Have you ever wondered what your purpose is? Why are you here? What am I suppose to accomplish in this lifetime?
I think it’s pretty simple yet we make it so complicated sometimes, or at least I do.
Luke 12:22-23
Do Not Be Anxious
[22] And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. [23] For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
I am blessed because I rarely worry about what I am going to eat or what I am going to wear. If Jesus is telling his disciples not to worry about their essential needs, I highly doubt I should be worried about what others may think concerning the kind of car I drive, the shoes I wear, the house I live in, or even if I’m going to have enough money saved so I retire in 30 years, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I believe there is value in planning ahead and being wise with your money, but if you do it at the expense of being less generous, spending less time with family and friends, and most importantly getting so consumed that you forget about your relationship with God. It’s all in vain and meaningless.
Luke 12:31
[31] Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
This sums up how we ought to live and where our priorities should lie. Seeking the Kingdom isn’t always the easiest decision in the moment, but it is always the best decision. Seeking the kingdom isn’t always the best financial decision in the moment, but it’s always the best financial choice in the end. Seeking the kingdom won’t always give you everything you think you need and want now, but it will give you everything you thought you wanted and needed and so much more when the Kingdom is revealed.
I challenge you and myself to see how we can make a real difference for the coming kingdom now, and how we can store up treasure in heaven where no thief can steal and no moth can destroy!
Luke 12:33-34
[33] Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. [34] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
-Luke Elwell
(originally posted for SeekGrowLove December 19, 2022)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Is there a time when you where anxious about something? How else could you have reacted?
What are some ways to seek the Kingdom? How will you personally seek the Kingdom today?
Have you ever had the opportunity to go see, and possibly meet, a celebrity (actor, musician, athlete) in person? Ten years ago, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots were in Arizona to play in Super Bowl XLII. You may be thinking that I tried to get to see either Eli Manning (the Giants quarterback) or Tom Brady (the Patriots quarterback). But my interest wasn’t in either of them. No, I knew that Eli’s brother, Peyton, would be in town to attend some parties before the game. I had a friend of a friend of a friend who had tickets to one of those parties and I daydreamed hard about getting to meet the future NFL Hall of Famer.
A few years before that I was in Monaco and my tour guide had heard that George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damen were supposed to be filming a scene in the movie Ocean’s 12 at the famous Monte Carlo Casino. The group of students that I was traveling with and I stood with a crowd of people for almost an hour hoping to get a glimpse of the three actors. Well that never happened. But we did get to witness two extras walk down the steps of the casino and that scene is in the movie, so it wasn’t a complete waste of our time. Kinda.
When I read Mark chapter 5 I imagine that the crowds that followed Jesus around were a bit like the superfans of a celebrity. Wherever He went, masses of people would go and seek Him out. Not because He was rich and famous, but because they had heard He could perform some pretty crazy healing miracles. In this chapter we read about three people who were not just highly interested in meeting Jesus, they were desperate to meet Jesus. And so they did what they had to do, to get near Him. The demon-possessed man saw Jesus at a distance and ran and fell on his knees at Jesus’ feet (verse 6). The father of a dying young girl worked his way through the crowd and fell at Jesus’ feet (verse 22). The sick woman reached through the swarm of people to touch his cloak and then fell at His feet (verses 28, 33).
Desperation brings you to a place of complete abandonment of pride and social decorum and a complete surrender to experience an ounce of relief. Imagine being so in need of healing that you fight your way through a crowd of strangers to fall onto your knees at the feet of Jesus. The wonderful thing is that Jesus had compassion on each and every one of those people and He will have compassion on you too.
But Jesus doesn’t want you to humble yourself just when you’re desperate for healing. He wants you to be desperate to spend time with Him every day, even when things are going well for you. His desire is for us to sit at His feet and enjoy His presence no matter what is going on in our lives. Remember Mary, Martha’s sister, who sat at her Lord’s feet and she was praised for doing what was right (Luke 10:38-42)? Mary had the right idea. It’s during these times that we learn how to follow Him and to love Him. It’s during these times that we understand what it means to love others and become a fisher of men.
Psalm 16:11 says, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” When we find ourselves at the feet of Jesus, life, in all of its complexities, will begin to make a little bit of sense because we no longer view things at face value, but we get glimpses of how our life experiences fit into God’s eternal plan. Yes, we will still know sorrow and grief, but we will also have an eternal hope, a peace that surpasses understanding, and overflowing joy.
So let’s take a few minutes to fall on our knees at the feet of our Savior and Lord.
-Bethany Ligon
(originally posted for SeekGrowLove Sept 15, 2017)
Reflection Questions
What is the benefit of coming to the feet of Jesus when you are worried and upset and in need? What is the benefit of coming to Jesus when you just want to be closer to him and learn from him?
What have you received at the feet of Jesus?
What worries and distractions have you allowed to keep you from the One Thing you need? What is that One Thing?
Reading today’s passage in Luke 8, I was surprised at how many incredible stories of Jesus are packed into just one chapter. It really shows the power that Jesus holds. He preaches messages to large crowds, he calms the storm, and heals a sick woman just from being touched. There are even multiple accounts of people being cured of evil spirits. Additionally, we even get to hear the miraculous resurrection of Jairus’ daughter. Jesus’ power is stronger than the ties of death. A common theme among these stories is the presence of faith or the lack thereof. Jesus asks his disciples, “Where is your faith” when they were scared and stuck in a storm. Some would point to Jesus’ ability to give commands to the winds and the waves and his power over death as evidence that Jesus is greater than who he says he is. But when we look at other accounts in the Bible of God using men to do his work and will, we can easily see that God is powerful enough to work through humans. Our reading today in 2 Kings 5 tells the story of Elisha performing a miracle through the power of God and healing a man of leprosy. There are many other examples of great miracles that could only be through the hand of God, such as in 1 Kings 17 when Elijah raised the widow’s son.
God is omnipotent and His power is not diminished when He works through humans. This same idea also extends to the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross covers the atonement for the sins of the entire world. How can this be since Jesus is a man? Through the power of God. This was part of God’s plan of salvation. Since sin and death came through a man (Adam), life and righteousness also come from a man (Jesus). Jesus could not have done it on his own accord- but through the power of God his sacrifice was sufficient. Therefore, it has nothing to do with Jesus’ qualifications and everything to do with the qualifications of God. This is great news for us because it means that God can use us in unimaginable ways because our God is greater and more powerful than we would be able to accomplish on our own and is waiting to use us when we offer ourselves to him.
Throughout the Gospels we can see the faithfulness Jesus shows to God. This is an important step to being used by God. Luke chapter 8 shows the importance of having faith. Jairus’ daughter was raised WHEN Jairus had the faith that Jesus could do it, the woman who was sick was healed WHEN she had the faith that touching Jesus would be enough. We can even see that the demons had faith in Jesus that he could command them to leave the man. The demons even acknowledge who Jesus is and recognizes that Jesus gets his power from the Most High.
Not only do we need to have our faith in God but we also need to be close to him and have a relationship with God. The parable of the sower likewise teaches us how a firm foundation in God keeps us rooted in God and His ways. We can believe in God for a time but if we are not continually seeking Him then we will not be listening for God when He tries to use us to accomplish His work.
-Makayla Railton
Questions:
Have you been building your firm foundation on God so that you can withstand life’s temptations and troubles and still be rooted in God?
Do you feel like you are waiting for God to qualify you before He can use you? Whose power are you relying on?
You are a powerful man in ancient Israel. You hear about a miracle worker and rabbi. This guy, in just the last couple days reportedly saved a slave of some centurion without even being near him. More than that, he brought the dead back to life! Could such a thing be? Nothing like it has happened in your lifetime. This man reminds you of Moses, Elijah, and the prophets that you have grown up hearing about and spent your life studying. You know that such a man must be holy, must be from God. You invite this man to eat with you, so you can see for yourself how this holy, miraculous man interacts with people.
So you see him. And he’s shorter than you expected. Actually, he’s quite unremarkable in appearance. He is not wealthy, he does not come from money or make much when out teaching. He is lean from walking and fasting. He has an entourage of men with thick accents, no training, and a certain lack of decorum. They look and act like fishermen. To your surprise, you learn they ARE fishermen. One is even a tax collector. It’s only natural to begin to doubt. But when he opens his mouth to teach, it intrigues you. The passion with which he speaks. The intensity in his eyes. The compassion in his touch, to all people, draws you in, and you invite him over for dinner. Doubts gnaw at your mind, but surely in a personal setting those will fall away.
However, at dinner, things get really out of hand. As per usual, you have your home open to use by the people of the city, because God has blessed you for your devote life and upright character. Everyone, all thirteen (and more) of this teacher’s usual crew start to relax, kick back their feet, and eat. But, in the middle of dinner, she comes in. The years of hard life, of acting in such impolite, anti-social, uncouth, wicked and sinful ways, of trying and failing to do better, showed in every movement in the presence of this teacher. But instead of running like she should have, she bends down, weeping, and cries on his feet, wipes his feet clean with her tears. She takes his barely washed feet and anoints them with the sweetest perfume, the smell wafting over you all. She is making a scene, at YOUR dinner. And you know what kind of person she is. She doesn’t deserve this attention, she only wants to ruin your hospitality, because that’s the kind of person she is.
No, no this man must be a phony. How could a man who raises the dead not know what this woman does every day? How could such a “holy man” allow so much uncleanness to caress his feet? Why let someone like her defile someone like him?
Then he says your name and breaks you out of your reverie. He calls your name. He tells you about two debtors, both forgiven – one much and one little. He asks “Who will love the forgiver more?”
“The one who was forgiven much,” you answer wisely.
He turns to the woman and takes her worried, nervous, anxious trembling hands in his own. He turns his soft but piercing eyes to her own, red from weeping. He says to you, “Do you see this woman?” He lets the words hang in silence for a moment. She rubs her nose. For the first time you notice that some of her hair is starting to turn gray. You notice that she is not old, but the lines come from stress. You notice that she must have washed to come, as she looks cleaner than you have seen her in a long time… You see yourself seeing this woman, who you see everyday, in a new way. She is a whole person. She is more than the sum of her mistakes. She is loving this teacher. She is showing him honors “She has done for me what you have not,” he says. “She has much to be forgiven for, and so she loves, knowing now that she is forgiven. In your own eyes, your sins are so much smaller, and so your love is so much less.”
The rest of the table murmurs about the teacher forgiving sins, but as they talk he says to the woman “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” She smiles at him with gratitude and joy…
Do you see this woman?
Or do you see the sins? The immorality? The wickedness? The hardness of life? The addictions? The abuse?
Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, and more importantly, causes the spiritually blind to see the world. May this imaging open your eyes. This man who raised up the dead, more importantly, raised up the living to new life. May this story cause you to raise the living to new life.
And may this question reverberate in your head all day :
Do you see this woman?
(Optional note for those confused about the devotion : spiritual imagining, putting ourselves in the story, is an ancient spiritual tradition. One great example that is often used is in Luke 15, the parable of the “Lost/Prodigal Son”, or better “The Lost Sons” or best “The Searching/Prodigal Father”. You may see yourself as the son who runs off, the servants rejoicing, the son who is angry for forgiveness, or the father looking for his boys. It says much about ourselves and our relationship with God and others to see who we identify with, and to put ourselves in strange places in the story. Today we looked through Simon’s eyes in Luke 7, not because it is the best, but because of course he would doubt Jesus. Of course he would question him. Of course he would be offended at the woman. And of course, all of that is undue, because Jesus overcomes our doubts through miracles, our questions through answers and better questions, and our offense by unending grace. May this story take a new meaning to you as you ask yourself: Do you see this woman?)
-Jacob Ballard
(originally posted for SeekGrowLove March 16, 2021)
Reflection Questions
Would you more often see yourself as the sinful woman or as Simon the Pharisee?
What do each of these 2 characters need?
Jesus initiates the discussion with Simon after Simon had just “said to himself”. What recent thoughts of yours might Jesus question if he were in your house today? What do you think he would ask/say/explain to counter your thoughts?
In Luke 7:1-10 we find the story of the centurion’s servant. The centurion was a conqueror and a foreigner, but despite this we find that he is a God fearing man who supports the Jews by building a synagogue for them. He has a servant who is dying so he sends messengers to Jesus to have Jesus heal the servant. He shows great humility and faith in Jesus through his actions and the servant is healed because of his great faith. Faith unequalled in all of Israel according to Jesus.
I think there are a couple of important lessons in this.
First, maybe you are like the centurion, maybe you didn’t grow up in the church and are a new believer, and maybe you are looking at Christianity from the outside and wondering if you can even be a part of this community. Of course you can! Salvation and God’s work in the world is based on faith, not upbringing or culture or works. So don’t worry about your past, because God can work powerfully in your life no matter what is in your past!
Second, maybe you are like the Israelites in this story, you grew up in church or have been a Christian for a while and are maturing in your walk with God. I think for you this story has an encouragement and a warning. I encourage you to be like the Jewish people that the centurion sent to Jesus that were able to see past the fact that the centurion was a foreigner and conqueror and see the faith he had and to then recommend that Jesus help him. We should always be ready to welcome new believers based on their faith, and not judging them the way the world might judge them.
I also warn you to not be complacent or lukewarm like much of the Jewish community was when Jesus was with them. Jesus said that this centurion had more faith than any other in Israel. Many in Israel missed out on being healed and having their sins forgiven in Israel because they were out of tune with God and were not able to see when he was moving. I encourage you to be disciplined in your prayer life and in reading the scriptures so that your relationship with God will not grow stale.
-Chris Mattison
(originally posted Dec 10, 2017)
Reflection Questions
What healings (physical and/or spiritual) have you witnessed?
What do you think Jesus found most amazing about the faith of the centurion?
Would Jesus find anything amazing about your faith? How can you work at growing your faith?
There’s an aphorism that says: “Two subjects that you should never talk about in polite company are, religion and politics.” Why is that? Because they often turn into arguments that can never be resolved. Why can’t they be resolved? Jonathan Swift wrote in 1721 that: “You cannot reason someone out of something he or she was not reasoned into.” Quite often people don’t choose their religious tradition or their political affiliations, they accept them from their parents. (Some do reject their parents’ religion or politics, which can create some unpleasant conversations at family dinners). There is no doubt that conversations around religion and politics can and do grow contentious at times. In my 60 years of living, I would say politics have become more contentious in the last 5-10 years than I can remember in my earlier life. Some might argue that Trump is the cause of divisive politics, and others might argue that Trump is the outcome of divisive politics. I would say that there is some truth in both of these arguments.
What I really want to say as I reflect on today’s reading in Luke 23 is that to say religion and politics is to present a false dichotomy. Religion and politics are not two separate things. Religion is political. One early political philosopher, Aristotle (384-322 BC) envisioned the role of politics to be that “government exists to promote and foster virtue in a way that leads to the good life of its citizens.” Virtue is doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. For him, the good life was the positive result of doing the right things. Jesus lived between 300 – 400 years after Aristotle. Jesus taught that if we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” then we would experience good outcomes in life. (Matthew 6:33-34). Notice the similarities between Aristotle and Jesus? Government or Kingdom and virtue or right living. There has always existed a strong correlation between the governing powers and the right behaviors of the people and how that results in peaceful and good living for everyone.
In today’s story, we see politics at work. Israel’s religious leaders felt threatened by Jesus’ massive popularity among the common people. At the time the religious leaders of Israel had a comfortable arrangement with the Roman authorities. Rome pretty much left them alone to practice their religion, run their temple sacrifices, and hold their religious feasts and pilgrimages. As long as the Jewish leaders kept their people in line there wasn’t much of a problem. But Jesus came along bringing up the ancient talk about the Kingdom of God and God’s anointed King ruling. That kind of talk made the religious leaders very nervous. When Jesus came to Jerusalem right before the Passover he was greeted by crowds who wanted to install him as their King. This would have undoubtedly led to a major conflict with Rome that would have enormous consequences for the leaders of Israel. So they needed to put a stop to Jesus and his followers. They needed to get rid of him before his followers got out of control.
Remember the original Herod tried to have Jesus killed as a baby. Now, Jesus was brought before this Herod (descended from the previous Herod) who was not Jewish and not heir to the messianic throne of David, but merely a puppet of the Roman Empire. Pilate was the Roman governor and was Caesar’s representative in that region. Both Herod and Pilate needed to keep the peace and keep the Jewish people in line or else their positions would be threatened. They both had comfortable lives in palaces. The Priests and scribes lived comfortable lives too. They all had vested interests in maintaining the status quo in the region. Jesus was a threat to their political power.
So, in very political acts, all of the various groups worked out their plan to publicly execute Jesus, even though he had admittedly not committed any crime worthy of capital punishment. They chose to set free an actual murderer and insurrectionist, while they crucified an innocent man, who also happened to be the son of God, the heir to David’s throne, the true King and Messiah.
As you continue to celebrate Christmas, eat Christmas leftovers and get ready to celebrate New Years, take a moment to think about what’s truly important to you and why. Do you commit your allegiance to Jesus as King? Do you want to seek first God’s Kingdom and the way to live right that Jesus taught? If so, you are making a political act. And if you reject Jesus and the Kingdom of God you are also making a political act. You can’t avoid politics or religion. Just make sure that you make a thoughtful decision about Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
-Jeff Fletcher
Reflection Questions
Do you agree that religion is political? Why or why not? What examples can you think of to support your position?
What do you think the following people thought about Jesus – Herod, Pilate, chief priests, a Jew watching the events unfold, the criminals, the centurion, Joseph of Arimathea?
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
It’s Christmas Day! The day we have all been waiting for. Unless you’re really, really good, you likely will have already gotten up, peeked in your stocking and maybe opened gifts with your family. You may have even eaten a large meal. Maybe now you’re taking a few minutes to check your email and give some attention to your devotions for the day. Whether you’re reading this at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m., it’s still Christmas Day. A day you’ve been waiting for. Christmas comes every year so at most, you’ve had to wait 364 days for Christmas.
The people of Israel had to wait hundreds of years for the first Christmas. From the time King David was first promised that his son would be the Messiah and would reign forever, it had been many generations. Now that day had finally come. Normally, when a royal birth happens, especially a future King, it’s a pretty big deal. There are grand proclamations that come from out of important palaces in important cities. The whole community might stand outside the walls of the royal palace to hear the great news officially announced. But this first Christmas announcement was quite different. It wasn’t in the city of Jerusalem outside the palace walls, it was in the fields of rural Bethlehem. The audience wasn’t the whole city gathered, it was a few sleepy shepherds in the middle of the night making sure their sheep were safe from predators. The one making the announcement wasn’t the royal page or member of the court of Jerusalem, it was an angelic messenger of God.
News of the Messiah’s birth went largely unnoticed for many years. It would take several announcements from God “a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” Eventually, his few disciples understood that he was the Messiah. What finally sold many people was his death and resurrection. The Bible says that one day “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord” (Messiah/king). On this Christmas Day, let us be sure that we not only hear and believe the Good News that at long last the promised Messiah was born in a manger in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago, but that he died for our sins and God raised him up from death and clothed him in immortality, he has ascended to the side of God and will come again to reign over all. One day every knee will bow, but for today, be sure that you are bowing and giving your allegiance to King Jesus, and be sure to share this news with everyone you know.
Merry Christmas!
-Jeff Fletcher
Reflection Questions
How was God’s plan for a Messiah different from what many people expected? What do you love about how God brought about His plan for a Messiah? What does His plan reveal about Him?
Does your holiday festivities show that you are celebrating that Jesus is Lord? How are you bowing before him and confessing that he is Lord – yesterday, today and tomorrow?
How can you share the good news of great joy? Who needs to hear it?
’Twas the Night Before Christmas…. Originally published 200 years ago, in 1823, as A Visit from St. Nicolas authorship credited to and later claimed by Clement Clarke Moore. Moore was a theology professor- a Bible teacher. He originally wrote the poem for fun, he said, for his children. This story helped to shape the way many began to celebrate Christmas and has had a lasting cultural impact. I find it interesting that a Bible teacher is responsible for the way most Americans celebrate Christmas with its focus on Santa Claus, gift-giving, and all the rest of the things that tend to draw attention away from the original meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. Now Bible teachers and preachers are trying to remind us that “Jesus is the reason for the season” but more often that plea has fallen on deaf ears. More people are interested in getting the latest iPhone or other coveted goodies. On this Christmas Eve day, we take a quick pause from our parties, food and gift-buying and wrapping and consider the first part of the Christmas story.
In today’s reading from Luke one, we see the announcement of two unlikely births, two cousins to be born named John and Jesus. Israel’s story in the Old Testament has a giant pause and collective waiting. Israel was waiting for the arrival of their promised king or messiah. Several hundred years BC God promised David, the King, that he would have a son who would reign as king over a kingdom that would be unending. At first, people thought Solomon was the fulfillment of that promise. Solomon started well, sought God’s wisdom above all else and the Kingdom of Israel prospered. But Solomon’s heart turned away from faithfulness to God, he was not to be the true Messiah. His son, Rehoboam ruled after him and things went from bad to worse. Eventually, civil war caused his kingdom to split. Eventually, God punished a succession of unfaithful kings with the destruction of the temple, the fall of the capital Jerusalem, and the end of the heirs of David ruling as kings. For hundreds of years, there was no heir of David. The hope for the messiah remained a longed-for and unfulfilled expectation.
The last of the historical/prophetic books of the Old Testament is Malachi. Malachi ends with the hopeful promise that an Elijah-type prophet will come and get people ready for the final day of the Lord that was to come.
Fast forward about 400 years, and Israel is still waiting for the 2 anticipated births- of the Elijah-type prophet, and the Messiah-King, heir of David’s throne. Out of this 400 years of waiting comes Luke 1 with the announcements of two unlikely births. Unlikely because one was promised to an older childless couple, and the second to a young, engaged couple where the young woman was still a virgin. In both cases, God would perform a miracle to bring forth these two baby boys, John and Jesus.
It’s important to note in the story that when the Angel comes to Mary announcing God’s plan for her, Mary offers her consent “Let it be to me according to your word.” This makes perfect sense. We know that in human relationships consent is morally required before union. Anything less than consent is unacceptable and morally reprehensible. It stands to reason that before God placed his son Jesus in her womb she would give consent. “Let it be” or “I agree to allow your word, your promise, your plan for your son, the Messiah to be formed in me.”
The same is true for all of us. God wants to place His word in us and for us to bear the fruits of Jesus. In Galatians 4:19 Paul uses this metaphor of birth: “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…”. God wants Christ to be formed in us. Christ was formed in the womb of Mary uniquely, but God wants all of us to be spiritually transformed, to become like Jesus in our character, in our singular commitment to bring glory to God and to seek first God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:33) and righteousness (right living in covenant relationship with God).
Sorry this is getting kind of technical, but the bottom line is, for Mary to give birth to Jesus, she first had to give God her consent “Let it be”. For Christ to be formed in us, we must also give our consent. God will not force us to receive His word and be transformed, to have Christ formed in us, we must receive it.
So on this night before Christmas, as you watch the lights on the tree and listen to Christmas music, play games with your family, wrap presents and drink egg nog, or go to Church and any combination of the above, listen for God’s invitation. He wants to plant His word in you so that Jesus Christ might be fully formed in you. Will you give your consent? Will you say as Mary did “Let it be to me according to your word?”
-Jeff Fletcher
Reflection Questions
How will you celebrate Jesus today and tomorrow and the rest of the week and in 2024?
Have you given your consent and received God’s word and spiritual transformation?
What might it look like and feel like to have Jesus Christ fully formed in you?
By Luke 17, Jesus has set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), and every step he takes is taking him one step closer to his ultimate act in this world : his death for sin upon a cross.
With that in mind, he knows the days of ministry are limited. On the way to Jerusalem, he entered a village, and he sees ten lepers (people who suffer from various skin diseases) who are unable to participate in community life due to laws in the Torah. In a culture like Judea in the time of Rome, family, community and tribe were not just important; they were what gave life connection, purpose, meaning. To get a skin disease which banished you from community was akin to a living death. These suffering people look to Jesus the one who can heal them, as their “Master”.
Interestingly, the last words Jesus said before speaking to these men, in Luke’s narrative, were of masters and servants. Specifically, masters do have authority over their servants or slaves. They have the authority to command them to work and rest only when the master’s wishes are fulfilled. To post-chattel-slavery-American ears, we recoil in horror about how masters might have treated their slaves. But Jesus’ point isn’t about the actual institution of slavery but about how his disciples should consider their own responsibility when following him : “When you have done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”” Jesus wants his disciples (that’s us) to recognize that the God who owns all things owns us, and the savior who saves all people saved us. Therefore, God and Christ deserve all things, and when we give them our all, we are not going above and beyond the call of duty, we are giving God and Christ exactly what they deserve.
Jesus tells the lepers to go and show themselves to the priest. This is a reference to a priest being able to see if they are “clean” in order to fulfill Torah and allow the unclean to return to community. Note: he does not heal them. He says “go” and “as they went they were cleansed.” It was in the going, it was in the action, the trusting, the faith that they were cleansed, made whole, restored.
But one stopped.
One turned around.
One praised God in a loud voice.
One fell at the feet of the Master Jesus.
One gave thanks.
Jesus seems to expect the other nine, inquires into there whereabouts, but looks with grace at this Samaritan leper-no-more, and says “your faith has made you well.”
Giving thanks is not an element of the Christian faith that moves us from normal to turbo-charged-Christianity.
Giving thanks is a vital part of understanding that God, who owns all things, has given us all things. (Rom. 8:32) Giving thanks is a vital part of understanding that Christ, our Master and Savior, gave himself to save us upon the cross, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:5-6) Giving thanks is a vital part of the Christian faith, because God and Christ deserve all things, and to give them thanks and to shout loudly the praise of God and fall at the feet of Christ is the most common, natural, expected response to those who have been saved by grace through faith.
When we give thanks, we are not being amazing, super Christians, wonderful and worthy of praise ourselves.
When you give thanks and give it all to God, then say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”
-Jake Ballard
Reflection Questions
When we consider our position as Christians, we are slaves, bought from one master (sin, death, the devil) to serve another (God through Christ). Do you bristle at the thought of being a slave or a servant? We are being adopted, heirs of God and coheirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17), but one image doesn’t completely negate the other. Why do you and I feel uncomfortable with being own by the God who already owns everything?
“Your faith has made you well.” I find it interesting that Jesus, who seemed to be very necessary in the completion of the miracle, implies that the man was cleansed by his own faith, as if Jesus didn’t have anything to do with it. Why is this phrase used here and in other miracles? Is Jesus implying that he was not needed or is this humility? How should we understand this phrase to a man who was healed “as he went”?
When was the last time you gave God thanks for everything in your life that you could remember? Try it this week. Everyday, after devotions, spend 5, 10, 15 minutes in prayer, thanking God for everything good in your life, in your family, in the world. Let this week be a week of giving thanks, and still realize that this is our appropriate response to the God who gives every good and perfect gift. (James 1:17)
This week many are gathering for a week of FUEL – a youth and young adult camp of the Church of God. Our theme for the week matches FUEL’s theme of Peter and our writers this week will all be participants and staff at FUEL. Have a great week seeking God, growing faith and loving more and more!
The past few weeks, I have been thinking about this a lot. We are so quick to cast stones when someone hurts us, or we find something out about someone that we think is wrong or sinful. I have seen this in myself recently. I have been quick to judge people when I don’t agree with their opinions or beliefs. I was very excited to have an opportunity to write about Luke 5. The story about Jesus choosing his first disciples has always been one of my favorites. But I never took the time to read deeper into it.
Luke 5: 31
Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
In this verse, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees who are watching Jesus have dinner with tax collectors and sinners. In this time, it was crazy and unheard of to associate with these types of people, because they were considered unclean. But Jesus responds and says it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the SICK.
We are to have the same attitude as Jesus and realize that we ourselves are sick. We have all at one time sinned. Jesus has come and brought us, the sick, out of our sickness so that we can do the same for others.
He shows the same act in Luke 5:8-11
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful Man!” For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.
“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon, “From now on you will be catching people.” Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.
Jesus called to the lost. He went to the darkest places to reach people and has instructed us to do the same.
It is hard to reach out to people sometimes. Especially when we know their past. But how can we judge someone, when Jesus comes to us and says, “You are forgiven.” It says in James 2:10
“For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.”
We all know that we have sinned before, we are all sinners, but Jesus calls us – to love each other, and show everyone who HE truly is, WASH THEIR FEET.
Wash the sinner’s feet. Love them and serve people as Jesus would serve. We are all sinners, no matter what it may be, we have all fallen short somewhere.
Jesus washes the feet of his disciples in John 13:1-5. He is free of sin, and yet he washes their feet. In this time, washing of someone’s feet was an act of service. Jesus was willing to serve everyone no matter who they were. We are called to do the same.
It is easy to judge and to say, well I couldn’t do that for this person because… (You fill in the blank). I have done it. I have judged people whether that be at work, or even when I was in school. I have judged and said, “Well that person is too far gone. There’s no way I could forgive them.” But the truth is, that everyone deserves Christ’s love. We are called to be free of judgement and full of love and forgiveness.
You can’t wash feet and throw stones. We can’t do both.
Instead choose to wash the feet of everyone you can, not literally, but be kind and show them Christ’s love.
-Hannah Eldred
Reflection Questions
When have you judged someone else and believed them to be too sick (in their sins) for Jesus to cure? How have you been proved wrong? What examples from the Bible and people you know prove that Jesus heals sinners and changes lives?
Jesus called Peter to catch people not fish. What is Jesus calling you to do? What might you have to leave behind (as Peter left behind his fishing boats and nets)?
How can you – will you – show others the love of Christ this week?
Ezra Introduction
The book of Ezra was written by a man named Ezra who was a Godly scribe and priest – a direct descendant of Aaron the first high priest. The book starts with the decree of the Persian King Cyrus proclaiming the Israelites could return to Jerusalem and build a temple for God. This was prophesied in Jeremiah 25:12; 29:10; 50:1-5; and Isaiah 44:28-45:5,13.
The first half of Ezra details the people who returned, and then describes the fits and starts of building the temple, along with the stiff opposition to building that temple. (It took 23 years to rebuild the temple.)
Once the temple was built, the Israelites needed priests to perform sacrifices and teach God’s laws to the people. It was at this time that Ezra went from Babylon to Jerusalem in a second wave of returning exiles along with priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants.
I love the description of Ezra found in 7:10, “Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.”
We see a glimpse of his faith in Ezra 8:21-23, “There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”
The second half of the book talks about addressing the sin in Israel, culminating in people’s confession of their sins and their pledge to live according to God’s laws.
I’ll close with Ezra 10:6, “… he [Ezra] ate no food and drank no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.”
How often have you been this distressed over your own sins, let alone the sins of people who claim to follow God, or even the sins of our nation?
Seek Grow Love 