NT Journey--John 15

Fine in the Vine    

OK, cheesy title.  Sorry, but I think it's a pretty good summary of John 15.  I'll do this one a little different.  Although Jesus' words here are all on the same topic, there are a lot of little nuggets to point out--so I'll do it bullet-style.

• The context here is Jesus' parting words.  He just told the disciples that He's going to be leaving them.  He is clear that things are not going to always be peachy for them, but intends for His words to be encouragement for them.
• In verse 4, "no branch can bear fruit by itself."  Jesus speaks of our source of life.  Our relationship with Jesus isn't a mechanical (strictly cause and effect), contractual (goods and services exchanged) or legal (if party A does X, party B agrees to provide Y) relationship, it's organic.  The vine provides life and nourishment for the branches and the branches grow the vine.  Think about that: Does this mean we can actually add-to God?  Just asking.  (vs 8--God is glorified (i.e. increased) when we bear fruit.)
• Branches that don't "bear fruit" are pruned.  Jesus here is talking about people who actually claim to be "in Christ" connected to the vine.  So even "Christians" are pruned by God when they don't bear fruit.  That doesn't mean unbelievers are safe--if they're not in the vine, they have no source of life and just die naturally.  But believers beware--you are eligible for pruning!
• What does it mean to "bear fruit?"  Some would say it means bringing others to Christ.  While that may be part of it, I think if you look in context, you have to say it has something to do with increasing in love.  When our love for others increases, we bear fruit.  Notice that fruit-bearing happens yearly.  We can't just live off our past fruit.  If a branch hasn't produced an apple in 4 years, it's probably going to be pruned.  No matter how old we are, love can still increase in our lives.
• Love=obedience=joy.  Think about it.
• The greatest love is when a person "lays down his life."   
• Pastor Bill reminded me of an important point in John.  When Jesus uses the word "world" in John, he's referring to the world under the influence of Satan.  So when we get to verse 18 and Jesus says, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."  I've seen many churches use this as an excuse to be offensive, but the interesting thing about what Jesus is saying here is that sinners actually LOVED Jesus.  It was the religious establishment that hated him the most, followed by the political system (Roman Empire).  What does that say about who will hate us?
• Don't forget about the Holy Spirit.  More on this in the next chapter.

NT Journey--John 14

Lord and Savior

There is more to Christianity than just the cross.  I know it sounds sacrilegious, but hear me out.  I'm not diminishing what Jesus did on the cross.  It was a metaphysical necessity for us to be reconciled to God.  It is certainly central to our faith.  In fact, the resurrection is equally necessary when it comes to our faith.  In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says this in so many words, "If Christ has not been raised our preaching is useless and so is your faith."  The cross means Jesus is our savior.

But I have come to see in scripture that we cannot claim Jesus as savior without first making Him Lord.  As we've seen before--in John 3, "belief" in the Bible is more than just an intellectual proposition.  The kind of belief Jesus talks about is done with more than just our brain, it's done with our lives.  In the gospels, when Jesus called people to be His disciples, He said, "Come follow me."

Now I don't know about you, but I think when Jesus says "follow me" He doesn't just mean to believe certain things about Him, He means something else entirely.  I don't know if kids still do this, but when I was young we used to play a game called "follow the leader."  In that game, you would have one person who was the leader, who would walk around the playground doing different things.  Everyone else playing the game would have to do exactly what he did.

In John 14, Jesus talks about what it means to follow Him.  He is preparing to go to the cross--He knows the time is coming, so He is now giving His parting thoughts to the disciples.  It's in this chapter that Jesus makes His famous statement, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." 

Now in one sense, Jesus is talking about the cross.  His sacrificial death opened the door for us to be reconciled to God.  Because of that act of obedience and sacrifice, all of humanity was given a new lease on life.  It is the central event of history for every man, woman and child, whether they know it or not.

But when Jesus makes this statement in John 14, He means even more than this.  While the cross opens the door to salvation, we are responsible to walk through that door.  I don't believe we walk through that door just by praying a prayer.  The prayer may be the first step, but the real test of faith is the walk. The "walk" is to walk like Jesus.

All throughout John, Jesus spiritualizes things and people don't get it.  Now the table is turned.  Jesus begins to speak in more material terms, but the disciples are thinking more spiritually.  In verse 8, Philip says, "show us the Father and that will be enough for us."  He's hoping for some spiritual manifestation of God.  But Jesus tells him that if he wants to see God, he only needs to look at Jesus.

Jesus is the convergence of God and humanity.  Remember that Genesis tells us that we are made in the "image of God."  Because of sin, that image was stained. It's kind of like a Picasso that's covered in mud.  On the surface it doesn't look like much, but at its heart, its invaluable.  When we are what we were created to be, we look like God and Jesus is our example.  Jesus is what God intended for us to be.  When Jesus died and was resurrected, He returned to us the potential that we lost because of our sin.

So as Jesus is ready to go to the cross, it's no coincidence He talks to the disciples about following Him. 

• He is the "way."  He doesn't just show us the path, He is the path.  When we our thoughts, attitudes, and actions are like  Him, we are on the path.  
• He is the "truth."  He is not just some philosophy someone came up with, but He is the true representation of reality, both spiritual and physical.  
• He is the "life."   We sometimes think that we know what it means to have real and full life.  But instead, Jesus says, "whoever wants to save that life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Jesus' sake and the sake of the Gospel will find out what it really means to live."

The cross opens the door for us to live this life, but it's Jesus' example that shows us how to live that life.  And when Jesus' went to heaven, He left us with the Holy Spirit.  We haven't talked much about the Holy Spirit up to this point, but the job of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of Jesus' teaching and to guide us along the "way."  

Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to obey.  So the  proof of whether we really love Jesus is if we obey.  Jesus says this twice (once in verse 15 and once in verse 23).  Obedience is an active word.  It's more than just intellect, it's what we do with our lives.

John 14 makes it pretty clear that you can't have Jesus as savior is you're not willing to first take Him as Lord.  So how's your following?  It's easy to get caught up in just going to church, but does your "faith" in Jesus make any perceivable difference in the way you live your life?  The cross made this life possible--it opened the door, but now you have to walk through it by obedience.

NT Journey--John 13

The Low Man     

What Jesus symbolize in the "Triumphal Entry" in John 12, He teaches directly in John 13.  This is a very memorable chapter in the Bible, but one that seems a little strange if you don't know the background.  Of course, it may not be that hard to figure out.

Palestine in New Testament times was a dusty place and most people didn't have enclosed shoes--they essentially wore sandals or nothing.  So as you can imagine, feet tended to get pretty dusty.  In their society, just like most societies, there was a "pecking order."  In a typical household, the father was most important, then mother, then children, then slaves if the family had any.  When guests would come, they would receive the place of honor and whoever in the house had the highest social standing would have the place of honor.

When people would arrive at the house, it was customary that the person of the lowest standing, usually a slave or a child would wash the others' feet.  Now I don't know if it's something you would get used to, but my wife, for instance won't come near anyone else's feet.  I don't have a big problem with feet, but I imagine being require to wash everyone's feet would be a very humbling experience.

(By the way, that reminds me of a story.  One year  when I was youth pastor, we did a foot-washing ceremony at youth camp.  I was on staff at that particular youth camp and what we decided to do was have the staff members wash the counselor's feet and the counselors would wash the kid's feet.  Staff went first.  I was making my way around the circle when I came to a college girl.  She was dressed up and had some dress sandals on.  I took her sandals off and then was trying to remove her stockings, but I couldn't get them off her feet.  It was at that point that I realized that she wasn't wearing any.  She just hadn't shaved for a few days!  I probably could have been arrested (and in big trouble with my wife) for the time I spent rubbing my hand up and down her leg trying to get her stockings off!)

Anyway, Jesus once again turns society on its head.  As the "rabbi," Jesus had the highest social standing of anyone in the room.  Yet He immediately grabbed the bucket and began washing people's feet.  As usual, Peter speaks up and refuses to let Jesus wash His feet, but Jesus insists and says that unless Peter allows Jesus to wash his feet, he has no part with Him.

In the end, Jesus tells them that He is setting an example for them and He is setting an example for us as well.  Now this doesn't mean that we should go around washing each others feet.  In fact, I think foot-washing ceremonies are a little awkward myself and I'm not sure its really what Jesus is asking of us anyway.  But what He means is to have this attitude toward others. 

I teach all the time that spiritual growth is best measured relationally.  In other words, how well we love people is the only real sign of how much we love God.  When we get to 1 John, you'll see this very clearly.  And love is measured by how well we put the needs of other ahead of our own needs.  We all have the temptation to live as though we are the center of the universe.  But the extent to which we are able to take ourselves out of the center is the extent to which we love.  Jesus' example is a strong image for us and a high standard to live up to. 

NT Journey--John 12

A Different Kind of King

Jesus' life was filled with statements.  So much of what he did was to intentionally send a message that the way God looks at the world is different than we do.  As we saw in the book of Matthew, Jesus taught a lot about the Kingdom of God.  Later in the book of John we'll see some "king" imagery and even direct references to Jesus being a king.  In this chapter, we get the ultimate example of what God thinks is fitting for a king.

Theologians refer to the Kingdom of God as the "upside-down Kingdom."  The first will be last, the last will be first.  Whoever wants to be the greatest, must be the servant of all.  Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  All these things are contrary to what the world would call common sense, but they make perfect sense in the Kingdom.

When Jesus rides into Jerusalem, He is very purposeful about it.  Remember back in chapter 2 when Jesus' mother essentially forces Him to do a miracle, He told her, "my time has not yet come."  Well, in this chapter, Jesus' time has finally come.  He knows when He goes riding into Jerusalem, He will receive a king's welcome, and rightfully so--He is a king.  But kings would typically ride in on the best-looking, fastest, strongest horse.  The king deserves only the best.

But when Jesus rides into Jerusalem, he does so on a donkey.  John quotes Zechariah 9:9 to indicate that Jesus was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament.  But riding on a donkey was more than just the fulfillment of Scripture, it was a symbol of the character of the King and the way of the Kingdom.

Donkeys were not war horses.  They were not powerful nor swift.  They were not suited for anything but carrying burdens.  Donkeys are the quiet servants.  The symbolism is obvious--the only fitting vehicle for the king of the upside-down kingdom is the humble donkey.

As Jesus speaks to the crowd, He speak another paradox--the paradox of the seed.  In order for the seed to give life, it first must die.  In telling this, Jesus predicts His death, but also gives another example of the way of the Kingdom.  Whoever will save His life will lose it and whoever will lose His life for Jesus' sake, will find it. 

As citizens of the Kingdom of God, when we die, we live.  We aren't forced to die, we give up our lives willingly.  That's why Jesus' statement in John 3 about being born again or "born from above" is so important, yet so difficult.  We can either buy in to the world's way of doing things, or we can buy into Jesus' way.  We can't have both because they are mutually exclusive.  When we truly are "born again" we see things from a different perspective and we do things that would seem silly to the word, but in the Kingdom make perfect sense.  Jesus is our perfect example of this.  He seldom did what people expected of Him because He didn't operate by the world's standards, but by the principles of the Kingdom.

NT Journey--John 11

A Contrast in Health    

OK, I bet you've never thought about this before, but one of the great things about Jesus was just how psychologically and emotionally healthy Jesus was.  We've talked about this before, but Jesus came to show us what it means to be restored to the image of God.  Jesus is what humans were meant to be.

When we read John 11, we tend to focus on Lazarus and the miracle Jesus performed, and rightly so.  It's an amazing thing!  I wonder what it would have been like to be there.

But when I read it this time, what I noticed was how "in-control" Jesus was.  He wasn't panicked.  He knew what He could control and what He couldn't.  He stayed on task until he could make it over to see Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  At first, He seems almost callous to what's going on.  People are telling him it's an emergency, but really seems unfazed by the immanent death of his friend.

But then when he arrives, it becomes apparent Jesus isn't a heartless, emotionless machine.  In verse 35, Jesus cried and I don't think He just putting on a show.  When we see the people around us hurting or when you go into a situation and see a mother sobbing while holding her dead child, it tugs at our heart.  Jesus' heart was also  tugged.  Three times it mentioned Jesus was moved with compassion or cried openly.  Being psychologically doesn't mean being unaffected by life, it means being able to respond appropriately to what life brings us.

We might be tempted to think that Jesus was in control because He was God.  It's true that He was God, but we learn in Philippians 2, that when Jesus came to earth, He "emptied Himself" of the God-like qualities and characteristics that would give Him and unfair advantage (if that makes any sense).  Jesus makes it very clear in the book of John, that He doesn't do miracles or really anything by His own power, but only by the power of the Father.  So even though God worked through Jesus in a unique way, Jesus experienced the same emotions of life we do.

But what made Jesus so healthy?  He knew who He was and knew what God was capable of and that's all He needed.  Faith can be a very healthy, powerful force in our life.  And I'm not just talking about some vague faith that Oprah would push, but a real faith that we have a loving Father who knows what's best and want's what's best for us.  Not only that, but that loving Father happens to be the all-powerful creator of the universe, so there's nothing too big for Him to handle in life.

It's when we feel like we're missing something or we feel like we have something to prove that our emotional health gets out of whack.  But when we know and experience who God is and how much He loves us, we might be moved with compassion, but we never feel like a situation is too dire.  Certainly Mary had the ultimate faith that Lazarus would be raised again at the final resurrection (and since he died again, he will have to be raised again), but was pleasantly surprised when she didn't have to wait for that resurrection to see him again.

But of course, again we see the religious leaders with an agenda.  They're so intent on being right that they can't even celebrate the fact that they just witnessed one of the greatest miracles anyone has ever seen.  Instead of giving glory to God (or even being happy for Lazarus), the resurrection made them even more intent upon killing Jesus.  It was their religion that wouldn't allow them to celebrate a true good.

How many times are we guarded or suspicious when something great happens in a way we didn't expect?  A friend told me the story of a troubled teenager who found Jesus and got up to give his testimony in front of a group of peers and started his testimony with, "I f__________ love God!"  For many of us, our religion wouldn't allow us to accept the miracle of a kid who once was lost, but now is found, focusing instead on the "unacceptable" language.  This was the focus of the religious leaders and it all goes down hill from here.

NT Journey--John 10

Hearing God's Voice     

I think there's probably as much misunderstanding about Jesus' teachings in this chapter as there is in just about any chapter in the Bible.  As we've been reading through the Gospels, it may not seem like it, but I can certainly understand people's dilemma with Jesus back then.  To them, it must have seemed like Jesus was teaching something completely different than the Old Testament teachings.  For people who were taught one thing all their life and had dedicated their lives to it, Jesus' teachings would have certainly seemed like a complete paradigm shift.  To go from focusing on the rules to focusing on the heart behind the rules is a HUGE shift, even for us. 

When we grow up, at some point we realize that there's nothing inherently wrong about staying out until 2 am.  But when we're kids and we have a curfew (a rule) that says come home by midnight, it's quite a shift to understand the intent of the rule.  When we live by the "spirit" rather than the "letter," we feel like we're getting away with something.  But the law of Christ is the Law of freedom (read Galatians again).  When you grow up learning that holiness is following the rules, it's hard to get that out of your head.  That's why, even today, we have a hard time really living in the freedom of Jesus.  In my conservative Christian circle, we still have a hard time breaking free from the rules.

But John 10 is a reminder that we still don't have it all figured out yet.  In this famous passage, Jesus talks about his "sheep" and his "voice."  Some people interpret Jesus' teaching here to refers to how we "hear" God speaking to us.  Some interpret this to be proof of predestination and once-saved-always-saved.  But to immediately apply Jesus' teaching to our concerns today is to miss Jesus' point.  Remember that the first rule of Biblical interpretation is to figure out how the people hearing it for the first time might have understood it, or at least how Jesus intended it since it's apparent that the people didn't always understand what Jesus was saying.

The key to understanding John 10, I believe is in verse 8 where Jesus says, "All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them."  So who is Jesus talking about--those who have come before Him.  Is Jesus talking about the Old Testament prophets?  It doesn't seem like it since Jesus indicates that the false shepherds have bad motivations and bad intentions--to steal, kill and destroy.  I don't think Jesus would characterize the Old Testament prophets that way.

It seems apparent Jesus was talking here about the Pharisees and religious leaders.  In other places in the New Testament, like Matthew 23, we see Jesus talking about the Pharisees in this way, calling them things like "blind guides."  Blind guides lead people astray.  But in this passage, Jesus refers to the large crowds that are following Him, "They hear my voice and recognize me."  In other words, there's something in Jesus' words that ring true for people and that's why so many people are drawn to Him.

But Jesus indicates that the Pharisees don't really care about the people, which was evident in John 9 when they were more concerned about their theology than they were with the man who was healed of blindness.  And Jesus says, "I will prove how much I care for the sheep by giving up my life for them."  The thieves and even caretakers wouldn't do that--they would run at any sign of trouble because they're only doing it to get paid.  But when the sheep belong to you, you have a different attitude about them.

Jesus also said he has "other sheep."  Jehovah's Witnesses would have you believe that the other sheep are people in America at a different time.  But Jesus is very clearly talking about the Gentiles.  Jesus first went to the Jews and when He commanded the church to make disciples, He told them to begin in Jerusalem (the "headquarters" of Judaism) and then work their way out to the rest of the world.  What Jesus is saying is that people don't have to be Jewish to recognize that what's He's saying is true.

Of course, the Pharisees didn't get it and despite the fact that Jesus did claim to be the Messiah and backed it up with miracles, they still didn't understand.  They didn't understand because they were too focused on their own agendas to even try to understand.  They were not His sheep, they were only thieves.  They prove it because they don't enter through "the gate" (Jesus).

NT Journey--John 9

Hardened Hearts and Open Eyes    

John 9 is a great study in the futility of religious systems when they're not accompanied by open minds and true compassion.  In Jesus' day, the blind, lame, and lepers blended into the scenery.  In our society, there are many less of these infirmed people and we tend to hide them from view.  But in 1st century Palestine they were everywhere--especially at the busiest areas of town because this is the place where they could receive alms from the religious people.  Giving to the poor was commanded in the Torah, so the lame took great advantage.

But they even blended into the background for the disciples of Jesus.  When they saw him, they treated him as the subject of a conversation--they were looking for a lesson.  But Jesus didn't see the man as just an object of conversation.  He could have continued to walk along, talking theology with His disciples, but Jesus refused to treat people as objects.  Instead, He always saw the value in them, no matter how useless they might be to society as a whole.

Their question was, "who sinned that this man was born blind" reflects the religious teaching of the time--that anything bad that happened was the direct result of something someone did wrong.  But Jesus rejects this idea and actually indicates that it happened "so that the works of God might be displayed in Him."

Some people might take this to mean that God made this man suffer all his life so that he could later be used for God's glory when Jesus healed him.  On the surface, you could certainly read it that way.  God can do whatever He wants.  But I think when we look at the character of God, it's very hard for me to accept this interpretation.  God does allow a certain amount of evil to happen in the world.  In fact, most of us would be inclined to think that there's more than enough evil in the world.

Instead, I think what Jesus is doing here is showing that there is no situation in life that God can't get a hold of and heal.  I think it's more consistent scripturally to attribute the man's blindness to the influence of Satan and the fallenness of the world.  Romans 8 says:

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Jesus has the perspective that it does little good to pass blame for a situation, but instead we should always look to see how the people can be healed.  While we might be quick to blame or complain in our situation, Jesus knows that God is the master of taking a bad situation and making good from it.  That's the beauty of God.

When we see lost and broken people, what is our attitude toward them?  Do we pass blame on the alcoholic or to the man who lost his home to a gambling addiction, or do we look for ways for God to be glorified in that situation.  Do we look for ways to find evil and redeem it.

When the Pharisees come into the picture, we can see that they go back to treating the man like an object.  In fact, you could say that they see their rules and their religious expectations as being more important than the fact that there was a man who was blind but now can see.  The man was healed and they were angry!

Verse 16 sums up their attitude, "Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath."   Can you imagine?  They're so focused on their particular markers of godliness that the miss the fact that there was a guy that had been blind all his life, but now can see!  

But before I get too judgmental, let's suppose Jesus came to us like He did back then, found a man in a wheelchair and healed him and after healing him, He took a swig of His beer and used some salty language.  How would we feel about Him?  Would we believe Him?  I think it would be hard for us to get beyond our idea of what it means to be holy.  At least the Pharisees were focused on one of the Ten Commandments.  What's our excuse?

But only Jesus and the blind man were able to see what was really important in the story.  "All I know is that I once was blind but now I see."  He didn't know all the correct theology or how to explain Jesus' divine-human nature, but he had an experience with Jesus that changed his life.  I'm not advocating for some type of anti-intellectualism, but the Gospel is GOOD NEWS not good theology. (I mean it IS good theology, too, but you get what I mean.)  The man has time to get his theology straight, but right now he was too busy celebrating the fact that for the first time in his life, he was whole.

In the end, Jesus turns the tables on the Pharisees. It's precisely because they claim to be able to see that they are sinful.  He says, " ⁴¹ Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."  It would be better for them if they didn't know any better, but since they claim to have it all figured out, their sin convicts them.

NT Journey--John 8

Not to belabor a point, but I just find it fascinating that we "religious people" continue to be religious despite the overwhelming evidence that it's the religious people who gave Jesus the most trouble in the New Testament.  John 8 is certainly no exception. 

Jesus continues the theme John introduced in chapter 3 saying, "I am the light of the world."  Light helps people find their way.  The Bible (and especially John) makes no mistake that the world can be a dark place.  According to John, it's sin that brings darkness.  People who continue in sin are "darkened in their understanding" and can't see things realistically.  But when people get to know Jesus, they can suddenly see.

But what's interesting to me is that the conversation Jesus has in this chapter is not with the tax collectors or prostitutes, but with the religious leaders.  The religious leaders (Jews in this case) have the Law, so they are the ones who should be "in the light," they should be able to see more clearly that there was something unique about Jesus.  Yet, all the religious leaders did was ask for more proof--in this case the testimony of one more person because their Law requires it. 

Jesus' accusation against the Jews is that they don't really know God.  They think they know God because they are experts on the Law.  In fact, they think that by following the Law, it makes God their "father."  But what Jesus is saying is that they only prove that they don't really know God because they don't recognize Jesus as the Son.  If they really knew God, they would know Jesus.

But "sinners' didn't seem to have much trouble recognizing Jesus.  They were the ones that didn't have the hang-ups and man-made criterion for what God is like.  Sinners allowed God to be who He was, but the religious people put God in the proverbial box.  To them, God has to be predictable.  He has to be what they expect and He has to be on their side.  But Jesus was anything but predictable.  He didn't side with the self-righteous and went out of His way to be with the sinners.  This was unbecoming of the Son of God.

Jesus' conversation with the religious people centers around sin.  The religious people thought they were the ones in the light.  They thought they were the ones free of sin.  Yet Jesus warns them of sin and informs them of their own blindness.  Of course, they can't understand what He's saying because of their sin.  So I guess the big question is what is their sin that keeps them from really seeing Jesus. 

I think we can gather from the chapter that its self-righteousness.  Religion finds its foundation in self-righteousness.  Think about what that word means--that I can be righteous by my own effort.  If that's the right definition, then religion would be a synonym for self-righteousness.  But the Jesus makes it clear (and Paul later makes it clear) that it's impossible for us to be righteous on our own.  It's impossible for us to earn our righteousness.  We are only righteous by association.

Salvation is a relational term.  We are saved, we are righteous only by our association with--our relationship with Jesus.  It's like trying to get into a club without a pass.  But if we go with Jesus, we'll get in.  Religious people stand at the door and try to convince the bouncer to let them in on their merit, but to no avail.

But in verse 36, Jesus offers to set them free from their sin--to set them free from their incessant need to prove themselves to God and to other people.  But pride gets in the way.  We all have a streak in us that makes us want to earn our way in.  But in the middle of all that is Jesus saying, "Just come to me and I will set you free.  Don't be blinded by your religion. Come to ME and you will be free!" 

NT Journey--John 7

Thrown into Confusion   

In the church, we have a way of making things black and white.  When I was growing up all I heard was, "there's no such thing as gray.  Everything is black and white."  To me, that's a Pharisaical way to look at things. It's not that there's no right and wrong, but very seldom are situation as clear-cut as we make them out to be.

So when Jesus healed on the Sabbath, it everything were black and white, Jesus clearly would have been in the wrong because the Law said not to do anything on the Sabbath.  In general, people aren't completely evil, nor are they completely good.  The truth is that people move back and forth along the continuum all their lives.

It used to be that superheros were completely good.  In the beginning, batman was completely virtuous.  If he found a penny on the street, he probably would have tried to find who the rightful owner was.  Today's batman is different.  On the one hand, he's on the side of good and does very courageous things to stand up for truth and justice.  Yet he's now portrayed as a flawed and sometimes conflicted womanizer whose heroic exploits arise from his painful background.  While we'd all like the old batman, we all know deep down--especially in today's world--the new batman probably resonates more with the way things are today.

John 7 is like that, too.  It doesn't seem like any group of people is really sure of anything.  The Pharisees are probably the closest--after all they were intent on killing Jesus.  But everyone else seemed to just be confused.  They searched their memory for what they were taught about the Messiah to see if Jesus matched up with it.  So when they thought Jesus came from Galilee, they thought He couldn't be the Messiah.

What I'm saying is that for most of the people around Jesus, things just weren't black and white for them.  There was enough evidence for them to check Jesus out more, but enough doubt for them not to make a firm commitment.  What I find interesting is that Jesus wasn't about to just tell people what they wanted to hear in order for them to follow Him.  he was never interested in making things easy for people.  Following Jesus is simple, but not easy.

But for people who make the decision to have faith, their perspective changes.  They see Jesus with different eyes, but only after they act on the evidence they have.  It's the same way for us today.  We have enough evidence to believe in just, but also enough room for doubt.  But when we decide to act on our faith, things begin to make more sense.  That's what it means to "see the Kingdom of God."

A Piece Missing     
Depending on what translation you have, you may or may not have John 7:53-8:11--the story of the woman caught in the "very act of adultery."  In most cases, you'll see a note that says something to the effect of, "The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11."  This might be confusing for some, so let me explain a little about how we got the Bible we have today.

As of right now, we don't have any entire copies of the New Testament within three centuries of the original writing.  The NT is a collection of different books by different authors written at different times so we don't have that complete copy until later.  What we have right now is a collection of different fragments we've found that date anywhere from about 10 to 50 years after the writing of the book.  We don't have complete books either--we have thousands of fragments that we've pieced together to give us the complete text of the New Testament.  To help us in the process, it is said that we can reconstruct the New Testament just from the quotes of the Apostolic Fathers--church leaders who wrote within a century or two after the writing of the New Testament.

There are some small variations in the manuscripts that can usually be reconciled by looking at the evidence (I don't have time to explain the whole thing there.)  None of the variations brings into doubt a significant Christian doctrine--most of the variations are things like typos and misspellings that can be easily corrected.  The variation dealing with John 7 and 8 is probably the most significant variation and leaves scholars wondering what to do with it.

On the one hand, the story of the woman caught in adultery is a great story that is true to the spirit of Jesus, so it's deserving of being included in our NT.  But since the story isn't included in the earliest and most reliable fragments, it's worth noting.  So we keep that in mind.  There is another such variation in Mark 16:9-20.  

I suppose some day we'll find more fragments that might determine with certainty the reliability of these stories.  Until then, if they are consistent with what we see of the character of Christ, we'll continue to use the stories. 

NT Journey--John 6

John 6 has got to be one of the longest chapters in the Bible.  Like I mentioned in the intro to the New Testament Journey back in December, when the Bible was written, there were no chapter and verse divisions.  That was added much later and we thank God for that because references are helpful.  That being said, sometimes the chapter and verse delineations seem almost arbitrary.  John 6 is one of those chapters that didn't really have to be as long as it is.

In some ways, the chapter is tied together by subject.  It starts out with Jesus feeding the five-thousand with five loaves and two fish.  Then it moves to Jesus walking on the water, then it moves back to the subject of eating, though in a much different sense.

As with the story of Nicodemas and chapter 3, Nicodemas had a difficult time understanding spiritual things, but it seems that he wasn't alone.  The Hebrew culture was a very "concrete" and practical culture.  But Jesus acknowledged that there is spirit and there is "flesh" (the physical world) and while the physical world is not evil, it's the spiritual world that is more significant--thus we must be "born from above." (John 3)

When Jesus feeds the five-thousand he is performing a miracle that puts him at least on par with the prophets who went before Him, particularly Moses.  When Moses was leading the Israelites through the desert, God provide manna for them.  But when God provided manna, there was only enough for the day--there was never any left over.  But when Jesus fed the five thousand, everyone ate and had their fill and there was a lot left over.  So Jesus was showing He was greater than Moses, but the people failed to really understand.

In fact, Jesus later indicates to them that the only reason they continued to follow Him was not because they saw a miracle, but because he filled their stomach.  So when they find Him on the other side of the lake, He actually tries to "weed" some of them out.  The ones who aren't truly trying to understand, just won't get it, so they might as well leave.

That's when He starts talking about cannibalism, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life!"  Of course, He wasn't talking literally.  He was talking spiritually, but many of them didn't even try to understand.  They had not yet begun to look at things through spiritual eyes, so they couldn't really see what Jesus saw.

This passage seems to indicate that there were three groups of people with Jesus.  First, the crowd.  These were the people who were along for the ride.  Second was the totality of Jesus' disciples--more than just the twelve.  There was a group much larger than twelve that would travel with Jesus.  Finally, the Twelve disciples.  Of course, the twelve, even after this event continued to follow Him, but the crowd and even some of His larger group of disciples abandoned Him when they heard the hard teaching.

Following Jesus is much more than just a one-time decision, but it's a continual response to the truth revealed in Jesus.  As your life goes on, you will be continually confronted with more and more of Jesus asking you to take greater steps of faith to follow Him.  Each of those decisions you make shapes your faith and the direction you take will give life or take it away.

Many of Jesus' disciples had a hard time accepting the hard teaching of Jesus and it seemed like even the twelve were left a little shaken by the event.  But they stuck with Him and their faith would pay off in the end.

NT Journey--John 5

Seeing but Not Believing    

Remember in the intro to John, we learned that the purpose of the Gospel of John was that people might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the unique Son of God and they might have life in His name.  John, chapter 5 is centered around the proofs of Jesus' divinity.  But as always, the religious leaders couldn't see it.

The first proof is Jesus healing the man who had been an invalid for 38 years.  In the Jewish culture, signs and wonders would accompany true prophets.  These signs were seen as validation of the authority of the prophet or preacher.  Jesus provided such a sign, even though He didn't stick around afterward.  But instead of believing Jesus' message, the religious leaders were too bend out of shape about the Sabbath Law.

The law about keeping the Sabbath holy was a legitimate law in the Law of Moses--it's even in the Ten Commandments.  But as we've learned earlier, laws are intended to support a great principle.  People need rest, people need to stop and set aside time to acknowledge God.  The religious leaders forgot this.  After all, what acknowledges God and brings Him glory more than for someone to be healed in His name?  But they were more concerned about the Law than they were about the man.

The second proof is John the Baptist.  Jesus mentions that John testified about Jesus, but they didn't accept an acknowledged prophet's testimony.  They accepted His testimony until he started talking about Jesus.  For some reason, they just couldn't get past Jesus' claims.

The third proof is in the Scriptures.  In verse 39-40, Jesus says, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." Once again, they accept the Law that they find in the Scriptures but they don't accept the very one to whom the Scriptures point.  There are hundreds of different scriptures that point to Jesus as the Messiah, but the Jews are short-sighted and refuse to see them.

In chapter 5, Jesus never claims to be able to do anything on His own.  It's only His unique relationship with His Father that allows Him to be able to do the signs and wonders He does.  The Jews know that Jesus is claiming divinity, which is blasphemy--the greatest possible offense against the Law.  Yet, while they are looking for the Messiah, they never even consider that Jesus might be the one. They can't think outside the box they've created for the Messiah.

What happens when God doesn't work the way we expect Him to?  Do we always think that God is going to work the same way He always has?  Sure, God is consistent, but He has a much greater imagination than we give Him credit for.  I think this is why we have to make sure we stay grounded in the Scriptures--so we can recognize when God is really at work.  Look beyond just the words of Scripture and seek to find the meaning behind it.  Read it by the spirit, not the letter.  If you do, you'll have a much better chance at recognizing Jesus for who He is.

NT Journey--John 4

Breaking Down Barriers    

In both Matthew and Galatians, we talked in great depth about how Jesus' essential ministry was the "ministry of reconciliation" (as Paul writes in 2 Cor 5).  If we define sin as separation, then the work of Jesus was to reconcile (the opposite of sin).  Through His teaching and work, he reconciles people to God and people to each other.

John, chapter 4, while it may seem pretty benign on the surface would have actually been a scandalous story to the original hearers.  Through His actions as much as anything, Jesus breaks down many barriers.

First, it says in verse 4 that Jesus "had to go through Samaria."  Well, no one had to go through Samaria.  In fact, no self-respecting Jew would go through Samaria.  To understand this, it's helpful to know who the Samaritans are.  Back when Israel was about to settle in the promised land, God gave them strict instructions not to associate with any other races of people.  Jewish religion was concerned about purity.  If the Jews associated with people of other races, they might start to worship their gods or at least be double-minded about their religion. 

Well as it turns out, God was right.  When the Israelites began to associate with the Canaanites, they did begin to worship other gods and their religion became corrupt.  The Samaritans were the result of Israelites who disobeyed and married Canaanites.  So the Samaritans were half-bloods with a rival religion that had some similarities to Judaism, but was different.  They had a different temple, for instance when the Jews saw that the only true place of worship was the Temple in Jerusalem.  Because of this, Jews looked down their nose at Samaritans and avoided them at all costs.  For Jesus to go through Samaria was a major threat to the system.

Second, not only did Jesus go through Samaria, he actually talked to one.  What's more, it was a Samaritan woman.  Jewish men would not talk to a woman in public that wasn't his wife, let alone a Samaritan woman.

Third, this woman was at the well at the hottest part of the day.  The reason she was there at that time is because that's when everyone else would not be there.  She was trying to avoid the other women of the town.  Why?  As we later find out, she's a castoff--a sinner.  Jesus was a rabbi and rabbis would never be seen with a sinner, especially a sinner of her caliber.  So Jesus was already breaking down many different barriers, just by being there and talking with the woman.

When they strike up a conversation, Jesus tells the woman about "living water."  His goal, as in every situation was to bring "life" to the woman.  The woman was ostracized from a race of people who was already ostracized.   Her life was nothing special, but to Jesus she was special.

Immediately, she wanted to turn the conversation into a debate about religion.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." She was used to separation, but Jesus was only interested in reconciliation.  First the reconciliation happened between she and Jesus because He refused to get into a debate with her about which of their religions was right.  Then, when she accepted His message, she became reconciled to God.  Immediately, when she realized who Jesus was (the Messiah) she went back into town and found everyone she knew to bring them to Jesus.

When Jesus talked to the woman, He didn't see their differences or even focus on her sin.  She knew what she was.  What Jesus did was to show her that through Him, she could be accepted and to her and to many Samaritans it made all the difference in the world.

NT Journey--John 3

The Evangelical Misunderstanding     

I grew up in the evangelical church and I'm still a part of it.  I'm not even exactly sure how to describe the "evangelical church."  It's not a denomination--it encompasses many denominations.  It's not entirely homogeneous--there is a pretty good variety of beliefs and practices within evangelical Christianity.  It's not even a very old movement as far as Christian movements go.  But it is a powerful force in American society today.  As best I can explain, I would describe an evangelical as a Christian who believes that salvation comes through "a personal relationship with Jesus."  I think pretty much all evangelicals would believe that Jesus was an actual historical figure who also was actually the unique Son of God and perfect representation of humanity, and was actually, literally crucified and raised again.  That's pretty basic, but not all people who are part of Christian denominations believe that.

There are a lot of good things the evangelical church has brought to our culture, most notably it has stressed the importance of faith in people's day to day life.  We evangelicals believe that having Jesus in your life makes a real difference and should make a real difference.  We are called to "make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Many people have come to belief in Jesus because of the efforts of the evangelical church.

But today's passage is one that I think the evangelical church has really missed the boat on.  In the teachings of most evangelical churches, the goal of sharing Jesus with someone is to get them to "pray the prayer."  When the Wesleyan church asks for statistics from its churches, one of the statistics is the number of people "saved" as indicated by praying the prayer of salvation.  The problem I have with this is that I don't think it's an entirely Biblical paradigm and I think much of the misunderstanding comes from a misunderstanding or misapplication of John, chapter 3.

In John 3, Jesus is talking to Nicodemas, who is a Pharisee.  Remember that the Pharisees were the most common religious leaders of the day.  While Jesus would have held many beliefs in common with the Pharisees, they often ended up on opposite sides of debate.  I believe Nicodemas was a rogue Pharisee.  Most of the time, the Pharisees asked Jesus questions in order to trap Him, but I think when Nicodemas came to Jesus at night (in order not to be seen), he was sincerely seeking.

Nicodemas immediately tried to butter up Jesus, but Jesus cut right to it.  He said, "Anyone who wants to see the Kingdom of God has to be born again."  This is a phrase we evangelicals pick up very quickly--be "born again."  This is what has become known as praying the prayer of salvation.  Somehow, I don't think this is what Jesus really means.  But it's probably more accurate to say it like this...

We are all born into a family, into a particular city in a particular society.  Where we are born and how we are raised affects how we look at the world.   If we are born into an Iranian family, most likely we will see through Muslim eyes and see the United States as a great evil.  If we are born into a wealthy American family, we will most likely take for granted having nice things and not having to worry about where our next meal is coming from.  There are all kinds of examples I could come up with, but I think you understand.

Regardless of where we are born or who our parents are, every one of us is born with a "worldly" mindset.  We all naturally think of ourselves first.  We all naturally judge others' sin and make excuses for our own.  We all desire to be served and in essence want to be our own god.

But what Jesus is saying to Nicodemas is that in order to really see and understand what He's talking about, in order to really experience the Kingdom of God, we have to repent of those beliefs and actions and begin to look at things through Jesus' eyes.  We need to stop looking at the world through the eyes of our parents--no matter how good or bad they are--and begin to look at things through the eyes of our heavenly father.  In doing this, we are "reborn" or "born from above" as Jesus says.  When we look at the world through the eyes of Jesus, we begin to understand the world of the Spirit.  When we try to understand spiritual things, but only look through the eyes of the world, we'll just get confused and never really understand how God works.

But when we submit ourselves to God and truly seek to look at and interact with the world on Jesus' terms, then we understand.  That's salvation for us--putting off the worldly way of living and living the way God intended for us.  That's what it means to be "born again."

So how is that different than the evangelical view?  Well, it's just this; when we look at it this way, being born again is more than just something you do at one point and you're in.  Certainly there's value to making that decision to follow Jesus, but the real value in repentance is actually walking the other direction--actually living as Jesus calls us to live.  Belief in the Bible is more than just an intellectual thing, we "believe" with our whole lives.  A belief is not Biblical belief if we don't change our lives according to that belief.

One other thing I'd like to point out about salvation according to Jesus is that salvation is not just what happens when we die, but it starts from the moment we begin to follow Jesus.  We experience new and exciting life here and now.  We find peace and satisfaction in all circumstances and we are able to love people the way they should be loved regardless of how they treat us.

I get a little skeptical of people who try to boil down faith and salvation to a formulaic prayer.  When I see the teachings of Jesus all through the Gospels, I see someone who called people to follow Him, even if it meant death on a cross.  "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  That sounds like more than just praying a prayer to me.

NT Journey--John 2

Heaven is a Party, Not Mass    

John 2 is a great look at the irreligious nature of Jesus.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the fact that Jesus does his first public miracle and turns water into wine that we don't realize just how significant this miracle was.  Jesus was truly making a statement by doing it how He did it.

Now, let's just get this out of the way first--the story and the party reference is not necessarily about alcohol per se, although I think it's pretty clear that the wine Jesus made was alcohol. (gasp!)  Some commentators would have us believe that Jesus just made grape juice, but I think this interpretation is only necessary if you have a prohibitionist agenda.  Actually, I think the "burden of proof" (pun intended) is on the person who would say Jesus didn't make real, bona fide wine.  Don't you think that when the master of the banquet tasted the wine, instead of saying, "This is the BEST wine ever!" he would have said, "What's with the grape juice?!"  Now I am not a drinker myself and I believe there are plenty of good reasons to stay away from alcohol, but neither am I a legalist.

What's more important about this story is the fact that Jesus could have taken the empty wine jars, filled them with water and made wine in them.  But he did something much more sinister.  He had the servants grab the jars used for ceremonial washing.  The jars were set aside for religious ceremony, instead Jesus used them to make wine for a party.  All of this is not to say that Jesus hates ritual or that there is no room for it in life, it's just that sometimes there is just some business that's more important.

In the last 5 years, I've had the privilege of performing somewhere around 15 to 20 wedding ceremonies.  In many cases, I've been able to attend the reception or dance afterward.  I have to say that these have been the most satisfying and joyful events I've had in my years as a pastor.  I don't do a lot of dancing (and you wouldn't want to see that anyway!), but as I look around the room and I see people celebrating life and marriage and being with friends and family, I often think about what an amazing privilege it is to be able to share these important events in life with them.  At these events, I don't see the evils of alcohol (although they certainly do exist in their many forms) or of dancing.  But what I see is the joy of human relationships that I think is a little foretaste of heaven--the benefits of relationships governed by love and grace.

In this event in John 2, Jesus began His "crusade" to replace empty ritual with full relationship.  Ritual is fine, it has some value, but relationships are always more important.  As we read the next section, when Jesus went into the Temple and made a whip and drove out money-changers, we see Jesus was not completely opposed to ritual worship.  He was very much for the Temple rather than against it.  But ritual worship should be done with sincerity and not to be taken lightly, which it seemed to be at the time.  He didn't drive out the worshipers, He drove out the people who were making worship empty and distracting.

In chapter 4 we'll see more about what Jesus expects of our worship.

NT Journey--John 1

Deep Thoughts    

John 1 contains some of the deepest theology about Jesus you will find anywhere in scripture.  Although the Bible never states explicitly the doctrine of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), John 1 is perhaps our clearest hint at the nature of Jesus.

First, notice how John starts his Gospel with three words, "in the beginning."  Do you know of another book that begins with those words?  Of course, it's Genesis.  ("In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  What John is doing here is going back to that same time when everything was created billions of years ago (or thousands of years ago, if that's your flavor) and telling us that Jesus was there.

John calls Jesus "the Word."  In the Greek language, the word is "logos."  The idea of logos carries with it a couple of significant characteristics.  First, logos is communication.  We communicate by words, so if we want to be technically correct, the Bible is not the Word of God, Jesus is the "Word of God."  It is safe for us to say and believe that the Bible is the Word of God because we believe it's true in every respect and that it points to Jesus, who is the greatest manifestation of the Word of God, but Bible itself tells us that it's Jesus who is the true Word of God.  When God wanted to communicate His character so humans could understand, He did so in Jesus.

The second characteristic of "logos" is power.  When God created the heaven and the earth, he did so by speaking it into existence.  The idea that words carry power go back through all of history.  If you look at Assyran or Babylonian histories, for instance, you won't find record of them losing battles or bad things happening because they believed that by saying those things, you could more or less speak them into existence.  So when John says Jesus is the word of God, He is also the "power" of God.  Deep stuff, huh?

John is very clearly telling us that Jesus was not created, He was there with God at creation, so Jesus has the qualities of divinity.  He doesn't really unpack this idea a lot further, but we are left to figure out some of the details through other passages.

But while John 1 shows us that Jesus is God, it also clearly shows us that He is human.  In verse 14, John says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, from the Father, full of grace and truth."  John is saying that God became human.

What I think is cool is that the Bible says we are made in the "image of God."  We have God's DNA, if you will.  That doesn't mean we are gods ourselves, but it does mean we were created with certain qualities of God that transcend the rest of nature.  Through going our own way (sin) that image of God was tarnished and those qualities became much more difficult to see.

When Jesus came in the flesh, He came to restore that image to fallen humanity.  We'll talk about Jesus' work on the cross later, but right now, just the fact that Jesus came gave us the example of what we are intended to be.  If you're looking for the best version of yourself, take a good, long look at Jesus and you can find some pretty good clues.

Finally, John says in "Jesus is life" and that life "is the light of men."  It seems like I can remember some old beer commercials where a bunch of guys were sitting around watching the game drinking beer when someone says, "Now this is the life!"  In other words, this is the way things ought to be.  Well, John says that true about Jesus--that in Him we can live the life that we ought to live.  Before Jesus we weren't able to see that because we were stumbling around in the dark.  But now that Jesus, the light of the world came, we are able to see clearly again.  Everything looked brighter when Jesus came.  Now if that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will.  We'll see much more of this light vs. dark imagery in the Gospel of John.

Well, there's a somewhat disjointed look at the first chapter of John.  Some very rich theology that we can hang our hats on.

NT Journey--Intro to John

Back to the Gospels

I mentioned at the beginning of our journey that we would be coming back to the Gospels from time to time.  The reason we're doing this is because the New Testament is all about Jesus.  Coming back to the Gospels, reminds us and gives us first-hand knowledge of Jesus' life and teachings.  If you remember back to the intro to the New Testament (if you don't, you can click here to read it) you'll remember we have four Gospels.  The reason we have four Gospels is that each writer wrote from a different perspective. 

We've already been through the book of Matthew, so you should remember that Matthew was written to Jews to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah.  So we saw in Matthew, many references to the Old Testament scriptures that showed where Jesus fit.

John writes from a different perspective.  Most people believe the Gospel of John was one of the latest New Testament books written, usually dated anywhere from 80 to 100 AD.  (I won't even try to be more specific than that because most of you probably don't really care that much).  I was written by the Apostle John--one of Jesus' twelve disciples, who only refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved."

The Gospel is written to new believers and some non-believers as well.  The purpose is stated very clearly in John 20:31, "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name."  So the entire Gospel is intended to be proof that Jesus is first of all, the Jewish Messiah and second the "Son of God."  Because of this, in John we will see many miracles as well as Jesus making bold statements about Himself.

Look for the themes of light and darkness, belief, as well as many references to "the world."  John's Gospel is substantially different than the other Gospels.  The others (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are called the "synoptic Gospels" because they contain a lot of similarities.  They tell many of the same stories, have much the same chronology and are generally very similar to each other.  But John is much different.  There are many stories found in John that are not found in the other Gospels.  Since John was written so much later than the other Gospels, this causes many commentators to believe that John was written as a supplement to the other Gospels.  To some degree, John figured he would fill in some of the blanks left by the other Gospel writers.

Right off the bat, we'll see the great theology in John.  There are some very deep insights to be gained from studying John's Gospel.  So let's get to it.

NT Journey--2 Thessalonians 3

Fiddling around in the Garage    

Paul certainly must be responding to something in chapter 3 when he warns people about "idleness."  I think the question we can ask here is, "why is idleness such a big deal?"  Shouldn't people just be able to mess around when they want to.

When Paul was writing about idleness and the difference between being busy and being a "busybody," it reminded me of a common scene.  Oftentimes you'll see a man hanging out in a garage.  Sometimes he'll have the hood of the car open, sometimes he'll be facing his tool bench looking at his tools.  They're actually not really doing anything, although if you walked into the garage and asked them what they were doing, he would probably tell you he was cleaning the garage or fixing the car or something.  The reality is, though that he's not doing anything.  He's just out there wasting time--not accomplishing much.  He may look busy, but he's really a busybody.

I think what Paul is warning against is having this busybody attitude in life and in faith.  We all want to look good for others.  Many times if we can look good without actually being good, that's even better.  That's what busybody is--it's trying to make yourself look better and more productive than you really are.  It's an attempt to get something for nothing. 

If the church in Thessalonica was anything like we read about the church in Jerusalem in Acts 2, they shared a lot of stuff.  This was also a pretty common thing in that culture as well.  Most likely, while each church member had his own stuff, there was also a great amount of common things, including meals and such.  Each church made sure they would take care of the poor, for instance.  So it's not hard to imaging that someone would come along and see that they could get free meals and join the church.  (Whether they were willing to go through the persecution is another matter entirely.) 

People who live this way are the antithesis of Christlikeness.  Jesus was all about serving and giving Himself up for the sake of others.  A busybody want to receive the benefits of someone thinking he's a good worker without actually being one.  She wants to get paid without putting in the work. But the way of Christ is the opposite.  Someone who is Christlike will work hard and not care who gets the credit.  The true follower of Christ will work for the benefit of others, not seek to reap the benefits of someone else's hard work.

Someone who continues to show a lack of ambition through life is not acting in a Christ-like manner.  Paul recognizes this and knows that if they allow people to come in and freeload and pretend to work, others will follow--where there's a free lunch, there's always a crowd.  So may you've never thought of your performance at work being a spiritual issue.  What about pulling your weight at home?  We could go on and on with application, but when it comes to studying the Bible, if we read carefully, we can often find some very helpful application for our lives--even in unexpected places.

NT Journey--2 Thessalonians 2

More End-Times Speculation    

2 Thessalonians 2 just begs for greater explanation than I can adequately give here, but I will at least get you started understanding what's going on here.

If you've read the Left Behind books or any other modern-day explanations of Biblical prophecy, this chapter will contain some pretty familiar stuff.  In this chapter, Paul refers to some things he apparently taught the Thessalonian people.  We don't know exactly what he taught them, but we can certainly take a guess by looking at the subject matter of this chapter as well as some other Biblical passages that seem to be talking about the same thing.

Any time we read scripture, we must be sure not to skip to the question, "What does this mean to me?'  In other words, we must first as the questions, "What did this mean to them?"  Understand that Paul was writing to specific people at a specific time in a specific situation.  When we forget that, we immediately ask the question, "What is going on in our world today that might correlate with what Paul is writing in 2 Thessalonians?"  Then we start speculating:  "Is Obama the 'man of lawnessness?'" (as many conservative Christians might lead you to believe).  But to ask this question is to miss the point.  First look at the situation going on at that time to see what Paul might be talking about.

It's apparent that someone was telling the people that Christ had already come.  Paul dismisses this speculation by referring to his previous teaching about the "man of lawlessness."  The man of lawlessness had to come first before Christ would come.  We can see some pretty tight parallels between this teaching and what Jesus says in Matthew 24.  If you remember in Matthew 24, the disciples as a question about the Temple and Jesus answers them by prophesying about the destruction of the Temple (which happened in 70 AD).  In fact, Jesus even talks about "the abomination that causes desolation" which is really the same event that Paul is talking about when speaking of the man of lawlessness.

When Paul is writing to the people in Thessalonica, he seems to be referring to events that are going to happen within their lifetime, not things that will happen at least 2000 years later.  When we study history, we find that in 66 AD (with about 15 years of Paul's writing) the Jews revolted against the Romans.  As we've mentioned many times, Jerusalem was always a powder-keg and it was only a matter of time before it exploded.  The Romans responded with a 42-month siege of Jerusalem followed by the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.  Paul is describing these events to the people and telling them that Christ certainly won't return until after that happens.

When it comes to "the man of lawlessness" it's no stretch to interpret this as the Roman Emperor.  For instance, Roman Emperors even established emperor worship, setting themselves up as gods.  They are also known in Scripture as "the destroyer."  Paul may not be talking about a specific Emperor, but instead of the title of Caesar, who all fit well the descriptions given in scripture.

What I would say is to do some research into these things.  Most likely, we will discuss them in more detail when we get to Revelation.  Then we get an entire book focused on prophecy.

NT Journey--2 Thessalonians 1

Punishing Evil-doers    

I won't do an intro to 2 Thessalonians.  Suffice it to say that most scholars see 2 Thessalonians as a follow-up letter to the first one, probably written only 6 months after the first.  It seems as though Paul wanted to expand on much of the teachings in the first letter.  So, with that--on to 2 Thessalonians.

What I want to focus on in chapter one is Paul's attitude toward opposition.  We often think of Paul as a guy who will fly off the hand quickly and become irrational, but the reality is that considering what Paul endured on his missionary journeys, he had a remarkably healthy attitude toward the circumstances surrounding him.  We'll see this especially clearly when we get to Philippians.  But for now, let's take a look at this chapter and see what we can learn from him.

Paul knows that the Thessalonian church has been undergoing intense persecution pretty much since the beginning.  I think most of us would be very quick to complain about it.  Who knows, maybe Paul did, too, but he doesn't complain here.  Instead, he interprets the perseverance of the church as proof that God is working.  Think about that for a minute.  How often do we interpret opposition as proof that something is not meant to be or that God doesn't have His hand in it?  Instead, Paul's encouragement to the people is to be persistent in their faith, because when they do that, they prove the power of God.

There isn't a hint in Paul's letter that the people of the church should fight back or try to exact any kind of revenge on those who are persecuting them.  The ones who persevere will be counted "worthy of His calling."  This idea of being worthy of His calling is a common one to Paul and suffering is a great part of it.  Since Christ suffered, we should also expect that we will suffer as well.  The implication is that those who are not willing to suffer for Christ are not worthy to be called by His name.

Being willing to suffer shows the world that there is something out there worth giving up everything for.  It also requires that we trust in God's way rather than the world's way.  We commit to God.  We commit to living a life of love--even for our enemies--even when it doesn't seem to be working--even when it seems like evil is prevailing.  If we buy into God's way, eventually as Paul says, God will take care of things, justice will come and God will make things right.  That's where faith comes in.

NT Journey--1 Thessalonians 5

Misusing the Bible    

(In this post, I'm actually going to include the last section of chapter four in our discussion of chapter five because that's probably where it belongs anyway.)

Growing up in the 70's, my childhood was subject to a great deal of talk about "end times" events.  In fact, I first "prayed the prayer" when I was a young child after watching the film "Thief in the Night," a 70's film about the rapture and being left behind.  I spent the rest of my childhood fearing that I would be left behind.  I can also remember my pastor doing a series on the revelation and how all the events were going to shake out.  Countless TV preachers have made a living out of projecting different events and fitting them into the events in Revelation, Daniel, and even 1 Thessalonians.

Now for a confession: I don't think much about end times these days, not because I don't believe they're important, but in a lot of ways I'm kind of burned out and it's just not where I'm at these days.  In fact, I don't think it's where any of us are these days.  Let me explain.

I John 5, Jesus addressed the Pharisees, saying they are experts on the Scriptures, but just being experts on the Scriptures doesn't mean anything.  The Pharisees used the Scriptures to figure out all the details of the Law and be God's personal Law enforcement officers.  Jesus said, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to me to have life."  Though the Pharisees studied Scripture more than anyone else, they pretty much missed the point.

When it comes to end-times speculation, I think we often miss the point as well.  I don't spend a lot of time worrying about the times and the dates and all the speculative things because I don't think we're supposed to.  To spend to much time trying to figure out what's the "mark of the beast" and if the locusts in Revelation represent Blackhawk helecopters is missing the point.  So what IS the point? you might ask.

Well, Paul actually states the "point" very clearly and concisely twice in this passage. Don't see it?  Let me give you a hint.  You can find the point in 4:18 and 5:11.

Remember that the church in Thessalonica was undergoing a great deal of persecution at the time.  In many ways, it was not good be a believer at that time in that place.  It was easy to get discouraged and wonder if things would ever improve.  For us, attending church service or small group is the way we get relief from stress in our lives--for the church in Thessalonica, it WAS their stress. 

When people in the church were killed for their belief it could be a pretty discouraging thing.  But Paul writes to the Thessalonian to encourage them.  While the pagans might believe that death is the end (they didn't believe in resurrection) followers of Jesus don't "grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope."  There is a better day ahead, so even if things don't go any better here on earth, you know that some day Christ will make things right.  For those who die, they are with Christ, for those who are still here suffering, you can look forward to the day when Christ returns and sets things straight.


At the beginning of chapter 5, Paul warns against the idle speculation that went on all through my childhood.  He says, "we don't need to try to tell you when this is going to happen because we don't know--no one knows, so don't even worry about.  Just be ready.  Live in the light and encourage each other with the fact that there are better days ahead.

The point of end-times teaching is not to speculate about when this will happen and how this will happen, the point is encouragement that while it may seem like satan has control of the world today and always will that a day is coming when faith will become sight and God will set things straight. 

I don't find that I need a lot of this kind of encouragement.  I don't suffer much for my faith.  Although it seems the tide of culture is increasingly against faith in Jesus, we have it pretty good here.  I think Paul's message to us would be much different than the people in Thessalonica.  I suspect his message would be more along the lines of getting us out of our complacency and stop wasting our time speculating about end times theory and get to work building the Kingdom.

NT Journey--1 Thessalonians 4

Products of our Culture    

After Paul communicates his relief that the church in Thessalonica is still going strong, he takes the opportunity to encourage them and give them some instruction.  The instructions he gives to them seems to be common sense for followers of Jesus.  But the reality is that the instructions he gives to them is by no stretch of the imagination common sense to the people in Thessalonica.

Thessalonica was primarily a pagan city.  They were products of the Greco-Roman religion.  My 4th grade daughter is currently learning Greek mythology and is loving every minute of it.  For her, it's a very interesting past-time and it also helps that she's reading the Percy Jackson books as well.  I learned about Greek mythology when I was in 6th grade and I thought is was fascinating as well.  But the people in Thessalonica didn't just find it fascinating, they thought it was truth.

I think we've talked about this before, but the Greco-Roman pagan religion of the day incorporated hundreds of gods, most of whom were really more like humans with a super-human power of some sort.  These gods were not holy and didn't expect humans to be holy either.  All the gods required was worship.  So the people would go and worship at the appropriate temple mostly to keep the gods off their back.

Belief in the gods and ethical behavior didn't have anything to do with each other.  The connection between religion and morality really only came about with Judaism.  If you know anything about Greco-Roman culture, you know that sexual morals were lacking to say the least.  In fact, many temples even had ritual prostitutes that could be used as acts of worship.

With this in mind, it's not hard to imagine that Paul would have to give some instruction to the church in Thessalonica (as he did with the church in Corinth as well) about appropriate sexual practices.  When Paul writes in verse 3, "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable..." it may have been revolutionary teaching for the people there.  For us, it's a reminder to those who have fallen into sin, but to many the Thessalonica, this was new information--the had not yet made the connection between worship of God and behavior.

What I like about Paul's instruction is that he doesn't seem to get worked up about the fact that the people still have some work to do.  He isn't frustrated that they aren't further along than what they are.  Paul recognizes that holiness is a journey and so he simply encourages them on their journey.  He doesn't expect them to be instantly holy, but to continually make progress toward that goal. 

I think that's a good lesson for us as well.  Of course, we shouldn't use it as an excuse, but we shouldn't get too frustrated when we're not where we want to be spiritually.  Of course, we have the goal to strive for and hopefully we work toward that goal with great determination, but understanding that we may disappoint ourselves from time to time.  As long as we keep making progress toward that goal, that's what God asks of us.

NT Journey--1 Thessalonians 3

A Sigh of Relief    

Have you ever been worried about something and had to wait to find out if your suspicions were founded?  I think all of us at one time or another have gotten wind of someone who is disappointed or angry with us and we didn't really know why.  When we have a situation like that, it's human nature for us to think the worst.  We go to the TIVO in our mind and run through all the scenarios where we might have unwittingly hurt that person.  Not only that, but we start to come up with a defense of our actions.  What often happens with me is that I get myself worked up over the hypotheticals and then find out that it was really no big deal or the information I received was wrong.

That's what Paul explains in 1 Thessalonians 3.  While there may have been some people in Thessalonica who thought Paul's trip there was in vain for various reasons, Paul takes a deep breath that this is not the prevailing attitude among the people in the church. 

Paul had moved on to Athens and had either received reports from people or just caught wind that the church in Thessalonica wasn't doing well and it just about killed him to hear it.  So rather than continue to wonder about it, he sent Timothy to get a first-hand account of what was happening with the church there.  When Timothy came back with his report, Paul was thrilled to hear that the church was alive and well despite the persecution.

In verse 10, Paul let's them in on his prayer for the people: "Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith."  Remember that Paul didn't spend a lot of time with the people there, so they wouldn't have received a great deal of instruction on how to live out their lives of faith.  In chapter 4 we see that Paul decides to be a partial answer to his own prayer.

NT Journey--1 Thessalonians 2

What is Failure?     

I have a lot of catching up to do.  As I've received responses from many of you about keeping up with the New Testament Journey, many of you have mentioned that you fell behind, but always make sure you catch up.  Well, now it's my turn.  I hope my writing delay hasn't thrown your reading schedule off.  (You can read the the chapter without the blog as well).  In any case, you'll get a pretty good blitz of commentary today.

I wanted to pick up on something from 1 Thessalonians 2.  If you remember from the intro to 1 Thess, you can read about Paul's stay in Thessalonica in Acts 17:1-19.  The passage in Acts is short because Paul's stay there was also short and contentious.  In 1 Thess 2, Paul writes, "You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure."  That's a pretty interesting thing to write, I think.  It seems to me that for Paul to write that, there  must have been some sentiment that the idea of having a church in Thessalonica was a nice thought, but ill conceived.  Paul had to leave because of opposition and even after Paul left, the church continued to face difficulties of all kinds.

When any project has so many problems just getting off the ground, we're often tempted to just take the attitude that maybe it just wasn't meant to be.  Some in Thessalonica, may have held the opinion that bringing the Gospel to Thessalonica just wasn't meant to be.  There may have been others who thought, "Paul and his crew came in here trying to make a name for themselves, then when things got tough, they ditched us."  In chapter 2, Paul addresses both of these attitudes.

He reminds them that his visit was not ill-conceived.  It was not a mistake, nor was it just to increase their prestige.  Instead, he says they came in and genuinely cared for the people as parents care for their children.  Bringing the Gospel and starting a church in Thessalonica was not their idea, it was God's idea.  If it was Paul's idea, then they would be open to those criticisms, but when God is behind it those criticisms vanish.

Ultimately that makes a difference.  Is it God's thing or is it mine?  I can come up with different ideas that may or may not be good.  Some of my ideas are worth fighting for and worth enduring opposition for and some are not.  But if the idea is God's doing, it's worth fighting to the death for.

Now this can be both good and bad.  It can be bad because there have been a lot of people throughout history who thought they were doing God's will and did a lot of damage to the name of Christ because of it.  Think about the Crusades, for instance.  When the pope was rallying people to go and take back Jerusalem from the Muslims, he did so with the the rallying cry "Deus Vult!"  (God wills it!)  When the people believed it was God's will to go in by any means necessary and take back Jerusalem, they could (and did) justify any behavior.  Though we may not act with the misguided fervor of the crusaders, we can still do this same thing.

I think that's why we always have to be careful and humble when we declare something to be God's will.  When it really is God's will, it can give us hope and lead us to supernatural perseverance in difficult circumstances, just like we see with the people in Thessalonica.  Paul's letter was certainly a welcome reminder to them to stick with.