Home thoughts from abroad.wordpress.com

Luke 21: 29-38: Living with the end in view.(please click for passage)

What should you do with Jesus’ teaching about the wrapping up of history? How can you live in the light of His return? Here are some pointers:

Keep your eyes open (29-31). It’s been said that a prophet is someone with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Stay in touch with the times. As much as you can, know what is going on. Look for the signs of Jesus’ return. ‘In a limited significance, our Lord’s words were fulfilled within forty years of their utterance; but we are still to see how much more is contained in them than has yet been realised.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.450.

Stay rooted in Jesus’ Word (32,33). ‘Sky and Earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.’ The Message. Times change; Truth does not. Stay ‘anchored to the Rock’ whilst being ‘geared to the times’.

Live carefully/walk prayerfully (34-36). The two things go together. You really have no choice but to live in the world, but it is rotten (to the core) and rotting. If you don’t at the same time keep close company with God, too much of this world system may rub off on you and rot your soul. Corruption spreads easily and quickly. ‘But be on your guard. Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap…So, whatever you do, don’t go to sleep at the switch. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that’s coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man.’ The Message. ‘It is impossible to live as we should apart from constant watching and prayer. The snare is so deftly laid that we may be entangled in it before we are fully aware.’ F.B. Meyer.

Keep your ears open (37, 38). Here is the ideal balance: Keep your eyes open to what is going on around you (29-31), and keep your ears open to the sound from up above you (37,38). ‘All the people were up at the crack of dawn to come to the Temple and listen to him.’ The Message.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to stay wide awake!

Luke 21:1-4: Giving that costs.(please click for passage)

‘We note the difference between the false teachers, who devoured widows’ houses, and the true Leader and Teacher, who set so high a value on a widow’s gift. Our gifts to God should cost us something, else they are not reckoned in the accounts of eternity. The real value of a gift is to be estimated by what is left behind. Remember that the fragrance and beauty of this act have lasted, while the stones of the Temple have crumbled to dust. Holy deeds are imperishable! Jesus is still sitting by the treasury, watching and estimating our gifts.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.449.

Does this story raise the possibility that in devouring widow’s houses, the clerics of the day were crushing those likely to be among the best givers to the temple?

Giving that costs nothing is missing a heart. Jesus sees the gift, the giver, AND the inside of the one giving. Someone said that when God measures our service He doesn’t just ‘count’, He ‘weighs’.  It’s been said that it is enough that Jesus sees what we give in secret and He will reward openly.

The two coins the woman contributed were the smallest possible – worth about five minutes labour at minimum wage. At least on the surface it was a minimal gift.

What love this dear lady showed; and what faith. Her trust must have been in God to take care of her needs. It was a notable act of sacrifice:

‘The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford – she gave her all!’ The Message.

‘Jesus’ point is not so much to rebuke others’ contributions as to exalt a contribution that otherwise would have been under appreciated. Sometimes little gifts cost a great deal more than big gifts do, and their merit is in the sacrifice they represent. In fact, real giving happens when one gives sacrificially. Interestingly, research has shown that when people’s income increases their proportion of charitable contributions tends to drop. We tend to give less the more we are blessed. How would Jesus assess this trend?’ The IVP New Testament Commentary.

Prayer: Enlarge my heart Lord so that I live generously.

 Luke 20:41-47: Just for show.(please click for todays passage)

It was now Jesus’ turn to ask a question (41-44). Humanly speaking, Jesus was from the line of David (Romans 1:3). In this sense He was David’s ‘Son’. But because He is God, He was also David’s ‘Lord’. Long before the second Person of the Godhead came to earth in the incarnation, and even though he didn’t have a full revelation of Jesus, David was nevertheless worshipping Him. He saw that the Messiah would be both human and divine. What a powerful (and dangerous) claim for Christ to make! ‘The central issue of life is what we believe about Jesus. Other spiritual questions are irrelevant unless we first decide to believe that Jesus is who he said he is.’ ‘The Life Application Bible’, p.1841.

It’s a sad thing when people have to be wary of church leaders. 

‘Though it sealed his doom, our Lord tore the veil from before these hypocrites, that his followers might be warned against these sunken rocks, Jude 12.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.449.

Bible teachers should have strong prayer lives, but not for show. Let us be serious in prayer, but not showy at prayer. If you sense, as a leader, that you are being drawn towards pride of position and prestige; to love of deference and prominence, take your self-life to the cross without delay and hammer home the nails into your deadly flesh. All of that junk needs crucifying before it kills you. Kill you it will (in one form or another) if you let such things have free rein.

Prayer: Help me to avoid play acting and showmanship. Lord you look on the heart. I pray that you will find purity of motive in me.

 Luke 20: 27-39: A ‘live’ issue.(please click here for todays passage)

‘Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is.’ Sir Winston Churchill.

David Pawson says that this is how he remembers the difference between the Pharisees and Sadducees: the Pharisees did believe in a future resurrection from the dead. You might say they had far sightedness. They could see a life beyond the grave, so, Far-I-see’. But the Sadducees did not believe in such a life after death, and that’s why they were ‘Sad, you see’! (27).

Well, in their fanciful story, the Sadducees were poking fun at Jesus, and the whole notion of resurrection life (27-32).

In reply Jesus emphasised two points:

a.) In the age to come there will be a brand new order of existence (34-36). We will be ‘like the angels’ (36). Those who are happily married may find it hard to understand how marriage could possibly be bettered. But imagine you are in a room lit by candlelight.  It’s cosy. You love the atmosphere. You watch with delight as flickering fingers of shadow play on the wall. But the day dawns and fills the room with sunshine, and the greater light simply overwhelms the lesser light of the candle. Perhaps this provides something of an illustration.

b.) God’s Word teaches the doctrine of resurrection (37, 38). The Sadducees believed mainly in the first five books of the Old Testament, which were written by Moses. In Exodus 3:6, Moses quotes God as saying, ‘I am…the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ Now these three men had all died when Moses wrote this, yet God says He is still their God – ”I am” their God. The logical conclusion therefore is that they were all still alive,for God is the God of the living and not the God of the dead. No wonder they chose to cut their losses at this point (39,40). Jesus made a watertight argument from that bit of the Bible they did accept.He said to them, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?’ (Mark 12:24). They didn’t really know their Bibles or believe in God’s power to do the extraordinary.

‘In asking Jesus trick questions, they hoped He would say something they could accuse; but His answers only exposed their folly and increased their guilt. They were fighting a losing battle and would not surrender.’ Warren W. Wires be: ‘With the Word’, p.684.

Prayer: Lord increase my knowledge of your Word and my confidence in your power. Please free me from ignorance and unbelief.

 Luke 20:1-8: Give a straight answer.(please click for todays passage)

This passage reminded me of James 5:12. We should be a people known for plain and honest speech, saying what we mean and meaning what we say.

The religious leaders in today’s reading were minus integrity. They were not content to be who they were, saying what they thought. They weighed their words out of fear for public opinion. They were adept at ‘image management’. If such thinking takes root in your mind you will be in danger of becoming a cardboard cut out and not a real person. Of course, it’s essential to be careful about how you say things. The right words spoken in a wrong spirit can do great harm. But be committed, all the same, to being a truthful person. Don’t hide behind a mask.

Do you think these clerics had a high regard for truth?

Let’s learn from Jesus the power of a good question. It can be more potent than many statements if it’s the right question.

Prayer: Lord Jesus please give me the wisdom to ask the right questions in all circumstances.