Tag: Luke

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A Straightforward, earnest and honest question

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” Luke‬ ‭7:18-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A Straightforward, earnest and honest question, John asks if Jesus is really “the one.”

Remember, Matthew, Mark and John record that John the Baptist himself had baptized Jesus and it was quite the miraculous moment. Interestingly enough, Luke had mentioned Jesus’ baptism but leaves out John’s role and the supernatural occurrence, almost as if it were a footnote. Luke shocks us by being the only one with this gritty question.

Are you bothered by John’s question? Did you sort through the facts that Jesus and John had some mystical, supernatural connections in their blood relationship? Jesus and John’s mothers had shared secrets about the possible true identities of their little boys – one being the forerunner of the messiah, the other the messiah himself. Yet, John still asks the question, albeit through a couple of his own followers. It’s okay to ask questions! It’s good to ask really hard questions.

Jesus answered in his own mystical messiah way. And, if you read the answer, Jesus is straight up asking John right back, “isn’t it obvious?” We understand that neither John, a blood relative of Jesus, or Luke, a follower and author gets around a required personal faith. They both have to come to a “I believe” and “I commit” kind of faith. After John’s guys leave, Jesus goes into this amazingly emotional and honoring tribute to John. On one hand he says John is the most awesome forerunner anyone could ask for, but in the Kingdom of God, almost anyone can be greater than even John. I think we forget the human journey that each and every person written about in the New Testament had their own journey, their own struggle to get to the fact that Jesus is the messiah. And even then, everyone of them could not believe what the messiah’s real job was in the end.

PRAYER:

Dad,
I don’t have doubts, but I still have a lot of questions. I just want people to feel safe enough, in the church, to ask the hard questions without fear of being labeled a rebel, or someone unsure of their faith. If John the Baptist can actually ask Jesus if he was the ONE, I think it’s safe to say that we should not only entertain questions, but also be willing to admit, some things we just don’t know. We can’t keep removing the mystery of our faith! Please help us be patient and even witty with folks who have deep questions about you.

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Who rudely interrupts a funeral and tells a widow to stop crying?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Luke‬ ‭7:13-15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​How rude for Jesus to tell this grieving widow – WIDOW, “don’t cry.” Does Jesus not have an awareness of what she has lost, what she has been through. And who is he to tell her what she can or can’t do with her feelings. Jesus must have been displaying some kind of patriarchal control over this woman and she shouldn’t put up with it. Did he not have any respect for her journey, or her present situation? I’m surprised that one of the women, if not the widow herself, didn’t stop the well-intentioned Rabbi and say, “excuse me, you don’t know me or my boy. Who are you to tell me not to cry?”

Oh, that’s not how you read the story? This is where we find ourselves today with an over-inflated sense of self and a misperception of gender identity and interactions.

Luke writes that Jesus was in fact OVERFULL with compassion. The scene, the circumstances and the grief of this woman and friends surrounding her were loaded with deep emotion. If Jesus did not know what was going to happen next or did not have the power to change the direction of the procession coming out to bury this young man – it might have seemed very rude to tell a grieving widow, “don’t cry.”

Also, my curious brain wants to know, did Jesus have full access to his real nature, being fully God to the point that he knew the beginning and the end of every person in the funeral procession? Or did he self-limit that knowledge and in his fully human capacity depend completely on the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak to the dead and tell it to get up?

Jesus really took a risk as well. Luke says he touched the “soros”, the open coffin! There are rules about touching dead things or even being around them. What exactly are the rules for having contact with the resurrected dead?

When I was a new believer I worked for a flower shop and delivered flowers all over town. One my duties was to deliver flowers to funerals. I was told it was my responsibility to pin a boutonniere on the deceased while he lay in the coffin. As a teenager, I didn’t want to see or be around a dead body. It seemed super creepy. The funeral was held in our local senior citizen community called “Leisure World.” Yeah I thought it was a strange euphemism for old people housing as well. When I arrived early at the church to deliver the flowers and fulfill my delivery boy duties, I had this overwhelming sense of spiritual curiosity. I kept thinking, “What would happen if I walked up to the casket and commanded the man to get up?” I was new to Christianity and hadn’t been told I couldn’t or wasn’t supposed to think like that or certainly DO something crazy like that either. Granted, I was NOT moved by compassion. I was moved by a new believer’s curiosity. I have talked with a few Pastors who have had similar experiences asking, “what if” or “should I?”

Do you wonder about such things? When you see grief, or suffering. When you see torment and oppression. Do you feel something rise up within you and to want to say, “get up, be healed or get out to a demon?” Okay, maybe not. Maybe it’s just me. Ok, one more question. Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if believers DID the things Jesus did? Raising the dead, healing the sick, kicking demons back to hell?

I’ve buried children in little caskets. I’ve walked the childrens’ hospitals hallways. I’ve driven down Main St in Santa Ana and seen demonic possession. I wonder, if not out of compassion, but even out of frustration, if I’ll ACT on those thoughts and DO what Jesus did – raise, heal, deliver.

You know what, it’s not that I don’t believe it could be possible. It’s that I believe I’ll look so foolish if it fails, feeling like I FAILED.

Where did Jesus get the cojones to do such things? Yeah, it’s so sunday-school just to say, “God.” Because, God wants us to live in this world and BE like Jesus to the grieving, sick, even possessed! But I don’t. We don’t. What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with us?

PRAYER:

Dad,
How do I get my life, my behaviors, my actions to truly reflect what I believe? I see the pain in my city, in my neighbors, but I just don’t think I’m enough. I’ve got my own sins, my own struggles and I hate looking stupid as well. Clearly, I’m missing something. Can you help me figure this out?

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Wisdom’s own Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Wisdom has built her house; she has carved its seven columns. She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table. She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city. “Come in with me,” she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgment, she says, “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment.” Proverbs‬ ‭9:1-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​What an amazing way to look at God’s wisdom, actually preparing for and inviting people to a beautiful setting and a meal. There are so many pictures that come to mind as I read this.

First the enormous space that wisdom has anticipated for the event, it had seven columns. It’s not just a great feast it’s a large setting, a banquet hall ready for guests to be honored and treated like royalty. Do you see this? The SIMPLE are given a chance to feel like kings and rulers. Fools are invited to this feast! This is the Hebrew word, pethiy, fool, silly (i.e. Seducible). These are the ones who are easily enticed, misled. It’s the second most used word (15 times) for “fool” in Proverbs.

The other picture I see reflected in these verses is Jesus talking about a banquet feast that no one showed up to! Luke tells us in chapter 14 that Jesus told this story of the man who wanted to throw a huge party and invites had all gone out. However, when regrets started coming back, it made the man angry. He got excuses from the rich and/or well off – a man who just bought property, who was so wealthy he didn’t even need to see it first! Another who picked up some oxen and didn’t know if they were any good. And finally, a married guy, who forgot to tell his bride he’d been invited to a posh event, sorry no plus one. All of these smell of entitlement! So the man got really angry and instructed his servants to go out and invite the disenfranchised. They were not fools, but would likely not have opportunities to attend an event like this. This old proverb is different because the entire extravaganza was planned and prepared for those fools on the fringe.

And, here’s the kicker. Wisdom reveals her motive right there in the last stanza. “Ok,” you might think, “there’s the hook, the switch, the real truth.” But look at WHY wisdom would go to such extremes to host this party specifically for those who are specifically and regularly targeted for being taken advantage of. The catch, wisdom wants them to LEAVE their normal patterns of gullibility and find out how to LIVE! And to LEARN to use good judgment. This was a fancy, free dinner and seminar on how to better themselves and to quit being duped all the time!

Genius! Come for the elegance and free drinks and stay for a life seminar. If you could only see how much God wants to GIVE you a solid life, a good life, a smart and morally sound life, you would see how much He cares for you. Jesus retold a form of this parable with the edgy, entitled angle to basically say the same thing. This grand banquet, this free seminar is open to any who would take God up on his offer. In a very odd coincidence, it feels like Wisdom has its own Chocolate Factory and has invited the Charlie’s of the world to experience it!

PRAYER:

Dad,
Why is it so hard for folks to see how much, how hard you work to love us and give us a life filled with adventure and fulfillment. Why have we pitched salvation and redemption as a jail cell filled with rules and a boring funless life? We’ve really been duped! I think the church has been complicit in pitching holiness and righteousness and as joy and freedom killers. We’ve got it all wrong, all backwards! The real lie is this idea that our free choice to do what ever we want leads to happiness. And having our every wicked desire fulfilled leads to freedom. We have played the Pethiy fool, the simple seducible for believing that! We have all been DUPED! Help us see TRUTH, live truth!

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¡Bienvenido a la revolución!

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.” Luke‬ ‭6:27-28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Society has rules that we live by. It’s not just our geographic context or culture, it’s our overarching and unifying way of life. You do me wrong, I retaliate. You make a joke about one of my family members and I slap your face! It’s a code. It’s genetic. All this talk about love, kindness and non-violence – ah that’s so vogue.

Bullies are out, those are “red choices” my granddaughter’s preschool teachers would say. Forgiveness and using your words (and someone to understand the bully) is the hot-topic morality today.

You know who started the revolution? Yeah, Jesus. He’s the same guy that folks want left out of government, education and civil conversation because it’s deemed divisively religious. And everyone knows religion is judgey. Funny that Jesus was the epitome of revolutionary and rather anti-religion.

He actually said, you’ve heard… “eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” but I say… Almost every day on the news we hear about an escalated incident that goes way beyond black eyes and missing teeth! It’s Annie get your gun and blam blam blam, someone is dead. It’s so massively ironic that the guy who made “don’t judge” a thing which is now considered to be the lightening rod of any non-civil conversation. Jesus is the one who said “DON’T.” So sure folks can hide behind “choices” or “I identify as” or even have the law give them a special and protected class meant to protect people from bullies. Jesus said things that were anti-human nature – forgive, give, love, BLESS (which isn’t the word, makarios: to make happy but rather eulogeó: to speak well of, praise)! What if the “protected class by law” becomes our cultural bullies? What if folks quit being advocates and look more like activists who behave violently? I think we should quit giving credit to our more modern, historical peacemakers and remember where they got their campaign slogans from – Jesus, the founder and president of the LOVE movement.

PRAYER:

Dad,
I just get so worked up over the enemy of our soul, Satan, supplanting and subtly stealing YOUR words and twisting them to be used against you – and for sure, against us. Satan is a thief, even stealing words and symbols like love, promise and rainbows to be bumper-stickered to promote lies and deeply, morally bankrupt codes of conduct. These bait and switch techniques are so damnable! By the time folks find truth or realize they’ve been duped there has been so much damaged done to their souls, their relationships not to mention the platforms they used to mislead thousands of others. It’s just awful, it makes me sick to see it happen. And even still, I know that you will be waiting like a good father who runs to the prodigal because they’ve come home! I just ask that you stop them from spreading the pig-slop as truth! It’s not a lifestyle, it’s a blatant liestyle.

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Exhausted but fulfilled.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh.” Luke‬ ‭6:20-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is something uniquely holy and all together supernatural about doing God work. Jesus had an entire night of prayer, talking with God about all that was happening and all that would happen.

I’ve had a few talks with my sons and daughters. I’d say, “how’d you’re day go?” They would tell me the good and more frustrating parts of their day. These updates are often filled with highs and lows, sadness and hilarity. Then it would move on to “what’s up next?” Oftentimes it would be a list of upcoming events or plans. But sometimes it would be a conversation about dreams and aspirations – and I would drink it in like a tall glass of watermelon iced tea.

After spending a night on the hill, Jesus called his team together and gave twelve of them a group name – you’ll be called Apostles, he said – Messengers, ones sent on a mission.

THEN Jesus comes down to start his day job – healing the sick and kicking demons out of humans. Luke, the doctor, wants us to know that it was hard work, exhausting work because he says, “Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.” Hmmm, and he healed everyone? An exaggeration? I doubt it.

Whew, after a night of prayer, a quick but earth-shattering pep-talk with his people and a full day of supernatural power coming out of his soul. Jesus… what? Collapses? No, he gives a summary of the day to his team. He goes over the purpose of mission, the why behind what he’s there for and the template that these newly appointed Apostles would follow later on. He gives to them the quick outline of what the crowd produced in Jesus after a hard day’s work. The beginning of the be-attitudes.

God blesses, blesses, blesses those who are: poor, hungry and crying. These are not just physical deficiencies, they are deep cravings of the soul! Jesus reminds his team, there are those walking among you who are living below the physical and spiritual poverty level. There are those lacking daily physical and spiritual nutrients and are malnourished. And there are those who are physically and spiritually broken, who wake in pain and cry all day long. Jesus is saying this is why he came. Jesus is saying, this will soon be your mission to bless by healing, feeding and consoling. It was a very full day indeed! Prayer is exhilarating, people are exhausting. Welcome to the life of every believers day.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Whoa. That’s quite a day in the life of Jesus! It rattles my reality when I think of the desperation in our culture, the deep longing and searching for relief and something to dull the pain of a purposeless life or far worse. I think of folks in failing relationships, those trapped in addictions to self medicate and perpetually seeking even a moment of peace or a second to quiet their soul. I know people in constant physical pain who wake up wishing their life, their world would change. And to realize that you BLESS those in these dark and lonely places? Well, that’s amazing. And to imagine that you’ve called me to be a messenger, an ambassador of hope? Wow, that’s powerful.

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How could religion can be so off mission?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward. Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.” Luke‬ ‭6:7-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

How could things have gone so far off-mission? We have the teachers of religious law and we have Jesus, completely human and God. And, they don’t agree on the correct interpretation nor the intent of God’s law. So the gospel writers give us these little “show-downs.”

Over the hundreds of years the scribes appointed by Ezra were asked to fulfill an important role on behalf of God. God never asked Ezra to assign this to a specific class of men, but it started out so simple, what could be the harm? The scribes duties were as caretakers: protect the law, the temple and the priesthood. Don’t MAKE laws or create systems to care for the temple or elevate and secure the priests to positions of power and wealth. Just help Israel keep God’s stuff in good working order.

Then over many hundreds of years through captivity and wars, and two complete cultural collapses of Judaism, the scribes took on the role of the Israeli secret police per se. They were the watchdogs of everything sacred and meaningful to the Jewish people. It is both surprising and heroic that they were successful in their pursuits and that the law, the temple system and priesthood were still in tact and operational by the time Christ is born and Israel/Judaism is still alive!

The names changed from simple scribes to Pharisees and Sadducees, but their roles had only increased in power and authority. By the time Jesus was thirty, these guys ran EVERYTHING. These “religious leaders” were now wealthy, powerful and very politically involved (too involved). I’ve written this before, but I’m kind of surprised Jesus didn’t THANK them for doing such a fantastic job protecting God’s stuff for him! They actually did keep things going!

Ah, but I’m also surprised that Jesus never had a conversation like this, “Did you guys forget who you work for?” You look and behave nothing like any of the prescribed attendants that Moses wrote about. I’m shocked that Jesus didn’t just directly tell them, “you’re supposed to work for me!”

These stories of conflict over the law and its practical application are how we know the religious leaders were OFF MISSION. The law was FOR people. God’s law was created for people, not people created for the law! Jesus question struck at the heart of the conflict about the Sabbath, “is this a day to SAVE life or DESTROY it? This question would apply to ALL of God’s laws really. Was the law created to save or destroy humans? That one is tricky. Of course it was created to save humans. However, it was also created to give us a clear standard of perfection that would prove how selfish and self-centered we really are. No one was able to keep all of the big ten. And anyone that could not keep the entire big ten would be judged and sentenced for NOT keeping ALL of them!

But, back to the story. Jesus was furious that these self-elevated scribes had so twisted God’s intention – that HEALING on the holy day would be even considered WORK! How horribly wrong could they be? As religious leaders they should have been FIRED and smoked!

Luke writes about the audacity of their complete and utter misunderstanding of their mission. They were NOT protecting they were perpetrating! And they were angry, wild with rage AT God for allowing such a flagrant disregard for all the work they done to perfect themselves. How dare God question our laws! Well now you see now what the fight was all about and who wins. Humans will always create their own laws and their own pitiful paths to perfection. Sad huh? So don’t be like that. And, don’t try to hold others to some ridiculous alternative plan to salvation. It will never work and you’ll end up working against God not for him.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow! I do not want my pretentious, religiosity to ever create some false system of salvation for me or anyone else. I get why the Apostles were so frustrated and angry at the regular and ongoing attempts to create these alternative doctrines trying to circumvent the mission of Jesus being the only way to salvation. No additions, no subtractions!

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Healing a soul is far more difficult

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus,” Luke‬ ‭5:17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Any day the experts and critics show up for you to speak is a good day to really focus on your mission. Luke tells us that all these people just “show up” and hangout nearby. THEY’RE thinking, “keep your enemies closer.” Thankfully God’s power was there for healing. And funny enough, the word Luke uses for healing, iaomai, is generally used for physical healing, but it is also used for spiritual healing. Interesting, right?

All the planning by these men was to get a friend to Jesus because he was paralyzed. All the clamor to climb up and crash through the roof was these friends wanting this man to experience a full life on two legs that worked. All that work, all that commotion for what?

Luke says that Jesus took one look at the paralyzed man as well as the generous amount of faith from the man’s friends. But then, Jesus must have caught the look in the religious’ folks eyes. And in that moment Jesus decided to direct God’s power into healing this man’s soul – he forgave him of his sins!

I am positive that Jesus had to hold back his joyous reaction to the shocked look on EVERYONE’S face!

The man who was healed must have heaved in relief from whatever he had been secretly carrying. The friends must have experienced a flood of feelings. Maybe they knew the man’s past. For sure they didn’t see anything like that coming. And oh, the looks on the faces of the Pharisees – PRICELESS.

The experts quickly ask the perfect question, “who does he think he is?” Then they answer their own question without realizing it. “Only God can forgive sin.” Yep, Jesus doesn’t think he’s God, he knows he’s God.

What a Jesus thing to do! He wanted to deal with the man’s soul first (which is much harder than healing a couple of legs). It is so EASY for God to physically heal a body, because he created our bodies from dirt! But getting us to cough up our sin, to turn from our selfish, arrogant independence and run to truth and into the Father’s arms – that is incredibly difficult.

Jesus woo’d a soul out of darkness and gave him a glimpse of the freedom as his sin was lifted, taken from him. Young man you are forgiven.

The religious grumbled at the invisible, but palpable power of authority Jesus commanded in that room. Jesus spoke their thoughts out loud. Then in the next moment answered everyone’s prayer. Stand up, you are healed. The paralyzed man was happy, his friends happy, the crowd watching were pumped. And the religious, well they also were happy because they got the proof they needed to put Jesus to death – Jesus claimed to be God.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow. What a day that was. What a moment of beauty. What an amazing story of clarity of mission. Jesus came to save the sinner, to heal the sick and broken, to show us who you are and your great love and mercy towards us. What will life be like without sin? What will this renewed, recreated Earth be like without the curse upon it? What will heaven be like with no adversary, no lies, no deceit? I can only imagine.

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The day he quit his job to work for God!

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.” Luke‬ ‭5:8-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What a legacy Peter had as he would tell his family, his children and friends when they would later get together telling stories as the church gathered around the love feast (communion).

From the very beginning to the bitter end, then to a miraculous sendoff of Jesus. Jesus just doesn’t do normal! I mean, who recruits followers like this? In fact, who recruits leaders of future apostles and church fathers like this? It’s been said so many times, but Jesus found common, middle class, hard working guys and converted them to super miracle workers, church planters, authors and martyrs. Yeah maybe Matthew had some money, but he was such a social outcast being a money guy working for the Roman government.

And talk about worldly guys! Peter and his crew were both sailors and fishermen. You’ve heard the sailor stories and seen Deadliest Catch. These guys were tough, hardened, calloused
-hands kind of people. However, it’s interesting to note that Jesus was NOT intimidated by rough dudes, maybe hard hands do not mean hard hearts?

Luke tells us Jesus steps out onto Peter’s boat like a lost tourist. He then casually asks Peter to push away from shore a little. Then, like a totally noob, tells him to push out further and let down his nets again. Notice, Luke had already told us Jesus found the guys CLEANING those nets – they were DONE.

Peter respectfully protests, being the expert in his own trade, “Jesus, it’s been a hard days night, and I’ve been working like a dog!” Yet, he did as Jesus asked. Peter and the whole bunch must have been trying to figure out what kind of Rabbi behaves like this guy. He’s not normal!

I think they were tired, and in shock trying to understand what was going on. What was this guy’s angle? What was he selling? What did he want? What kind of religion does this guy represent?

Maybe Jesus caught them on that one really bad day that everyone has, when they say, “what are we doing?” Or, “What is life all about?” Or, “Why are we killing ourselves over fish?” Maybe it was one of those mornings where the whole gang was thinking, “what if we quit and did something else?”

Then “coincidentally” this strange Rabbi walks up and speaks and acts in such a way that the fishermen become WOKE – super woke to life and purpose. Woke to what life could be, what it should be. Jesus words and the miracle of their “retirement” catch of fish was just enough for the guys to make a decision to quit their jobs and work for God! Luke writes, “As soon as they landed… they left EVERYTHING and followed Jesus.”

PRAYER:

Dad,
I was nowhere as far as the first followers in my pursuit of life or career. I hadn’t even graduated High School. However, when I said “Yes” to following you, it only took a couple of years to begin to reformat my entire future to do whatever you asked of me. Sure, I didn’t feel qualified – I wasn’t qualified. Sure, I felt conscientious about any kind of “religious” calling or preparation. My “people” didn’t come from any spiritual stock. I had no godly folk in my family going back several generations. I was the first of my kind to even think about going into “ministry.” Most of my family thought that I would go into some kind of priest training and a monastery life. They didn’t know and neither did I. They also thought I got caught up in some kind of religious cult or maybe I was going through some kind of “youthful” season of finding myself. I know it surprised all of them that it stuck and it was real. Now some 45 years later, I’m still following you in a calling and purpose that I never grew out of. Instead I just continue to grow into it. So, thank you for “randomly” showing up in my life and simply saying, “come on… follow me.”

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A demon goes to church one day

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day. There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority. Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—cried out, shouting, “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.” Luke‬ ‭4:31-35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

One day a demon and the Son of God walk into a church. In older movies, evil is portrayed as mystically being afraid of going into “holy” places or crossing thresholds of good. Along with the symbols and odd objects writers thought would repel or put fear in an agent of evil, the idea is that Satan knows his boundaries and certainly cannot have access to or reside in a space that’s been dedicated to God. Well Luke and the other gospel writers told us thousands of years ago – none of that is true.

Evil spirits, can and will inhabit humans and pretty much go anywhere they want and cause problems and suffering anytime they can.

We should learn truth from the Bible because God is the creator of all things and tells us about things we should be aware of in His word. None of these stories of evil or demonic possession are to be given any more attention than necessary. The point of these stories isn’t to highlight demons or sickness or really even healing. The point of the story is who Jesus is – God in flesh and all authority and power is at his disposal to do the will of his father.

In this story, Luke tells us there was a demon in church that day and had full control of a human being. The demon used the man to shout out its questions and concerns, and the questions are pretty telling. “Why are you interfering?” Like they owned the place – and the man himself. And, “Have you come to destroy us?” They knew their destiny was destruction, but had no sense of when it would happen. Then the confession – “I know who you are.”

That was enough talking so Jesus commanded it to come out of the man. Then after one more dramatically staged protest, throwing the man to the ground, out he comes. Luke adds another interesting note, “without hurting him further.”

Folks wickedly romanticize these interactions with demons or agents of the enemy. They highlight “deals” or “promises” being made to give power, fame or money. The Biblical writers write truth – the enemy’s plan is always the same – killing, stealing and destroying. Anyone who toys with demons ALWAYS gets a prison sentence of death.

The New Testament folks were far smarter and aware of these physical, spiritual interactions of demons and the human soul. We, as westerners, just pretend that evil entities are psychological states of mind and are basically emotional manifestations of our wounds from our origin stories.

We are such fools to ignore the realities of a personal, evil entity at war with God and humans. We just prescribe drugs and group therapy! I’m sure that those who actually have a demon controlling them are frustrated that we keep medicating their bodies without treating their soul. Our modern streets seemed to be filled with these Zombies that wander, hopelessly waiting to be free.

PRAYER:

Dad,
I’ve seen these hopeless victims, not in our churches (although some are probably there), but in the streets of my own city. My heart breaks for them. I pray, sometimes I give them food or money, not to “further” their addictions or illusions, but to let them know that I care and trust that a moment of hope transfers in my words. I want to give them so much more – life, hope, freedom, love. Lord, please continue to lead and direct me to be bold and compassionate just like Jesus.

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From fame to furious

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.” Luke‬ ‭4:22-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This curious scene out of Luke is an interesting story about US – our human nature and how consistently enduring and predictable it can be. This little side-bit is full of information about who WE are. Jesus goes home, and goes to his local synagogue. Nazareth may have been small and considered the “armpit” of Jerusalem, but there were a good number of very devout religious men there – enough to qualify for a synagogue.

Jesus goes to the front of the gathering, confidently unrolls the scroll and finds his text – in Isaiah! I’m sure whispers and eye-raised glances bounced around the room at that point. That day was “Isaiah” day, reading from the longest and most complicated Old Testament prophet book in the history of Judaism. There are no coincidences! And, he thinks he’s going to comment and give a Jewish sermon on it? Yeah right.

Luke, in his punchy wit writes, “He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.” Then Jesus gives his homily…“The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” Whoa.

Questions fill the room, sucking centuries of religious pretense right out of the room! In those stunning moments they began to comment, “Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips.” Then seconds later, someone just had to connect the dots of who and where this young buck came from. So then they mumble into the now religious-free air, “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

Then Jesus being the truth-teller, breaks their murmurs mid-thought and hijacks their conclusions saying, do you really want to know why I’ve done no miracles here? Of course it’s a lack of faith, but more than that, you guys won’t let ANYONE grow and mature as God intends and expects. You guys got STUCK and you want everyone around you to lower to your level back to AD 00 or BC 700!

Jesus masterfully does a commentary on two other very famous Old Testament spokespersons: Elijah and Elisha. “Ever wonder why these guys did miracles with foreigners and not Israel?” – Jesus hints. He tells them, there were a lot of needy widows in Israel and their were a lot of sick, skin diseased men in Israel. Why didn’t the prophets do any miracles among their own – the Jews?

Can you feel the tension building in this quiet little synagogue in the small, dusty city of Nazareth? Big pause here as they followed their stale, self-righteousness breadcrumbs to a finger-pointing conclusion.

I knew that Naaman wasn’t Jewish, but I had no idea the Sidon widow wasn’t either. Did you? OUCH!

Obviously, they got the point, the civil and religious leaders in old Israel sucked all the faith out the country, and right out of the people they were leading! One moment they were all having a nice pleasant day in the tabernacle, the next moment they’re foaming at the mouth with arrogant-anger, grabbing pitch forks and torches – “When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.” I think once Jesus was safely out of town, he stopped at the city border and dusted off his sandals, signifying he wouldn’t be returning home again.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow, I love it when Jesus interprets and does a great commentary on the Old Testament, pointing out things I never knew or ever saw! This really challenges my own beliefs and faith as well as in leading others. Am I sucking faith out of the air with others in my community? I want to believe and not put any restraints or restrictions on a move of your Spirit. In fact, I want to be for more faith, not less! Help me in my own lack of faith and help our leaders in their faith as well.