Greetings, I am back from my vacation in Montana just outside of Red lodge. It was very beautiful camping at the base of the Beartooth Mountains’. One day we drove the scenic highway up and over the Beartooth pass to Cook City. Otherwise we hiked and relaxed. Our text for Sunday is in Luke.
V49 Jesus came to bring a refining fire to the earth. When a fire is hot enough to refine it gets rid of the waste (dross) and makes the metal pure. He is bringing a different age to the earth, not repairing the old one. This new age is so different that it cannot fit with the old one. This needs a new wineskin, it can’t be put in the old one.
V50 He brings a different baptism; one that involves in part, for him, defeating the demonic and sacrificing himself for us on a cross thereby reconciling our relationship to God. We are to enter in to this baptism with him and share in his mission of servanthood.
V51 The Jewish thought was that the Messiah would come, wage war with Rome and the world powers, defeat them and bring about a peace through domination of pagans while ruling the world with the Jewish people. Jesus didn’t come to bring this kind of top down power but came to show acceptance and welcome to all by serving them; a power up from underneath. This would be a dividing power as no one was expecting this kind of Messiah.
V52-53 This type of power he brought would divide households. The family bonds, which were the most important and intimate in that society, would be fractured. Some would embrace him and some wouldn’t. Division would be evident in families and all over in Israel.
V54-55 The people can read the signs of the weather, when it will rain or be hot.
V56 They are hypocrites because they have put more effort into reading the signs of the sky but have not understood the scriptures given to them from God. Their studying and interpretations have led to political aspirations of dominance rather than a relationship with God. They are blind to the Kingdom breaking in when they should have known and been able to interpret the signs Jesus was giving.
It’s so nice that we have hind sight and can now read all of the signs, or can we? We are still just as blind to them as the first century Jewish leaders were. We, in America, have unlimited access to Bibles but most have never read them. How will we know the signs and what Jesus taught if we never open a Bible? A 10-15 minute sermon isn’t enough time to grasp all of his teachings. This hits home for me because every evening one of my priorities is to watch the news, especially the weather. I want to know what it will be like outside tomorrow. Do I devote that much effort and time to understanding the teachings of Jesus? Is it a priority? Am I a hypocrite?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment