NT Journey--Acts 13

When Saul Became Paul  

Acts 13 is the beginning of Paul's career as an Apostle.  It happens in a very nondescript way.  As the church in Antioch is praying, the Holy Spirit speaks to them and tells them to send Saul and Barnabas to preach all around the Empire.  A few things stand out here:

1. First, it's Paul that we consider to be probably the greatest apostle.  After all, he did author half of the books of the New Testament and in great measure, it's his work that brought the Gospel to the Gentiles.  But when they start out, it's Barnabas who is the most experienced and was probably the senior leader of the team.  When the rest of the church was skeptical of Saul's conversion, it was Barnabas who convinced them he had changed.  Barnabas gets only a little press in the Bible, but when we think about it, it's Barnabas' behind the scenes work that enabled Paul to become what he did.  I think the lesson in it for us is that the Kingdom needs people are willing to support the people who will get all the "press," the people who are up front. Barnabas is the support that makes a man like Paul.
   
2. Second, notice the change that takes place in this chapter.  It's in this chapter that "Saul" becomes "Paul."  We might be tempted to think that God, at Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus said, "I now declare that you are Paul..." as he has done in the past.  But that's not the case,  This is where Saul becomes Paul in the book of Acts.  What's the difference?  It's simple--Saul is a Jewish name and Paul is a Roman name.  Saul became Paul because it was at this point that he became the apostle to the Gentiles.  In order to relate and be "relevant" (to use a modern buzz-word), he takes on the name Paul.  So he writes in 1 Corinthians 9:20, "I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible..to the Jews I became a Jew...to those not having the law I became like one not having the law...I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some..."

Finally, a little background on something you will see throughout the book of Acts.  Notice that Paul and Barnabas got to Pisidian Antioch, they went to the synagogue.  You may not know what a synagogue is.  As we've seen earlier, from the time it was built, the Temple was the center of Jewish worship.  This goes back centuries before the time of Christ.  But what happened when Israel was taken off into captivity by Assyria and Babylon?  How could they be true to their faith when they weren't in Jerusalem where the Temple resided?

Well, they turned to the Law.  They became very intent on studying the Law.  It was in Babylon that the idea of the synagogue came to be.  Jews in another land would gather together to hear the Law, discuss the law, pray and worship.  The synagogue was actually the model for the early church when they didn't meet in the Temple courts.  They simply met together in homes for "the Apostle's teaching," prayer, and worship. 

In the days of Acts, Jews were scattered all around the Empire and thus we find synagogues all around the Empire.  When Paul arrives in a new city, he often goes first to the synagogue or the city center.

When Paul and Barnabas speak in the synagogue in Acts 13, of course, it incites another riot, so they left that town and moved on.  As we read further, we'll see this becomes a common pattern in Paul's ministry.

NT Journey--Acts 12

Praying, but Not Believing  

NT Journey--Acts 11

Catching Up   

Sorry everyone.  I've been in Guatemala over the last week or so and haven't had a chance to post.  I'll try to catch up over the next day or two and still keep up with the current reading.

Acts 11 is Peter's explanation of what happened in chapter 10.  I think it's interesting to see that change, even in the early church is very difficult.  Even Peter, who is and Apostle (and one of the primary ones) has to explain himself to the church in Jerusalem.  When they heard Peter ate with Gentiles, they began to interrogate him.

I also think it's interesting how the people characterize what happened between Peter and Cornelius in verse 18 where they say, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."  It's repentance that brings life.  As we will see, especially when we look at John, chapter 3, repentance is a complete change in the way  we do things, a complete change in the way we look at the word.  When we do repent and go Jesus' direction, we will find life.

Up to this point in the story, Christians were seen by everyone as simply a sect of Judaism.  Even the followers of Jesus didn't see themselves as a separate religion, but only the fulfillment of Judaism.  The reality is, that even today, that's what we believe--Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.  But when the Gentiles were included, and they didn't have to follow all the Jewish Law, they began to be seen as a separate religion.  That's why Luke makes it a point to mention that it was at Antioch they were first called Christians--not because the name "Christian" was really that significant, but because it signified the beginning of the separation of Jesus followers from the Law and into something that stands on its own.

NT Journey--Acts 10

I'm Off to the Club  

Can you imagine if all the sudden someone received a revelation from God saying, "God told it's now OK for good Christian men to visit strip clubs.  All that stuff about adultery and fornication no longer apply.  God's says ENJOY!"  That would be shocking.  Just so you know, I have not had that revelation.  I had to think for a while to find something that would be the equivalent of what we read in Acts, chapter 10.

For centuries, one of the most carefully followed laws from the Law of Moses were the food laws.  There were certain very specific things no Jew was allowed to eat.  It was a matter of sin and salvation.  Every Jew was trained from the time she was little what she could eat and what she couldn't eat.  If you truly loved God, you will follow these rules.  Just like I was taught from the time I was little to stay away from strip clubs and the like, they were taught to stay away from barbecued pork (among other things.)

Peter was as Jewish as they came.  He followed all the laws and hung his hat on his obedience.  So imagine his surprise when he has a dream that he knows is a revelation from God.  Before we get more into this, a little history lesson is in order.

In Jesus' (and Peter's) day, there were certain characteristics that permeated the Jewish religion.  Bruxy Cavey describes these characteristics very well in his book "The End of Religion."  He says the Jewish religion was characterized by five things:

• Torah--the law of Moses (including ONE God, sacrifices, ritual purity, circumcision, dietary laws, etc.)
• Tradition--the "tradition of the elders handed down from their ancestors.  this tradition was on equal authority with the actual written law.
• Tribalism--ethnic, national, and cultural purity were bound together with religious identity
• Territory--certain land, cities, and places were more sacred than others, and war was a religious duty whenever this holy land was threatened.
• Temple--God's presence was believed to dwell in one holy location (the Temple) in a unique way.

All of these characteristics hinted of exclusivity.  (Jews vs. Gentiles, Hebraic Jews vs. Hellenized Jews, Jews vs. Samaritans, Pharisees vs. Sadducees vs. Zealots, etc.)  Jews actually looked down on the Gentiles because they were on the outside looking in.  They didn't follow the law, so obviously God didn't love them as much as the Jews.  This attitude permeated the Jews for generations.

But as we've already seen in Matthew, Jesus was all about reconciliation--breaking down the walls that separate people.  Acts 10 is another step toward this reconciliation.  This is getting long, so let me just point out a few things:

1. When Peter had the revolutionary vision, God made sure to confirm it with him through human interaction.  If all Peter saw was the vision, he could have easily dismissed it as some bad cheese, but because God confirmed it through his interaction with Cornelius, Peter knew it was of God.
2. Acts 10 calls Cornelius a God-fearing man despite the fact that he was a Roman.  For any good Jew, this would have been scandalous.
3. It's interesting to me the way Luke describes Cornelius in the first few chapters. The reason Luke gives as to why Cornelius was God-fearing was that he gave generously to those in need and prayed.
4. God spoke to Cornelius despite the fact he was  Roman.
5. Finally, even though Cornelius was a "God-fearing man," God still wanted him to hear the message of Jesus.  What we see here is that God loves people who don't have the whole story.  It may even be that people who don't know about Jesus can be saved as Paul says in Romans 2 some of those who don't have the law, do by nature what the law intends.  But even if that's the case, God still wants everyone to hear about Jesus, because we believe life with Jesus is better than life without Him.

NT Journey--Acts 9

The Turning Point    

I think Acts 9 is one of the most exciting chapters in the whole Bible.  It's not that there's a lot of action or anything, it's just that it may be the turning point of the whole New Testament.  It looks like the fledgling church is in trouble.  They're scattered all around Judea and Samaria.  How can the church achieve unity and grow when they're not even together.  To top it all off, the Jewish rulers have declared an all-out war on "the Way."

While Phillip was traveling around Samaria sharing the Gospel, Saul was "breathing out murderous threats" against the church.  Chapter nine begins with him going to the High Priest to get what is essentially a search warrant and arrest warrant all wrapped up in one.  His goal was to go to Damascus to round up Christians and throw them in jail--all with the religious leaders' stamp of approval.

Remember when Jesus left the earth and gave the disciples instructions.  (Mt 28:16-20)  He says something there that we often tend to leave out when we're reading the "Great Commission."  He tells them to go and make disciples, but then makes a promise: "I will be with you always, even to the end of the age."  He wasn't kidding!

When I was probably 10 or 11, my friend Dan and I were at a church picnic at a park.  As we were playing, we came upon a younger kid who was crying.  We figured out that he lost his dad.  As we were talking to him, his dad came up and started yelling at us.  He was really quite intimidating as he accused us of trying to beat up his son.  We had really only talked to the kid for a minute at that point and he accused us of ganging up on him.  So we ganged up on the dad and beat the tar out of him!  OK, not really.  But even though the dad was pretty unreasonable, he was doing what dad's do--looking out for his children.

Well think of Saul's Damascus road experience as just that, Jesus looking out for His church.  Just when things were darkest.  Just when you thought the church was in real trouble, here comes dad, "So you're gonna gang up on my church?  We'll see about that."

But I think the great irony in the story is that God didn't treat Saul like He did Ananias and Sapphira (in chapter 5).  They got the death penalty, but Saul--he was too good to pass up.  He got recruited!  What could God have done that would have shown His power in any greater way than to take enemy #1 and instantly have him change sides?

Peter was brash and confident and became a capable leader of the church, but he might have even been outdone by Paul (Saul).  In God's conversation with Ananias (the one in this chapter, not chapter 5), God says, "I need to show him how much he must suffer for my name."  I'm sure there might have been times in Paul's ministry where he wished God would have just killed him like Ananias and Sapphira, but what he accomplished in his years of ministry and through great suffering is staggering.

The spread of Christianity all throughout the world owes much to this instance of Saul meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.

NT Journey--Acts 8

A Push Out of the Nest   

We all know how eagles (and other birds, for that matter) learn how to fly.  When the mama thinks the baby bird is ready, she just gives him a shove out of the nest and forces it to learn how to fly.  This is the way it's been down for all of history.

Acts 8 reminds me of the mama bird pushing the baby out of the nest.  We read in Acts 2:42ff and 4:32ff that the church in Jerusalem was a tight-knit bunch.  Great things were happening in that church.  People were excited about following Jesus, they witnessed miracles, and people were even getting saved.  But there was a problem with the church in Jerusalem...it was still in Jerusalem.

Remember back to Acts 1 when Jesus tells them, "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  Well, at this point the church was still only in Jerusalem.  Acts doesn't tell us that the church had any intention of moving out beyond Jerusalem.  They were enjoying hanging out in Jerusalem in their little "Christian bubble."  (sound familiar?)

Now Jesus' command would be akin to saying to us, "You will be my witnesses in Cedar Rapids, and in all Iowa and Minnesota--which is actually a good analogy for Samaria since they are our dreaded enemies to the north ; ), and even to the ends of the earth."  In the early chapters of Acts, they weren't getting the job done.

Some Bible interpreters suggest that God caused (or at least allowed) the persecution to break out in order to disperse the early Christians.  Notice in our passage today in 8:1 where the Christians were scattered--Judea and Samaria.  Coincidence?  I think not.

I wonder if this is instructive for our churches today.  We have the same call today that the early Christians had--to "make disciples of all nations..."  The Church universal has that task and each local church as that same task.  It's our very reason for existence.  If we ever forget to make that our focal point, we cease to be the church Jesus instituted.  We might be a social club or a gathering or like-minded individuals, be the best we could say is that we are a disobedient church.

Today, our churches in the U.S. are not particularly persecuted, but we often persecute ourselves.  When churches become inward focused and make things like holding on to a particular style of worship, the structure of a church, or even studying the Bible (as good as that is), the natural tendency is conflict.  When churches make what goes on inside the walls of the church their focus, they explode and the Christians are scattered (to other churches).  But churches that focus on the mission that Christ gave us are better able to stay unified, even through tough times.  That's the way the church was designed--we are, by nature a mission agency.  Missions isn't a branch of the church, missions is the church.

As the story continues in Acts, we find the church receives an important and surprising ally...

NT Journey--Acts 7

Putting Ourselves in the Story  

Chapter seven is very interesting to me.  The story actually begins at the end of chapter 6.  Once again, we find Stephen who was very obviously full of the Holy Spirit, doing great miracles and expressing grace to everyone.  Yet to those who already had their minds made up, it didn't matter.  They believed what they wanted to believe.  Their interest was not truth, it was only maintaining the religious status quo.  Their self-interest was so strong they even made up stories to stir up trouble for Stephen.

When the high priest asks Stephen if the charges brought against him were true (remember the High Priest was not just a religious ruler, but a political ruler as well), he didn't answer "yes" or "no."  Instead, he went back and told the entire story of Israel's history.  As you read it, you might have asked yourself, "What does this have to do with anything?"

In the end, what Stephen was doing was not just telling them the story of Israel, he was telling THEIR story.  He was showing them their place in God's history.  Of course, they didn't like their place very well.  If you were accused of murdering the Messiah for whom the Jews waited centuries, you might not be very pleased either.  But as we saw in the chapter 5, some people just have their mind made up and that's not going to change.  Such was the case with the Jews in our chapter today.  They just couldn't see themselves opposing the one God sent to save Israel.

This has tremendous application for us today.  We all are a continuation of God's story.  From Abraham, to Moses, to Jesus, to the Apostles--this is your story.  If scripture were still being written today, you might be a part of it. 

We all have moments where we are similar to the Jews in chapter 7.  All of us have a tendency to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt.  We would never see ourselves as working against the cause of Christ.  In fact, to even suggest such a thing might make us bitter.  That's why we always have to have an open mind and open hearts.  Now, we are right to commit to Christ, but we always have to be open to the idea that what we currently believe or the way we currently act is not consistent with God's plan or the commands of Christ.

We can often be challenged by scripture passages, sermons, or even blogs.  As we hear or read them, we must always approach them with the attitude that we might possibly be wrong--we might possibly have to change something about our lives.

Stephen didn't challenge the Jews by making up a new story.  He went to a story they all loved and accepted.  The challenge they received was not the story, it was their place within the story.

So where is your place in God's story?  Are you working for Him or against Him?  Are you open to seeing the areas of your life that you need to bring in line with God's story?  I think that's the greatest lesson we learn from the story of the stoning of Stephen.

NT Journey--Acts 6

Lessons on the Church 


Acts, chapter six is our first real test of interpretation of the book of Acts.  The book of Acts is probably the place where we get our most clear ideas of what the Church should be.  The problem comes in trying to figure out how to interpret the book.  When it comes to the Church, there are two directions we can go.

1)  We can look at the book of Acts as an exact prescription for how we should handle the church or  2) we can just take some lessons from how the church operated in its early days.  So in the case of Acts 2, for instance, does that mean that we should be living in Christian communes and sharing everything?  Well, obviously most of us would answer "no."  (or we could just be misbehaving by not living up to "Biblical standards" for church people.

How we interpret the book of Acts is the second way--we simple look to Acts to give us some principles that govern how we "do church."  We don't need to do everything exactly like the early church did, but we can learn from them.  The reason we interpret Acts this way is that if Jesus meant for us to have exact prescriptions for church life, He would have made sure that was clear.  The fact is, however, Jesus said very little specifically about how the church should operate.  About the only direct prescription for the Church comes in Matthew 18 when Jesus is teaching about how to confront sin in the church.  (and we seldom follow this teaching!)

So, looking at Acts 6, we see the church is growing rapidly.  Of course, this is an exciting thing, but as with churches today, growth is not only a reason for excitement, but it also causes problems.  I know it's hard to believe there are problems in the church, but here you see it.  The Hebraic Jews are the Jews who have been in and around Jerusalem all along (or at least for centuries).  Back in the 500s BC, many Jews were taken into captivity in Babylon (see the book of Daniel).  Eventually the Jews were allowed to go back to Jerusalem and the Romans took over from the Babylonians.  Not all Jews chose to go back to Jerusalem. 

Many of them had adapted to the lifestyle of the Romans and lived in various cities throughout the empire.  But it happened that if one of these Jews came to the end of life, they wanted to live out the rest of their days around the holy city of Jerusalem or if a woman's husband died, she would often go back to Jerusalem where she knew she would be taken care of.

There were both types of Jew in the early church, but as was often the case, the Hebraic Jews (the ones who had been there all along) saw themselves as being superior to the Graecian Jews.  In Acts 6, we find the Graecian Jews complaining that the Hebraic Jews were hogging the food and the Graecian women were being left out.

The Apostles were very busy with other things like preaching and teaching and didn't have time to organize the food distribution.  So what did they do?  They appointed wise and trustworthy people to take care of it.  Great idea.  These people are called the "deacons" because the Greek word translated serve is diakonevw (diakoneo) which we have transliterated into deacon.

Some churches will say that because of this, every church has to have Deacons or a deacon board.  But this passage isn't intended to say that at all.  All the passage shows is the church adapted as the situation called for it.  The lesson church leaders should learn from Acts 6, then is not that we have to have deacon boards, but that we should be resourceful in how we solve the problems that inevitably come as the church grows or as culture or our neighborhood changes.

The church should be an organization that travels light.  This means being able to change and adapt as it needs to.  Whether it's church organization, worship style, or whatever we are not to be tied down too strongly to our methods.  Our task is much too important to invent sacred cows.  When we start to elevate any particular way of doing church to the level of timeless truth, we will fail to be effective at fulfilling the mission of the church given by Jesus--to storm the gates of hell.  Getting stuck in one mode and fighting over our personal preferences has rendered many a church completely ineffective at our task. 

The teaching of Jesus we read in Matthew 20 not only works on the personal level, but also at the church level; "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  Maybe we could say it this way, "Whoever wants to hold on to his idea of how church should be will lose the church entirely, but whoever gives up his own preferences for the sake of Christ and His mission, will find the church he's always been looking for."

NT Journey--Acts 5

A Mind Made Up  

It never ceases to amaze me how we can always see what we want to see.  Perspective makes such a difference in our world.  One person sees the arrest of a terrorist, another sees racial profiling.  It's just a matter of perspective.

Acts 5 is an example of people seeing things from different perspectives.  On the one hand, we see the account of the Apostles healing many people by the power of God.  The word got out and people flocked to them in droves.  Who was it that accepted the miracles and came to them?  It was the sick.  And they would go to great lengths just to get near the Apostles.

On the other hand, the religious leaders saw the exact same miracles and had a much different reaction.  They didn't come to be healed.  They didn't praise God that the blind received their sight or the lame walked.  They only saw that their position in society was threatened and they wanted to put an end to the whole scene.  What was the difference between the two groups?

The difference was was their position in life.  How they saw themselves determined how they saw God.  The lame, the blind, the deaf knew their need and they came to the Apostles, just like they came to Jesus.  But the religious leaders on the other hand, thought they had all they needed.  They thought they were whole, healthy, and lacking nothing so when someone else was gaining more followers they felt threatened.  It couldn't be possible that someone else could provide what they couldn't.  It couldn't be that the Apostles were right about Jesus.  That would mean they were wrong.  They just couldn't see how that could be possible because they already had their mind made up.

What this passage shows us is the fact that its easy for us just to believe what we want to believe.  That's often one of the most difficult things about being a pastor.  Ultimately, in order for people to grow they have to be open to having their prevailing beliefs challenged.  If you already think you know it all, there can be no more growth in your life.  But when we allow ourselves to be challenged and look at things from another perspective, one of two things happen.  First, we could solidify our current beliefs.  Even if we don't change our mind, if we allow ourselves to honestly wrestle with the challenge we'll be stronger.

Second, we might change as a result of the new information, getting us closer to the truth.  The religious leaders never allowed that to happen because they were already sure they were right.  In the end, they only did damage to themselves and the cause of Christ.  Now this doesn't mean we should fall for just anything.  We should always seek the truth in scripture and constantly work to come more in line with the truth.

NT Journey--Acts 4

The Anti-ACLU   

Acts 4 has got to be one of my favorite stories in the book of Acts.  This story shows just how focused and single-minded the early church was toward getting the word out about Jesus.  In chapter 3, Peter and John healed the crippled man and brought him into the Temple for the first time in his life.  They healed him physically, but also healed his broken spirit and he leaped for joy.

The healing gave them an "in" to preach the gospel to the Jews in the Temple court.  But their preaching ruffled the feathers of the religious leaders (as if they needed another excuse to be ruffled).  It says that the reason the Sadducees came after them was because they were "proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead."  We saw this in Matthew, that the Sadducees (as opposed to the Pharisees) didn't believe in resurrection.  They believe that once you're dead, you're dead.

Now today, religious leaders can't put anyone in prison.  I can't just say to someone in the church, "since you're telling people that once they're saved, they can't lose their salvation, I'm going to take you in front of the Linn County Association of Evangelicals and have you thrown in jail."  It seems silly to us.  But the Jews lived in a province of the Roman Empire that was essentially ruled by the High Priest (both religiously and politically).  The Romans generally let the Jews rule themselves and even have some special status because they were such an ethnic powder-keg.  So what I'm saying is the Sadducees had the power to do this.

But they didn't really know what to do with them.  On the one hand, they weren't real keen on them preaching about this Jesus guy.  And by the way, isn't it funny that Peter takes every chance he gets to point the finger at the Jews?  "Jesus of Nazareth whom you crucified..."  No wonder they didn't care for Peter!

Their deliberation is very interesting, I think.  They're worried about these guys gaining followers, but also cannot deny that they performed a miracle (vs 16).  But instead of truly seeking the source of the miracle, they were so sure of themselves, instead of praising God, they wanted to get rid of Peter and John.  See how religion can get in the way of true faith?  In the end, they let them off with an official warning not to speak about Jesus anymore.

Here's my favorite part...When Peter and John get released from prison, they immediately go back to the church and call the ACLU or the Rutherford Institute because their religious liberties were threatened.  OK, no they didn't.  They went back to the church and prayed not that the persecution would stop, but that they would become bolder in proclaiming Jesus!  Now that's GUTS.  They don't like that they're being persecuted, but the persecution only strengthens their resolve.

So what do we do when that time comes?  That's the first question.  My guess is that most of us probably don't do enough to warrant any kind of persecution.  Second, if we did, we might be more inclined to go back to the church and complain in amazement that we're facing opposition.

NT Journey--Acts 3

In chapter 3, we begin to see the church getting out and reaching out.  The beginning story is the story of Peter and John going up to the Temple.  Remember, at this time, Jesus' followers considered themselves Jews.  It really wasn't until much later down the road (decades) that followers of Jesus came to be seen as something separate from the Jews.  We can assume that Peter and John were going to the Temple for prayer time.

Then we meet the beggar.  The man, who it says was crippled from birth was carried every day to the Temple gate to beg.  There were reasons why they took him to the Temple gate.  First, it was a very busy place.  What do they say is the most important rule of commerce?  Location, location, location.  It's possible this location was very lucrative for the beggar.  Another reason he was outside the Temple gate was because of the mandate every Jew had to take care of the poor.  People were heading to the Temple to pray anyway, they may as well kill two birds with one stone.  It was fresh on their mind, so it didn't take much to nudge them to give.

But perhaps the most important reason the beggar was at the gate of the Temple was because he wasn't allowed to enter the Temple.  The Temple was the center of Jewish worship in those days.  It was there where prayers were prayed and sacrifices made.  But the Temple was a holy place and people and things that were "unclean" were not allowed to enter.  Not only could the man not walk or earn a living, he was separated from God because of his condition.

So when Peter heals the man, he did two things--he restored him physically, but he also restored him spiritually.  He was truly whole again!  Thus the leaping!  You would certainly leap if you were crippled all your life and were healed.  But how much more would you leap, if all your life you believed God counted you as a second class citizen, not worthy to worship Him like others and now you know God has accepted you?  You might leap twice as high!

The Old Testament says that when the Messiah comes, "The lame will leap for joy!"  (Isaiah 35)  The reason they leap is not just because they were physically healed, but because their whole life would be restored to them.

Peter then uses the occasion to preach to the Jews.  Miraculous healings were a sign of the coming of the Messiah--the one who would proclaim freedom to the captives, sight to the blind, and declare the day of the Lord's favor.  As Peter healed in Jesus' name, he proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah.  Then the fun begins...

NT Journey--Acts 2

What Happens in Jerusalem...

Remember that the outline of the book of Acts starts in Jerusalem and moves out from there.  The church starts in Jerusalem and moves out from there.  In fact, that's the very purpose of the church--to advance.  Many people, who have been Christians for a long time act as though their church exists to grow them, care for them, and "meet their needs."  One thing Acts will show us is that the church in not intended to be a maintenance institution.  The nature of the church is to advance and to "storm the gates of hell."  (see Matthew 16 if you don't believe me)

The power of the church is the power of the Holy Spirit.  So in Acts 2, we see the church gathered together.  Notice the "church" isn't the building--it's the people.  You can't "go to church."  You can become the church.  You can be the church, but you can't go to church.  People gathered together in Jesus' name makes the church.  Now there's a little more to it than that, but not much.

The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples gathered together and they saw "tongues of fire" on top of each of their heads (kind of like a bunch of human candles).  What was the significance of the tongues of fire?  I'm glad you asked.  First, the symbol of fire in the Bible is always the symbol of either judgment or purification.  In this case, it symbolized the purification of the church, preparing them for the task ahead of them.  One of the most common ways the New Testament describes followers of Jesus in the New Testament is the word "saints."  When you are part of the church, you become a "saint," not in the sense that you never do anything wrong, but in the sense that God has purified you and you don't need live in your guilt anymore.

The fire was in the shape of tongues, which of course, symbolizes talking.  So it's no coincidence that when the disciples then started talking, people from all over the place "heard them in their own language."  Acts says very specifically not that they all spoke different languages, but that each person heard them in their own language. (with the Holy Spirit for a translator)  Apparently, they were very convincing, because it says that 3000 people were added to the church on that day.

The one person Acts 2 records is Peter.  Remember that in Matthew, it's Peter who denies Jesus 3 times.  It's Peter who hides from the servant girl for fear he'll be associated with Jesus.  Now, we see the picture of Peter speaking boldly before a huge crowd, point his finger and telling them they crucified the Messiah.  Now that's power!  Peter is a completely changed man.

After this event, Acts 2:42ff tells us how the church settled in.  "They devoted themselves to the Apostle's teaching , to the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer."  They lived together, pooled their resources, shared and gave to the poor.  Their numbers grew daily.

This is a picture of the early church.  Now one of the difficulties of reading the book of Acts is figuring out what it means for us.  Should we be exactly like the church in Acts?  If not, what should be the same?  What should be different?  Is Acts written as an exact model for us to follow today or just to tell us how things got to be the way they are?  Different people have different answers to that.  As best I can, over the course of this reading of Acts, I'll try to give you our answer--and sometimes just my answer and I'll try my best to include the reasons why I believe what I do.

In general, I don't think the book of Acts is supposed to be an exact model of what the church is supposed to do.  The reason I say this is because this isn't really the way Jesus did things.  Jesus rarely, if ever told people exactly what they should do, but more often He would say, "Here's how God created the world.  If you want to do things God's way, then live accordingly."  In the same way, I believe this is the same attitude we should take toward the book of Acts.

There are always certain principles for us to follow.  So "they devoted themselves to the Apostle's teaching."  Do we have the Apostle's teaching today?  Actually, yes.  We're reading through it right now (it's the Bible.)  "the breaking of bread?"  We have bread, too.  Some people take this to mean the ritual of communion.  As I mentioned earlier, I think communion is valuable, but I don't think this passage necessitates that here.  We can go all the way through the list, but I think as we work our way through the New Testament and become more familiar with the church, we'll understand it better.

In the meantime, what do you think we are supposed to do just like the church in Acts 2:42-27?  What is not so essential?  Why do you believe that?

NT Journey--Acts 1

Restoring the Kingdom  

Even after the resurrection, the disciples were still asking about restoring the kingdom to Israel.  Even though Jesus went to great pains to explain to them that the Kingdom is available, not only to Israel, but to everything, they still didn't get it.  Remember in Matthew, Jesus even told parables about how the guests who were initially invited to the banquet (Israel) didn't come, so He had to invite the dregs of society (the gentiles), who did come.

Even so, Jesus doesn't directly correct their misunderstanding.  Instead, He promises the Holy Spirit.  When Jesus said in Matthew 28 that He would be with us always, He was referring to the Holy Spirit.  Jesus powers the church through the Holy Spirit.  In fact, that what Luke records Jesus saying in verse 8, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses..."

So we don't do church without the Spirit.  We sometimes act as though it's completely our responsibility to build the Kingdom.  Well, to an extent it's true.  God works through us.  We are called to be faithful to God--to seek Him first.  But then we are also to be faithful to work hard by any means possible to work with what God is already doing.

Understand this, God is already at work in the world.  We don't have to create something new.  We only have to determine what God is already doing, an join Him in that work.  That's the message Acts 1 gives to us.  When the disciples were staring up into the sky, the angels said essentially, "What are you waiting for?  Jesus is coming back, so get to it."  But Jesus didn't tell them to start preaching the Gospel, He told them to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit.  Once they get the Holy Spirit, then they could "go to town."  And go to town, they did...

NT Journey--Intro to Acts

By way of introduction, we're moving on to the book of Acts.

Acts was written by Luke--the same writer as wrote the book of Luke.  Luke was a traveling companion of Paul.  In any case, the book of  Acts is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke--written by the same author to the same guy, Theophilus.

We don't know who Theophilus is.  The name Theophilus means "lover of God," but there really is no hint as to who this lover of God is.

We do know that Luke was a doctor.  He also very concerned about getting the facts and details right.  He really would have been the perfect guy to write a history.  In the book of Luke, we also see that he was very concerned about the poor and oppressed.  While the other Gospel writers also talk about Jesus' care for the poor and oppressed, Luke really drives it home any chance he gets.  We also see some of the same in the book of Acts.  Although it's not nearly as pronounced, we will see a number of times where he mentions caring for the poor.

The book of Acts begins with the ascension of Jesus.  He gives a little different account of the ascension with Jesus saying some different things than in Matthew.  The accounts aren't necessarily contradictory, it's just that each author emphasizes their particular slant on the events.  So Jesus probably said both what Matthew has Him saying and what Luke has Him saying.  They just have a different purpose, so they emphasize something different.

The book of Acts basically has two parts.  The first part is the gospel being taken to "Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria..." (1:8)  That part is chapters 1-12 and tends to focus on Peter and John and the other disciples as well as the church in Jerusalem.  It's here that we learn the most about what the early church was like.  The second section can be titled "and to the ends of the earth..."  The primary subject of chapters 13-28 is the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys.  So what we see is that the gospel started out being preached to the Jews, then expanded to the Gentiles (non-Jews).

In  order to understand the book of Acts, it helps a lot to know a bit about the geography, politics and culture of the Roman Empire.  When we understand these things, Acts "comes alive."  I'll do my best to help you with this, but ultimately it's going to be another whirlwind, so I would suggest you do some research yourself.  Get a good Bible atlas and even a Bible dictionary to help.  As always, if you have questions, feel free to ask.

OK.  I think that's it, so enjoy the book of Acts.

NT Journey--Matthew 28

A Taste of Things to Come  


A lot of people tend to focus more on the crucifixion than they do on the resurrection.  There is good reason to focus on the crucifixion.  Of course, crucifixion is the example of self-giving sacrifice that we are to follow as believers in Jesus.  We are created, not for ourselves, but for others, so crucifixion is a fitting model for us.  Are we willing to give up ourselves for the sake of others?  That's the ultimate in love.

But the real purpose of Jesus coming was resurrection--the victory of God and His way of doing things.  The crucifixion without resurrection only shows that might, power, religion and politics always wins.  But the resurrection was proof that the road to redemption and ultimately the road to God is through sacrificing our own lives.  "Whoever wants to save His life will lose it, but whoever loses His life for My sake will find it." (16:25)  Jesus not only preached it, but He demonstrated it.

The resurrection left the religious and political leaders dumbfounded.  They had to devise a plan to explain away the victory that was won when they found the tomb empty.  That's what religion and politics do, they don't want to change, they just want to find ways to continue to do the same things they've always done because people in "power" want to stay in power.  But people who have given up their power aren't as concerned with the status quo or self-preservation, they are free to give themselves fully to God and His way.

This is the gospel--that God is in control and we can just rely on Him for everything.  His Kingdom will be victorious, we've already seen the signs.  Our job now is simply to "proclaim the Kingdom."  How Jesus says it in Matthew 28 is to "go and make disciples of all nations..."  What I don't understand is why some Christians believe that the task they've been given is simply to go to church and learn more about the Bible and be decent human beings.  I think Jesus is pretty plain here in His parting words that our task as His followers is to be "agents" of the Kingdom--to proclaim the Kingdom in Kingdom sort of ways. 

He says to "make disciples" which means "learners" or "followers."  The implication there is that we learn Jesus' way and we do it.   What are we to teach people?  Not just to teach them everything Jesus commanded, but to teach them to obey everything He commanded.  Once again there is that theme that it's not good enough to know what to do.  We have to do it.  That's what counts.

In the end, Jesus gives the promise that He will be with us always.  We don't have to do it alone.  Do we trust that Jesus is with us?  I think sometimes our lack of following through with living Kingdom lives is because we feel like we're alone.  But we're not.  Trust is when we act on the belief that God's way is right, no matter the temporary evidence to the contrary.  In the end it will show itself as right.  That's the lesson of resurrection.  Even when things seem dark and it seems like all is lost, resurrection comes and God is proven right. 

Well, that's Matthew.  Congratulations on making it through the first book.  As we move on to Acts, I'd like to hear your thoughts on Matthew as a whole.  Did you learn anything new?  Anything stick out to you?  

NT Journey--Matthew 27

Not Your Average, Everyday King

As we've worked our way through Matthew, we've talked a lot about the "Kingdom of Heaven."  The Kingdom is anywhere God's will is being done.  Theologians call the Kingdom "the upside-down kingdom" because of the way Jesus explained it--the first will be last and the last will be first, whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses it for Jesus' sake will find it, the greatest is the servant of all.  The power of the Kingdom is the power of the cross.

It should be no surprise that when Jesus goes before Pilate that the questions he asks are about being a 'king," or the "king of the Jews."  In order for the Jews to bring charges against Jesus before the Romans, they had to charge him with something more than claiming to be God.  The Romans didn't care about that. But if He claimed to be a rival king--that was different.  The Romans would certainly want to put down any possible rivalries before they became more than they could handle.

When asked if He was the king of the Jews, Jesus said, "It is as you say."  He didn't deny it even though He knew it could mean His death.  Of course, dying was part of the plan.  In order for the Kingdom of God to come to fruition, He had to die.  The power of the Kingdom of the power of the cross--the power of self-sacrifice.  What Jesus did might be surprising for the kingdom of the world, but for the Kingdom of Heaven, it's totally predictable.

While people (including the disciples) may have seen Jesus' death as the end of His messianic run, it was actually the fulfilment of it.  He isn't king despite the fact He was crucified, He was king because He was crucified.  That's the way of the Kingdom.

Verses 45-56 chronicle Jesus' death.  The interesting thing that I think has gotten a lot of attention is that the curtain in the temple was torn in  two.  The curtain in the temple separate the "Holy of  Holies" from the rest of the Temple.  Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and only once a year.  It symbolized the holiness (separateness) of God and the uncleanness of humans.  Because of sin, we were separated from God.  In the Old Testament, religion was the way to get to God--or so it seemed.   But when Jesus died on the cross, it signified the end of religion, taking away the guilt, shame, and sin of the world and allowing us direct access to God without having to go through a mediator like the High Priest in the Holy of Holies.

Relationship was restored and religion died.  The only thing left for us if figuring out what that means for us.

NT Journey--Matthew 26

Today's passage is the beginning of the end.  One hard thing about reading scripture for most of us is that we already know how it ends.  If someone was reading this passage for the first time, this would begin the rising action--moving toward the climax of the story.  But familiarity betrays us.  We look at it as commonplace.  When Jesus says in verse 12, "she did it to prepare me for burial..." the disciples would be pretty shocked or confused.  Despite the fact that Jesus hinted at this in the previous chapters, the Bible still indicates that crucifixion and resurrection were not what they expected.

Three notes on this chapter:

First, doesn't it seem a little contradictory that Jesus pays so much attention to the poor and broken and needy that when the disciples suggested that the woman pouring expensive perfume on Jesus' head was a waste, Jesus rebuffs them?  Jesus must have really kept them on their toes.  I don't think they could ever really have known how Jesus was going to respond to any particular situation.  On the one hand, he gets angry with the Pharisees when they dedicate money to the temple and don't help their parents, but now he praises the woman who dumps money on Jesus' head.  What's the difference?  Rules vs. heart.  The Pharisees did it because they were so concerned about the rules.  The woman did it out of true repentance and worship...which brings me to the second point from verse 17 and on...

I'm not much for ritual.  I know there is some value in it, but when ritual becomes too familiar, it loses its value.  We use this section about the Lord's Supper in our communion "ritual," but I actually don't think this was necessarily what Jesus intended when He said, "as often as you do this, remember me."  I'm not sure Jesus was instituting a ritual--that's too formal for Jesus.  I think the "this" refers to eating together.  My opinion (and it IS just that, opinion) is that remembering Jesus' sacrifice was so important that we are to make it central to our lives--that we should remind ourselves constantly that we owe everything to Him.

The reason I say this is that there's a great parallel in the Old Testament.  In Deuteronomy 6, we find what is known as the "shema."  It was absolutely central to any Israelite's practice.  It goes like this:

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

 The Israelites were to identify so strongly with the words, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" that they were commanded to do anything they could to make sure they never forgot.  Those words couldn't help but be central to their very lives.

As Christians, isn't the sacrifice of Christ to be central to everything we do?  Is the "ritual" of communion enough for it to be central in our lives?  I think not.  Especially for those of us who only do communion once a month.  But what if every time we sat down to eat we remembered Christ's sacrifice?  Would that work to keep it central in our lives?  If Jesus spent His entire ministry warning against rules and rituals, why would He then make a new one?  Wouldn't it make more sense if Jesus was simply saying, "What I'm about to do will give you life that you've never had before.  Do everything you can to remember and keep it at the center of everything you do?"  Seems like it would to me.

One final thought.  Jesus went to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover.  The Passover was a huge celebration of possibly the most important event in the history of Israel, when the angel of death passed over the Israelites who had spread blood on their doorposts.  It was the passover that allowed the Israelites to escape from Egypt.  It was their salvation.

It's no coincidence that Jesus did this during the Passover.  Notice the similarities.

• The Israelites were slaves in Egypt.  We were slaves to our sin and guilt.
• It was blood that was sprinkled on the doorposts in Egypt.  We are saved by Jesus' blood.
• It was the Passover that freed the Israelites from their bondage.  When Jesus "covered" our sin on the cross, the wrath of God "passed over" us and gave us freedom.

Now if you were just reading this for the first time, you wouldn't know these things because Jesus hasn't been crucified and risen again yet.  So as you continue on, just pretend that you didn't hear that : ).  Read with fresh eyes what happens next.

NT Journey--Matthew 25

True Believers
One common theme we'll see running through the entire New Testament is the idea of "belief" or "faith."  Belief is always the prerequisite for salvation or to "enter the Kingdom."  In the Evangelical church today, we have more or less boiled down belief to either "praying a prayer" or a set of doctrines we need to believe intellectually and we're in.  As we've already read in the parable of the two sons, the wise and foolish builder and the parables in Matthew 25, however, Jesus paints a much different picture.

The Church over the years has place the greatest emphasis on this intellectual ascent.  That's what the Inquisition was all about.  If people didn't subscribe to the proper doctrines, they were tortured or killed.  On the other hand, in the gospel of Matthew, we see people who don't have all the proper intellectual tidbits and yet are praised by Jesus for their faith.

So if it's not intellectual propositions that get us into the Kingdom, what is it?  Well, it's works, of course!  (How's that for some heresy?)  OK, let me explain.  This should really be nothing new to us, it's just that we've underemphasized the role of works in the Kingdom.  It's not really works that "get us in," but to Jesus, intellectual faith that is not accompanied by works is no faith at all!

Let's say I have a car.  It's a nice looking car in great shape.  There are not dents or even scratches on it--it's immaculate.  You come over to my house and see the car sitting in my back yard.  You comment on it.  "That's a nice looking car you got there!"  I say, "Yeah, and it's reliable, too.  Over the last two years I've owned it, every time I look out my back window, it never fails--it's sitting right there in my back yard.  I can count on that car to sit there in hot or cold.  It's a good car."

Now you start to get a little suspicious.  "So do you ever drive the car?" 

"No.  It doesn't run.  I don't know what's wrong with it.  The mechanics can't figure it out either.  Hasn't run in a couple of years.  But it sure is a good car."

Here's my question...do I really have a good car?  Of course not.  I have a car that looks good.  I might even be proud of how great of condition it's in, but by no stretch of the imagination can I call it a "good" car because it isn't fulfilling the very purpose it's created for.  This is a picture of "faith" or intellectual "belief" without the accompanying works.

Salvation happens not when we pray a prayer.  It happens when we change our perspective on life and begin to look at the world and ourselves through the eyes of Jesus and live our lives accordingly.  We commit to the fact that according to God's way, the first are last and the last are first, the servant is the greatest, and I am blessed to be a blessing.  That's the Kingdom life.  That's the business of the Kingdom.

In the parable of the ten virgins, we see five who understand that the Kingdom may take some time and they prepare.  The Kingdom life calls for perseverance.  Serving someone rather than getting even with them may seem to not "work" for a while, but when we commit to the Kingdom, we commit to the Kingdom life.  "Faith" happens when I believe so much in the values of the Kingdom, that I persevere even when it seems to not be "working."

In the parable of the talents, we are God's servants.  He has "gone away" and has asked us to partner with Him in building His Kingdom.  Now some people--like the servant with the one talent--think that salvation is all about them.  As long as they're saved, they're good.  But a necessary part of living in the Kingdom is working in the Kingdom.  When I have a Kingdom perspective, I understand that working to advance God's Kingdom is not optional.  It's not for the super-Christians or pastors.  It's the normal everyday life of a Kingdom person.  Those who gain more are rewarded, those who don't are kicked out.

We see the same thing with the parable of the sheep and the goats.  This parable was always a stumbling block for me and my belief in salvation by faith alone (at least until I understood faith), because Jesus clearly attaches entrance into the Kingdom on how we live our lives; specifically how we care for the poor, hungry, thirsty, and the prisoners.  I'm not sure how much clearer Jesus can make it here.

So, I guess the question for the day is--are you living a Kingdom life?  Does your belief in Jesus cause you to live your life differently?  Do you see your salvation not just as a benefit, but as a partnership with God in building His Kingdom?  How are you working to build His Kingdom?  After all, that just what Kingdom people do.  Isn't it?

NT Journey--Matthew 24

A Note About Prophecy
I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this chapter, mostly because it's much too big to tackle in one blog post.  You'd have to take the day off from work to read it, then you would most likely just say, "huh?"  Trust me, we'll go more in-depth on prophecy later in the year--much later when we get to Revelation.

Suffice it to say we have a bad habit of reading prophecy in the wrong way.  The best way to read prophecy is in hindsight.  All of prophecy in the Old Testament and the little bit in the New Testament always contains a warning and a consequence.  Our bad habit is always focusing on the consequence, but glossing over the warning (or reason for the prophecy coming true).  We do this because we love the sensational.  We love to speculate about whether Gorbachev or Hitler or Obama is the anti-Christ and when we're going to be forced to take the "mark of the beast."

(As an aside, I first "prayed the prayer" to accept Jesus after watching a movie in Sunday night church called A Thief in the Night.  It was one of those old 70's "left behind" movies where the Christians get their heads chopped off in the guillotine.  The movie did its job.  You could say it "scared the hell out of me."  Never mind that today I don't agree with most of the theology behind it, I guess it was effective anyway.)

Anyway, the point of prophecy is not to speculate ahead of time about what represents what.  In prophecy there's always a clear warning and then a bunch of imagery about what's going to happen if the Israelites don't change their ways.  Now Matthew 24 is a little bit of an exception in that the only warning given to the people is to run for the hills.  They couldn't really do anything to change the events about to happen, so if they want to survive, they better get out of there.

Jesus uses a lot of the same language as the Old Testament prophets--He even quotes a prophetic passage.  In the chapter, Jesus talks about "that day," meaning the "Day of the Lord" which is a common phrase used in the Old Testament prophets.  "The Day of the Lord" means God's judgment on a nation, pretty much always at the hands of another nation.  So the "Day of the Lord" came when Babylon invaded Judah.  The "Day of the Lord" came when Assyria invaded Israel.

The "Day of the Lord" came when the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 AD putting an end to the Jewish sacrificial system and Temple worship.  Notice that the conversation begins when Jesus and the disciples are looking at the Temple.  What Jesus is talking about here is the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  This destruction was the ultimate end of Jesus' work and teaching.  If so much of His work and teaching was dedicated to getting people away from their "religiosity" and into relationship with the living God, what better way to do that to effective end religion as they knew it?

I would suggest that you do a little research on siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple and then go back and read the chapter again with this as the backdrop.  Estimates are that the Romans killed somewhere around a million Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem, but many, many Christians were spared because they heeded Jesus' words to flee to the hills when they saw the signs.  It's a very interesting study.

Many people will say that prophecy has a short-term fulfillment as well as a long-term fulfillment, so Jesus is talking about both the destruction of the Temple and the end of time.  I'm not exactly sure what to make of that, but what I do know is this--some day we'll understand.  In the meantime, I would suggest we not get too caught up on worrying about things that are at best unclear and focus on the things that are.  That's my take on prophecy.

NT Journey--Matthew 23

Down with Religious People!
I always find it funny when a church leader rails against unbelievers and their wickedness.  I find it funny because you never see Jesus do that.  Overall, Jesus seemed to be a pretty laid-back guy.  I guess it's what you would expect from someone who knows they have a special status with God Himself.  But there are times when Jesus does get wound up about things.  But what we church people often have a hard time seeing and believing is that He really only got angry at religious people!  And when He does, he really let's them have it.

Matthew 23 is the greatest example of this.  The who chapter is a diatribe against the Pharisees.  The Pharisees were the religious kings of the day.  They had hundreds of rules and followed every one to the letter.  And yet, if Jesus had an adversary in scripture, it would certainly be the Pharisees.  I think the biggest reason why it's so hard for us religious conservatives (whether evangelical or fundamentalist) have such a hard time understanding this is because we are the Pharisees.  So let's take a closer look at Matthew 23 and see what Jesus says about them.

The first problem is that they "tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders."  Of course, Jesus is talking about all the rules and laws the Pharisees required people to live by.  It was hard to remember all the rules let alone follow them.  Luckily, the Pharisees were always around to enforce them. : )

The second problem Jesus identifies is that the Pharisees were all about the outward appearance.  They were always wanting to make sure people saw how righteous and holy they were.  What I find interesting here is that Jesus tells them they "shut the Kingdom of Heaven in men's faces.  You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to."  These things are related.  One thing you have to understand about entering the Kingdom is that it's not just a prayer you pray, it's a change in perspective.  We enter the Kingdom when we begin to see the world through the eyes of Jesus.  Central to the Kingdom is the fact that the first are last and the last are first.  The Pharisees' desire to be seen and held in high regard is directly opposed to the perspective of the Kingdom.  Instead of calling them son's of the Kingdom, Jesus calls them "son's of hell."  (vs15)

Third, the Pharisees are materialistic.  They put greater weight on the offerings people give than the Temple itself.  They see the value of an oath only in the amount of money given.

Fourth, they major in the minors and minor in the majors.  This is just another way of saying their focus was all wrong.  The Pharisees gave religiously (in the bad sense of the word).  They made sure they followed all the laws exactly, but forgot about the "weightier matters of the Law--justice, mercy, and faithfulness."  If you study Jesus' teachings on the Kingdom of God, you will find that His teachings have roots in the Old Testament.  The Kingdom of God was not an idea that Jesus introduced.  The nation of Israel was intended to be the Kingdom of God.  We don't talk about this often, but if you look at the prophets the their message, we see this theme over and over.  In Isaiah 1, for instance, we find God telling the people their religious observances mean nothing to Him because their lives don't match up to what He expects.  Take a minute to read the chapter and see what prescription He gives to the people of Israel if they want to save themselves.

So you see there are some pretty harsh words from Jesus here.  It's easy to separate ourselves from Jesus' diatribe, but I think the most helpful thing to do with it is to reflect on our own lives.  Do I live like the Pharisees in any of these ways?  What would it mean for me to change and look at things from  Jesus' Kingdom perspective?  How can I stop being "religious" and really start following Jesus?

NT Journey--Matthew 22

Still working our way through Matthew.  So far, I hope this has been a helpful journey for you.  I've enjoyed going through it so far.  Just as a reminder, the purpose of doing this is not just to get through Scripture, but to get Scripture through you.  What I hope has happened so far is that you're seeing Jesus and His life and teachings in a new way and growing to love Him more.  In the book of John, Jesus says the very purpose of Scripture is to point to Him.  So don't read the Bible and miss Jesus.

Today I want to point out a good habit to get into when studying the Bible.  Most Bibles will have cross-references.  In Matthew, for instance, we've seen a lot of quotes from the Old Testament.  Usually, a good study Bible will tell you where that quote is from.  Take the time to read the Old Testament passage.  In the same way, when reading the Gospels, there are many stories they have in common (at least in Matthew, Mark, and Luke).  Remember that each Gospel writer tells the story from a different perspective and has a different purpose in mind.  As we read the passage in Matthew 22:23-33, we find an instance where it's very helpful to read another account of the story.

To be honest with you, when I read the story from Matthew about marriage and the resurrection, I said, "huh?   What is THAT?"  I really didn't get it.  What did Jesus mean that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living?  Seemed strange to me.  As I tried to understand it, I looked and saw that Luke tells the same story in Luke 20:27-40.  (Usually the cross-reference is located under the heading of that section or in the middle margin of your study Bible.)

I found it very helpful to read Luke's account because in Luke's account, he has Jesus explain a little further what He means and it makes all the difference.  The story is an account of some Sadduccees coming to Jesus to make the idea of resurrection of the dead look silly.  To do so, they come up with a silly scenario.  The question is basically about who belongs to whose family at the resurrection.

Jesus answered the question in a couple of different ways.  First, he answered their basic question about the possibility of the resurrection by going back to the story of the burning bush with the "father" Moses.  In the story, Moses calls God the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," present tense--as if they were still "alive."  Jesus uses this to prove that the Old Testament teaches the resurrection of the dead.

Second, He answer the specific scenario about who belongs to whom at the resurrection.  Jesus says there will be no married people after the resurrection.  Now, I'm sure there are some people who have been happily married for years who will be a little disappointed by this.  I have to admit the thought of spending eternity not married to my wife is a strange and disconcerting thought to me.  If we were only to read Matthew's account, we would be left with just that.  But instead, Luke clarifies a little more and this clarification should give us some more insight into Jesus.

Jesus explains that after the resurrection, we have all, in essence, switched families.  In fact, those who are resurrected are all part of the same family.  We are God's children and children of the resurrection (Lk 20:36)  When we think of Jesus' teaching here, we tend to think in terms of separation.  If we're not married, we are separated.  But instead of separating people, Jesus brings them together.  My wife will still be there.  We'll still know each other and be as close as ever--we'll just have the opportunity to have close relationships with other people as well.

This is another case for Jesus being all about reconciliation--both with God and with others.  While we try to find a way to separate people and find reasons why they can't have this relationship or that, Jesus finds a way to draw people closer.