"When Jesus heard this, he was amazed..."

Bible Tangent(s) is back! I'm glad you're here.

I was studying Luke 7 today, and it occurred to me that this entire chapter is about faith. There are four episodes (three of which we'll discuss), and in each one Jesus responds to a person's faith. The people in this chapter are all over the map, so we get to see Jesus' responses to various strengths and types of belief.

A caution against formula: God does not always respond in the same ways to the same things. You've probably noticed this in your own spiritual life. Sometimes in prayer, worship, or Bible study, God may lead you a certain way, but other times God doesn't. So just a fair warning ("heads up!") that the principles here will not always play out exactly like this in your life.

This is true in part because God (in infinite wisdom) knows that different responses might be best to two different people in very similar situations, or with very similar expressions of faith. That being said, Jesus' reactions to the people in this chapter can teach us about his heart, purposes, and character. 


Here's the cast of characters in Luke 7:

1. The centurion
This guy isn't Jewish. It's difficult to overstate how important this is at the time of this story. It would have been almost impossible for Jesus' followers to imagine that a Gentile could have the same type of faith (or even better!) than the Jews. But then this centurion happens.

He wants Jesus to heal his servant, but he knows he's not worthy to have Jesus under his roof. So you might imagine he would leave his home to track down Jesus. But alas--he knows he's not even worthy to meet with Jesus in person! So he sends messengers to ask Jesus to heal the servant from afar. Jesus not only does it, but says that the centurion's faith surpasses any he's seen in Israel (Luke 7:9-10). To the centurion's humble faith, Jesus responds with healing.


2. John the Baptist
If you remember John the Baptist, he was an extreme dude who ate locusts in the wilderness. He preached about repentance and foretold Jesus' arrival. But now, in Luke 7, John is in prison. I don't want to infer too much, but based on what he does next, I think his faith is in crisis. He sends two of his followers to Jesus to ask him whether or not he's really the Messiah.

This is a significant ask from someone who had already publicly declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God. But now John is in prison, and maybe that has shaken his confidence. At any rate, Jesus responds in an interesting way: he quotes some passages from Isaiah that he has fulfilled through his miracles and ministry. Thus, he gives John two of the same pieces of evidence available to us: his miraculous works and his fulfillment of prophecy (Luke 7:21-23). He then affirms John's ministry to the crowd (7:24-28). To John's faltering faith, Jesus responds with evidence and encouragement.


3. The Pharisees
Pharisees appear twice in this chapter in quick succession: those in the crowd as Jesus preaches, and Simon who invites Jesus to dinner. To those in the crowd, Jesus reveals the hypocrisy in their reactions to John the Baptist and Jesus--John was an ascetic, and because of that they rejected him; Jesus wasn't an ascetic, and because of that they rejected him. The irony, of course, is that they responded incorrectly to both of them. They were like kids who hadn't cried during the dirge, and now they weren't dancing to the jig (Luke 7:31-35).

Simon also rejects Jesus, but in a more subtle way. Yes, he invites Jesus to dinner, but he shows him no hospitality and becomes indignant when a "sinful" woman lavishly loves Jesus at his table. Jesus rebukes him with a parable, revealing that the man (unlike the sinful woman) doesn't love Jesus because he doesn't realize how much he needs to be forgiven by Jesus (Luke 7:39-47). To the Pharisees' lack of faith, Jesus responds with rebuke and correction.


4. The sinful woman
This woman is sort of making a scene. She's interacting a lot with Jesus' feet: crying on them, kissing them, drying them with her hair, and pouring perfume on them. Maybe the outpouring of love is so profuse that it's making Simon the Pharisee uncomfortable, adding to his already judgmental disposition. This woman is going all-out in her expression of love.

And Jesus is moved by her actions. The parable he uses to rebuke the Pharisee also explains and commends the woman's love. It's because she knows how much she's been forgiven that she feels such immense gratitude to Jesus. In light of this, Jesus publicly declares her sins to be forgiven (Luke 7:44-50). To the woman's loving faith, Jesus responds with forgiveness.


How great our Savior is! When we lack faith, he rebukes and corrects us in love. When our faith wavers, he reveals himself. When we are humble, he brings healing. When we love him, he reminds us again of his saving forgiveness.

A (hopefully brief) hiatus

Friends,

I really want to get back to writing two Bible tangents per week, Mondays and Thursdays. The problem is that I'm also writing and (more so) editing devotional content for my church. This isn't always on my plate, so the months when I'm not working on that, I'll write these tangents.

If you're sad to miss out during those months I'm pulled away from this blog, don't worry-- you can receive the devotionals from my church via email! Just text NORTHWAY to 42828 and they'll prompt you for your email address.

Anyway, thanks for your patience and understanding!

Jon

Deuteronomy 28-- Filled with dread

Scripture: Deuteronomy 28 (especially verses 64-68)

When we started on this journey through Deuteronomy, I figured I might come to a section or chapter that is difficult to write about. An offensive command or a gory bloodbath. Here in chapter 28, in Moses' closing thoughts after re-giving the Law, we may have reached just that type of section.

Moses has given the Law, and the people have declared that they will obey it. Moses tells them to commemorate this by making an altar and writing down God's words. And now, he goes to the greatest lengths possible to persuade them to make good on their word and obey their God.

There are two easy ways to motivate obedience-- to promise reward for compliance and to threaten punishment for defiance. I'm sure psychological theories abound on these methods, not to mention old adages about catching flies with honey and vinegar. All that aside, Moses (and through him, God) uses both methods in this chapter to, at all costs, convince Israel to be in a right relationship with God.

If they will just follow Him, blessings will visit them in all areas of life: agriculture, military, possessions, children, reputation... an amazing picture is painted of a nation obedient to God's will.

However, in case that's not motivation enough, Moses employs a heavy dose of vinegar. If they turn their backs on God, the curses, plagues, and destruction they will experience will be even more widespread than the promised blessings. At one point in this chapter, Moses envisions a horrifying potential future in which besieged Israelites will be forced to eat their young to survive. It is a truly revolting and terrifying scene, as I'm sure it was meant to be.

And while this portrait may seem to indicate Moses is taking things "a step too far," is he? Can someone really go too far in expressing the downfalls of rejecting a right relationship with God? While those who reject God may be spared the external curses of siege and starvation, they will exist in spiritual death, separated from their Creator and Savior. 

They also might not be spared the inward calamities of life apart from God:

"...an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart... filled with dread both day and night, never sure of your life" (28:65b-66).

Sure, today there are more acceptable forms of warning and imploring than listing off blessings and curses. But Moses' point remains: woe to us if we turn our backs on God.

Deuteronomy 27-- Write it down

Scripture: Deuteronomy 27 (especially verses 1-8)

Moses has just finished a long recitation of God's Law. In it, God's character was revealed along with the expectations He had for His people Israel. As the declamation concluded, the relationship between the nation and its God was 'made official' as each declared the reality that Israel belonged to God (as we saw in the last post).

But that's not quite the last step for Israel before going ahead and starting this covenant relationship. It's great that they raised their voices as one and said, "You are our God!" But here in chapter 27, Moses instructs them to follow it up with an important step: write it down.

In the ancient Near East, that was actually a harder commandment to obey than it would be for you or me. If I wanted to commemorate, immortalize, or enshrine what God has done and said to me, I have at my fingertips paper, pens, a journal, Facebook, a blog, YouTube, etc. In Moses' time, though, the command to "write it down" meant building an altar and etching the Law onto stones.

But that is even better, isn't it? This commemoration will not just be an action, but an event: Moses describes what they should do as "eating... and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God." It sounds like a time they wouldn't soon forget... which is sort of the point.

And this is essentially why Christians get baptized. We already have the Bible in writing, so we don't need to write down God's words to us. Jesus already sacrificed Himself once for all, so we don't need to build an altar. But we do need to get together with our new spiritual family and "write down" what happened with a celebration we won't forget.

I think this idea is relevant far beyond our baptism, too. We greatly benefit from regularly celebrating with others what God has done and is doing in our lives. What has He spoken into your life that you need to "write down"?