Sunday Morning Greek Blog

June 29, 2025

Following Jesus on His Terms (Luke 9:51–62, Psalm 16)

Filed under: Eschatology,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Galatians,Luke Gospel of,Passion,Pneumatology,Psalms,Soteriology,Thanatology (Death),Titus — Scott Stocking @ 5:22 pm
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I preached this sermon on June 29, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church. This is “Proper 8” (third Sunday after Pentecost) for Year C of the Lectionary. For future reference, the next time these passages will appear in the Lectionary together is July 2, 2028.

Good morning! The Lord be with you!

How do you follow a man who says he’s going to die? Some might ask, “What kind of man would ask someone to follow him knowing that he’s going to die?” But is that the right question? I mean, we’re all going to die at some point, and we don’t know when. Maybe the question should be, “What does the man who’s going to die think about the person he’s asking to follow him?”

I’m sure the would-be follower would have questions for Jesus as well. “Why would you choose me? I’m just a fisherman.” “What can I expect from following you? You don’t look like you have much.” Or maybe the question is a little more self-reflective: “What does he see in me that I don’t see in myself?”

These types of questions are, to a certain extent, somewhat academic or rhetorical. I think most of us realize, and can see plainly in the gospels, that Jesus taught like no other and that he worked miracles like no other. These two features of his life on earth were undoubtedly the most attractive features of his ministry. They were also the focus of Luke’s gospel from the account of his miraculous birth and the miracles that surrounded that up to the point of our gospel passage this morning.

Note what Luke says about Jesus’s mind set in the first part of vs. 51: “When the days drew near for him to be taken up.” Jesus knew he was going to die in Jerusalem at the hands of the chief priests and religious leadership. But Luke suggests Jesus also knew here that whatever that death entailed, he would defeat it and win victory over the grave, because his resolve, apparently, comes from his divine knowledge that he would defeat death and be resurrected to return to God.

Our reading in the bulletin this morning from the New Revised Standard Version gives the literal translation of the Greek in the last part of verse 51: “Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Other translations are more descriptive with that idiom. The New International Version says, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem,” while the New American Standard Version says, “He was determined to go to Jerusalem.” This is remarkable since Jesus twice predicts his death in the earlier verses of Luke 9—once before his transfiguration and once after it. Jesus knows the end result and is still steadfast to his ultimate mission.

It is interesting, then, that in the context of Jesus showing such resolve that Luke tells us about several others who want to follow Jesus as well. His disciples were already on board with all this, except perhaps for Judas. But as much as Jesus wants people to follow him, now is not the time for the feeble of heart or the weak-willed to be following a man who is resolutely going toward his death. I would imagine Luke picks a few representative samples out of the dozens, if not hundreds, who want to follow him at this point. His answers may seem a bit terse or harsh to us, but he wants any potential followers to understand just what they’re getting themselves into. There is no turning back once you’ve decided to put the hand to the plow.

Our reading from Psalm 16 this morning seems to fit the bill as encouragement for someone who is determined to follow Jesus. David calls this psalm a miktam. Only five other psalms have that designation—Psalms 56–60—and most of them have to do with the author appealing for refuge or deliverance from their enemies. David expresses a great deal of confidence in his relationship with God in this psalm. From God’s guidance and instruction to his provision of joy and even, it would seem, to the promise of resurrection from the dead: “You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead.”

We can break this Psalm down into three parts, at least that’s how my NIV interprets it. After an opening plea for refuge, the next three verses reveal that David has confidence in those who are holy, that is, in his own community. Because of his confidence in them, not only can he praise God, but he can also confidently assert he has no intention of following other gods. He knows that following other gods would only bring pain and suffering to him and leave him without hope.

In the next four verses, David praises the Lord for being his provider and defender. David feels secures because he has three things from God in this regard: boundaries, instruction, and a focal point. Boundaries are good for us, because they tell us what the limits are and where we need to be to stay safe. A study many years ago showed that children felt more freedom and security to explore and move around a playground when it was fenced in. If a ball got away from them, they were less afraid to chase it to a hard boundary, especially if such a boundary was next to a busy street or other potential hazard. A boundary can work both ways as well. A playground fence also helps to keep stray animals and people with malicious intent from easy access to the area.

Jill and I were in the mountains last week in Colorado. Of course there are boundaries everywhere there. And not just physical boundaries. The twisty road through the canyon had guard rails at places to prevent vehicles from going into the river. We had to observe the speed limit signs for tight and blind curves so we wouldn’t run into the big horn sheep or the bicyclists we encountered on the road. A double yellow stripe down the middle of the road with a rumble strip let us know if we were straying into the other lane.

God’s boundaries are found in the instructions we have in Scripture, namely the Ten Commandments, and the two greatest commandments Jesus reminded us of: love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; love your neighbor as yourself. Following those boundaries can keep us from all kinds of evil consequences. More on this in a moment.

Verse 8 reminds us of Hebrews 12:1–3:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.[1]

When we keep our eyes fixed on the risen savior, we can always see the end result: our resurrection and eternal home with him in glory. In spite of the boundaries and instruction God gives us, we also know there will be times when our faith is challenged: the loss of a loved one, a critical medical diagnosis, broken relationships, etc. But as David says, we can stand firm and not be shaken.

In the last three verses, David speaks of his confidence as he considers his own future death. Even before he has the example of our risen savior he seems to understand the concept of resurrection: “You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” We too can have this confidence when we follow Jesus and honor him as Lord of our lives. Eternal rewards await us, and God has graciously made that available to us through the death and resurrection of his son.

We are not without a more practical example in the New Testament of the principles David laid out in Psalm 16. The other New Testament passage from the lectionary today is from Galatians 5. Paul talks about the difference between living a life without boundaries and a living a life bound to the Holy Spirit that Jesus imparts to all believers.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.[2]

…

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” k 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.[3]

Notice the contrast Paul makes here: He speaks of the “acts of the flesh,” which refer to behaviors without boundaries. He warns that theses kinds of behaviors can lead to us “biting, devouring, and destroying” each other. Not only that, Paul also warns that people who live wantonly without boundaries “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” There’s no wishy-washy language here. You’re either in or out.

Contrast the “acts of the flesh,” then, with the “fruit of the Spirit.” Paul doesn’t mention behaviors here but rather a mindset by which to live. They are boundaries that come from being filled with the Holy Spirit. They put a check on our behavior and keep us from flying off the handle when we get angry or unduly criticizing someone without understanding the background of a situation. They help us to remember that God loves people first and foremost, regardless of where they’re at in their faith journey. But they do not absolve us of the responsibility to share the good news either.

As a preacher, I could craft a whole nine-week sermon series on the fruit of the Spirit, so I don’t even want to try to expound on that here. I’m sure most of you have been around long enough that you understand those character qualities quite well. Titus 2:11–14 gives a nice summary, however, and I’ll wrap things up with this passage this morning:

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.[4]

Let me return to my original questions, “How do you follow a man who says he is going to die?” You follow him, Jesus, because you know he won victory over death and the grave and wants to share that victory with you. “What does God see in me that I don’t see in myself that he wants me to follow him?” He knows and sees the power of transformation the Holy Spirit can work in those who choose to follow Jesus. If you need a reminder of that, just pray and ask God to refresh and renew your experience with him. He desires all to be saved; any excuse you may have to not follow is not enough for God to give up on you. May God strengthen your faith and refresh your hope as you go from here today. 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.

My thoughts are my own.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

May 19, 2025

Communion as a Call to Action (John 13:31–35)

Filed under: Biblical Studies,Christology,Communion/Eucharist,Courage,Easter,Faith, Faithfulness,forgiveness,Hebrews,Immersion/Baptism,John Gospel of,Liturgical Calendar,Luke Gospel of,Mark Gospel of,Matthew Gospel of,Passion,Psalms — Scott Stocking @ 6:40 pm
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I preached this message May 18, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church, Omaha, NE. Fifth Sunday after Easter, Year C.

I find it interesting that in the weeks after Easter, the gospel passages in the Lectionary are revisiting Jesus’s Holy Week events. That probably shouldn’t surprise us with John’s gospel, though, as the last half of his gospel deals with the events of Holy Week. One explanation for this, I think, is that Jesus taught his disciples so much in that last week, and much of it occurred, apparently, immediately after the “Last Supper.” Given what happened in the 24 hours that followed that last supper, I think it’s safe to say that the apostles probably didn’t remember too much of that teaching. It’s a good thing John wrote it down, then! This gives them the opportunity to revisit those precious final moments with Jesus and to review his teachings to see what they missed about his death and resurrection.

Since we’re going back to Holy Week, and especially since today’s passage comes after John’s unique account of the Last Supper, I think it’s worth it to take a look at his account, especially, and add in the details that Matthew, Mark, and Luke provide. At the beginning of John 13, we see that the meal is already in progress, but we don’t get the “ritual” language we’ve become accustomed to from the other three gospels.

There’s no “This is my body” or “This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins” in John’s gospel. That’s not to say there’s a contradiction here in the storyline: John focuses on a more radical form of demonstrating the forgiveness that would come from the shed blood of the Messiah. He tells us that the Messiah himself washes the feet of ALL the disciples. When Jesus gets to Peter, we find out a little more about Jesus’s motivation for doing this: “Unless I wash you, you have not part with me.” Jesus turns this act of service into a living, “practical” memorial that his disciples would not soon forget. Not only has he said his blood would bring forgiveness; he touches each one of the disciples, even Judas, who he knows will sell him and out, and Peter the denier, to give them “muscle memory” of forgiveness.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all say something about the bread and the cup. Matthew and Mark both say simply: “This is my body,” while Luke adds two extra phrases: “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Notice that none of the gospel writers ever say, “This is my body broken for you,” although the piece of unleavened bread in this part of the ceremony was the only one formally broken. The church through history almost naturally added in that bit about “broken for you” to parallel what happens to the bread. Note also the references to the cup in the three synoptic Gospel accounts have Jesus saying that the wine is “the new covenant in my blood” or “the blood of my covenant.” Matthew is the only one who connects the blood with the forgiveness of sins.

One thing that Jesus says in all three gospel accounts may get overlooked: “I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”[1] Jesus here is looking far beyond his own time with this statement: he’s looking ahead to his second coming where we will share in the glorious feast of the Lamb with him in heaven. It’s also worth noting here that Jesus still considers what he’s drinking is “the fruit of the vine” and NOT blood at all.

But this also begs the question: what does Jesus mean when he says, “This IS my body” and “This IS the new covenant in my blood”? I think as Presbyterians we can agree there is not some mystical transubstantiation of the wine into Jesus’s blood. Nor is there a mystical transubstantiation of the bread into the flesh of Christ. But I also don’t think the cup and the bread are merely “symbols” either. I prefer to use the word “signify” to describe the elements because they do have significance for my faith.

In this way, communion is akin to baptism. What does Paul say about baptism in Romans 6:3? “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”[2] Baptism signifies (there’s that word again) that we have come in contact with blood of Christ, which Matthew affirms is for the forgiveness of sins. That is our “initiation” rite, a marker or monument, if you will, that God has done something special in our lives and that we are set apart for something special. The water doesn’t become the blood of Christ when we’re baptized. But in a way that only God knows, the waters of baptism are infused with the power of spiritual cleansing and renewal.

Communion, then, is our regular connection with our baptism, because in communion, as we’ve said, we also encounter the blood of Christ, or what it signifies, in the cup at the communion table. The bread reminds us of the physical suffering Christ endured on the cross. But it also reminds us that we are all part of the body of Christ as well—that’s why we take it together, whether it’s monthly, weekly, or whenever we gather in his name. Out of all the different denominations out there, communion reminds us what we have in common: faith in Christ.

I’ve been studying what the Bible says about communion for quite a long time. It was the topic of one of my early blog posts. In my home church, we take it every Sunday, because that seems to be the practice of the early church in Acts. But my church also typically qualifies it when giving the communion meditation: “If you’re a believer in Christ, we invite you to participate.” There’s no official check for membership or a communicant’s card. Just a simple question to be answered on your honor. Some denominations or branches of mainline denominations require you to be a member of the church. Others may even suggest you’re committing heresy or blasphemy if you take communion in a church where you’re not a member.

The variety in how communion or the eucharist is handled in the modern church concerns me. Communion should be about what Jesus accomplished on the cross, not about your personal affiliation with a particular church. In that early blog article, A Truly Open Communion?, I asked the question this way:

If Jesus calls sinners to himself and eats with them; if Jesus broke bread at the Last Supper with a table full of betrayers and deserters; if Jesus can feed 5,000 men in addition to the women and children with just a few loaves of bread and some fish; why do many churches officially prohibit the Lord’s Table (communion, Eucharist) from those who are not professed Christ-followers, or worse, from those professed Christ-followers who are struggling with sin or divorce or other problems?

Should we really be denying or discouraging those who come to church looking for forgiveness and a connection to the body of Christ the very elements that Jesus uses to signify those things—the bread and the cup? Author John Mark Hicks says this in talking about communion as a “missional table”:

The table is a place where Jesus receives sinners and confronts the righteous; a place where Jesus extends grace to seekers but condemns the self-righteous. Jesus is willing to eat with sinners in order to invite them into the kingdom, but he points out the discontinuity between humanity’s tables…and the table in the kingdom of God.[3]

The implication here is that Jesus is in our midst in a special way, I think, not just because “two or three are gathered in his name,” but because we are doing this “in remembrance” of Jesus. The Old Testament concept of “remembering” is what is key here. In the Old Testament, when the writer says something like, “Then God remembered his promise to Abraham” or “Then God remembered his covenant with Israel,” this not God just calling a set of facts to mind. When God remembers like this, he also acts, and usually in a mighty way.

So when we remember, I believe it is also a call to action on our part, to be empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit in that moment to make a commitment to action for the days that follow. It’s similar to what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:23–24): “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”[4] By his blood we are forgiven and cleansed to start afresh. By remembering Christ, we are empowered to go out and serve.

As we come to today’s gospel passage again, we find ourselves at the end of the dining part of the Last Supper gathering. Jesus wants this time to be memorable for his disciples, because he tells them this is the last time they’re going to have any meaningful contact with him, at least in his earthly form. John makes a point of saying “When [Judas] was gone,” Jesus began delivering his final instructions, his “action plan” if you will, to give them assurance that they will have the guidance of the Holy Spirit after his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. All of the elements leading up to his crucifixion have been set in motion, and there’s no turning back now.

That is why Jesus can say, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.” He knows what is about to happen. Although Jesus will experience many strong emotions, including betrayal, abandonment, and those associated with excruciating pain, he knows the end result will benefit all mankind for eternity. It’s the day he prepared for but perhaps had hoped would never come, or at least had hoped he would not have to endure alone. He knows the days ahead will be difficult, so he gives them a new command.

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).

That word “as” carries a huge load with it. It’s not the regular word for “as” in Greek, which is also a two-letter word. The word John uses is a compound word that has the sense of its root words: “love one another according to the way I loved you.” The theme of this new command is found in a few other verses in this part of John, as well as in Luke 6:31: “Treat others according to the way you want to be treated.” “Love” is less about a feeling and more about action. Earlier in John 13, Jesus says, “I have set you an example that you should act toward others according to the way I have acted toward you.” In 15:9, he says, “I have loved you according to the way the Father has loved me,” and then repeats the command from John 13 a few verses later.

Showing this radical, sacrificial, agape kind of love that expects nothing in return is how we show the world we are Jesus followers. It calls us in some cases to reach out beyond our comfort zones and to be hospitable and welcoming to strangers. The author of Hebrews exhorts us in this way in 13:1: “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”[5] We could all use an angel in our lives from time to time, right? The first chapter of Hebrews (1:14) mentions the function of angels: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”[6] God uses angels, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, to empower and enable us to show love to others. But I digress just a bit.

God demonstrated his great love for us in Jesus through his life among us, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. I want to bring in the last couple verses of our reading from Psalm 148 this morning, because it is one of the foundational prophecies that show us what the Israelites expected of the Messiah, and Jesus proved faithful to that promise:

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

14 And he has raised up for his people a horn, k

the praise of all his faithful servants,

of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord. [7]

Jesus is our horn, the strength that we need to endure each day. Let us continue to hold fast to our Savior so that the world will know him, his salvation, and the power and love of God Almighty. Amen!

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

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

[3] Hicks, John Mark. “The Lord’s Supper as Eschatological Table” in Evangelicalism and the Stone-Campbell Movement, Volume 2: Engaging Basic Christian Doctrine. William R. Baker, ed. Abilene: ACU Press, 2006.

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

[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.

April 20, 2025

Running the Resurrection Race (Easter 2025; John 20:1–18)

Filed under: 1 Corinthians,1 Samuel,Christology,Easter,Ephesians,Faith, Faithfulness,forgiveness,Galatians,Hebrews,John Gospel of,Jonah,Life of Christ,Luke Gospel of,Passion,Proverbs,Psalms,Repentance,Resurrection,Soteriology — Scott Stocking @ 7:55 pm
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I delivered this message Easter (Resurrection Sunday), April 20, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, Nebraska. I focused on the theme of “running,” picking up on the account of Peter and John “racing” to the tomb.

Good morning! Hallelujah, Jesus is Risen!

The Bible has a running theme. No, seriously, the Bible talks a lot about “running” in the context of our faith. Consider these two verses from 2 Samuel 22:29–30 (par. Psalm 18:28–29) NKJV:

29          “For You are my lamp, O Lord;

The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.

30          For by You I can run against a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.[1]

Or how about Psalm 119:32 (NKJV):

I will run the course of Your commandments,

For You shall enlarge my heart.[2]

Then there’s Proverbs 18:10 (NKJV):

10          The name of the Lord is a strong tower;

The righteous run to it and are safe.[3]

The running theme carries over into the New Testament as well, especially in Paul’s letters:

There’s 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV): “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?”[4]

And Galatians 2:2b (NIV): “I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.”[5]

Even the author of Hebrews gets in on the theme in 12:1–2a (NIV): “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”[6]

We see the running theme in the parable of the prodigal or “lost” son in Luke 15:20 (NIV), although in a slightly different way when it comes to the father in the parable:

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”[7]

A few verses later, we learn why the father ran to greet his son: “‘This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”[8]

I think you see where I’m going with this now, right? In our gospel passage this morning, however, Mary and the disciples aren’t looking for a “lost” or prodigal son, but, as they will realize shortly, the once dead and now risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Mary runs to tell the disciples the news, and Peter and John run, no race back to the tomb to see if what she’s telling them is true. The news was that incredible that they couldn’t just take a casual morning stroll back to the tomb.

Now before I dive into this morning’s passage from John, I want to do a quick sidebar on one of the most common questions people ask about the crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus was crucified on a Friday and rose from the dead on Sunday. That sounds like about 48 hours, right? Two days? But Jesus had predicted all along that he would rise on the third day. He “borrowed” that timeline from the prophet Jonah, who had spent three days and nights in the belly of the great fish. By Jewish reckoning, the first day of anything is “day one.” We see that in Genesis: “There was evening and morning, the first day.” Jesus was arrested (i.e., “swallowed up”) on Thursday evening after sundown and subjected to a rigged trial that was illegal by Jewish laws in several ways had sealed his fate before it even started, so the period from sundown Thursday through sundown Friday was “the first day.” The Sabbath, of course was on Saturday, having begun at sundown Friday night, the second day. This of course makes Sunday the third day. Jesus could have risen any time after sundown Saturday night and would have fulfilled the prophecy of rising on the third day.

In fact, John’s account tells us it was still dark when Mary Magdalene got to the tomb Sunday morning. John says nothing about whether the guards were there. I’m guessing not, though, as they probably ran off terrified that the stone rolled away seemingly all by itself. Matthew says the guards had to make up a story about it, but they most likely would have been disciplined if not executed for their inability to keep a dead man in a tomb. The details differ among the gospel writers, but I’ll stick with John’s narrative here the rest of the way. Mary didn’t wait around to find out what happened. She had apparently looked in the tomb before running back to Peter and John (“the other disciple”) because she told them Jesus wasn’t there anymore.

Peter and John went racing back to the tomb. John made sure he reported that he won the race, but Peter went in first. Isn’t that the reverse of the Prodigal parable? The prodigal Peter, who had denied knowing Jesus three times during the illegal trial, came running back to his savior. It seems odd that they just looked into the tomb and apparently shrugged their shoulders at each other. John tells us that he and Peter found strips of linen there and a separate head cloth when they went into the tomb. Not sure what that means for the Shroud of Turin. But it does suggest that someone had to unwrap Jesus, unless his arms weren’t secured to the body.

Because they still hadn’t put two and two together yet, they decided to head home. No further investigation; no searching for clues or footprints in the dust; no trying to find eyewitnesses that may have seen what happened. What’s especially surprising to me is this: why did they leave Mary Magdalene at the tomb all alone, still crying in grief and shock that someone might have stolen Jesus’s body? Not very gentlemanly of them. And they missed the best part.

Mary, however, did not miss the best part. When she looked into the tomb again, she saw the angels, probably the same ones who unwrapped Jesus’s body that morning. Why weren’t they there when Peter and John went in? Difficult to say, except perhaps that they should have been able to recall Jesus’s teaching about him rising from the dead after three days. Or maybe it’s because Mary was the first one to arrive at the tomb, so she got to be the first one to see him when he made his appearance. Jesus was apparently just freshly resurrected, because Mary couldn’t touch him for whatever reason.

The fact that Mary has a validated claim of being the first to see Jesus risen (besides perhaps the Roman guards) might add some credibility to the resurrection story. If Peter and John had been the first ones to see him alive, it’s possible they could have been accused of a conspiracy to hide the body and say he rose from the dead. It would be more incredible to believe that a couple older Jewish women could have carried his body off than it would be to believe Jesus had risen from the dead.

Jesus told her to go find Peter and the rest of the disciples and let them know he was indeed alive. The disciples don’t have to wait too long to see the risen Savior for themselves. That very night, Jesus would appear to them behind locked doors and reveal himself. Jesus was revealing himself to more and more people and would continue to do so for the next 40 days or so to establish an irrefutable claim that he had indeed risen from the dead. He had won the victory over death and the grave so that we also could live in that hope of the same victory.

What is the message we can take from this passage today, that the disciples ran to see if the hope of Jesus survived his crucifixion? Well, lately I’ve been seeing news reports that people, especially young people, are coming back to church after the COVID shutdowns had decimated many congregations. The White House has established an Office of Faith that is, ostensibly, looking out for the rights of those who live out their faith but have been hounded or cancelled by antireligious forces. We’re even seeing some politicians be more sincerely bold about speaking about faith matters. If we’re in the start of a revival in our country, let’s jump on the bandwagon!

I want to read to you part of an opinion piece that came out Saturday morning from columnist David Marcus. In it, he speaks of the connection between the suffering the church experienced through COVID and the beautiful end result that the church experienced in history after other periods of suffering:

Perhaps we should not be surprised that the bitter cup of COVID led to greater religious observance by Christians. After all the Holy Spirit, speaking through the prophets, has told for thousands of years of periods of loss and suffering that end in the fullness of God’s light.

From the banishment from Eden, to the Flood, to the Exodus, and finally Christ’s 40 days of starvation and temptation in the desert, again and again, it is suffering that brings God’s people closest to Him.

During COVID, our desert was isolation, and especially for young people, it only exacerbated what was already a trend of smartphones replacing playgrounds, of virtual life online slowly supplanting reality.

At church, everything is very real, much as it has been for more than a thousand years. At church, we are never alone. At church, things can be beautiful and true and celebrated, unlike the snark-filled world of our screens that thrives on cruel jokes.

Human beings need a purpose and meaning beyond being a cog in the brave new world of tech. We need connection to our God and to each other.[9]

I hope that Mount View can be a place where you continue to find connection to God. If you’re visiting today, I hope and pray that you’d want to stick around and discover more of that connection to God. And if I may speak from my own heart for a moment, I want to say this: I’ve been filling the pulpit off and on for over 3½ years at this point, and much more frequently since last October. You have grown on me, and I hope that you’ve grown with me. And I pray that the testimony of your fellowship will attract more and more people who desire to connect with God. I pray that the messages here as people download them from the Internet will bear much fruit wherever it is heard and repeated.

The church is winning the race to win the hearts and souls of those who seek a deeper connection with God and with their own faith. I mean, who would have ever thought that the American Idol reality show would have a three-hour special featuring “Songs of Faith” like they’re doing tonight! I’d say the Spirit is on the move! You and I may never be on American Idol, but we can be bright and shining lights so that the world may know the hope we have.

On this day when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, I want to close with an encouragement to you from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, 1:18–20 (NIV):

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.[10]

Amen, and have a blessed Resurrection Sunday with friends and family.

[1] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

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

[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.

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

[9] DAVID MARCUS: 5 years after a dark COVID Easter, faith is flourishing | Fox News, accessed 04/19/25.

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

March 23, 2025

Bearing Fruit…and the Cross (Luke 13:1–9; Psalm 63)

Filed under: 1 Corinthians,Courage,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,forgiveness,Isaiah,Lent,Luke Gospel of,Prayer,Psalms,Repentance,Soteriology,Spiritual Warfare — Scott Stocking @ 11:41 pm
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I preached this message on Sunday, March 23, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church. I dealt with all four passages for the Lectionary for this Sunday.

Bearing Fruit…and the Cross

Lent is typically thought of in the Christian world as a time of sacrifice. Some people give up meat only to crowd into the numerous fish fries around town. Others might give up chocolate or coffee or caffeinated beverages or shopping or any number of other things that we might consider “vices” personally, but most of those things are not innately spiritual and may in fact make us a bit more difficult at times to live with if we haven’t had our morning cup of Joe. I’m teasing you a bit, of course. But if Lent is supposed to bring us some spiritual benefit, then shouldn’t we be giving up things that can damage our relationship with God? Why not give up greed, pride, selfishness, and other such things?

That seems to be the underlying theme behind our passages today. They might be summed up by John’s exhortation when he was preaching in the wilderness in Luke 3:8: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” In other words, bear fruit while you’re bearing the cross. In our passage from Luke 13 this morning, Jesus seems to be addressing the thought that some had that bad things only happened to bad people. But the circumstances of our demise do not determine our eternal destiny. In spite of the untimely and unfortunate deaths of the Galileans and those in the tower of Siloam, Jesus says the important thing is to repent and be ready.

Jesus switches to talking about the fig tree that won’t bear fruit in the next few verses. The owner of the fig tree wants to cut it down because it’s unproductive. But the vineyard manager said “Give me another year and I’ll have it bearing fruit.” But the connection here with the previous verses and John’s statement about producing fruit in keeping with repentance is unmistakable. If we’re not bearing fruit, that could affect our salvation and our relationship with our Savior. Jesus said in Matthew 7:20: “By their fruit you will recognize them.”

Paul talks about the quality of our works in 1 Corinthians 3:12–15, but he doesn’t use the language of “fruit.”

12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.[1]

God, being full of grace and mercy, leaves us a way out when we fall short. That’s what he accomplished through Jesus in his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. But instead of focusing on these warnings for the rest of my message this morning, I want to turn the focus around to the theme I mentioned earlier: How do we bear fruit while bearing the cross? That would have been my sermon title in the bulletin if I had remembered to click send on my e-mail to Judy!

I want us then to look at the other three passages from the lectionary today in addition to our gospel passage I touched on at the beginning. In Psalm 63, we’ll look at seeking God in worship. In Isaiah 55, we’ll look at seeking God for our wellbeing. And finally in 1 Corinthians 10, we’ll look at standing firm in our faith to recognize the way out of temptations that can drag us down.

Let’s look at Psalm 63. For a long time our country has been turning away from church attendance and, by implication, from God altogether. A trusted, unbiased Web site called Statista has this summary of church attendance: “According to a 2022 survey, 31 percent of Americans never attend church or synagogue, compared to 20 percent of Americans who attend every week. Despite only about a fifth of Americans attending church or synagogue on a weekly basis, almost 40 percent consider themselves to be very religious.” A 2024 survey by Gallup puts the number of weekly attenders at 20%, with another 9% at “almost every week.” On the flip side, 31% NEVER attend church or other religious service. We could talk about the reasons for this 24/7 for a week, but we’d probably never get anywhere. Psalm 63 tells us why this shouldn’t be, though.

We should be able to come to church to find God. Granted David, who wrote this psalm, had a special relationship with God that enabled and empowered him to be a great leader of his people, but this doesn’t mean that you and I don’t have access to this same relationship in the New Covenant era. David claims to have seen God’s power “in the sanctuary.” It’s not clear exactly what he “saw,” whether it was some physical manifestation of light, a divine presence, or if he’s using the word “see” to describe what he experienced in worship. Regardless, it was clear at least in David’s day, one of the best places to be to encounter God was the sanctuary in the Temple.

In the New Covenant era, God has given his Holy Spirit to each of us who believe. You don’t have to be a king or a prophet any more to have exclusive access to the Holy Spirit. When we come together to worship, to sing praises and hymns, to read God’s word and hear it explained in such a way that it’s relevant to our live and our situations, the Holy Spirit works among us to build and shepherd that unity we have in body of Christ. When we pray together as a congregation, we let God know that we still trust in him to work in our lives and provide for our needs while at the same time letting those whom we’re praying for know that we will support them however we can. When we come together as a worshipping community for projects and collection for the poor, we show and shower God’s love upon those who are truly in need.

But our worship doesn’t just happen in the church building. Verse implies that wherever David is at, he is earnestly seeking God. Later in vs. 6, he say he remembers God in his bed and while he’s keeping watch on the battlefield at night. He sings to God and he clings to God, knowing that God’s presence is always with him through the Holy Spirit. We have that same assurance. Jesus even promised that at his ascension: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Seek God and you will find him, and as you draw closer to him, others will come to see him at work in your lives as well.

As we seek God, we can also know he will provide for our basic needs and do so generously. That is the message of Isaiah 55. Verses 1 & 2 go like this:

“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and you will delight in the richest of fare. [2]

God wants to richly bless us. God’s goodness is genuine and original. God isn’t giving us yesterday’s leftovers. Jeremiah says “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22b–23). Sometimes we spend a lot of effort and money pursuing things that don’t bring lasting or eternal satisfaction. God wants us to focus on him and what he provides for us. Later on in Isaiah 55, the prophet says this:

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake their ways

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.[3]

You heard in that passage the idea I suggested earlier about giving up the things that tempt us to turn from God. But Isaiah also says we need to get rid of the “stinkin’ thinkin’” as well. This is complete repentance: not just changing our behavior but changing our minds and our ways of thinking as well. That’s were the worship comes in from Psalm 63: setting our hearts on Christ.

One of my favorite passages occurs a few verses later in Isaiah 55:

My word that goes out from my mouth…

will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;[4]

I believe this is one of the greatest passages on evangelism. I love that it says God’s word accomplishes the purpose for which he sent it. When I was preaching early in my career, I was never in a church that followed the lectionary or the liturgical calendar. I could preach on what I wanted or I could pick out a theme or a particular book and prepare a sermon series.

But following the lectionary puts these two verses from Isaiah in a new light for me. Now I don’t know who decided on the three cycle of passages to read, but the lectionary is a “reading plan” adopted by many churches and denominations around the world, so it carries a lot of weight and, aside from the denominational differences and nuances that work their way into sermons on these passages, many churches are on the same page when it comes to what their congregations are presented with each Sunday. Because so many churches have agreed to use it, I believe it’s something that God honors. I think there’s something divine about the spiritual foresight those responsible for developing it, so I honor that.

Occasionally I’ll look at the passage for the day and wonder, “How am I going to preach on that?!” But I trust that there’s some component of God’s timing there, that is, some spiritual benefits he has in mind for sending out his word in this way, and I want to be faithful to communicate that in a way that’s relevant to you and my larger audience on the blog. I genuinely believe the lectionary is one way that God’s word gets from his mouth to our ears and that preachers who follow the lectionary are in many and diverse ways fulling the purposes for which God sends it out in that structure.

Finally, I want to look briefly at 1 Corinthians 10. Paul concludes in the first half of chapter 10 that that the written history of God’s people is intended for our encouragement and exhortation to faithfulness. Here’s what vv. 11–13 say:

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.[5]

Paul warns us that we shouldn’t rest on our laurels. Faithfulness is an active, ongoing process in the life of the Christian. There is nothing passive about it. Continue seeking God in worship; continue reading his words to hide them in your heart. Continue loving your neighbor as yourself so they too can see the love of God. Continue putting on the armor of God each and every day so you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

May the power of the Holy Spirit go with you this week as you serve our Lord and Savior. 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.

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

March 16, 2025

Approaching the Cross (Psalm 27; Luke 13:31–35)

Filed under: Christology,Courage,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Hebrews,Hope,Lent,Life of Christ,Luke Gospel of,Passion,Prayer,Psalms,Spiritual Warfare — Scott Stocking @ 5:56 pm
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I presented this message on March 16, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, Nebraska. In studying the two passages, I discovered several thematic connections between Psalm 27 and the central part of Luke’s gospel, especially from 9:51 through Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Luke 19.

I had attended StoneBridge (my home church) for the worship part of their service before going to preach, and they did a version of St. Patrick’s Breastplate. I started my message with that this morning (the 15 lines toward the end of the longer prayer).

May the Lord be with you.

Have you ever thought about how you read certain types of literature? If you’re reading a fictional novel, or perhaps a true historical account of real event or someone’s life, it’s probably best to start at the beginning and read through to the end. It’s important to have all the details of the story because some of those details will be important throughout or later in the book. If you’re reading a history book or a historical biography, you may want to focus on a certain topic or certain era covered in the book to get the specific information you’re looking for, but you might miss some important background information that gives more context to events of that period. When you read a newspaper, you look for the headlines that interest you. If you’re looking for a specific answer on something like “How do I change a tire,” “Where do the Sandhill Cranes migrate to,” or “How do I calculate the area of a circle,” you typically wouldn’t have to read an entire reference book relevant to the subject. You’d go to the index or table of contents and look up where to find the information you’re looking for.

The Bible is sort of all these types of literature wrapped up in one collection that contains all these things, from the fictional, but true-to-life parables to the priestly “Chronicles” of the kings to the history of the patriarchs and the gospels, right up to the fantastical imagery of Revelation. Because of this, it’s important that we don’t lock ourselves into one way of reading the Bible. While it’s good to sit down and read large sections of the Bible in one sitting from time to time, we can still miss “the big picture” if we don’t understand or know the historical setting in which it was written.

Even when you read the gospels, if you have a Bible with footnotes, you’ll see that there are all sorts of references to passages in both the Old and New Testament where the gospel writer is either quoting the Old Testament or the editor perceives a connection to another New Testament author’s writings. That’s something you don’t typically get in a fictional novel, but would be helpful, I think.

Our two passages today, Psalm 27[1] and Luke 13, have a thematic connection, but it’s important to recognize that this connection compels us to look at the larger context of Luke’s gospel. Luke 13 is a little more than halfway through Luke’s 24-chapter gospel, but more importantly for our purposes, it’s about halfway between Luke 9:51 and Luke 19:28, which is the beginning of the story of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Why is 9:51 an important marker? Luke says this: “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”[2] Luke isn’t even halfway through his gospel and he’s already talking about Jesus getting ready for the cross!

Luke frames the rest of his gospel from 9:51 on in the context of Jesus approaching the cross and preparing himself and his disciples for the implications of that seminal event. In fact, the footnote on this verse in my NIV Bible lists the references to this in the story line along the way: Luke 13:22, 17:11, 18:31, and 19:28.

So let’s take a look at the thematic comparisons between Luke and Psalm 27. Psalm 27:1 is the initial confidence builder for David as he pens this psalm: The Lord is his light, his salvation, and his stronghold, so David has nothing to fear as he leads his people. This confidence is paralleled in Luke 9:51 with his statement that Jesus “resolutely” set out for Jerusalem. The phrase here literally means to “set your face” (or by extension, “set your eyes”) upon Jerusalem. This ties in with Psalm 27:4 as well, when David speaks of dwelling in the house of the Lord and gazing on his beauty in the temple. The temple, of course, was in Jerusalem. In today’s gospel passage, Jesus seems to hint that he’s only three days away from Jerusalem and needs to press on.

In Psalm 27:2–3, David says that in spite of his enemies advancing against him, he will remain confident of the Lord’s help. As Jesus journeys toward Jerusalem in Luke, he encounters his own opposition along the way. In 9:53, the Samaritan village he was near wanted nothing to do with him because he was headed for Jerusalem. In chapter 11, we see opposition from the pharisees and experts in the law as he’s working miracles and teaching about the kingdom. By the end of chapter 11, Luke says this after delivering a list of “woes” to his critics: “53 When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.”[3] No love lost there between Jesus and that group of elitists.

Just like David, though, Jesus’s confidence doesn’t wane. He continues on his journey gathering an ever-larger following warning them about the opposition they themselves would face for being his followers and encouraging them to be ready when his time does come. In chapter 13, he faces opposition from a synagogue leader who is upset because Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath! Imagine that! In our passage this morning, the Pharisees seem to think they’re doing Jesus a favor by telling him to leave the region because Herod wants to kill him. But Jesus presses on, even with a bit of sarcasm, or so it seems, when he says in so many words that Jerusalem is the only place for a prophet to die.

The rest of Luke up to the point where he reaches Jerusalem gives us several more examples of this opposition, but we can save that for another time. I mentioned earlier about Psalm 27:4–5 hinting at the importance of temple. For Jesus, the temple was the true home of his family: after all, it was his father’s house. If he knows he’s going to die, he wants to be as close to his family home as possible. His statement in Luke 13:35 about “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” looks forward to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I believe Jesus takes a sense of pride and ownership in the temple, even though it is a structure made by human hands.

We saw after Christmas how Jesus as a boy stayed at the temple and impressed the religious leaders with his knowledge of and wisdom about God’s law. His first order of business after arriving in Jerusalem at the end of Luke 19 is to clear out the corruption in his father’s house. Even as he knew this would be one of his last weeks to experience the earthly temple, he wanted to leave it in better condition than he found it by restoring it to a place of prayer and genuine worship. He knew he would be the sacrificial lamb, and there would be no more need to sell lambs and birds in the temple for the sacrifices. It would be restored to a purer state. In the book of Acts, we see that his followers have been meeting regularly at the temple since his crucifixion, and it is there that the church is born on the day of Pentecost. That was the “Garden of Eden” for Christ followers.

The last half of Psalm 27 is one of David’s most heartfelt prayers for protection against his enemies and for the security of God’s presence with and acceptance of David as his chosen ruler for God’s people. Jesus taught his disciples to pray in Luke 11, the shorter version of the Lord’s prayer. In that prayer, we hear some of the same themes of praise, provision, and forgiveness. He understands the goodness of God’s provision.

But we also hear in that Psalm the foreshadowing of the cross. In verse 12, David asks not to be turned over to his enemies, which sounds very much like Jesus’s plea in the Garden of Gethsemane to have the cup of suffering removed from him. David’s pleas in verse 9 sound very much like Jesus’s words on the cross, “Why have you forsaken me?” Those words come from Psalm 22, where many of the aspects of Jesus’s crucifixion are foretold.

Just as David in the last two verses of Psalm 27 affirms his confidence in the goodness of the Lord and can encourage the worshipers to “be strong and take heart,” so Jesus has confidence in his dying moments to selflessly tell the thief on the cross that he too will join him in paradise when they die. I don’t believe that David intended Psalm 27 to be a messianic psalm, nor do I think Luke intended the central part of his gospel to mirror the themes of Psalm 27, but the parallels are striking and certainly worth noting.

But these parallels are academic. What does all this mean for you and me as we walk with our savior?

First, when we run up against roadblocks or challenges to our faith or we find that doubts are creeping in, we can remain confident that our light, our stronghold, surrounds us with his protection. We need not fear or doubt, but if we wait on the Lord and strengthen our hearts by abiding in God’s word, we can be confident we will see the goodness of the Lord, just as David was. We can walk in the victory of the cross in the overcoming resurrection of our savior.

Second, we can heed the exhortation of Hebrews 10:19–25, which sums up these three themes concisely:

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.[4]

Worshiping together as a church family, whether we’re a family of 20 or 200 or 2,000, provides a powerful sense of belonging to each of us. We know we have a place to call our spiritual home, just as Jesus considered the temple his spiritual home. We can feel safe here with one another.

Finally, the power of praying together as a church family cannot be overstated. Our prayers, whether in our own closets at home or corporately in our liturgy here, keep us connected to and in constant communication with our heavenly father. We can be assured that he hears us and works to respond to our prayers according to his will and his love for us.

As we go through this Lenten season, let us not forget the forgiveness we have from God and not forget to offer forgiveness and grace to those who need to hear that message. Peace to all of you. Amen.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

[1] Psalm 27 parallels Psalm 31 with similar themes. Psalm 31 will figure prominently in the Lectionary beginning the Sunday before Palm Sunday next month.

[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.

February 23, 2025

Family Feud: Joseph Forgives His Brothers (Genesis 45)

Filed under: Faith, Faithfulness,forgiveness,Genesis,Luke Gospel of,Psalms,Spiritual Warfare — Scott Stocking @ 2:21 pm
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The Lord be with you.

I’m not looking for a show of hands here, but I want you to think about this for a moment: How many of you can say you have an enemy? Now for myself, I can’t imagine that anyone in this congregation has an enemy, but then, I don’t know everything about your lives or what struggles or challenges you all have overcome throughout your life on God’s green earth. If you have an enemy, do you remember how they became your enemy?

I have had enemies in my life. The usual way I’ve made an enemy is that I’ve spoken an uncomfortable truth to someone and they haven’t wanted to accept it. When I lived in Paxton, Illinois, a local businessman wanted to start what he called a “Raffle House.” We had had issues a few years prior to that with a native American tribe trying to reclaim some land outside the town for a casino. The community successfully rebuffed it, in part because they were able to demonstrate there was very little evidence that the tribe had legitimate historical claim to the area. Because of that opposition, I figured there was still some fire left in the community to oppose a gambling operation in our conservative little town.

To make a long story short (A Tale of Two Photos), I discovered he was essentially offering a Bingo game without a State license to play Bingo and in the process skirting the 5% tax on Bingo required by State law, so I tattled on him in a letter to the editor. The Raffle House only lasted about 8 months before it went belly-up. A few months later, I received a tip from the owner’s disgruntled ex wife (or so it seemed) about a similar operation one of his relatives was running in the large college town 25 miles down the road. I reported it to the police there, and they shut it down almost immediately. The Raffle House owner wound up getting me fired from the church I was serving at the time because he had given money to the church, which he never attended, and demanded I recant. I didn’t recant, so I quit.

I don’t think that guy ever forgave me for the grief I caused him. But I forgave him. In fact, the experience I gained in researching the laws and regulations regarding that story helped land me my first full-time job after I moved back to Omaha a few years later. Did I “love” my enemy by confronting him? I’d had no interaction or relationship with him prior to all this coming up, but I’d heard a lot of things about his character, and very little was positive. Was I doing good to him by warning him about the State laws he seemed to be violating?

The Bible speaks of many different kinds of enemies and different ways we can respond to them. Our enemies can come from anywhere and can range from those who don’t know us at all to members of our own family (Matthew 10:36). They can be people who hate or dislike you for any number of reasons, including your gender or your skin color. They could be people to whom we speak uncomfortable or challenging truths (Galatians 4:16).

The gospel writers love to cite Psalm 110:1:

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your feet.” ’[1]

This of course is one of the more prominent messianic psalms about Jesus being victorious over his “enemies.” Many Jews in the time of Jesus saw that as a promise that the Messiah would overthrow Roman rule, but God had a different idea. The enemies God had in mind were the Jewish leaders who had imposed a bunch of legalistic requirements on the Jews that weren’t necessary for salvation.

Paul says in his discussion of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 says that Christ “must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”[2] So we’ll never really be free of our ultimate enemy, death, until Christ is victorious at the consummation of history.

The New Testament speaks quite a bit about how to deal with our enemies. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” “Turn the other cheek,” which in that culture meant don’t give your enemy the opportunity to continue to pummel you unless he wants to disgrace himself. “Carry the soldier’s pack a second mile,” which would by default bring shame upon the soldier. “Lend without expecting anything back.”

I could say much more about what the Bible says about our enemies, but I think we could probably learn a little more dealing with enemies if we take a look at the story of man who had enemies within his own family as well as at the highest levels of the Egyptian government. I’m speaking, of course, about Joseph. Genesis 45:1–15 tells the story about Joseph reconciling with his brothers, and I want to read that first here. But I will go back and highlight some of the other events of his life that reveal how he responded to having and rediscovering his enemies.

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. w

8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’

12 “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.[3]

Those of you who know the story of Joseph, or who have seen Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, know how Joseph, the first born of Jacob’s first love, Rachel, was his favorite son and had received “a coat of many colors,” or as more recent translations put it, a “richly ornamented” (NIV 1984) or “ornate” (NIV 2011) coat, or as the NRSV puts it, “a long robe with sleeves,” which doesn’t sound nearly as exciting as the other descriptions. The point is it was a special coat that made his brothers extremely jealous. As the apple of Jacob’s eye, Joseph (17 years old at the time) had earned the ire of all his brothers. Not a very good way to enter adulthood!

Add to that his dreams that his whole family, including his father, would one day bow down to him, and it’s not hard to understand the intense jealousy toward him. Although it’s not biblical text, I think the line Joseph’s brothers sing in “Joseph’s Coat” from the musical captures their jealousy quite nicely: “Being told we’re also-rans/does not make us Joseph’s fans.” From that point on, they had it in for Joseph. So they did what any jealous brothers would do: they overpowered him, faked his death, and sold him to some nomadic Ishmaelites, who in turn sold him into slavery in Egypt. That haunted the brothers for the rest of story.

But Joseph, having escaped the enmity of his brothers, found himself as a favorite slave in the house of Potiphar, the captain of the Egyptian guard. However, even in that position, he had an “enemy” in Potiphar’s wife, who repeatedly attempted to seduce him. That eventually cost him his lofty position and landed him in jail. He probably could have been executed on the spot for such things, but I think Potiphar knew the character of his wife and needless to say, he didn’t think too highly of her. My guess is Potiphar knew Joseph hadn’t done anything wrong, but to save face publicly, he had to punish him.

Joseph found himself interpreting the dreams of two other officials of pharaoh, one being favorable and the other proving fatal, and the beneficiary of the favorable interpretation eventually remembered Joseph could interpret dreams and might be able to interpret a couple dreams pharaoh had dreamed. Joseph’s interpretation made sense to pharaoh, so pharaoh made him second in charge of Egypt. That essentially neutralized any of Joseph’s remaining enemies, if there were any left. Nine years later, two years into the famine, Joseph found himself with the perfect opportunity to get revenge on his brothers when they came to Egypt looking for food.

Most of you will remember that Joseph immediately recognized his brothers at this point, but they didn’t have a clue they were looking at their younger brother. So, like any good brother who’d been victimized by the rest of his brothers, he decided to play some head games with them to make them feel some pain. He had to be careful, though, because he was questioning his brothers closely about their intentions and accused them of being spies. They eventually “bought” some grain but had to leave one of their brothers in Joseph’s custody while they went back to Judah to get their youngest brother, Benjamin, whom Joseph may not have known.

The brothers went back to Judah to get Benjamin and discovered all their silver had been returned to them. Not sure how they missed THAT on the long trip. When they returned to Egypt a second time, Joseph kept at it with the mind games by seating his brothers from oldest to youngest and giving Benjamin five times the portions everyone else had.

That brings us to chapter 45. In spite of the fun Joseph must have been having playing these mind games with his brothers, he found he still loved all his brothers and broke down crying in a separate chamber. When he had composed himself, he returned to the dinner table and revealed himself to his brothers. Talk about being blindsided!!!

From this very real story then, what can we learn about dealing with anger or dealing with our enemies? [See also Psalm 37, which was read in the service before the message.] First, Joseph seemed to take much of this in stride. Never once do we read anything in the last fourth of Genesis about Joseph complaining about having been sold into slavery or wrongly accused of crimes against Potiphar’s wife. He knew what his own dreams meant and perhaps even when he was on the right path to fulfill those dreams, so he persevered through the worst conditions.

Second, and related to the first, Joseph never seemed to let anger get the best of him. When others in Joseph’s position found themselves faced with unfairness, they may not have endured with such patience and grace. His cool head landed him in the #2 spot in Egypt, where his dreams finally came through: his father and brothers had to bow down to him to get the food they needed to survive. He trusted God to get him through to the fulfillment of those dreams.

Finally, he made a generous offer to his brothers and their now-large families: they could live in the land of Goshen during the famine so they wouldn’t have to make the longer trips from Judah. You and I may not have land-a-plenty to give away, but we can usually find a way to provide some small gift. There’s nothing wrong with a peace offering, especially if you know it would be accepted and there’s been a genuine attempt at reconciliation.

So what is the way to love your enemies? If you’re not a police officer arresting someone or a mama bear safeguarding her children, maybe you can try killing them with kindness. If God’s kindness leads us to repentance; if God can be kind to the ungrateful and wicked, then I think we can find a way to respond similarly when faced with the actions of our enemies. Kindness and love are always appropriate, and I learned even this past week just how important that is for maintaining peace. But that’s a story for later time. Grace and peace to you. 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.

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
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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.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

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
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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.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

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
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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.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

[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 29, 2024

Young Jesus at the Temple (Post-Advent; Luke 2:41–52; Psalm 148; Colossians 3:12–17)

Filed under: Biblical Studies,Birth Stories,Christology,Christology,Colossians,Faith, Faithfulness,Luke Gospel of,Psalms — Scott Stocking @ 11:09 pm
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How many of you had “preteen” kids around you at your holiday celebrations this year? Honestly, that was my nightmare week of summer church camp if I ever got called to help lead that back in the day. So much drama! As I reflect on that, I wonder why we never made the kids memorize Bible verses about gossip! They’re at that age where they want to be independent but still have to pass notes or create a “grapevine” to find out who likes who.

The stories you get as a camp counselor may be hard to follow sometimes too. “Maggie asked her BFF Jenny to ask Jake if he would ask Maggie to sit with her at the campfire, but Jake likes Jenny better than Maggie so Jake asked Jenny to the campfire instead and Jenny said yes so now Maggie’s mad at Jenny” and so on and so on….

Fortunately (or rather, “divinely”), the preteen, 12-year-old Jesus in our Bible passage this morning shows no signs of having that kind of drama to worry about or distract him from preparing for his ministry as an adult. In fact, he is SO not into that kind of drama that he creates his own drama by not telling his family he’s going to hang out at the temple as they’re departing and talk to a bunch of old theologically minded men about what his real dad is really like. No playing tag or hide-and-seek with his cousins and half-siblings on the way home from Jerusalem for this Savior-to-be!

When you think about it, this really is a remarkable account of the early life of Jesus. We very rarely got that with other important biblical figures in the Old Testament. With Isaac and Jacob and Esau, we didn’t really have too much of their early life, other than Jacob holding onto to Esau’s heel when those twins were born. Joseph was 17 when he started having visions of grandeur and was subsequently sold into slavery by his brothers. We looked at Samuel’s birth briefly last week as well.

Then of course there was David. He was the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons. But he also was seemingly quite brave, having bragged to King Saul about killing a lion and a bear. This set the stage for his confrontation with Goliath and thus giving him a reputation as a great warrior king. David would not be allowed to build God’s Temple, his “earthly” residence in Jerusalem, because he had blood on his hands, but Solomon would.

The tabernacle had certainly been through the ringer in the over 200 years it had been used for worship in the wilderness and as they settled into the Promised Land. David wanted to replace it with something beautiful and more permanent. He drew up the plans, and Solomon would eventually build it. But even that temple would fall into disrepair and ruin after the exile and its abandonment. Herod built a new temple, but even though it wasn’t the original built by Jesus’s earthly ancestor Solomon son of David, Jesus, the Son of Man of the lineage of David, would still come to call Herod’s temple his father’s house.

What is interesting about the youth and young adult stories we have about all these forefathers is that, since Cain killed Abel in the early chapters of Genesis, the Old Testament seems to have an underlying theme of disfavor on the firstborn among the family line of God’s chosen people. It’s not clear if Abraham was firstborn, because his story in Genesis is told under the title, “This is the account Terah,” his father’s name. Isaac was not Abraham’s first son. Jacob of course was second born to Isaac. Joseph was Jacob’s (Israel’s) second to last child of twelve sons and one daughter. Samuel wasn’t Elkanah’s first born, and David was the youngest of eight.

But we do know that Jesus is Mary’s first born, and this is where the disfavor of the firstborn gets nipped in the bud. Jesus knows, even at the tender age of 12, that he is God’s one and only begotten son, and not only that, that his father’s house is his home too by inheritance. In this temple encounter, Jesus asserts not only his first-born responsibility to bring honor and respect to his parents, and by extension to the rest of his family, but also honor, respect, and glory to his true father, his heavenly father, in the place his heavenly father calls home on earth.

Unfortunately, we do not have a transcript of Jesus’s discussion with the teachers in the temple. That would have been fascinating indeed. Jesus was only one year away from what was essentially his bar mitzvah, that is, becoming a “son of the commandment,” and thus being formally held to account for his observance of the law. Jesus was obviously trying his hand at dialoguing with the teachers of the law to understand the human and religious reasoning and logic these teachers applied to the law.

The dialogue would have been very Socratic as well. Lots of questions going back and forth, including answering questions with questions each way. The amazement the teachers had with Jesus probably stemmed from his depth of understanding of the law, his ability to answer their questions, and his own penchant for asking intelligent and thought-provoking questions himself. I’ll venture a guess and say he even tried out a parable or two on them.

Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”[1] Of course, Jesus was most likely a self-starter once he had awareness of his divine nature (and we can only speculate on when that happened). But our children obviously need guidance if we’re going to expect them to have any awareness of faith in God, a relationship with Jesus, or sensitivity to the Holy Spirit speaking into their lives.

To the extent that you can, if you can have any influence in the spiritual formation of the children in your extended family, take the opportunity to exercise that influence. Send them cards and letters. Record a video or two for them. Create a photo album with family stories included. I’d like to think my own blog is the spiritual legacy I’m leaving for my kids and grandkids.

As God’s chosen people, we have an obligation to pass on the legacy of our faith to our families. The other New Testament passage from today’s lectionary readings comes from Colossians 3:12–17, where Paul gives us insight as to how we can be shining lights to our families and the world around us:

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.[2]

In some ways, this passage reads like a further explanation of the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”[3] If you’re considering any New Year’s resolutions for 2025, this passage from Colossians would be a good way to start, to recommit yourself to being a better follower of Christ. This past year has certainly been pretty hectic and emotional given what’s happened on both the political and cultural fronts. Maybe it’s time we wipe the slate clean by injecting a heaping helping of forgiveness where we’ve encountered negative feedback from friends and family.

I like how the NIV translation uses “forbearance” in the fruit of the Spirit passage, the only time the NIV translates the Greek word that way. Every other time, it’s translated “patience” or “patient” in the New Testament. I’m not sure why that is, but the translation “forbearance” seems to have a more active nuance than the word “patience.” Patience seems to imply just waiting around for something to happen, while forbearance seems to suggest that you’re actively praying about whatever the situation is and how you can keep your emotions in check if it’s something you’re not comfortable with but have little to no control over.

As we talked about during the Advent season, seek the peace of Christ as well. “Let [it] rule in your hearts,” says Paul. Peace is not necessarily the absence of conflict, although that helps greatly, but the security of knowing you’re safe in Christ and in your faith. Spend time in Scripture and commit yourself to maintaining a connection with your faith family here or wherever you may attend regularly. That is how the word of God can dwell “among you” (notice it says “among” and not “in,” that’s significant!) richly and how you can have the experience of singing the songs of praise together that our Psalm 148 reading spoke about today.

As we close the books on 2024 this year, my prayer is that you will draw even closer to God in the new year. I pray for you (and me) like Paul prayed for the Ephesians: “That the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”[4] Power, riches, and hope (and not the hope of the MegaMillions jackpot type of riches). Jesus wants us to be strong in the faith for him and look to him for our joy. May God richly bless you as we enter 2025 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. Galatians 5:22–23a. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

My opinions are my own.

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