Sunday Morning Greek Blog

February 16, 2025

Those Beautiful Beatitudes—Luke Style (Luke 6:17–26)

Filed under: Christology,Courage,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Giving,Jeremiah,Luke Gospel of,Psalms,Soteriology — Scott Stocking @ 7:50 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I preached this message at Mount View Presbyterian Church, Omaha, Nebraska, on February 16, 2025.

In Luke 10:25ff, an “expert in the law” asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus turned the question back to him to see what he would say. The expert in the law answered correctly with the two greatest commandments: “Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But it seems the expert wanted to nitpick about the second greatest commandment: “Who is my neighbor?” he asked. Jesus then proceeded to tell the story of the Good Samaritan.

So let’s think about this for a minute: Of the two greatest commandments the expert cited, which one would you expect to be the more difficult one to follow? This isn’t a trick question, so don’t think too hard about it. Of course, it’s the first and greatest commandment, right? If it were not the most difficult one to keep, it would not be the greatest, right? The expert didn’t have a problem with the “love” part of that command. He was, perhaps, attempting to limit the scope of the command by trying to get Jesus to narrowly define “neighbor.” I’m not sure why that expert thought the “love your neighbor as yourself” was so difficult to understand. Be kind to everyone, right? Then you don’t have to worry whether you’re living near them or not!

These days, I think the “loving your neighbor” part is so much easier than it used to be, or at least it should be. We’ve got “GoFundMe” accounts for emergency needs; TikTok for advertising your small business (at least, that’s what the commercial says); Venmo, Zelle, and CashApp for a quick “donation”; FaceTime and Skype for virtual “in-person” live calls; and of course all the social media apps out there, yet somehow many feel so much more isolated than before. So many ways to “reach out and touch someone.” So much for Big Tech!

Although the Greek word for “neighbor” (πλησίον plēsion) simply means “someone who lives near you” in the New Testament, and the Hebrew word (רֵעַ rēaʿ) is often simply translated “friend,” Jesus redefines—perhaps a better way to say it is “adds to”—the meaning of neighbor to include “one to whom you show mercy.” So it’s not just people in your “in-group” or immediate community, but anyone you encounter who needs a helping hand.

Enter the beatitudes, Luke-style. The Beatitudes are an expression of where the rubber meets the road in showing love to our neighbor, just like the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25, but I believe they also answer the question we probably should ask of the greatest commandment: “How do we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?” especially in a world that has all of the distractions I just mentioned above. Matthew 25:40 answers that question for us, at least in part: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Luke’s passage this morning puts more meat on the bone for us. Our two readings from the Old Testament today help shed light on that answer as well.

I want to get to a couple details of the passage first, especially in comparison with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Notice the location first: in Matthew, Jesus goes up on a mountainside to get a better vantage point for speaking. He has just picked his first four disciples as we talked about last week. In Luke, just before this morning’s passage, we see that Jesus went up on a mountainside to pray and picked twelve of his disciples to be apostles, and then Luke 6:17 says “He went down with [the disciples/apostles] and stood on a level place.” It’s entirely possible Jesus delivered similar messages in different places, so this shouldn’t be seen as some kind of contradiction.

Luke adds the extra note here of Jesus having “power…coming from him and healing them all,” which is not part of Matthew’s account of this teaching. This enhances Jesus’s authority with all those who were following him. In that regard, he had a bit of an edge than other teachers of his day when it came to attracting a crowd.

Now that we’ve got the background out of the way, let’s look at the four aspects of life Jesus teaches (and warns) about in Luke 6: wealth, hunger, joy, and reputation. I’ll deal with the natural contrasts Jesus makes between the “Blessed are you” and “Woe to you” statements in parallel. Along the way, I’ll tie that in with the relevant verses from our OT passages this morning. So if you’ve got a Bible open, get ready for some serious page turning!

The first pair we’ll look at is “Blessed are you who are poor” versus “Woe to you who are rich.” You may notice right off the bat here that Luke doesn’t have Jesus saying “poor in spirit.” This may reflect a different audience that needs to hear a different aspect of the message. But the reward is the same in both Matthew and Luke: “For yours is the kingdom of heaven.”

This contrast is important for a couple reasons. The gospels reveal an underlying cultural view that the rich are the ones who are blessed and have the favor of God to enter heaven. Some of them made sure the poor knew that, too. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19ff) is one such story in the gospels. Jesus counters that cultural view in Matthew 19:21–24 when he says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”[1] That’s the same passage where Jesus tells the rich young ruler, “Sell all your possessions and give to the poor.” Jesus, and the Jewish community in general, expected the rich to bring comfort and relief to the poor. The Romans didn’t have much of a welfare program for the poor, if at all.

It’s for those reasons that Jesus can turn around and in the same teaching say “Woe to you are rich.” He’s talking about the rich man’s seemingly uncompassionate attitude toward poor Lazarus at his gate and why the rich young ruler went away sad. Following Jesus meant a radical change in the concept of generosity. It wasn’t just about the tithe anymore; he was calling for good stewardship of all your resources.

Psalm 1 affirms this: The one who walks with the Lord and delights in the law is the one who is better off in the end. Verse 3 says “whatever they do prospers,” while vs. 4 says the wicked “are like chaff that the wind blows away.” In other words, the fleeting riches of this present world, the stuff you can’t take with you won’t last. Jeremiah 17:8 repeats the thought from Psalm one about the righteous being “like a tree planted by the water.”

The second contrast is the most straightforward of the four pairs. If you’re hungry, you’ll be satisfied. If you’re well fed, you’ll go hungry. Jesus is obviously using hyperbole here. He doesn’t expect a complete transfer of food stores from the rich to the poor. Jeremiah says that those who trust in their own ability to provide for themselves (and no one else) will end up in a parched, barren wasteland, while those who trust in the Lord will have a never-ending supply of fruit. Psalm 1:6 says, “The way of the wicked leads to destruction.”

We see this in other places in scripture as well. Jesus tells the woman at the well in John 4 that if she drinks of the water he provides, she will never thirst again. Jesus fed the 5,000 and the 4,000 with a few loaves and fish, a real-life example of the promise in Luke 6. In Exodus, God provided manna for the Israelites as they wandered through the wilderness.

The third contrast is just as straightforward as the second: If you’re weeping, that will change to laughter. If you’re laughing it up, that will change to weeping and mourning. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Psalm 1:1 says you’re blessed if you don’t “sit in the company of mockers.” Psalm 30:11–12 says this:

11       You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

you have loosed my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

          12        that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! [2]

The final contrast may seem a bit odd to us. Why, after all, should we be woeful about someone speaking well of us? Proverbs 22:1 says: “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.”[3] Ecclesiastes 7:1 says something similar: “A good name is better than precious ointment.”[4] The comparison with how the false prophets (an important distinction here) were treated gives us the context though. The books of Kings and Chronicles are filled with examples of prophets who pretended to speak for God but were only trying to prop up the king so they could stay in his good graces. Kings didn’t like bad news from the real prophets. The “speaking well of you” in Luke is nothing more than lip service. They like those who puff them up, even if they can see the writing on the wall, so to speak.

It’s difficult to speak the truth at times, like a true prophet (see vs. 23), because we know that brings on criticism. People don’t like to be told they’re wrong or are on the wrong path. Notice the reward here and the further contrast: We have a great reward in heaven! Psalm 1 says we’re blessed if we don’t “walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take.”[5] Jeremiah 17:5 says, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.”[6]

Luke’s version of the Beatitudes here drives home the point that loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind means living counter to the way the world expects us to live. They show us what it means to radically love our neighbor and how to handle the trials that come our way with grace and dignity. The benediction, so to speak, of Jeremiah 17:10 brings home the point most clearly to us: God is watching over us, and the blessings he gives are, at times, rewards for our deeds. This doesn’t deny that sometimes God blesses us when we don’t deserve it: that’s grace, and we should be grateful for those times. Hear the words of Jeremiah 17:10 one more time as I close my message today:

I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind,

to reward each person according to their conduct,

according to what their deeds deserve.[7]

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[5] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[7] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

My opinions are my own.

Scott Stocking

February 9, 2025

Gone Fishin’: Jesus Chooses His First Apostles (Luke 5:1–11)

Filed under: 1 Corinthians,Courage,Ecclesiology,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,John Gospel of,Luke Gospel of,Miracles,Repentance — Scott Stocking @ 4:28 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I preached this message at Mount View Presbyterian Church on February 9, 2025. A portion of this message was repurposed and modified from a message I preached on May 1, 2022. –Scott Stocking

Good morning! The Lord be with you!

Most of you remember the story of Jonah, right? God told him to go to Nineveh and “preach against it” and he straightaway and preached a hellfire and brimstone message for the ages, right? No, of course he didn’t. Nineveh must have been a pretty wicked place if Jonah didn’t feel safe going there. Jonah ran the other way and tried to get as far from Judah as possible. He wanted nothing to do with it.

But he didn’t get very far. While he was on his way to Spain or points further west, a huge storm came up, and irony of ironies, the one who was supposed to go fish for men in Nineveh wound up being “fished” himself. He became the bait to save the ship and her crew that he’d been travelling with. The large fish, big enough to swallow a man whole (i.e., it didn’t leave any bite marks that we know about), spat him back up on shore, and Jonah decided he probably shouldn’t waste any more time and headed off for Nineveh.

Contrast this with our gospel account today: Jesus was apparently at a popular fishing spot on the Lake of Gennesaret, otherwise known as the Sea of Galilee, where a decent-sized crowd had managed to gather to hear him teach. It’s not clear why Jesus needed to get into a boat. Perhaps the acoustics would be better from out on the boat. Maybe the crowd had pressed so closely around Jesus that his sandals were getting wet in the sea. Regardless, Jesus had his reasons for going out in the boat.

After he finished preaching, he decided to go fishing, like any good preacher would do, right? So after a brief objection from Peter (“We just fished all night with nothing to show for it!”) they set out. No sooner had Jesus told Peter to let down the nets then they caught more fish than they could handle. Zebedee’s boys had to come over and help them haul it in it was so large. It nearly sank their boats!

Peter was humbled and a little bit afraid of Jesus at that point. In fact, they were all astonished. But Jesus reassured them: “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” Unlike Jonah, Peter hadn’t become “the one that got away.” Instead of being swallowed up or sunk by all those fish, Jesus promised to take Peter and his companions under his wings to be his first disciples.

Before we look a little deeper at the apostles, I want to share a few take-aways from this passage. The first is that Jesus knew he would need help getting his message out. In those days, if you claimed to be a teacher, you needed to have a loyal following, otherwise, no one would give you a second look. That was a cultural reality of that time.

Second, it might be difficult to build a core from four individuals who could have come from four different backgrounds. In two pair of brothers (Peter and Andrew, James and John), he had four vibrant and hard-working young men who were apparently of a very similar mindset and deeply devout Jews to boot. They seemed to work well together too. Perhaps he felt they would already be up to speed with what Jesus wanted to do to get the good news out. Since Jesus was primarily coming for the Jews, these four were “salt of the earth” guys who could relate to the average hard-working Jews Jesus wanted to reach.

Third, Jesus wanted ordinary men to be his disciples. Had he chosen to try to work through the Jewish leadership of the day, I’m certain he would have faced no end of debate and questioning and hints and innuendos of blasphemy, etc. He wanted those who had a simple trust in the truth of his message and who wouldn’t cloud it over with a lot of hoity-toity academic musings.

How did Peter do as Jesus’s top draft pick for apostle? Of all the apostles who traveled with Jesus during his ministry, Peter is certainly the most famous. Throughout the Gospels, we see that Peter was often the first one to open his mouth, the first one to volunteer, or the first one to make a big promise. Of course, this also meant that he was usually the first to eat his words, the first one to be rebuked, or the first one to fail in some way, large or small.

Now Simon Peter, along with his brother Andrew, were the first two apostles to follow Jesus. In John 1:42, Jesus officially gives him the name “Cephas” (Aramaic), which is translated in Greek as “Peter,” both of which mean “rock.” In the lists of the apostles, Simon Peter is always found first, which is certainly a nod to his position in the early church at the time the Gospels were being written.

As I said above, Peter and the other three fishermen probably had a pretty good knowledge of the OT, especially the Psalms, from their time in the Synagogue on Sabbath and the basic education any Hebrew youth would have received. They just didn’t go on any farther in the education to be a pharisee or other religious leader.

In Matthew 14, we have the story of Jesus walking on the water to the boat the apostles were in, which was being buffeted by the waves. Of course, Peter is the first one to speak up about going out to see Jesus. Here’s a man who wants to take charge, take the lead, and show the others what it truly means to follow. Jesus invites Peter out of the boat to walk on the choppy waters, and for a time, Peter does walk on the water. But instead of keeping his eyes on and faith in Jesus, the wind and the waves around him cause him to fear and doubt, and he begins to sink. Jesus catches him, though, and they both get back on the boat.

What’s impressive here is that Peter was the only one who even thought of getting out of the boat, and then he followed through on his thought. None of the other apostles had the courage of Peter to follow their master in this radical way, by trying to muster up the faith to do what no other mortal had ever done.

It wasn’t long after that incident that Peter had the opportunity to say what none of the other apostles were willing to say. In Matthew 16, Jesus asks the apostles, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” The apostles hem and haw and beat around the bush, but Peter is the first to answer Jesus’s more direct question, “Who do YOU say I am?” Peter responds boldly, proclaiming that “[Jesus] is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus praises Peter for his response. But in the very next paragraph, when Jesus predicts his death, Peter rebukes Jesus for talking like that. Jesus immediately rebukes Peter, saying “Get behind me, Satan.” Talk about going from emotional high to emotional low!

Peter claimed he would never forsake Christ, yet on the night of the illegal trial to condemn Jesus, Peter denies knowing Christ three times. And Jesus had told him he would do that despite Peter’s repeated objections. Peter had to feel like the bottom of the barrel at that point.

In John 21:15–19 we have the story of Jesus reinstating Peter to his leadership role. But why did Jesus ask Peter three times if he loved him? Because Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus gave Peter a three-fold mission here: “Feed my lambs”; “Take care of my sheep”; and “Feed my sheep.” Again, not much difference between the three, but this was a commission to care for the church, young and old, when it would begin on the Day of Pentecost.

The result? In today’s language, we could probably say that Peter’s Pentecost sermon went viral. Over 3,000 souls were added to the number of believers after that Pentecost sermon. He boldly and passionately called for these would-be converts to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. He also warned them in Acts 2:40 to “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

A few chapters later, Luke records Peter’s vision of the unclean foods being let down on a blanket for him to eat from. At first he refuses, but then Jesus warned him to “not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This led to Peter being the first apostle to formally take the gospel to the Gentiles, a centurion named Cornelius and his household. After that, the story line transitions to Paul. And let’s not forget that Peter wrote two epistles as well.

So what can we learn from Peter here? First, don’t be afraid to do great things for God. “Great” may not necessarily be fabulous or seen by all. Sometimes the smallest gesture can have a huge impact. Theodore Roosevelt makes the point here: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they lie in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

Second, God can work with whatever level of faith you’re willing to bring to the table. It took incredible faith just for Peter to get out of the boat in those choppy conditions, let walking on water. As Yoda says, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

Third, know that when we mess up, it’s not the end of the road with God. Peter probably thought he had lost his place among the apostles. But as 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself,” that is, he can’t disown those who are members of his body, the church.

Peter’s life as an apostle and “fisher of men” is just one example of how the apostles had a profound impact on the beginnings of Christianity. In 1 Corinthians 15:1–11, Paul records that all of the apostles (except for Judas) at some point witnessed the resurrected Christ. That is no small fact to be overlooked, especially in that day when eyewitness accounts were all they had to pass on news. Today, we have people who go out into the world and “plant” churches in places that need more exposure to the Word of God. These men and women, at least in the minds of some, are modern day apostles themselves. They’ve taken on the challenging of spreading God’s word in a place where in some cases it has never been proclaimed before.

You and I have that responsibility as well to share with those who need to hear the gospel. We may not do big things for God, but the little things we do are indeed great when we consider the lasting impact and implications of proclaiming the gospel to the world. Peace to you.

My views are my own.

Scott Stocking

January 26, 2025

Jesus and the “Good News” of Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:14–21)

Filed under: Acts,Baptism of Jesus,Biblical Studies,Christology,Christology,Ecclesiology,Ephesians,Eschatology,Evangelism,Isaiah,Luke Gospel of,Prayer,Soteriology,Thanksgiving,Theology, Biblical,Theophany — Scott Stocking @ 10:22 pm
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Message preached at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, Nebraska, January 26, 2025.

What do you remember about your first day on the job you wound up loving the most? Was it the people you met or the other new hires you were onboarded with? The excitement of doing something new and different? The thought of accomplishing the tasks that lay ahead of you, either on your own or with a team of people? I’m sure many of you have some fond memories of your first day on the job you loved and beyond.

How would you like to have Jesus’s first day on the job of being Messiah. “Um, son, before you get to the preaching and teaching, which I know you love to do, you’re going to have to spend a few days in the wilderness. Forty days to be exact. Oh, and you can’t eat while you’re out there, so you’ll be hungry. But some guy called the devil will ask you to use your powers to make bread and feed yourself, but you can’t eat it. You’ll know why, and you’ll tell the devil why you know why. He’ll offer to make you king of the world, but you’ll turn that down too, and don’t forget about being hungry. He’ll tempt you to use your superhuman powers, but you’ll turn those down too, aaaand you’ll still be hungry. But don’t worry; I’ve got your back.”

Of course, we know Jesus survived his temptation in the wilderness. But amazingly, after going through all of the temptations and not eating for 40 days and being completely famished on the last day, the one thing Jesus did NOT lose was the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in his life. The temptation passage begins in Luke 4:1 with “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”

It shouldn’t surprise us then that when Jesus’s time in the desert had ended, our Gospel text this morning says: “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.” This was Jesus’s first recorded sermon (he had already presented many other times according to his “custom” v.16), so he wasn’t new to this. But this was, apparently, his first message in his hometown of Nazareth, so this was a big deal. After spending 40 days fasting in the wilderness, I think most of us would need the power of God’s Spirit to get us anywhere, even just a few steps! Like Mark’s gospel, this suggests an urgency to Jesus’s message and preaching as well as his eagerness to do so. After all, this is what he had come to say and do.

The passage Jesus quotes is from Isaiah 61, part of the “final countdown” in Isaiah 60–66 as Isaiah begins to preach about the glory of Zion and work his way to a discussion of the new heavens and new earth, most likely part of the source material for the Revelation to John. So in one sense, by reading this passage, which was probably just the next one up in the reading schedule, Jesus was signaling it was the beginning of the end of the old way of God dealing with his creation.

Jesus, then, is not just speaking about his own ministry that he’s embarked on, but about the final consummation of history at his second coming as well. So even though the hope of his first coming has now been realized, he almost immediately sets the table to establish that there will be a second coming as well. The Jews had been thinking the Messiah would overthrow Roman rule, but in reality, Jesus is bringing a message of salvation for all to hear because he wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

Let’s break down this statement. First of all, he says “The Spirit of the Lord is on me.” Jesus can say this because in the previous chapter, 3:21–22, Luke tells us of Jesus’s baptism and heavenly acknowledgment that he was in fact God’s son. That’s pretty direct and easy to understand.

Related to that then is the “anointing” that is mentioned, which is nothing more than the infilling of the Spirit, or in Jesus’s case, the visual representation of that infilling that happened at his baptism. But there is a deeper level of meaning here in that this could also be a reference to the anointing that a priest or a king would receive upon taking one of those offices. Those anointings typically involved olive oil to represent the Spirit, but in this case, since they would have seen “the Holy Spirit descend[ing] on him in bodily form like a dove,”[1] there would be no need for the symbolism of the oil. It’s possible the author of Hebrews is referring to this chapter when he writes the following about Jesus in 4:15: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”[2]

“Proclaiming the good news” is an action (i.e., a verb) that we see throughout the Scriptures, but often, we’re left with just that phrase, and we don’t get an idea of the “content” of the good news. It’s like saying, “Read the New York Post,” but then never seeing any articles to read. I did a little digging through Scripture and found several places where we get an idea about what the biblical authors thought about the content of “the good news.”

In Luke’s gospel and his sequel, Acts, he mentions “the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43, 8:1, 16:16; Acts 8:12). Scattered through the rest of the New Testament, we see other qualifiers for the good news. Acts 5:42 speaks of “proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah,” the redeemer promised in the Old Testament. In Galatians 1:23, Paul is described as the one “now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” In Ephesians 2:17, he “preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” Acts 10:36 mentions the “good news of peace” as well. In Luke 2:10, the “good news” the heavenly host refers to is the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem.

When the noun is used, it’s almost always translated as “gospel” in the New Testament, regardless of author. The noun also carries some of the ideas of the verb: “gospel of the kingdom,” “gospel of peace,” and so on. Occasionally, though, it’s categorized more personally. Paul refers to “my gospel” sometimes, not that he had a different one from Jesus but that he had a distinctive message and ministry. Several times it’s called “the gospel of Christ,” indicating the ultimate source of the gospel. In the Thessalonian epistles, Paul also adds references to “the Gospel of God” and “the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.” In other places we read about “the truth of the gospel.” Ephesians 1:13 takes that a bit farther by calling it “the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.”

In a nutshell, then, the gospel or the good news is that we can have a new kind of relationship with God. It’s not like the sacrificial system where everyone had to bring a sacrifice for themselves; the good news is that Christ was sacrificed once for all and invited us into his kingdom of peace that he now reigns over. We are citizens in a heavenly kingdom, the heavenly realm, even while we are struggling through life on earth. That is the glory, joy, and promise of the gospel!

For Jesus, at least in this passage, his target audience seems to be the “poor.” The “poor” appear several times as the target audience for his preaching. In today’s passage, the poor seem to be broken out into three groups: the imprisoned, the blind, and the oppressed. Generally speaking, the poor may not necessarily be those who have few possessions. In the Beatitudes, we have the familiar opening statement, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (note the kingdom talk there). That may be supported by the OT version of the passage (Isaiah 61:1), where Isaiah puts these words in the servant’s mouth: “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.” The gospel writers also remind us that the poor will always be with us, but that’s not an excuse never to help them. Both passages have the line about proclaiming “freedom for the captives,” but Isaiah says, “release from darkness for the prisoners” while Luke understands that as “recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” The first part of that last phrase is a pretty strong parallel to Isaiah’s “release form darkness,” but it would seem Jesus is using “oppressed” to embrace all three groups, or at least that he considers the oppressed to live in a similar type of darkness.

If we continue to take our cues from comparing this passage with Isaiah’s, we see that “The year of the Lord’s favor” most likely refers to “the day of the vengeance of our God.” In other words, Jesus is hinting at the end of the story in his first public appearance.

If you were to go on through some of the following verses in Isaiah 61, you might be surprised to find additional parallels to the Beatitudes. At the end of 61:2, we see the purpose statement: “to comfort all who mourn.” Sounds like one of those beatitudes, right? And what about “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will filled” compared to 61:3: “They will be called oaks of righteousness.” Even the final verse of the Beatitudes has its parallel. Compare “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven”[3] to Isaiah 61:7:

Instead of your shame

you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

and everlasting joy will be yours. [4]

If all this wasn’t enough for people to be perhaps a little shocked at the claim he was making about himself, Jesus puts the exclamation point on it as he’s closing the scroll: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” If they would have had the “head exploding” emoji back then, he probably would have gotten a ton of those on his live stream when he said that.

Jesus’s opening sermon as recorded in Luke was not a bunch of braggadocio or promises made but never kept. Jesus lived out all that in his ministry by healing the blind and the lame; stopping the bleeding of a woman who’d had that condition for over 12 years; and exorcising the satanic demons of those so oppressed. Jesus was indeed the son of God, worthy of our praise, honor, and attention. He would show and has shown us a path of “least resistance” to draw closer to God. As we draw closer to him, we build up that strength of character that enables us to persevere even in the most difficult times. May the gospel of Christ bring you peace and assurance this week. Amen.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

December 8, 2024

Advent Peace: John’s Message of Baptism and Repentance (Luke 3:1–12)

Filed under: Acts,Advent,Adviento,Baptism of Jesus,Christology,Christology,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Immersion/Baptism,Life of Christ,Luke Gospel of,Repentance — Scott Stocking @ 5:32 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Message preached at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, NE, December 8, 2024. I thought the message might be a little “heavy” theologically, but I got some positive responses from people about digging deep into the background of the words and phrases.

Welcome to the second Sunday of Advent. May the peace of Christ be with you. [And also with you.] “Peace” is one of the most prominent themes in Scripture. In fact, it is so prominent, I’m pretty sure most of you can tell me what the Hebrew word is for “peace” is: שָׁלוֹם (šā·lôm). This noun is found 232 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, and the New International Version translates it as “peace” or a form of that word over half the time. Other translations of the word in the OT make sense when you think about them, and those translations typically represent one small aspect of the complete concept of “peace”: two of the most common translations are “safe” and “prosper.”

In the New Testament, we find the word for “peace” (εἰρήνη eirēnē) 90 times and at least once in every book except 1 John. In the Old Testament, we do find at times that peace refers to the absence of war or the ceasing of hostilities. But that is a very small part of the way shalom is used in the Bible. In both the Old and New Testaments, peace often means something more like a sense of personal security and safety, a sense of wholeness, or even a lack of need or other strife that may disrupt your life. The phrase “peace be with you” was used by Jesus three times in his post-resurrection appearances to assuage his disciples’ fear of seeing him alive again in John 20. Paul uses it often in his greetings (as do most Middle Eastern cultures): “Grace and peace to you.”

In our Gospel passage today from Luke 3, we see the events leading up to Jesus being revealed to the world as Messiah, the one to come. Luke happens to use the word “peace” three times in the first two chapters to sort of “set the stage” what would be one of his ministries to those who believe. At the end of chapter 1, Luke records Zechariah’s blessing upon the birth of John, who would later be known as John the Baptist:

76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,… to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.[1]

When Jesus was born and the heavenly host appeared to the shepherds in the nearby fields, they heard this familiar pronouncement: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”[2] Eight days later, Simeon speaks these precious words of blessing when he sees Jesus in the Temple: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation.”[3]

Before we look at the gospel passage, some of you might know your Bible well enough to know Jesus made a negative statement about peace. Yep, that’s right. I’m not going to gloss over that and pretend it’s not there. But I bring it up because it does have a tie-in to our main passage this morning. In Luke 12:49–51, Jesus says this: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.”[4] What did Jesus mean by this? As you read through the gospels and indeed the rest of the New Testament, you find out that Jesus calls us to live radically different lives from the world around us. He expects us to “troublemakers” of a sort for those who trouble us by imposing legalistic requirements on our faith or compelling us to jump through certain hoops that the Bible knows nothing about to supposedly make us feel “saved” and safe from God’s displeasure or wrath.

John seems have a similar mindset in his gospel, as he doesn’t have Jesus saying anything about peace until after the account of the last Supper in his gospel, that is, until he starts preparing his disciples for his crucifixion. As he’s teaching his disciples about the Holy Spirit, he makes this commitment to them: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”[5] The peace he gives will be the peace the disciples need, because he knows they will face persecution after his resurrection, and they will need every ounce of peace and strength Jesus and the Holy Spirit will provide for them.

Now that we’ve got the preliminaries out of the way, let’s look at our gospel passage, Luke 3. The historical data here helps scholars narrow down the time frame of the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry to somewhere between September of AD 27 and October of AD 28. This would mean Jesus and John were in their early 30s. We haven’t seen anything of the adult Jesus yet in Luke’s gospel, nor in the other two gospels that relate the parallel accounts of this story. Luke tells us that John’s ministry to “prepare the way for the Lord” is a fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah 40:3–5.

This quote from Isaiah is where we get the connection to shalom peace described above. Making a “straight path” to the Lord meant that a new way of relating to God was on the horizon. This is the aspect of shalom that implies there will be no more strife about approaching God. The Law and its use by religious leaders had become a hurdle so burdensome that it would be difficult for the average person to feel any sense of security or safety in their salvation. This new way of relating to God, it required a radical symbol of obedience to symbolize the break with the old and adoption of the new way.

That radical break was John preaching in the wilderness “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Now baptism was not a new thing for Jews in that day. Gentiles who wanted to convert to Judaism would submit to a ritual bathing, a “baptism,” that was a memorable representation of their cleansing from their pagan ways. But John insisted that even the Jews needed to baptized as a sign of breaking from the legalistic application of the Law and starting anew on the same footing with the Gentiles. The distinction between Jew and Gentile was being put in the rear-view mirror. All people would come to God on the same terms without any bias.

Now I want to give a caveat here: I’m going to talk about baptism here as it was historically practiced in that day, that is, by immersion. In doing so, I want you to know that this is in no way intended to disparage or diminish the importance and significance of whatever baptism you had by whatever mode. I trust you know me well enough by now that I would never do that to you. I’ve shared my own personal journey with you before, that I was baptized by sprinkling as an infant here in this church and when I got older, I chose to be immersed to have my own personal memory of owning my faith. It’s a personal choice we each must make based on our convictions and our tolerance for getting wet. Having said that, if you’ve never been baptized and decide that’s something you want to do at some point, let’s talk. I’ve got connections.

This baptism, and the repentance that must accompany it according to John’s preaching, is the beginning our source of shalom peace, especially as it relates to our wholeness, purity, and security. The word “baptism” is just an English version of the Greek word, βάπτισμα (baptisma; verb: βαπτίζω baptizō), that drops the final vowel. In other words, there was no attempt to translate the meaning of the word, just to adopt the word itself and expect people to understand its meaning. It derives from a shorter Greek word, βάπτω (baptō), which means “to dip.” That word refers to dipping a finger in water or to the bread dipped in the bowl at the Last Supper. The –isma part of baptisma acts like an intensifier, much like the similar sounding ending added to “forte” (f) “loud” to make “fortissimo” (ff) “very loud” in music notation. So “baptism” in that time meant “immersion,” that is, “a complete dip under water.”

As I said above, then, this immersion is intended to represent a complete break with the past for the Jews and the Gentiles, just like the accompanying repentance was meant to be a complete 180° turnaround in thinking about one’s relationship with God. This was the first step in making peace with God: getting back on the straight and narrow path with him. We see John warning the religious leaders, the “brood of vipers” (cf. Matthew 3:7ff), to repent as well. Even the tax collectors want to be baptized, probably because they’re tired of feeling the stigma from the Jews about having such a career. They’re disgusted with themselves and desire perhaps more than anyone else that clean break with their past.

It’s important to notice here the end result of baptism and repentance as Luke and others describe it: “for the forgiveness of sins.” Many scholars debate whether this means the baptism and repentance are necessary for the forgiveness or if that is simply the recognition of our forgiveness of sin apart from the act itself. We don’t need to debate that here, though,[6] because the important part of that is our sins ARE forgiven. This phrase shows up in several other places in Scripture that are worth noting.

The phrase is found in the parallel passage in Mark 1:4, so no big surprise there. It’s found in Matthew’s account of the Last Supper (26:28) with respect to the cup: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”[7] Jesus uses the phrase in Luke 24:46–47 when he makes a post-resurrection appearance to his disciples: “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”[8] Finally, we see it in Acts 2:38, connected with baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit, when Peter concludes his Pentecost sermon: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”[9] The response of the crowd is the birthday of the church!

Now this is a lot of information but let me pull it together here in one paragraph. In communion, we recognize the blood of Jesus would be and has been shed for the forgiveness our sins. John the Baptist says prophetically that our corresponding response to Jesus’s sacrifice should be repentance and baptism. If we read a little farther down in the gospel accounts, we come to the point where Jesus is baptized and we see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove. That sounds very much like the experience of the apostles and those in the upper room in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, which is why Peter can say to the crowd that after they repent and are baptized, they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist says it more dramatically: “John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize [that is, immerse] you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’”[10] Finally, in the gospel of John, Jesus lets us know that he’s leaving his peace with us in the person and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The entire gospel story of our salvation and forgiveness is represented by two significant sacraments of the church: our once-in-a-lifetime baptism (or twice for someone like me) and our regular monthly communion. But we also have a daily, or even constant reminder of our salvation with the presence and infilling of the Holy Spirit.

By the time the apostle Paul writes Romans, perhaps within 25 years of the earthly ministry of Jesus, he has processed all this information as well. The first four chapters of Romans represent Paul’s argument about why we need Christ for our salvation and to help us achieve “the obedience of faithfulness” he speaks about. In chapter 5, Paul begins to write about how this impacts the life of the believer in baptism. In 5:1, he writes: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”[11] Then in chapter 6, he says this about baptism: “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”[12] Baptism, like communion, is another way we encounter the blood of Christ that brings us forgiveness.

In chapter 8, Paul reassures his readers that the roadblocks have been removed, another element of the shalom peace we have with God: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”[13] Finally, in chapter 12, Paul reminds us that because of Christ’s sacrifice for us, we can be living sacrifices for him: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.[14]

God desires to give us peace in abundance, not just in this advent season, but each and every day we walk with him. That peace comes from the blessings he’s bestowed upon us as learn to live out the good works he’s prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). It comes from recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit in our own lives to sanctify us and draw us closer to God. It comes from sharing the good news with others who need to hear it or who want to find a church home they’re comfortable in. And it comes from meeting together in sweet fellowship each and every Sunday as we walk in unison as the body of Christ.

May the peace of God go with you today and always. Amen.

[1] The New International Version. Luke 1:76–77, 79. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. Luke 2:14. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. Luke 2:29–30. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. Luke 12:49–51. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] The New International Version. John 14:27. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6] I have written about this elsewhere in my blog. The Mystery of Immersion (Baptism); Mystery of Immersion (Baptism), Part Two; For the Forgiveness of Sins)

[7] The New International Version. 2011. Matthew 26:28. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[8] The New International Version. 2011. Luke 24:46–47; see also Isaiah 2:3. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[9] The New International Version. 2011. Acts 2:38. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[10] The New International Version. 2011. Luke 3:16. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[11] The New International Version. 2011. Romans 5:1. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[12] The New International Version. 2011. Romans 6:3–4. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[13] The New International Version. 2011. Romans 8:1–2. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[14] The New International Version. 2011. Romans 12:1. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Scott Stocking. My views are my own.

November 25, 2024

Don’t Worry; Be Faithful (Matthew 6:25–34; Acts 22:23–29)

Filed under: Acts,Ecclesiology,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Government,Matthew Gospel of,Prayer,Romans,Spiritual Warfare — Scott Stocking @ 8:50 pm
Tags: , , , , ,

America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Even in the last four years with inflation being what it’s been, the COVID pandemic and our faltering response to it, and the culture wars that have divided our nation, there really is no other place to go where we could have the guarantees of freedom in our Constitution to give us hope to overcome bad times and look forward to even better times and to renewed prosperity.

America is really the best place to live, I think anyway, where we don’t have to spend much time “worrying about our lives, what we will eat or drink, or about our bodies and what to wear.” Even the poorest among us have access to safety nets to provide basic needs like health care, affordable shelter, and food. It is true, as Jesus said, that we will always have the poor among us. Some either by their own choice or by circumstances beyond their control, may find themselves in desperate need from time to time.

Our governments, both federal and local should be good stewards of the “resources” we “contribute” to address these situations and other affairs of City and State. Sometimes that works, and I think most of us can agree that sometimes the greedy get in the way and misappropriate these resources. When that happens, people rightly get angry and demand accountability. We have charities and churches working hard to mitigate and alleviate these situations, and they often do much better than the government.

Even with the presumed good intentions of the government and ministries of churches and charities alike, I do hope we realize that these earthly institutions are fallible because they comprise fallible, fallen humans in their ranks. But on this Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the liturgical year (can you believe Advent starts next week!), I hope we recognize that the only one in whom we can put our unfailing trust is God Almighty, the heavenly father, who has as much concern for “the least of these” as he does for all the rest.

When we look at God’s amazing creation, we see that the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees all manage to survive from one year to the next and they don’t have near the intelligence that you and I have. We recognize the beauty of the works of God’s creation in nature; awe at the way the complex interactions of our ecosystems work in harmony most of the time; and marvel at the complexity of the design of each unique, tangible human body along with the capacities of its intangible mind and soul. And yet Jesus says that “Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these” and that we cannot “add a single hour to our lives” by worrying or counting how we might feed and clothe ourselves.

Jesus closes out this passage by saying, in so many words, take things one day at a time. Don’t worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will come soon enough. Jesus makes a promise that many of us have taken to heart: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In other words, “Don’t Worry, Be Faithful.” Sorry, I haven’t written the words to that spoof song yet.

As I said above, we who live in America typically don’t have to worry about persecution coming from our government, although there have been some well-publicized exceptions to that targeting Catholics in the past few years. But in other countries around the world, many Christians do have to be concerned about such things.

My friend shared a newsletter from C2CMinistries, based in Hong Kong, that tells the inside story, the story you won’t get from typical media outlets, about the recent news out of Hong Kong about the sentencing of the Hong Kong 47, a group of pro-democracy advocates tried for sedition because they attempted to gain a pro-democracy majority on the legislative council in Hong Kong, something that had been allowed until the Communist Chinese forcibly altered Hong Kong’s “Basic Law” to prohibit such actions. Many of them have been in jail for nearly four years now.

But a couple interesting stories have come out of this persecution (and prosecution) that should make those of us in the free world sit up and notice and lift up prayers for the Chinese, and especially for these 47 prisoners. According to the mission’s newsletter:

One of them, an evangelist, has been faithfully preaching the Gospel every Sunday from his prison cell for the past three years. His courage is a profound reminder of the cost of faith in places where freedom is restricted. This also highlights the reality that Hong Kong is now fully under the control of China’s Communist Party leadership. How long before Hong Kong churches may face the same restrictions as those in China, potentially being forced to join the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement or go underground?[1]

This month’s newsletter from the ministry has other stories of the bravery of Chinese Christians not publicly affiliated with the pro-democracy movement who meet together for worship even in the face of close and contentious scrutiny from Chinese political and law-enforcement authorities. These believers are keenly aware of the promises of this morning’s gospel passage and trust God daily not to become victims of Chinese suppression.

Given these two stark contrasts between the relative ease we American believers have of gathering to worship and to freely speak versus the suppression and oppression of Chinese believers, this raises an important question for believers we don’t often discuss: “What does the Bible say about believers’ relationship with government?” How should we as Christ-followers live our lives whether in a relative state of freedom or facing oppression? On this Sunday, since we’ve got a patriotic theme today, I think it’s a good time to talk about this.

But first, just a brief history of the political situation in the Bible. We know that in the OT, much of the history of the Jews revolves around the monarchy that began under Saul and lasted over 400 years until the exile to Babylon in 586 B.C. After the exile, when they returned to the land, they seem to have been governed by religious leaders or governors for a time, until the OT goes silent around 400 B.C. We know Alexander the Great conquered the area late in the fourth century B.C., and controlled it until the Roman Republic conquered it in the second century B.C. By the time Jesus is born, the Roman republic had devolved into a monarchy with a perfunctory senate, and that is the government that rules Rome during the time of Jesus and the historical period covered by the New Testament.

Rome respected the Jewish religion and their independence. Herod, descended from the Jewish Maccabean family, was the regional King for Judea, but he was considered a Roman puppet. Rome’s primary concern was maintaining order and peace in the empire, so they typically had a hands-off approach when it came to the Jews, unless they sensed unrest among the masses. At the worst, it was a tentative peace, but we see signs in the gospels that some were looking for the Messiah to overthrow Roman rule and return them the glory days of the Davidic monarchy.

When it comes to how we should interact with government, then, I find it interesting that, in spite of the prevailing attitudes of the Jews toward Roman rule, Jesus never once says anything bad about the Roman government or about the way it operated in Judea and Galilee. In fact, in Luke 20:25, Jesus says “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”[2] Yet the mob that would have him crucified three chapters later accuses him of opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar. When Jesus stands before Pilate, he asks him if he’s the king of the Jews, and Jesus replies: “You have said so,” perhaps acknowledging (in a snarky way) that Pilate has the authority to proclaim him as such.

We’ll come back to Acts in a moment, but I first want to look at Romans 13, where Paul gives the clearest explanation of the what the believers’ relationship with government should be:

Paul used his natural-born citizen status to his advantage! He knew that Roman citizens had certain privileges and rights when it came to potential criminal charges, and the soldiers themselves seemed fearful that they had almost flogged a Roman citizen. I wonder if our political officials truly fear the citizenry and the power of our voices and our votes?

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. [3]

Although Paul was speaking under a monarchy, his exhortation here seems to apply generally regardless of the form of government. Greece had democracies prior to Roman rule, but they were quite different from our democracies today. In our times, each State is a “laboratory” of democracy, as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said in a 1932 decision. Our federal government is organized as a republic comprising the 50 democracies we call “States.” As citizens of a democracy, then, under a federal constitution that gives us significant personal freedoms, we have the right to speak, act, and vote to contribute to the good of the democracy. We should feel free to get involved at any level, if we’re so inclined. That could mean anything from speaking at or serving on a local governing board (city, school, planning, etc.) to working for the government in a civil position to serving as a State or U.S. Representative or Senator.

Most of us probably learned that our three branches of government serve as “checks and balances” so that no one branch of government gains too much power or influence. But our involvement in various levels of government, whether as citizens, public servants, or governing officials, can serve as a fourth means of checks and balances, especially if we’re not afraid to bring our Christian values to the table when appropriate.

Paul seems to have understood this in the book of Acts when he faces arrest and a potential beating at the hands of Roman soldiers. Here’s the exchange in Acts 22:23–29:

23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered.

28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

29 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.[4]

Did you see what happened there? Paul used his natural-born citizen status to his advantage! He knew that Roman citizens had certain privileges and rights when it came to potential criminal charges, and the soldiers themselves seemed fearful that they had almost flogged a Roman citizen. I wonder if our political officials truly fear the citizenry and the power of our voices and our votes?

Paul wasn’t finished, though, upon his arrest. Perhaps the perceived threat from the Jews who wanted to kill him (some had taken a vow to do so!), so instead of being released, as he could have been, he chose to appeal to Caesar. Under Roman law, this put several things into motion. First, Paul was assured the protection of Roman soldiers throughout his various trials. Second, he was assured of being able to proclaim the gospel before Roman rulers in each of his trial appearances. This fulfilled the words of Jesus to Ananias when he was told to go minister to Paul after his conversion experience: “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name”[5] (Acts 9:15b–16).

The third thing that his appeal to Caesar does is assure him time to see that the Christian faith is well established in perhaps the largest city in the Mediterranean region. We know at the end of the book of Acts that Paul is essentially under house arrest in his own rented house, not in a jail, and he had the opportunity to meet and discuss the faith “with all boldness and without hindrance.”

As citizens of this great nation, then, we have innumerable freedoms available to us to proclaim the gospel and act faithfully, generally without fear of retribution. But even in a nation like China, we see those who are persecuted for their faith and the belief in freedom still find ways to proclaim the gospel even from prison. How much more then should we be so bold. I pray that we would use our freedoms to proclaim the gospel and work for freedom for the captives. Amen.

[1] C2C Update: November 2024

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

November 2, 2024

Renewed and Restored: Psalm 126

Filed under: Biblical Studies,Courage,Ecclesiology,Evangelism,Life of Christ,Mark Gospel of,Miracles,Psalms — Scott Stocking @ 1:59 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

This message was preached October 27, 2024, at Mount View Presbyterian Church, Omaha, NE.

Let me start this morning by talking about “recent events” around these parts. Mom keeps me informed about the congregation’s relationship with the Powers that Be. I have been praying that you can find a moderator who has the vision and the heart to help Mount View thrive. I want to let you know, here and now, with God and you as my witnesses, that I will stand with you and support you in any way possible as you look to your next steps with Mary Ann’s departure since I’m going to be here every Sunday through the end of the year. If you need pastoral care, I will make myself available as much as possible around my teaching commitment and my day job. Most of you know I have a deep historical connection to this congregation; I have a genuine heart for the health and vibrancy of this congregation. I believe in the value and worth of each of you and your corporate mission and that this congregation can still have and does currently have an apostolic ministry in this neighborhood, in this city, and in this world, as the Gospels and the Presbyterian Book of Order describe. The messages preached from this pulpit are being heard around the world (more than 5,000 downloads as of this week), so your ministry is not isolated amidst these four walls.

Psalm 126 is a trip down memory for the psalmist and his audience. But I want to take a trip down memory lane for us as well. Like the psalmist, I want us to remember the time when we were a full church, when the Lord had given us “fortune.” I remember at least a dozen kids in each Sunday school class most mornings. I remember the kids that Kevin Orr brought over from the Omaha Home for Boys each Sunday. I remember big youth group meetings with at least 40 kids present, and I remember a trip to Worlds of Fun with the youth group. I have a memory, a hazy one at my age, of getting my first Bible with my name engraved on the cover, signed by Karen Englesman and Pastor Loren Parker on May 21, 1972. I even remember going over to Karen’s house for help memorizing Bible verses for Confirmation class, and I went on to memorize Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 20 years later and still have it memorized today.

I know there are others who were touched by the ministry of our congregation in that day, and many of them went on to have ongoing influence in our congregation and elsewhere for the kingdom. Some of you are still here 50 years later. Mount View was a lot like the first three verses of Psalm 126 when I was growing up here in the 70s. I still see that laughter and joy in you when I’m here, and it gladdens my heart.

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dreamed.

2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”

3 The Lord has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy. [1]

This psalm, and psalm 125 before it, were probably written together several years after the return from exile and were recited together when they came up in the synagogue service. Now I didn’t do the counting, but a note in my study Bible says both psalms have 116 syllables. The number of syllables isn’t significant, but the fact that they have the same number of syllables is. They were probably sung to the same tune or with a similar cadence. Together they tell the story of life and hope after returning from exile. Psalm 125 recounts the victory over the enemy and the confidence they had after returning home. Psalm 126 starts with the joy they experienced at that time.

This is where the last three verses of Psalm 126 come home to us, I think. It would seem several years have passed in the storyline between vss. 3 and 4. Verse 4 sounds like a prayer: “Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev.” Whatever joy and fortune they had in the past is seemingly gone now. We don’t know why or how it disappeared. But that’s not relevant, because vss. 5–6 have the answer to the prayer:

5 Those who sow with tears

will reap with songs of joy.

6 Those who go out weeping,

carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy,

carrying sheaves with them. [2]

Now I don’t believe there are any coincidences in the Kingdom of God. I’ve spoken before about Judy asking me to follow the lectionary with our Scripture passages in the bulletin, and I decided it would be a good exercise for me to base my sermons on those passages, typically the Gospel passages. This month is my third anniversary of filling the pulpit here, which means I’ve nearly gone through a complete three-year cycle of the lectionary. When Judy sends me the bulletin in advance, I usually only check the Scripture readings and then send back my message title. However, I have noticed on more than one occasion that some of the main points I have made in my message for a certain Sunday have shown up in the prayers and responsive readings that aren’t copied from the Bible, and Judy never had an advance copy of my message. Funny how God works that way, right?

But enough of the boring background: In beginning 10 weeks in row with you, I’ve been praying how God might use me for such a time as this, and it seems like Psalm 126 is the perfect passage for that. I would like to forth to you that you adopt Psalm 126:4 as theme prayer for our congregation here: “Restore our fortunes.” The COVID pandemic robbed many small churches of their members and their ministries, and many closed down. But you have managed to find purpose in your quilting ministry, among other activities, and that purpose is one of the binds that keeps you going. Here’s my challenge to you: when you pray that prayer of Psalm 126:4, ask God what verses 5 and 6 might look like for the congregation. We have all been saddened by the losses suffered through COVID shutdowns, but what are the “songs of joy” we could reap? What does “carrying seed to sow” look like for the congregation? How would you envision what “carrying in the sheaves” means?

Whatever had caused the decline in prosperity that prompted the psalmist to lift up the prayer of vs. 4 was obviously very heart wrenching to the Jews as evidenced by the tears and weeping of vv. 5 and 6. With the talk of reaping and planting seeds, it may be fair to assume they’d been afflicted by a drought or something that caused their crops to fail. But despite their sorrows and tears, they are determined to plant and reap once more. Although at the surface this seems to be strictly agricultural, this also seems to be a spiritual event as well, encouraging them to rejoice in God’s provision. The question I put before you this morning, then, is what kind of seeds would you sow to add to the harvest of God’s kingdom? What kind of “restoration” would you like to see? I don’t think God is concerned about the size or pace of whatever ideas you might have for restoration; he just wants you to dream and trust that he will provide the growth, whatever that may look like.

I believe God is moving in his people now to start and sustain a revival. The church Jill and I attend just added a third service two years after opening a huge worship center that seats over 1,000. Younger people seem to be coming back to spirituality and faith in many areas. I believe Mount View has the potential to have a strong outreach in this part of Omaha. But what that looks like, I can’t say for sure, and I wouldn’t want to put God in a box by suggesting any one area to focus on. I have some ideas that respect where we’re at as a congregation and that don’t involve a contemporary worship band shaking the rafters! All I know at this point is that you have the grit and determination to keep this congregation alive and to cause the Presbytery to sit up and take notice of you if you so desire.

I will tell you that I’m going to pray the same prayer for myself, as the timing of my two-month (at least) stint with you is not a coincidence either. Jill got pushed out of her job of 12 years a couple weeks ago, so we’ll need the extra income this affords. But I’ve never looked at this as a paycheck. I love being able to return to the place that established me in the faith and share in the ministry of proclaiming the gospel with you. I honestly sense from the Holy Spirit that he wants me to be a strong encourager to you at this time. I had a few things happen in the last ten days that could only be from God that confirms to me I should be doing more than just preaching in the next two months.

I know I’ve probably come on a little strong this morning but given what you’ve gone through since reconvening after COVID, I sensed that you need an extra dose of encouragement and courage. I want to fair and forthright with you, though: I’ve got too many irons in the fire right now to say I’m “all in,” but I’m in as much as my schedule will allow. God is working on my heart too with respect to ministry, and I feel a fire in my bones as well. Perhaps, like Esther, God has brought me here for such a time as this, whatever that looks like. I’m excited to be here for the next two months to see what God has in store for us. I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

Before I close, I don’t want to ignore our Gospel passage this morning (Mark 10:46–52). Jesus did a true miracle in opening the eyes of a blind man. That was a real event as far as I’m concerned, a genuine miracle. It’s not a metaphor or some psychological truth couched in a legend story or however else some theologians try to downplay it. But just as the miracle is real, so is the guiding principle of the account, that God can do great things through Jesus and those of us who follow him. I pray that we would be aware of the opportunities around us to continue to share the good news of Jesus with those who need hope. I pray that God would open the eyes of those around us to see the joy and commitment of this congregation and desire to be a part of it.

Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev.

Scott Stocking

My opinions are my own.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

October 11, 2024

An Invitation

Filed under: Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness — Scott Stocking @ 9:35 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Hey, all! Thank you for your readership! This is already another record year for my blog and I’ve got some new things in the works that I hope I can reveal soon.

I wanted to take this opportunity to invite you, if you should be in the Omaha area in November or December, to come check out Mount View Presbyterian Church where I’ve been filling the pulpit occasionally since 2021. It’s also the church I grew up in. The part-time moderator is resigning as of next week, and the church has asked me to fill her scheduled preaching spots in the near future, which means as of this post, I’ll be preaching every Sunday from October 27 through the end of the year. I would love to meet some of my readers in person and chat with you about what God is doing in your lives.

On October 28, I’m back in the classroom after a 14-year hiatus from on-site teaching. I’ll be teaching Biblical Interpretation for Crown College’s Omaha extension campus. I had done some online teaching for a couple years from 2018 to 2020, but on-site teaching with live interaction with students just can’t be beat. I’ve learned so much since I was last in the classroom, because I started my blog after I moved away from now-shuttered Lincoln Christian University. I am excited to meet the students and be back in the classroom.

The opportunities for extra income come at a providential time for my family. My wife’s employer for the last 12 years for whatever reason had her manager and a VP conspire together to push her out of her job this week toward a different job that she didn’t feel safe in for several reasons that I won’t go into here. We’re trusting God to show us the next steps, and I’ve already had an encounter with an “Angel” (more about that at a later date) who says she has a prayer warrior ministry. I told her I believe in angels and that I’m a God-fearing man of God, so I’ll take her at her word and cherish her prayers and anyone else’s for that matter. I figure I’ll put up a donation button as well on the blog, since I believe the Lord would want me to use whatever resources I have available to me (Ecclesiastes 11:1–6; Matthew 25:14–30). Thank you for your prayers and support at this time.

If you want to contact me privately, use the email link that should appear on this page (scott.stocking@sundaymorninggreekblog.com). Again, thank you for reading, and Happy Fall!

Scott Stocking

September 30, 2024

Jesus’s “Mean Tweets”: Political Rhetoric in the Heat of Battle (Matthew 23)

Filed under: 1 Samuel,2 Chronicles,Biblical Studies,Ecclesiology,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Government,Life of Christ,Matthew Gospel of,Prayer — Scott Stocking @ 11:35 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

NOTE: This article looks at Old and New Testament passages. If you want to go straight to the Jesus/New Testament part, jump down to the Jesus, Paul, and Mean Tweets section.

The story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 is an inspiring one for young and old alike. A young shepherd boy, probably still in his teens, uses a sling and a stone to bring down the largest enemy Israel had ever faced. While David’s victory in battle is impressive and saved Israel from a potentially pyrrhic outcome, his dialogue with the Philistine can be instructive to us on how to talk to our political adversaries and enemies.

Goliath’s first taunt of the Israelites is arrogant and defiant, as one might expect, and disheartening to the Israelites.

“Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”[1]

Goliath did this for forty days. I’m not sure why they stretched it out that long. It would seem that apart from Goliath’s strength, perhaps the Israelites looked intimidating enough that the Philistines didn’t want to trust their bluff with Goliath. But the Philistines must have gotten their spirits up when they saw scrawny little David coming their way. Goliath laughed and taunted Israel even more:

“Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”[2]

David probably realizes he needs a little humility here, so his response is one of faith and trust in the Lord first and foremost, but also confidence. He also turns Goliath’s threat to feed him (just David, not the armies of Israel) to the birds and says:

“This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.”[3]

Of course, with the help of God, a good shot, and Goliath’s giant sword, David defeated the giant.

So what did we learn from this interaction? First, David emphasized that he had an unwavering faith in what God was about to do through him. He knew he couldn’t do it on his own strength, but he’d also prepared himself for this moment, so it seems, by taking on a lion and a bear earlier in his life. Second, in addition to announcing his faith and trust in God to the Philistine, he also returned the smack talk and upped the ante on it. In the end, David didn’t have to eat his words, but the birds got to feed on his enemies.

In 1 Chronicles 20, we see Jehoshaphat calling all Judah to a fast in response to a threat from Moab. In this instance, there’s no communication with the enemy. Jehoshaphat offers up a prayer, and Jahaziel prophesied that God would fight for Jehoshaphat and Judah’s army. They sent a choir out in front of the army, and God set up ambushes for Moab’s army to rout them. All Judah had to do was carry the plunder back to Jerusalem.

A similar event happened with Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 32 (also recounted in Isaiah 37) when Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem. Sennacherib talked a bunch of smack to Hezekiah and blasphemed God repeatedly. Like Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah offered up a prayer with Isaiah, but no smack talk back to Sennacherib, and Sennacherib’s 185,000 forces are decimated.

Jesus, Paul, and Mean Tweets

In the New Testament, we see quite a different picture, but the dialogue isn’t about posturing for war. It’s primarily about confronting the religious establishment. In Matthew 3:7, John the Baptizer sees a bunch of Pharisees and Sadducees in the crowd that’s gathered around him and calls them a “brood of vipers.” Jesus would repeat that admonishment in 12:34 and 23:33 when confronting the Pharisees. Matthew 23 is also where we see Jesus pronounce seven “woes” against the “teachers of the law and Pharisees” and takes that a step farther by calling them “hypocrites.” He has a host of other criticisms he unloads on them as well. They’re hell bound and leading others astray. They’re “blind guides…fools…men,” “whitewashed tombs,” and murderers.

Then of course there’s the confrontation with the money changers in the Temple. Even though Jesus would say the Temple would be destroyed and that worshiping God wasn’t limited to the Temple or any other location for that matter, he still considered that his spiritual home, because he’s passionate about calling it “my Father’s House,” which means it’s his by “family” connection, and he wants to protect the integrity of the Temple while it still stands.

Before I wrap up the biblical background on this topic, I want to bring in one more quote from the apostle Paul. In Galatians 5:11–12, Paul is teaching about whether circumcision should still be considered a meaningful religious ritual for Gentile converts to Christianity. He is so upset about those legalistic “agitators” that he wishes they would just “emasculate themselves!”

In first-century Mediterranean culture, a teacher would not hesitate to talk serious smack about those who opposed or questioned his teachings. If you couldn’t defend your teaching, either by rational argument or by brutally calling out the shortcomings and hypocrisy of your opponents, you wouldn’t maintain a following very long. Jesus knew this of course, so he didn’t worry about being “Mr. Nice Guy” when it came to confronting his enemies. After a while, it became obvious that his religious opponents, NOT the Romans, wanted him eliminated. No one else in religious leadership was going to say anything nice about him. His followers often didn’t have enough clout for their positive view of Jesus to overcome the negative view held by the religious leaders. Jesus was on his own, with all the fullness of deity dwelling in him, and that was enough to keep him going.

Bringing It Home

Here’s the question that bridges the interpretive chasm from first-century Judea to twenty-first-century America, and indeed the world: “Would Jesus have used ‘mean tweets’ against his opponents?” Oh yeah, I went there. Leading up to the 2016 election, it was easy to see that the media and the Democrats were out to get Trump. The big tell: no one in the mainstream media would ever dare say a bad word about Hillary Clinton, while Trump always had a huge target on his back.

You don’t have to look far to see that press coverage of Trump was and has continued to be overwhelmingly negative while coverage of Clinton (or Biden, Obama, and Harris) was and continues to be overwhelmingly positive. Trump would be criticized and fact-checked. His supporters would be lumped into a “basket of deplorables” and “canceled” or ostracized, while the sins of the left were overlooked or whitewashed. So if the mainstream isn’t going to say anything critical of a Democrat and use debates to fact-check one candidate but not the other, who’s going to speak up for Trump? Many conservatives are, but Trump’s voice is the one that needs to be the loudest for himself. It can’t be easy for him, but he keeps plugging away with a smile on his face and joy in his heart as he tosses chicken nuggets to fans at an SEC football game or cheers on the fighters at a UFC match. He must say the nasty stuff about the Democrats, because in this climate, most of us have a reasonable fear of losing our livelihood or even our freedom if we speak out against the powers that be.

If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m targeting a specific demographic of voters with this article. I know many believers out there who are struggling with voting for Trump because of his “mean tweets” or his name calling of his opponents. But from my perspective, and I think my article confirms this is a biblical perspective, Trump is just following in the footsteps of Jesus when it comes to confronting the “political” Pharisees and Sadducees of our day and age. The left has been increasingly using lawfare against Trump, but thankfully with limited success. He can’t just sit back and take it, though. Even after two people now have tried to kill him, he still presses forward, and he needs to keep standing strong for himself, the rule of law, the Constitution, and the American people and their way of life.

I don’t understand how someone could hold up Trump’s mean tweets against the lawfare of the Left and still say “Orange man bad; donkeys good.” If you’re a follower of Christ or a Jewish believer in God, I urge you to consider how Trump has modeled his campaign, whether intentionally or not, after the method of Jesus when confronting those who were trampling on the freedom God wanted his followers to live in. Our freedoms are in danger from the Left. There’s no third-party candidate who will save the day for us. Trump has a proven track record of defending our country, creating prosperity, and negotiating peace in the Middle East that no other candidate in history, except perhaps Reagan, has ever accomplished. Don’t be afraid of the mean tweets. If they were good enough for Jesus, they’re good enough for Trump.

If you don’t like the mean tweets, then at least consider this: Why don’t you be the ones who support Trump with prayers of protection and success, just as the Jews did in the OT stories above. You can play just as important role with prayer as Trump can with mean tweets. Don’t sit on the sidelines, though, if you don’t like any of them. No one you vote for is going to be a perfect role model of Christian belief and practice. Vote for the man who’s already shown you he cares about your freedom and prosperity.

My opinions are my own.

Scott Stocking

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

September 29, 2024

Lusting, Lopping, and Living (Mark 9:38–50)

Filed under: Biblical Studies,Courage,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Leviticus,Mark Gospel of,Repentance,Theology, Biblical — Scott Stocking @ 4:00 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Get $100 off your first Logos software package discount!

Before I get into my message this morning, I feel I should probably say a word about the title of my message, “Lusting, Lopping, and Living.” One of my first classes in seminary when I started 37 years ago was a class where we had to write a research paper on a Bible passage so we could learn the school’s writing style guide. At the time, many of the preachers in that school’s tradition had a practice of using a three-point (usually) alliterated outline of what their sermon was about. In our writing class, the instructor, Professor Tanner, emphasized that this would be a good way grab and hold the audience’s attention. He also mentioned that sermon titles should be short and catch people’s attention.

At that time, I was still a single young man who had just moved 500 miles from home to begin that new adventure. Having a desire to avoid temptation in a new environment, one of the passages I held close to my heart was Matthew’s version of the “Stumble” or “Temptations” passage in the Sermon on the Mount about cutting out of our lives that which causes us to sin. With that passage close to my heart at the time, and given what my instructor had said about grabbing and keeping people’s attention with what I would write, it took about two seconds for me to write down my passage and the proposed title of my paper and submit it. Thus the title, “Lusting, Lopping, and Living.” Professor Tanner was so impressed with my proposed title he said he was tempted to give me an “A” for the assignment based on the title alone. I did get an “A” on the paper in the end, but it remains to be seen if you’ll give me an “A” for my message this morning!

This section of the Gospel we’re in, Mark 8–10, is a summary of some of the most intense and at times heart-wrenching teaching that Jesus does with his disciples. This is all leading up to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Mark 11. As we saw last week, he predicts his death three times, which caused a great deal of discussion and argument among his disciples. In chapter 10, he’ll deal with divorce and the rich young ruler who walks sadly away from Jesus’s gentle admonishment about the trappings of wealth. He’ll also deal with James and John, who seem to think they won the argument about who’s the greatest and ask to be seated at Jesus’s right hand and left hand in his coming kingdom. And as if to say to his disciples, “Open your eyes, man!” Jesus heals blind Bartimeus as his last miracle before entering Jerusalem.

A lot of heavy stuff to unpack there, right? Our immediate Gospel passage this morning has some obvious parallels to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, but it’s not clear here if Mark is summarizing that here to fit his own narrative or if Jesus is repeating his teaching in a different setting. I like to think it’s the latter, because that gives us preachers justification to refresh and rehash previous sermons and deliver them again. If it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for us!

Let’s take a look, then, at our Gospel passage today, Mark 9:38–50, and in true 1980’s preacher style, I’ll use another triple alliteration to give the higher-level view of the whole passage. First, we’ll look at our prayerful partners in vs. 38–41, then examine the admonition of Jesus to us for our personal propriety in vv. 42–48, and close with a look at our purposeful purification that leads to peace in vv. 49–50.

In vs. 38, the apostle John (most likely the one who’s the son of Zebedee) still seems worried about who gets the “greatest” position as he apparently complains to Jesus that someone who is NOT a disciple is “driving out demons.” Now while we don’t have any specific examples of the disciples driving out demons, we do know from some general statements that Jesus had given that power to the disciples when he sent them out (Matthew 10:1). Then in Mark 6:12, we read that the disciples did in fact do miracles by healing the sick and driving out many demons on their first “2 by 2” mission. Maybe that’s where the competition started.

But Jesus says, “Hold on there, Big John!” “If someone is doing legit miracles in my name, Don’t stop them. If they’re not against us, they’re for us.” Jesus takes this one step further and implies that it’s not the greatness (at least in the world’s eyes) of the deed that counts; it’s the faithfulness and care with which the deed is done. Even if you give a cup of water to a thirsty traveler, Jesus says you don’t have to worry about losing your reward.

The bottom line here is that nothing we do as Jesus followers should stand in the way of others coming to Christ or of our own selves of being faithful. In vs. 42 of the passage today, Jesus warns about causing the little ones to “stumble.” Paul says something similar in Ephesians 6: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” The translation in the bulletin (NRSV) says “sin,” but the word is not the typical word used for sin. In English, we get the word “scandalize” from the Greek word used here [σκανδαλίζομαι (skandalizomai), σκανδαλίζω (skandalizō)[1]]. Its meaning is closer to that of a “stumbling block” or other kind of barrier, especially between someone and God. It’s hard to think about how people might cause little kids to sin, but Jesus must know something that maybe we don’t.

One of the worst and most prominent issues we see with kids today that puts this verse into perspective is trafficking. This past year, a movie called “The Sound of Freedom” hit theaters, which documented the true story of an FBI agent who set up a sting operation south of the border to rescue some 50 children from a child-trafficking ring. We have had thousands upon thousands of unaccompanied minors cross our border in the last few years, and according to a recent Department of Homeland Security report, over 300,000 of them were sent off to “sponsors” with no way for our government to track them, no court date to appear, or to even know if the sponsor is legitimate. As God’s people, this is something that ought to concern us greatly given what Jesus says here. What is happening to these kids?

Children are being politicized by adults who have their own agenda about things we never would have questioned ten years ago. Things that were unthinkable ten years ago. I think Jesus’s words apply to that as well.

You might find it interesting to look up a CNN report on interviewing 10-year-olds in red, purple, and blue States about the presidential candidates. It seems to be a pretty good example of what kids are picking up from their parents and in many cases are parroting to the interviewers. Are we letting kids just be kids anymore? Jesus knew the kids had a simple faith and belief in God without all the trappings that weigh us down as adults. If we’re making them grow up too fast, are we putting a stumbling block in their way so they can’t enjoy their childhood and more kid-friendly activities?

Obviously as parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, we have a passionate interest in protecting the most vulnerable, and I believe that is a passion that God embeds in us. As we get older, I’m sure we begin to recognize some of the long-term effects and consequences (positive and negative) of choices we made when we were younger, and we may want to protect the next generation from the negative and redirect them to the positive. But Jesus warns us to watch out for the things that cause us to stumble or be scandalized as well, and he seems to be focusing on some of our key body parts here. This is where the “lusting, lopping, and living” comes in.

Now I think we all can agree that Jesus really doesn’t want us chopping body parts off every time we stumble (and this is why it’s important to make the distinction about the word used here). The main principle here is that we not put ourselves in situations where we have potentially unchecked temptations. Former VP Mike Pence received some criticism when he said he didn’t want to be alone in a room or at a dinner alone with a woman who wasn’t his wife. This was to keep himself above suspicion; pastors have this principle impressed upon them in seminary and often by their elders or church boards.

The point of these “lopping” verses is that we set boundaries for ourselves when it comes to our lives. If you have trouble with alcohol, stay away from the bars and keep it out of your house. If your mouth gets you in trouble too much, learn how to control your tongue as James says. If you’re watching stuff you shouldn’t be watching, then turn off the TV or the computer. Or you can do like John Denver says, “Blow up your TV.” (No, don’t really do that. John was just being silly in that song.)

It’s not that doing the things Jesus warns about here will, by themselves, keep us out of heaven. There is still forgiveness. But if you persist in a life of unfaithfulness, then you might have something to worry about in eternity. God never casts those from his presence when they come to him, but if they don’t want to have anything to do with God, will God grant their wish and turn them away? We should heed the warnings of such passages as the Sheep and the Goats before the throne in the last chapters of Matthew’s gospel. We should pay close attention to Paul’s warning that our works would be tested with fire—what’s good survives like gold, silver, and precious gems; what’s bad is burned up like wood, hay, and stubble. And we should work toward maturity as the author of Hebrews says in chapters 5 & 6 so we don’t find ourselves in danger of “falling away.”

This is where the last part of our passage this morning comes into play, with a rather unusual verse: “Everyone will be salted with fire.” What exactly does that mean?

One might be tempted to think it has something to do with the mention of hell in the previous verse, but I think this has a more positive implication for us. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the Lord commanded that all offerings should be sprinkled with salt (Leviticus 2:13). We know salt brings out the flavor in food, but it also acts as a preserving agent. When Jesus says this, I believe he’s referring to verses like, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” God imparts “flavor” to our own lives so we know the blessings of serving him. And if we’re salted with fire, I think that means he’s purifying us from our own sins and shortcomings so that our lives are a sweet aroma to him.

Not only that, but we also share our “flavorful” life with those around us. We can be salt to others, especially so that we can be at peace with one another.

When Jill and I were in Florida in April, I bought a T-shirt that says “Stay Salty.” I think mainly it referred to being a beach bum: surfing, sunning, and swimming in the ocean. But it occurs to me that I can apply a whole new meaning to that shirt: that I can “stay salty” for Jesus. How about you? Do you want to be salty for our savior?

May the peace of God be with your all, amen.

Kids and politics: What 10-year-olds told a child development expert about Trump, Harris and the 2024 election | CNN Politics

[1] Swanson, James. 1997. In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament), electronic ed. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

August 25, 2024

Courage for the Battle (John 6:56–69; Ephesians 6:10–20)

Filed under: "I Am" Statements,Biblical Studies,Courage,Ecclesiology,Ephesians,Evangelism,Greek,Isaiah,Jeremiah,John Gospel of,Life of Christ,Miracles,Prayer,Psalms,Spiritual Warfare,Theology, Biblical — Scott Stocking @ 6:31 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Historical Note: Preached at Mount View Presbyterian Church on August 25, 2024, Omaha, NE.

Related Articles:

I Am the Bread of Life

Take Heart! (θαρσέω tharseō, Matthew 9:2, 22)

Helmet of Salvation (Isaiah 59:17; Ephesians 6:17)

Spiritual Warfare in Ephesians

When I was here last month, I spoke about the feeding of the 5,000, one of the seven miracles that John records Jesus performed during his ministry to go along with the seven foundational “I am” statements that Jesus makes about himself. It is interesting that another one of those seven miracles, Jesus walking on water, which apparently has nothing to do with bread, interrupts John’s account of the miraculous provision of bread at the beginning of John 6 and Jesus’s testimony “I am the bread of life” and what that means for his followers.

There are some “clues,” let’s call them, in John 6 that I want to highlight, because they will be important when we look at the other New Testament reading from the lectionary this morning, Ephesians 6, in a few minutes. The highlight of Jesus’s walking on water, which appears in three of the four gospels, is not Peter getting out of the boat and walking on water himself to Jesus, which only Matthew records, but Jesus’s own comforting words to his frightened disciples as they see him walking across the stormy sea: “Take Heart!” “Take Courage!” “I am. Don’t be afraid!”

This is the second time in John’s gospel where Jesus declares “I am.” The first was with the woman at the well in John 4, his first formal declaration (at least in John’s gospel) of who he is. In that context, that simple declaration, that he was the Messiah, brought incredible freedom to a woman who was haunted by and ashamed of her own past, which in turn gave her the courage to run back to her village and declare that she had indeed discovered the Messiah.

There is no doubt that Peter experienced that same kind of freedom when Christ reached out to him and saved him from his lack of faith as he began to sink into the stormy sea, perhaps a type of what Paul would later say about baptism in Romans 6, that the old man is buried and the new is raised up in the life of Jesus.

This leads into the context of the Gospel passage today. Jesus begins to discuss what it is the disciples are really looking for: food that endures to eternal life. In other words, just as Jesus walking on the water was a supernatural miracle; just as Jesus’s knowledge of the history of the woman at the well was supernatural, so too will our relationship with him have a supernatural quality. In 6:35, Jesus makes the first of his seven foundational “I am” statements that describe who he is: “I am the bread of life,” and he begins to “flesh” that out, some might say literally, as he continues to teach his disciples the significance of that statement.

He connects that statement with the miraculous provision of manna in the desert while the Jews were wandering in the wilderness (v. 41): “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” He is the one who will sustain us if we “feast” on him. He drills down even deeper (v. 51): “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” The manna sustained them for day. Jesus, as the bread of life, sustains us eternally, something he demonstrated in the feeding of the 5,000. Now I think we all understand that when Jesus starts to sound a bit like a cannibal here, we understand he’s speaking figuratively of himself. He is eternal; therefore he’ll never dry up; he won’t melt away with the morning dew when the heat of the day beats down on the wilderness. He’ll keep providing continuously.

It’s pretty obvious at this point that Jesus is setting the stage for the Last Supper, which is only a few chapters later in John’s gospel. At that supper, Jesus will take the bread and say, “This is my body.” He’ll take the cup and say, “This is my blood.” That’s the zero hour. The next day, day one if you will, Jesus will have his body beaten and shredded with a cat-of-nine-tails before being hung on a cross and crucified for our sins. On the third day, he rises again and fulfills what he said in John 6: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” He can say this because of the resurrection.

Now a few weeks ago when I took a quick look at the passages for today in the lectionary, I saw this passage and the Ephesians 6 passage. I knew immediately I wanted to preach on Ephesians 6, because that’s my favorite book in the Bible. At first glance, it was difficult to see an immediate connection between these two passages. But as I started to write out my thoughts and analysis of the gospel passage, I began to see more clearly what the connection was, and it comes from Jesus’s words as he walked on the stormy sea: “Take Heart!” It’s easy to say that, but Ephesians 6:10–20 puts meat on the bones of those encouraging words. Listen to the words of Paul:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [In other words, “Take Heart!”] 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. [1]

The world around us is pretty crazy right now. Almost like being in a ship that’s getting tossed around by the waves. But the living bread who came down from heaven has granted us power and authority “in the heavenly realms” to “stand” (Paul says this four times) and stand firm in the power of God that dwells in us by virtue of the Holy Spirit. Peter warns us that “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”[2] As we break this down, we’ll see that the armor of God is the armor that God is said to “wear” (as if he needs to wear any) in the Old Testament. It’s not a copy; it’s the armor that belongs to God.

So here we go. The first piece mentioned is the belt of truth. Isaiah says of God in 11:5, “5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”[3] The primary use of the belt in the Old Testament was for holding up your tunic or robe so you could run into battle or run to get help. Having the belt of truth around our waist helps us move more efficiently in the battle. Since they didn’t have “pants” in the OT, we could make the analogy in today’s world that without the belt of truth, some of us might get caught with our pants down!

Jeremiah speaks of a linen belt that God told him to buy in chapter 13 of his prophecy. At first he wears it around his waist as a belt should be worn, and God commands that it should never touch water. But a few days later, God tells him to take the belt and hide it in the crevice in the rocks near the Euphrates river. Several days later, God told him to go dig it up, but by that time, the linen belt was ruined and good for nothing. We’ve been given God’s truth in his word, the Bible, and if we neglect it, if we fail to “gird up our loins” with it, if we fail to proclaim it when we know we should, it has no value to us. Just as God’s truth holds this world and this universe together, so his word in our lives through the Holy Spirit holds us together and helps us to stand firm.

Let’s look at the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation together, because Isaiah speaks of both in the same verse in chapter 59 of his prophecy, a chapter about sin, confession, and redemption, but also about the justice of God, which was so rarely practiced in his day. Hear his words beginning in the last half of vs. 15:

The Lord looked and was displeased

that there was no justice.

16 He saw that there was no one,

he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;

so his own arm achieved salvation for him,

and his own righteousness sustained him.

17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,

and the helmet of salvation on his head;

he put on the garments of vengeance

and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. [4]

This passage is the transition that Isaiah makes from talking about our life on earth to revealing to his readers what the future will look like from chapter 60 on. The language in those last seven chapters of Isaiah at times reminds us of the Book of Revelation, almost as if John had copied sections verbatim into that final book in the Bible. It’s important to note in this context, God is ready to go on the offense.

The breastplate and the helmet are arguably the two most important pieces of the soldier’s protective gear, because they protect the heart and the head, respectively. The heart is the vault of God’s truth in our spirits; the head is where we experience and recognize God’s presence in our lives and distinguish evil from good. We use our minds to speak God’s healing and encouraging words and to cry out for justice. We use our hearts to love and show compassion for the poor, the oppressed, and the downtrodden.

You will also notice that Paul mentions “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” in conjunction with the helmet at the end of the description of the heavenly armor. The helmet no doubt has its defensive function, but it, along with the rest of God’s armor, give us the confidence to advance against the gates of hell that Jesus promised would not be able to withstand God’s army of faithful followers (Matthew 16:18). The sword looks back to Isaiah 49:2, where the prophet says, “He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me.” Hide his word in your heart so that when times of trouble come, you can recall it with ease.

Finally, we look at the shoes and the shield. The one who had to gird up his loins and run to spread the news of victory needed a good pair of shoes to make the difficult run to spread good news or to call for more help. Isaiah 52:7 puts it best: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news.”

The shield of faith is the final piece of armor to look at. A Roman shield typically had a leather cover, and the soldier would soak it in water for the express purpose having some defense against real flaming arrows the enemy would use to attack. But the shield also had an offensive purpose as well in that if the Roman soldiers stood side-by-side with their shields touching, it made a nearly impenetrable moving wall that could push the enemy back or circle and surround them. Psalm 91, the one about God being our refuge and fortress, says that God’s “faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (vs. 4).

In the final part of the Ephesians text, Paul uses a “pray” word five times. It’s as if Paul is saying that everything he’s just been encouraging his readers to do in the last three chapters must be undergird with prayer. A few weeks ago, the pastor at my home church had a pretty convicting message about prayer, and it really got to me, especially with all the family stuff we’ve had going on lately. I needed to be more intentional with my prayer life. Needless to say, it’s been amazing. I can’t go into detail, but I started with some small stuff, at least it seemed small to me, but I started to see answers, mostly positive answers, happening more frequently. Prayer connects us to the “heavenly realms” where the spiritual battle is being fought. When we fight on our knees, or for those of us with bad knees, in whatever position, by asking God to meet our needs and heal our loved ones and give hope to the lost, God moves mightily.

So let me close with a prayer for Mount View this morning, because that’s what ties all this together. Lord, open our hearts to welcome those who are seeking hope and healing in this world and the next; open our hands to be a giving and generous congregation that demonstrates the love of God in our service to others; and open the eyes of those around us to see how mightily you are moving in this congregation and in the lives of the faithful who call this home. In Jesus’s name, amen!

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Scott Stocking. My views are my own.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Website Powered by WordPress.com.