A paralytic is brought by some men* to Jesus. Jesus first forgives the paralytic his sins on account of the men's faith. The Pharisees and teachers of the law question Jesus' authority in their minds. Only when Jesus heals the man physically do they presumably believe.
The significance for me is that this happens in front of Pharisee and teachers of the law. 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 says:
22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
The forgiveness given to us by Jesus Christ is not something we can intellectually believe. But God knows that we as human beings need to see to believe; so Jesus said:
24But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...
Jesus is saying: the powerful miracle here is the forgiveness of sins! The physical healing is just to accommodate those who do not believe. Sometimes it's so hard for us to see God because we spend so much of our time on intellectualizing and church-izing Him. But it's when it comes to brokenness and fervent faith in His power to change us that God can do the most.
* Jesus said "Friend, your sins are forgiven." (Luke 5:20) But it doesn't say the paralytic was a friend of the men carrying him - a common assumption. Jesus was just calling the paralytic his friend. Imagine: we can bring complete strangers, so broken they can't even go in their own strength, to Jesus!!!
Showing posts with label kayan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kayan. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Luke 5: It's not about us.
The Calling of the First Disciples
It never ceases to amaze me how much detail I miss when I read the Bible in a cursory manner. There is so much meaning in this passage (v.1-11) about the reality of being called by Jesus and the state of our hearts if we are to be used by Him.
v3. Jesus got into the boat
Jesus didn't send Simon out. Jesus first got into the boat with Simon, and then they went out a little from shore together.
v3. Jesus asked Simon to put out a little from shore.
At this point, Simon did not know Jesus' plan. The only instruction was to go offshore a little bit. When God wants to do great things with us, He often takes us on little steps of faith, without us knowing the big harvest that's waiting for us in the end. That is the essence of faith - believing without knowing.
v5. Simon obeyed
Like most of us, when God proposes that He would do great impossible things with us, our first reaction is disbelief. I find Simon's simple, immediate second reaction - "But because you say so, I will" - to be so sweet. I don't hear his response as "there better be a big catch;" instead I read his response as simple obedience. I think this comes from his beginning his response with calling Jesus "Master."
Simon says they've worked hard all day. But Jesus wasn't in the boat when they worked hard by themselves all day.
Update 7/16/07: I made a mistake. Simon said they worked hard all night, not day. Fishermen work pre-dawn hours!
v8-10. Not sure what to make of this yet
v11. With the catch, they pulled up on shore, left everything and followed Jesus.
I see this not as the disciples' obedience. I see this more as the power of Jesus to show us so much of His power - compared to our meager efforts, even though we perceive ourselves as having "worked so hard" - that we can't help but believe in Him and follow Him. Through our tiny steps of faith, Jesus rewards us abundantly with MORE faith via showing us what He can do.
This is my biggest takeaway from this passage: it's really not about us.
- Kayan
It never ceases to amaze me how much detail I miss when I read the Bible in a cursory manner. There is so much meaning in this passage (v.1-11) about the reality of being called by Jesus and the state of our hearts if we are to be used by Him.
v3. Jesus got into the boat
Jesus didn't send Simon out. Jesus first got into the boat with Simon, and then they went out a little from shore together.
v3. Jesus asked Simon to put out a little from shore.
At this point, Simon did not know Jesus' plan. The only instruction was to go offshore a little bit. When God wants to do great things with us, He often takes us on little steps of faith, without us knowing the big harvest that's waiting for us in the end. That is the essence of faith - believing without knowing.
v5. Simon obeyed
Like most of us, when God proposes that He would do great impossible things with us, our first reaction is disbelief. I find Simon's simple, immediate second reaction - "But because you say so, I will" - to be so sweet. I don't hear his response as "there better be a big catch;" instead I read his response as simple obedience. I think this comes from his beginning his response with calling Jesus "Master."
Simon says they've worked hard all day. But Jesus wasn't in the boat when they worked hard by themselves all day.
Update 7/16/07: I made a mistake. Simon said they worked hard all night, not day. Fishermen work pre-dawn hours!
v8-10. Not sure what to make of this yet
v11. With the catch, they pulled up on shore, left everything and followed Jesus.
I see this not as the disciples' obedience. I see this more as the power of Jesus to show us so much of His power - compared to our meager efforts, even though we perceive ourselves as having "worked so hard" - that we can't help but believe in Him and follow Him. Through our tiny steps of faith, Jesus rewards us abundantly with MORE faith via showing us what He can do.
This is my biggest takeaway from this passage: it's really not about us.
- Kayan
Friday, July 13, 2007
Luke 3: Refiner's Fire
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "(O)Then what shall we do?" 11 And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to (P)share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." 12 And some (Q)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." 14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or (R)accuse anyone falsely, and (S)be content with your wages."
This passage made me think that everyone who asked John "what shall we do?" already knew the answer to their own questions before John answered. In other words, they weren't asking for advice because they didn't know what they should do. John was just revealing their hearts. Related to that, John said:
16 As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
John was revealing their hearts as an outsider, with gentle water. But the living Holy Spirit was on its way to truly convict people of their hearts with refining fire, activating a change from within.
19 But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him....he locked John up in prison."
The imagery here is so clear to me: When we choose not to face the truth revealed to us by God, we end up locking it up in a symbolic prison in our heart. By doing so, Herod is preventing the gentle water of John's revelation to flow. The refining fire of the Holy Spirit has no access to that part of his heart.
Genealogy of Jesus
I think most people tend to skip geneaology lists when they are encountered in the Bible. But just about every time, I skim the list for 1) familiar names and 2) names of women. In this one I found my favorite Boaz (the land baron from the book of Ruth).
Luke's genealogy list of Jesus worked backwards; i.e. instead of from the top to bottom, he started with Joseph and worked his way back up the "tree" culminating at Adam, the son of God. I looked up several genealogies in the Bible. Though we are all descendants of Adam, only Jesus' genealogy in the Bible specifies him as a descendant of Adam, the son of God (the emphasis being on God, not Adam).
Here's how Jesus is introduced in the other gospels:
Matthew: the lineage goes as far "up" as Abraham (Matthew 1:1)
Mark: simply "Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1)
John: The Word became flesh (John 1:14)
So while Luke was being extra detail-oriented and nitpicky-technical - as he said he would be - he also artistically ended the lineage with "the son of God." I also liked the touch in the beginning (Luke 3:23) where he wrote, "...He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph." I like to think that these two points, taken together, was Luke's way of saying, in his mystery novel writer voice, "Jesus was really the Son of God."
The Bible is such a beautiful mystery to be discovered!
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "(O)Then what shall we do?" 11 And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to (P)share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." 12 And some (Q)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." 14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or (R)accuse anyone falsely, and (S)be content with your wages."
This passage made me think that everyone who asked John "what shall we do?" already knew the answer to their own questions before John answered. In other words, they weren't asking for advice because they didn't know what they should do. John was just revealing their hearts. Related to that, John said:
16 As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
John was revealing their hearts as an outsider, with gentle water. But the living Holy Spirit was on its way to truly convict people of their hearts with refining fire, activating a change from within.
19 But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him....he locked John up in prison."
The imagery here is so clear to me: When we choose not to face the truth revealed to us by God, we end up locking it up in a symbolic prison in our heart. By doing so, Herod is preventing the gentle water of John's revelation to flow. The refining fire of the Holy Spirit has no access to that part of his heart.
Genealogy of Jesus
I think most people tend to skip geneaology lists when they are encountered in the Bible. But just about every time, I skim the list for 1) familiar names and 2) names of women. In this one I found my favorite Boaz (the land baron from the book of Ruth).
Luke's genealogy list of Jesus worked backwards; i.e. instead of from the top to bottom, he started with Joseph and worked his way back up the "tree" culminating at Adam, the son of God. I looked up several genealogies in the Bible. Though we are all descendants of Adam, only Jesus' genealogy in the Bible specifies him as a descendant of Adam, the son of God (the emphasis being on God, not Adam).
Here's how Jesus is introduced in the other gospels:
Matthew: the lineage goes as far "up" as Abraham (Matthew 1:1)
Mark: simply "Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1)
John: The Word became flesh (John 1:14)
So while Luke was being extra detail-oriented and nitpicky-technical - as he said he would be - he also artistically ended the lineage with "the son of God." I also liked the touch in the beginning (Luke 3:23) where he wrote, "...He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph." I like to think that these two points, taken together, was Luke's way of saying, in his mystery novel writer voice, "Jesus was really the Son of God."
The Bible is such a beautiful mystery to be discovered!
Friday, July 6, 2007
Luke 4
About a year ago, I was waiting to pick up a friend when she told me she would need a lot more time than anticipated. So I picked up the Bible and randomly picked a chapter to read while I waited. I turned to Luke 4. For whatever reason, at that moment, God revealed a lot to me through His Word.
Luke 4 has since become one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. The applicable reality is staggering. I couldn’t wait to make this post.
The Temptation of Jesus
Jesus was *led by the Spirit* to be tempted by the devil. Why would the Spirit purposefully lead Jesus to be tempted? One interpretation I heard compares this to a new car test drive challenge: a car salesman will let you test drive a car to show you that the car will pass your test. Similarly, the Spirit led Jesus to be tempted, not to see whether Jesus would pass, but to show that Jesus will pass.
The temptations, to me, typify three of our biggest weaknesses:
Human Weakness 1: Seeking gratification from the world instead of from God
And the devil said to Him, ”If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
If I were hungry, or in general yearning for anything, God has full power to grant me whatever I want immediately. But this scripture tells me that God will use those yearnings to teach me that it is Him and His Word that I need to hunger for – not the hungers of the flesh. And by doing so, His Word will fill me with more life than anything else possibly can.
* The verse that comes after “Man shall not live on bread alone” is “but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.” – Deuteronomy 8:3
Human Weakness 2: Taking the spiritual easy-out
And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
"Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours."
Jesus answered him, "It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
The neat twist #1 here is that, the world and all its glory was slated to belong to Jesus anyway. The devil was giving Jesus an easy-out on the process to glory over the world. i.e. Jesus could have it all without dying on the cross.
As believers, we are often faced with enticing easy-outs which cause us to worship something other than God.
Neat twist #2: in verse 5, it says the devil showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world “in an instant.” I wonder if “in an instant” makes the difference between the temporary fleeting dominion of the devil’s enticements versus the everlasting glory and splendor of God!
Human Weakness 3: Putting ourselves in close proximity to sin, counting on God to keep us from "falling"
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
As believers, we can count on the Lord to get our backs. But often we think it’s a carte blanche to do whatever we want, and that the Lord will protect us. We have free will. And the devil knows that. We need to be prayerful and constantly ask for God’s wisdom; and when God tells us not to jump off the cliff, follow the instructions.
Luke 4 has since become one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. The applicable reality is staggering. I couldn’t wait to make this post.
The Temptation of Jesus
Jesus was *led by the Spirit* to be tempted by the devil. Why would the Spirit purposefully lead Jesus to be tempted? One interpretation I heard compares this to a new car test drive challenge: a car salesman will let you test drive a car to show you that the car will pass your test. Similarly, the Spirit led Jesus to be tempted, not to see whether Jesus would pass, but to show that Jesus will pass.
The temptations, to me, typify three of our biggest weaknesses:
Human Weakness 1: Seeking gratification from the world instead of from God
And the devil said to Him, ”If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
If I were hungry, or in general yearning for anything, God has full power to grant me whatever I want immediately. But this scripture tells me that God will use those yearnings to teach me that it is Him and His Word that I need to hunger for – not the hungers of the flesh. And by doing so, His Word will fill me with more life than anything else possibly can.
* The verse that comes after “Man shall not live on bread alone” is “but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.” – Deuteronomy 8:3
Human Weakness 2: Taking the spiritual easy-out
And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
"Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours."
Jesus answered him, "It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
The neat twist #1 here is that, the world and all its glory was slated to belong to Jesus anyway. The devil was giving Jesus an easy-out on the process to glory over the world. i.e. Jesus could have it all without dying on the cross.
As believers, we are often faced with enticing easy-outs which cause us to worship something other than God.
Neat twist #2: in verse 5, it says the devil showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world “in an instant.” I wonder if “in an instant” makes the difference between the temporary fleeting dominion of the devil’s enticements versus the everlasting glory and splendor of God!
Human Weakness 3: Putting ourselves in close proximity to sin, counting on God to keep us from "falling"
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
As believers, we can count on the Lord to get our backs. But often we think it’s a carte blanche to do whatever we want, and that the Lord will protect us. We have free will. And the devil knows that. We need to be prayerful and constantly ask for God’s wisdom; and when God tells us not to jump off the cliff, follow the instructions.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Luke - A chapter a day
We're trying an experiment: To read, and blog, each chapter of The Gospel of Luke.
It's completely free-form. The goals are to:
1. Establish daily devotion time
2. Encourage, challenge, and learn from each other in the Word
3. Experience the pure joy of the Holy Spirit revealing Himself in the Bible
Let's go!
- Kayan
It's completely free-form. The goals are to:
1. Establish daily devotion time
2. Encourage, challenge, and learn from each other in the Word
3. Experience the pure joy of the Holy Spirit revealing Himself in the Bible
Let's go!
- Kayan
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