Faithful on Fridays Blog

Scene Four

Here’s Luke, a Gentile believer in a Jewish Messiah, who knows nothing about the teachings of the Bible, nothing about Jewish culture and traditions, and yet he intently listened to the teaching of Jesus entitled the Beatitudes (6:20-26). Did he understand them? Did they make sense? You may remember this famous declaration from Matthew’s perspective (very Jewish) where he listed nine ‘blessings’ for those whose character is humble and God-fearing; you’ll walk in the benefits of God. However, in Luke’s unique perspective, as he listened to the eyewitnesses, he only included four blessings and also included Jesus’ four woes. Why? 

I can only speculate, I’m doing that a lot, that Luke was thinking of his Gentile friends who’re in the same boat; they don’t know how to live according to the Bible because no one ever taught them what pleases God, only what pleases self. Maybe Luke wanted to give them a strong dose of both sides of God’s truth; there are benefits, but there’s also sadness. Gentiles were born and raised in Roman, pagan, worldly culture where anything goes, conversely, Jesus taught that when we walk in humility our rewards are often other-worldly, sometimes only enjoyed in heaven and sometimes now. What a contrast!

 Luke’s version of the Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor (in spirit), they’re walking in the Kingdom for God now and for eternity, contrasted with the woe or sorrow for the rich; what they have now is their only comfort, despite the fact that eternity is forever.  

Blessed are the hungry now for God will satisfy every desire throughout eternity, on the other hand, woe to those who are full now, they may be satisfied, but it’s temporary, eternity will look different for them.

Blessed are those who weep now, it’s also temporary, laughter and eternal joy is coming, compared to the ‘woe’ for those who laugh now with joy or mockery; their time is coming.

And finally, blessed are those who suffer now for the gospel, they can jump for joy and expect a great reward in heaven. Compared to unbelievers experiencing admiration now that fills them with pride at their temporary accomplishments. It’ll be different in eternity.

Luke heard even more contradictions as people reported Jesus teaching us to love our enemies, forgive them, and do good to them, even pray for them. What? Impossible! That doesn’t make sense! You’re right … to a Gentile, but to a Christian it makes perfect sense.  

We arrive at 6:38, unique to Luke; if you want to re-present the Savior to the world, then your mercy and generosity will be like a healthy dose of medicine, measured, shaken, and pressed together like filling a medicine bottle. Finally, this doctor recorded his first parable (vs. 39-42) focused on leadership. He was ‘fully trained’ by many fine leaders in medical school, the lower story, however, Jesus taught the upper story: follow His example of caring about others and not just yourself. That’s a unique perspective, right?

Beatitudes Part Four: Meekness

Christmas is a month away and we’re already immersed with carols. They’re pumped into the air as we shop, listen to the radio, or even get gas! What comes to mind when you think about baby Jesus? A poor family searching for a place to give birth, an animal trough for a cradle, shepherds in a field? Even Mariah Carey sang, “Jesus, Jesus, so lowly, meek, and mild.” Let’s discuss what meekness is and ways we imitate Christ when we practice it. 

Studying the Beatitudes has intrigued me. I almost want to retranslate them into something like this:

People will call you blessed by God when you are totally dependent on Him; that’s kingdom living!

People will call you blessed when you grieve over your sin; He will comfort you with forgiveness.

People will call you blessed when you are meek…

Does meekness really mean to be weak, quiet, or even shy? No, quite the opposite. The Greek word is paraotes and the meaning is ‘controlled power and strength’. That’s certainly not how I would have defined it before this study.

As we move through these verses from Matt. 5 we find a definite progression from needing God (poor in spirit), into experiencing sorrow over our sin (mourning), and realizing He has forgiven us. At that stage in our faith walk Jesus teaches that forgiveness of others will come naturally. That’s where true meekness comes into play. We have the controlled power to forgive those who have hurt us, which brings peace, or stay in bitterness and even revenge which will only bring you torment. Peace … torment, hmmm; it’s a no-brainer.

Jesus was truly meek because He retained His sovereignty while simultaneously  becoming human. He may have seemed lowly and mild but He was a King. His authority to judge and make decrees was still His DNA but He chose to keep it under His Father’s control and obey Him. This controlled power or strength, meekness, belongs to us as well. We have the power to judge others and declare guilt or we can choose to live like Jesus and declare leniency to others even when they don’t deserve it. Did you catch that? They don’t deserve it: news flash! Neither did you. 

When we forgive others, like a judge giving clemency, Jesus teaches that we inherit the earth. Inheritance is a gift, usually given to family, not based on our good works or perfection, but on family rights and privileges (read the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32). God says to you today, “You are my child and when you forgive those who hurt you, everything I have created, the whole earth, belongs to you.” That should stir up a fresh love for God and others in our spirit.

Whose name does the Holy Spirit bring to your mind as you read this? God’s desire is for you to inherit the earth and live a victorious life using controlled strength; that’s kingdom living and it’s available to you today. 

Scene Three

Luke’s medical training taught him to use empirical evidence when diagnosing and treating patients; meaning, he relied on gathering data by observation and experience in order to find the best treatment for sickness and disease. What he heard about Jesus’ approach must’ve blown his mind since it was based on God’s power to heal. Who did he interview for all the healings he recorded? The patient, the disciples, other observers? Without his own empirical evidence Luke relied on the clinical observations that were reported, as well as the outcomes. 

Take Peter’s mother-in-law, for example (5:38-39), she had a high fever, not simply a fever as the other gospels record, but a mega-fever, seizure-producing, which needed immediate care. What was Jesus’ treatment plan? He simply rebuked the fever and it left her. That must’ve been a hard pill for Luke to swallow so his interviewees continued. He met a man full of leprosy, not simply a leper as the others again record, but he was a hopeless Stage 4 victim. “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.” Jesus response? “I will.” And He did … that was only the beginning.

Jesus also connected with people spiritually as we find in Chapter 5 when Simon (Peter) himself undoubtedly recounted to Luke his salvation testimony. Only Luke records Peter falling at Jesus’ knees, declaring his sinful state, becoming a follower of Christ, and a few years later becoming the first Leader of this new movement called the Church (Acts 2:14). 

Luke’s unique perspective is also seen in the words he used to describe Jesus as the Healer. In 6:18 he chose two words that both mean healed, and yet different from a medical perspective. The word ‘heal’ indicates a supernatural, often instantaneous restoration of wholeness to one’s body. The second word ‘cured’ is where we get the word ‘therapy’, meaning restoring to health using a treatment plan and often attending to a patient out of compassion. In this case Jesus, the Great Physician, was healing everyone who came to Him, including those who were demon-possessed. Jesus cured them as dunamis power was released. Did He follow-up with a treatment plan explaining how the unclean spirits entered, did He expose the demons and cast them out? We don’t know, but using the word cured implies He showed more compassionate care. 

As a doctor Luke must’ve been amazed at the various supernatural encounters Jesus had with those in need of healing. We can be sure of one thing, Jesus treated the sick with whatever method His Father told Him to use. His prayer vigils (6:12) shows us that He relied on God the Father for direction and the Spirit for empowerment. That should be the same for us. We can’t put limits on God, expecting Him to heal the same way every time, but we can ask for healing and a cure … whatever that looks like. Luke’s unique perspective gives us hope and encouragement of God’s unending care and love.

Beatitudes Part Three: Mourning

Here’s the story. A little boy dressed in a white suit ran away from his mother. He was all ready for church, however, he fell into a mud puddle. His mother caught up to him and asked, “What are you doing?” The little boy’s answer was clear: “I’m getting up.” Stay with me as we continue to explore the meaning of the Beatitudes progressing to Jesus’ second strategy for blessing: mourning.

When we think of mourning we naturally tend to think of the loss of a loved one. Although that’s true, that’s not where Jesus was going with this verse. The grief and sorrow that He’s referring to is connected to what we discussed last week. Entry level into kingdom living is maintaining our need for Him and moving naturally into this state of deep regret and repentance. Jesus wants us to have a heart-attitude that’s troubled by our daily (maybe hourly) sin. We are seen by others (remember the word makarios, free from daily worry) as we walk out our faith and are called blessed. 

Before David became king he experienced this type of mourning. Read Ps. 51 and you get a sense of the deep remorse he felt after sinning with Bathsheba. When we walk away from God’s best and go the opposite way, a 180° turn, we miss the mark; that’s the definition of sin. When that happens God desires us to feel sorrow and run to Him as the little boy who fell into the mud puddle shows us. He was getting up, so should we. We have promises in scripture that God is merciful and forgiving when we have this attitude of lament (1 John 1:9) and we will be comforted. 

Forgiveness means we don’t remain in the puddle; we get up, wash up, and keep going toward God’s best for our life. That’s the progression of kingdom living. We don’t stay in our guilt and condemn ourselves, but receive this gift with gratitude and move on. 

Ps. 16 is a Psalm of David entitled a miktam which comes from a root meaning to engrave. I think David was carving out some heart-attitudes in the six Psalms that he called miktams. Listen to this first verse:

Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You.” Psalm 16:1, 2 

This is a cry for help from a man who had turned away from God’s will and toward his own. He declared that there’s refuge, a safe place, in Him. If you’ve read my blogs very long you know how important it is to remain in Him. David seeks help and comfort from God alone in a personal way: You are my Lord. In Christ there is a safe house, a place of escape, a refuge from our sin. Stay in that safe place as you mourn over your sin and rest assured that mourning results in comfort. 

Scene Two

Let’s talk more about Mary. Can you imagine Luke, this Gentile physician, questioning her about the Son she watched be brutally executed, rise from death, and leave her? He wanted intimate details and she was now ready to share them. Chapter 2 is the most complete story of Jesus from conception to ascension and Luke was the man for the job. Undoubtedly trained in the Socratic approach to discussion he probably asked intentional, open-ended questions to stimulate Mary’s memory. He knew how to attentively listen and reflect back on their conversations, consequently stimulating more of her treasured memories. Now the passages make sense,

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 

And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart. Luke 2:19, 51b 

Mama’s do that. What tender moments she must’ve experienced with Luke as the hours flew by, smiling and reflecting on that part of her life now in her distant past. 

Only Luke records the supernatural encounter with Simeon at the Temple after Jesus’ circumcision (a medical and religious procedure) giving us insight into the Gentile connection.

“… for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.” Luke 2:32

Luke’s unique perspective recounts Jesus growing up strong and healthy, but also an insightful and charismatic boy at age twelve. Apparently it was obvious to his family and friends that His Father extended blessing, favor, and charisma to Him. However, He was a boy on a mission and His family needed to understand that. Mary related the story of Jesus attending Passover in Jerusalem and He took the opportunity to stay a little longer in His Father’s house, doing His Father’s business. Luke’s antennas were perked up with that story since, once again, the religious teachers were using the Socratic approach he’d learned. Jesus wasn’t disobedient or insensitive to His parents, but had a higher calling that Mary could now understand.

Luke rapidly moves the story along from age 12 to about 30 in Chapters 3-4 when Jesus, full of the power of the Spirit, endured the devil’s temptations and launched His 3 year ministry to the lost sheep of Israel and the ‘other sheep’: that’s you and me. Only Luke records Jesus in the synagogue reading from the scroll (Is. 61:1-3) and declaring Himself the One who fulfills this prophecy. At first the reaction was admiration and wonder, but quickly turned to rage. Who’s this local boy calling Himself the Messiah? Jesus responded with a proverb, “Physician, heal yourself!” In other words, “Prove it!” Comparing Himself to the miracles of their beloved prophets Elijah and Elisha didn’t help and they drove Him to a cliff where He’d meet His death. Jesus supernaturally escaped to the Galilee as Mary remembered, back in the synagogue proving His authority over demons. What a unique perspective of His first day!

Beatitudes Part One: Blessing

There are two words in the Bible that are translated blessing; the first is berakah. It’s used when God displays His favor to people by giving them prosperity, fruitfulness, success, good health, etc. When you obey God’s laws you’re rewarded by Him and it’s evident to all. However, my question for you today is this: If you are NOT prosperous, fruitful, successful, or healthy is God withholding His blessing from you? Can a Christian look at others and determine who is blessed and who isn’t? Think about it. How does a persecuted Christian in Iran view God’s blessing? What about those believers in China or North Korea where Christianity is illegal; how do they view God’s blessing?

I want a new perspective on the Biblical definition of blessing. When we have God’s point of view we look at our life and acknowledge His provision. It’s not about the blessing of owning the car or house of your choice, but the ability to walk outside in the fresh air. It’s not about a successful career making a lot of money, but the fact that you can put food on the table for your family. It may not be a vacation to the destination of your choice, but staying out of jail one more day for worshiping Jesus. Thinking that way can change your perspective on blessing. 

Job undoubtedly questioned God’s blessing. He experienced the prosperity, success, good health, and fruitfulness of God’s hand on His life and then in a moment of time … it was gone. The book of Job describes his progress through this difficult time of life when it looked as if God had withdrawn His blessing and it wasn’t fair in Job’s eyes. The perspective of his three friends was this: Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Therefore, when life gets difficult, you must have done something wrong. At the end of the book we listen as God, throughout five chapters (38-42), describe His sovereignty and rebuke the three friends for their inaccurate view: they were wrong. 

If it looks like you’re not blessed, walk outside and enjoy the sunshine and breeze on your face: that’s a blessing. Thank Him that you have freedom and ability to even take that walk. If you’re in a good place right now; have a thankful heart. If you’re in a difficult place, rest assured, God hasn’t removed the berakah from you. He may be testing what’s in your heart and desires to make a correction of your perspective on blessing.

This begins a series on Jesus’ perspective of the second word for blessing: makarios. It’s the Greek word that’s used in the Sermon on the Mount meaning ‘living in a state of spiritual well-being, free from daily worry, and in God’s will’. We’ll walk through this homily together and discover the connection between being blessed according to God’s viewpoint and how to experience victorious kingdom living. It truly connects heaven and earth.

Scene One

Almost every Bible character has a backstory; some are easy to find and others not so much. Luke fits into the ‘not so much’ category. Therefore, I’m going to speculate a little, and give a big picture that’ll help us appreciate his writings more than ever.

First of all, Luke’s name means light; he’ll shed light on Jesus’ life from before his birth, during his ministry days, and to the end of his natural life. For example, as an impressive historian who didn’t actually walk with Christ, he learned the chronological order of Jesus’ life from interviews of eyewitnesses. Interestingly the Greek word for ‘eyewitness’ is a medical term meaning autopsy, his conversations cut apart Jesus’ life and pieced it back together for us. Why’s that important? Because Luke was a doctor; his medical background had trained him for this divine assignment from God.

Secondly, Luke was the only Gentile New Testament writer, a non-Jew, meaning, his perspective would be unique from the other three who were Jewish believers. God had originally promised a place for Gentiles in His plan of salvation (Gen. 13:14-16, 18:18, Ps. 2:8) and Luke was chosen to give that worldwide outlook. That accounts for his unique genealogy (Ch. 3) which traces Jesus’ bloodline from Joseph (and Mary) back to Adam, not just Abraham. That’s good news for us since we are Gentiles or Jesus’ ‘other sheep’,

“And I have other sheep that are onto this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock and one Shepherd.” John 10:16

As I dig our foundation in Luke, let’s remember that being a trained physician influenced what he included and what he left out. That medical connection is exemplified in Chapter 1 where only Dr. Luke took a family history beginning with the story of Zechariah, Elizabeth (Mary’s cousin), their son John (the Baptizer) and Mary’s supernatural pregnancy which no other gospel recorded. Where did he get that info? His interviews must’ve been with Mary who we know was alive, her elderly relatives had undoubtedly died, and John was executed. Mary was his primary source.

Lastly, how did Luke get saved? Was it the discussions with believers or a divine calling, was it immediate or progressive? We simply don’t know, but however it happened, it was his mission in life that God prepared him for his whole life. His unique perspective continually shows us that Jesus was God in the flesh, a real person, who alone called Himself the Son of Man. That physical connection to us, leaving the Throne Room in heaven to become a physical man with one purpose in life, to die in our place, endears us to our Savior. What kind of love is that? Luke addressed his gospel narrative to Theophilus, meaning loved by God. As you crack open your Bible and read along in Luke remember that you’re Theophilus: you’re loved by God.

Absolute Truth

One of my purposes for writing this blog is to get you to think about what you believe and hopefully to increase your ability to witness to your faith. Truth is an interesting word that’s actually quite controversial. Pontius Pilate, the Roman leader who pronounced the death sentence on Jesus asked the question, “What is truth?” Can something be true for you but not for me? Is it true all the time or just at certain times? I can think of a few ‘hot topics’ that truth can affect: abortion, homosexuality, lying, sex outside of marriage; I think you get the picture. With that line of questioning in mind, how does a Christian determine what is true? RC Sproul, a leading theologian of our day defined truth as “God’s perception of reality.” In other words, whatever God thinks is absolute truth. How do we know what God thinks? We check the Bible and let it speak for itself; it is the Word of God.

Here are some time-honored, absolute truths that Christians must live by:

• The Bible is true; it was true, it is true, and it is eternally true. It’s inspired by God, without error, never changes, and it’s our only source of authority. If you don’t believe those absolute truths about God’s written Word then the other ones are meaningless.
• Our God is one and yet three distinct persons. Can I explain that? Not really. Theologians have been trying for 2,000 years and haven’t been able to adequately clarify that concept, yet, we believe it by faith. We know from Scripture that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. That’s the primary way you can tell us apart from other religions and cults. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Muslims do not believe Jesus was God. That is an absolute truth for Christians that cannot change.
• Jesus was raised from the dead after defeating the devil and made victory in this life accessible to those who will believe and follow Him. That truth makes Him more than a prophet as other religions or cults call Him: that qualifies Him as God.
• Jesus is the only way to heaven. We don’t work our way there, it’s a free gift from the Father to those who trust Him. There isn’t some cosmic balance on our shoulders, as Buddhists believe, that needs to be weighted on the side of good works. It’s a free gift from a loving God. How unique is that!

For a Christian, these are absolute truths; we won’t bend on them because they are God’s perspective on reality. If your perspective is different from God’s, guess who needs to change. 

What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” Romans 3:3-4 ESV

Part Eight

We close out this ‘nutshell teaching’ of Romans with chapters 15&16 where Tertius, Paul’s writer, (16:22) listened to him repeat once again the value of Jew and Gentile working in harmony toward a common goal: hope. What are they hoping for? To glorify God with one mind, one voice, and with unity in purpose reaching people with the gospel. By pointing us back to the Scriptures (Old Testament), remember, the New Testament wasn’t written yet, and quoting Moses, the Psalms, and the prophet Isaiah he clearly made his point. From the beginning of time all nations are included in the Plan of Redemption through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. As Simeon held the infant Jesus he said,

“… for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.” Luke 2:30-32

That’s our confident expectation or hope (since the church is predominantly Gentile) bringing us encouragement and helps us persevere in hard times. Since we do have the New Testament we can read Jesus’ words,

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd.” John 10:16

The last book of the Bible includes a phrase repeated many times: every tribe, language, people, and nation will be included in the new Kingdom of God at His Return (Rev. 5:9, 10:11, 11:9, 14:6). Point secured.

Paul seems to be a relational kinda guy; he cares about people and personally commended many to this church in Rome as servants, fellow workers, his beloved, dependable, or chosen. He didn’t back away from women listing eight of them, mentioned both Jewish brethren and Gentiles, and gave credit where credit was due. There’s real value in occasionally commending people for their hard work in the church, there’s also a danger that jealousy may arise, however, words of praise build us up and words of criticism tear us down. May our churches today be known for building and not tearing as we often encourage and commend one another.

Lastly, Paul cautions this relatively new church to watch out and avoid those whose doctrines may set traps (obstacles), using legalism or license to draw you toward their perspectives. Avoid them, don’t slander them, don’t confront them, avoid them. As Jesus taught about weeds within the wheat field (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43) He instructed us to let them grow together, assuring that He would sort it all out in the end. Closing his message Paul prayed that his teaching, which was through Holy Spirit revelation, would help them all stand in faith and submit to what they heard whether they liked it or agreed with it. The mystery of all nations included in the Plan of Redemption, that’s the gospel in a nutshell, eternal life offered to anyone who’ll repent and believe.