Truly Living

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

TRULY LIVING

Luke 4:3-4

3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."

4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'" 

NIV

Jesus is quoting from what Moses told the children of Israel before they were about to cross over the Jordon into the land of Canaan. He was giving them his last instructions as he was not to go with them. The Gospel of Matthew records the complete quote which Luke does not. The rest of what Moses said was, “But on every word that comes from the mouth of God”.  The whole of the lesson was that God led them into the desert for forty years, to humble them and to test them in order to know what was in their heart, whether or not they would keep his commands. He humbled them, causing them to hunger and then he fed them with manna, which neither they nor their fathers had known, to teach them that man does not live in bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Jesus had not eaten anything and he was hungry and the devil brought the temptation of bread. Of course both the devil and Jesus knew who Jesus was so it was not about proving he was Jesus, but about the temptation of the bread to relieve his hunger. As the children of Israel were led into the desert for forty years, so was Jesus led into the desert for forty days. Both were hungry and God fed the children of Israel bread, so the devil wanted Jesus to provide himself with bread. But was this the lesson? Of course we need bread, in essence food, to sustain life. So many lessons about using scripture to overcome temptations have been taught which certainly bear much truth, but could there be one more lesson that is not commonly thought about? Although bread certainly sustains our earthly life, it is every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord which will give and sustain us in eternal life. This may well be the lesson Jesus is telling the devil and demonstrating to us. First we can learn that God may lead us through some difficult times to test our hearts, to see it we will continue to obey and trust him, but he will also provide for us. If we look to ourselves for the bread, that is our own efforts, our own abilities we have failed the test, our hearts are not focused on God, but on ourselves. We have proven we do not trust him in his leading us, even if it is into difficult times. Secondly, it is every word that comes from his mouth which is where our trust should be and if that is our heart than we pass the test. It is not about the Lord providing every whim and fancy of ours, with material things, although he certainly cares for us and makes sure we have what is needed to live in this life, and at times more then we need. But that is not a transcultural or trans-society truth. Some people in other countries other cultures can live for God and in huts with dirt floors. Some people in our very country can love God and be homeless. Some believers have far more than we do, and some have far less than we do in the material sense, bread. But we all, no matter how much or how little bread we have need every word that comes from the mouth of God if we are to have life eternal, where all believers will be the same, praising God. We do not truly live on bread, true life requires the words of God.

Full and Led

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

FULL AND LED

Luke 4:1-2

4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

NIV

We are about to enter into the time where we will see the narrative between Jesus and Satan showing us three of the temptations placed before Jesus. Because of what was written about him in the letter to the Hebrews it gives us the impression that Jesus suffered temptations even more than a normal human so that he could help us through ours. The point is Jesus was fully God and fully man, we have to understand that he was faced with temptation every day as we are, even though we are told in this passage that he was tempted for forty days by the devil.  If the only three temptations he ever faced were what we are going to see next, he would not be fully human. We will examine this further as we get into that narrative but for now we should focus on the fact that first Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and second he was led by the Spirit in the desert. Of course we would expect nothing less than Jesus being full of the Spirit, as they are both part of the trinity, the God head. So why are we being told he was full of the Spirit. It would seem this is to show us an example of how we should live our lives so that when we are faced with temptations we will be able to withstand them. If we are full of the Spirit we will be able to take our stand against the flaming arrows of the evil one. It is the Spirit who provides us with that shield of faith as well as the helmet of salvation, protecting our minds from those thoughts that would lead us to sinful behavior. Temptation first starts in the mind, then it motivates behavior and when that behavior is completed it becomes sin. So we need to be full of the Spirit so that we might overcome temptation. The second lesson here is that Jesus was led by the Spirit. Again, could we expect anything less? So once again this serves to show us we should also be led by the Spirit. That would not only imply, but would forthrightly shout it right out. We should be led by the Spirit. This means we do not own the right to make life decisions, that belongs to the Spirit and he will lead us. We might also learn, because Jesus ate nothing for those days, that resisting temptations is not without cost. It may very well be that we will have forgo something in our resistance of certain, if not all, temptations. We see here that Jesus ate nothing for those days, but in other accounts we are also told that after, the angels feed him. God will always provide. That is to say we cannot go about living life as if we have no temptations and do whatever suits our fancy. Being full of and led by the Spirit is totally different than living life our own way and if we most forgo something, God will provide something better. It is far better than anything we could ever live. Let us be full and led. 

Sons

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

SONS

Luke 3:23-38

23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melki, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

NIV

What is the point of Luke telling us the complete lineage or genealogy of Joseph considering he had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus? Mary is the only human portion of Christ but as life has generally been recorded through the line of men it would seem this is why Luke gives us this record. Yet it is also interesting that Joseph was in the line of David, Noah and thus all the way back to Adam who was the son of God. Could the reason Mary found favor with God is she was betrothed to Joseph, a man in the line of David.  Many Scholars have examined this record against that of Matthews and there is much difference and discussion by Rabbinic scholars very knowledgeable both in Hebrew and the customs. We do not have the time nor the space to include all their study and discourse, yet we have to believe there is some reason for Luke to tell us all this. The one point which we should include is there is enough evidence this might actually be the lineage of Mary. This is due to the use of sons-in law being named as in the Rabbinical custom, daughters were not named. This is why Luke’s record differs from Matthew. Yet there has to be some life lesson we can learn from a record of genealogy.  The point is Jesus came from the line of Adam no matter how we look at it. Although it is true Adam was a created man, and Jesus was a conceived man, in the human sense, both are referred as the son of God, Adam a small son and Jesus a large Son because he is in fact God which is always capitalized. The point that God, from the very beginning, knew who he would come in the flesh through and made sure each man had the right son to have the right son and so forth in order that both Mary and Joseph would be engaged and thus bring forth Jesus in the town of Bethlehem and live in Nazareth in accordance with all of his inspired words spoken through his prophets. If we learn anything, we learn God is in control. He is in fact speaking into our lives, directing our paths in righteousness, so we will see him, both in the life we live here and in the life we will live in his Kingdom for all eternity. God has us in the palm of his hand, our life is that as he has directed it to be. We were born at the exact place and time, to the exact parents he chose so that we would be who we are and that we would find him. Of course that does not discount our free will or choice to refuse his invitation, but we still see him at work to bring us home. We are his sons.

Well Pleased

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

WELL PLEASED

Luke 3:19-22

19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done,   20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. 21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

NIV

Luke does not mess around with all the exact details about both these events as some of the others have. First we should note that the imprisonment of John did not happen at the moment Luke mentions it, at least in the chronological order of his recording it, but rather we could suppose it is mentioned as to put an end to recording about John and transition to Jesus. We should also note that Jesus had been baptized by John, so he was not in prison at the time of the Baptism of Jesus as well as Jesus came out of the water before the Spirit descended upon him, as recorded by the others. In some sense this is purely academic as any life lesson is not dependent on this form of transition from John to Jesus. What we do know or could learn here from John is that telling the truth about Godly living can bring hardship and even death in some cases. Of course this happened to be about a ruler with power to do that to John, but the point is some people may oppose the gospel and do so rather violently. But this also serves to show us we should not shrink away from speaking the truth. When we make this transition to Jesus, we see the event which somewhat transcends all events. This is the one moment in time when the whole of the trinity is present with man. This may have occurred before in Old Testament times, but it was not as plainly seen as this. Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father were all there. What a moment that must have been. Surely the words of the Father were not said for the benefit of Jesus as he already knew who he was and that the Father was well pleased with him. This was said for our benefit, so we would know the Trinity was real, and Jesus was being validated as the Son of God before men. Jesus was not just a man, he was the Son of God, and he was God. Yet it would be something if we could hear those words from God concerning ourselves. Not that we can compare ourselves to Jesus in any way, as he was perfect and we are not, but to hear the Father tell us that he is well pleased with us. It would seem it is absolutely impossible to please the Father based on our behavior. So how can we please him? How can we hear those words? Surely we know it is the Father’s will that none should perish as we are told through a letter Peter wrote in which he says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.  So then how do we please the Father? Certainly we cannot please God by all our good deeds, by being “Goody two shoes” so to speak, because it is not possible to be that good all the time, to be perfect, to be completely free of all sin. It is by faith in Jesus that we please the Father for we are told by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews that without faith it is impossible to please God. Because it is God’s desire that none should perish, so he is not pleased when men refuse to believe in Jesus because they will perish and that does not please him. But when we believe in Jesus, when we come in faith, believing, repenting of our sinful life, and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Father is well pleased with us. Just think of that, we have the right to be called children of God, and co-heirs with Christ, and thus the Father speaks those words into our hearts and minds, this is my child in whom I am well pleased.

An Event of Biblical Proportions

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

 AN EVENT OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS

Luke 3:15-18

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.   16 John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.

NIV

Two truths John speaks here. The first is about Jesus baptizing us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The second truth is about the threshing floor which we will deal with as well. But first we should explore this truth about the Holy Spirit and with fire. It would seem absolute this is a one-time event of biblical proportions. We understand for the part about being baptized with the Holy Spirit. This is when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, when we were born again, which in itself is an event of biblical proportions, we seek for Jesus to baptize us with the Holy Spirit. This moment in time does not automatically happen, but is the result of asking for. When Jesus was leaving and he told his disciples to wait and he would send them the Spirit. They were in anticipation of this moment. They were all together in the upper room praying and we have to consider their prayers included waiting for the time Jesus told them what would happen when the Spirit arrived. This is the moment with fire. They burned with power, with greatness of overwhelming enthusiasm they poured out into the streets speaking in tongues praising God. This is our first life lesson. We cannot, should not, that is if we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, walk around in a stupor or with bent over continence. We should be living life with great overwhelming enthusiasm pouring out into society speaking in tongues praising God. As far as the tongues is concerned we witnessed in the Book of Acts the disciples were speaking in the languages that the various foreign speaking Jews spoke who were in Jerusalem for the Passover. The disciples were praising God in the language they could understand. Could it be that we might have this tongues wrong in this sense. Could it be that when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire we pour out into society praising God in a language unbelievers understand? That is not so much in some strange tongue which we ourselves do not understand, but in the vernacular of the unbelievers. It is also true we may very well receive some odd foreign sounding language which allows us to pray in the Spirit which is absolutely in accordance with the will of God. Yet if we go about speaking in this strange foreign tongue, not many unbelievers will hear us praising God. The second truth regarding the threshing floor is clearly about the day when Jesus will separate the believers from the nonbelievers. Those who believe will be gathered into his barn, into heaven and those who refuse to believe will be consumed with fire, as the Greek word implies. This is not burning for all eternity, but will be consumed by the fire, which agrees with the gospel of John when he uses the word, perish. This term or analogy of John the Baptist, of Jesus burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire, shows us the chaff is consumed. No one would ever expect the chaff to remain chaff in the fire, but they would expect the chaff to be completely consumed into nothing. This is that word, perish. We can be exceedingly, overwhelmingly, overjoyed we are the wheat that will be gathered into the barn. We should live accordingly, praising God with our lives, pouring out into the streets of our society telling of his greatness, praising God so people will understand. 

Relations

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

RELATIONS

Luke 3:9-14

9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." 10 "What should we do then?" the crowd asked. 11 John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" 13 "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely — be content with your pay."

NIV

We have started with the last statement of John which we already dealt with so this narrative would have a context. The people understand what John had told them about the ax and the production of good fruit in order to avoid that ax and the fire. They asked, “What should we do then?” What good fruit can we produce? Rather than reciting the fruit of the Spirit, which had not yet been given, John tells them in laymen terms, the result of love. Those who have should share with those who do not have. This is rather subjective in some sense, for everyone has more than someone, which could become a real debacle in that no matter how much we have and give, someone has more than us and should be giving to us, and someone has more than them and should be giving to them and so on it goes, as well as the one we give to might well have more than someone who they should be giving to. If we all are being in compliance with what John told them it would be a real mess. Yet the truth here is about our relationships with our fellow man, and how it should be based on love, which is selfless. John’s response to the tax collectors and the soldiers is based on that same kind of love. It would seem our human nature is to be self-centered rather than selfless. This does not only apply in the material sense, but also in the spiritual or emotional or mental sense. This self-centered condition drives us to want to be right about everything. Selflessness would not insist on being right and thus would be more in tune with the attitude of loving our neighbor as ourselves. This whole discourse by John is all about that very idea. How we relate to each other, and how that should be with the attitude of love.  

The Ax

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

THE AX

Luke 3:7-9

7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

NIV

This are the first words recorded of John the Baptist in the beginning of his public ministry. From what we have been told before he went out into the country around the Jordon preaching the baptism of repentance, but this is the first we have heard of what he preached. His words certainly were not words that would win friends and influence people, yet he must have done just that for crowds came to hear him. The truth here is loud and clear. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Claiming salvation through having Abraham as their father was simply not acceptable. They needed to produce fruit, or we could say the evidence of a change of direction of their lives. Let’s update this truth a bit. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, having repented of our sinful life, we need to produce the fruit, the evidence of that experience, that event in our lives. This certainly could be a case for the fruit of the Spirit being that fruit, that evidence. The point is there should be an absolute change in our lives. We cannot claim our place in the kingdom of God by having Abraham as our father, that is to say, one, we claim we are believers because we were raised in a Christian home, or two, that we are believers because we follow all the rules and regulations of a denomination. They may be many others reasons we cannot claim our place in the kingdom, but we can be certain we must produce good fruit in order to not be cut down and through into the fire. Would this be a case where we could say faith in dead without works, or production of good fruit? We know works is dead without faith, but here is that case for faith being dead without works. But the works are not the works of man, good deeds as it were. But  the works is the production of fruit for without that kind of change in our lives, that kind of evidence, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, no matter what we say we believe, it appears the ax is at the root and the fire is at our feet. That is a hard truth, but it appears that is exactly what John was saying. Yes, he was making that case for the need for accepting Jesus, rather than Abraham. This could also been seen as the good fruit. That all we need to escape the ax is the good fruit of accepting Jesus. Although it is true that we need Jesus for salvation, it is also true that this claiming Jesus as our Savior should also be seen in the evidence of bearing fruit. The claiming of Jesus without the change or repentance, and the production of the evidence of that claim seems to fall short of the need to avoid that ax.