.

Next, these leaders of the spiritual life of Israel encouraged the crowd to have Pilate release a murderer and insurrectionist (Barabbas) instead of the one who claimed to be the "Christ, the Son of the Blessed."  Even Pilate (the non-believer) saw that Jesus had done no evil, but he didn't realize why Jesus was so dangerous:

If Jesus is who he claims to be, then that changes everything!  A murderer is not as dangerous because a murderer can only take your life.  If Jesus is the Son of God then he owns your life.  Those leaders didn't want that to happen because then they are no longer in charge.

That's not so different than how people struggle with the Christian faith today.  It is often easier to be offended at Jesus and repeat the lies than to really come to terms with who Jesus is and accept it completely.  Pilate decided it was better to satisfy the crowd than to pursue the truth.  Even Peter at this point saw self-preservation as more important then standing for the truth. 

So Jesus is mocked, denied stripped and crucified all over again.  All because people cannot accept the truth of who he is - the Son of God. 

That's what I read today.  How about you?