Gospel for April 28, 2024

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 15:1-8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is another of the powerful “I Am” statements of Jesus that identifies him as one with the Father, and yet distinct as the Son. On multiple occasions in the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the phrase I am in such a way that clearly connects to the encounter between God and Moses in Exodus 3:14, when God reveals his identity:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

This image of the vine would have been familiar to Jesus’ Jewish disciples.  Israel was frequently described as a vine.  Jesus is declaring he is the true vine.   The Father cultivates and cares for the vine, and in this organic metaphor those who follow Jesus are incorporated into the vine as well.

Jesus shows familiarity with the husbandry of a vineyard.  It was said that for the Israelite true prosperity and peace (shalom) could be found when they were able to sit under their own vine (Micah 4:4).

However, Jesus understands that the unpruned vine will bear no fruit. The branch that bears no fruit is cut off, but even the branch that bore fruit last season must be cut back in order to bear grapes in the next season.  That seems paradoxical and counter-intuitive, but it is true.

Jesus tells the disciples that they have already been pruned clean, because they have listened to his teachings.  But he also tells them that in order for them to bear fruit they must remain connected to the vine, which is Jesus himself.  Jesus says:

Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

The disciple is to maintain connection with Jesus, and by doing so continues to receive the sustenance that comes from the vine.  The two become one.

Jesus reiterates this to make it perfectly clear:

 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

He then makes the astounding promise:

If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

Again, the premise is that they must remain connected to him, and then and only then will their requests be accomplished.

Finally, he tells the disciples that their productivity and fruitfulness will glorify God:

In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

This is reminiscent of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:16:

Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

APPLY:  

This is an encouraging picture for us as disciples. As we remain connected to Christ, the true vine, he abides in us and we abide in him.  Then our work cannot be in vain, because it is his work in us.

The converse of that is also true, however.  If we do not remain connected to him, we will not bear fruit.  Without him we can do nothing.

We do well to remember also that all will experience times of pruning, of being “cut back.”  Those who bear no fruit will be cut off.  But even those who are fruitful will experience times of pruning in order to bear more fruit later.

It may well be that when we consider the current “recession” in much of Western Christianity that what we are seeing is a kind pruning.  Perhaps this pruning of the branches will result in even more fruitful ministry for the sake of the Gospel.

And in our own lives as well, adversity may serve to prune away dead habits and unfruitful aspects of our lives so that we can be more productive.

RESPOND: 

When I think of remaining connected to Christ as the true vine, my mind turns naturally to what we call in my tradition the means of grace.  These are the spiritual disciplines that provide the channels for God to reach me — prayer, Bible study, corporate worship and Christian fellowship, fasting, the Lord’s Supper.

However, I’m also reminded that the power that flows toward me from staying attached to the vine is also to flow outward as I bear fruit.  That’s when I begin to wonder what that fruit is to be like — sharing my faith with someone; giving food to someone who is hungry; visiting a widow; reaching out to someone in jail; generosity.

It seems to me that the flow of this power is inward from the vine and then outward toward others.

Our Lord, my hope and my goal is to stay connected with you.  In you alone is found life and meaning and purpose.  May I be so connected to you that any fruit I bear is obviously your fruit, and you receive the glory.  And when the times of pruning come, help me bear that patiently and hopefully.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
The photo in the “Pruning is NOT optional” poster:  “Vineyard Pruning” by Cortes de Cima is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for February 26, 2023

“The Temptation in the Wilderness” by Briton Rivière (1898).

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 4:1-11
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness takes place near the very beginning of his ministry.  In a sense, this is a transitional moment in his life — he has just been baptized by John, with the dramatic affirmation from the other two persons of the Trinity:

He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.  Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).

And following his 40-day ordeal of fasting and temptation, Jesus will begin his ministry in Galilee with the preaching of his central message:

 Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17).

The ordeal of Jesus in the wilderness is no accident.  All three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) make it clear that Jesus goes into the wilderness in obedience to God:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Two items deserve our notice before we continue — one is the person of the devil; the other is the spiritual discipline of fasting.

If we read the New Testament following the church’s arrangement of the canon, this is the very first mention of the devil.  But it is certainly not the last.  There are 33 references to the devil in the New Testament, but none in the Old Testament.  Jesus refers to his adversary as Satan in verse 10.  There are 34 references to Satan in the New Testament, and 14 in the Old Testament, primarily in Job and Zechariah.  Demons appear 49 times in the New Testament, and just twice in the Old Testament.

Needless to say, in the New Testament world-view the existence of the devil is assumed to be real.  While this is not the place for an extended discussion of demonology, we can at least say this — in the New Testament the devil is presumed to be a supernatural being who leads a host of evil supernatural beings:

The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him (Revelation 12:9).

And this devil and his angels have nothing but malice toward God and human beings.  The word devil — from the Greek diabolos — means slanderer or backbiter.  Satan means adversary or enemy.

Clearly, this encounter in the wilderness is a pitched battle of wills between God and Satan, and between good and evil.

But we can also say that Jesus has been preparing for his contest with Satan.  He has been fasting for forty days and forty nights.  Although we are told that Jesus was hungry — of course — this is not necessarily to be seen as a sign of his vulnerability.  Fasting in Scripture is regarded as a spiritual discipline, accompanied by intense prayer.  Fasting is a way of detaching. If anything, Jesus has been strengthening himself for this moment through fasting!  The spiritual discipline of fasting is called a means of grace. 

The three temptations the devil brings attack Jesus at a radical level.  The first two temptations begin with Satan questioning the very affirmation that God the Father made when Jesus was baptized:

 If you are the Son of God…

This phrase will come up again — when Jesus is nailed to the cross.  Those who mock the dying Jesus say:

If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross! (Matthew 27:40).

In the first temptation, Jesus is tempted to use his unique relationship to the Father to satisfy his own appetites:

command that these stones become bread.

Jesus doesn’t respond by exerting his own authority, or even by invoking the power of his Father.  He responds by quoting the Scripture.  In other words, he uses another means of grace.  He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3:

 It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’

In other words, Jesus declares his ultimate dependency not upon physical resources but upon what God has declared in his word.  And what has God told him?  That he is the Son of God, and therefore he need not prove it to himself or to Satan!

The second temptation is certainly paranormal — the devil transports Jesus to Jerusalem and sets him at the peak of the temple.  And now the devil changes his tactics.  The devil still calls the identity of Jesus into question, but he himself quotes Scripture, from Psalm 91:11-12!

If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’

I can’t help but think of Shakespeare, who writes:

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!
(The Merchant of Venice, Act I, scene 3).

This must remind us a bit of the serpent in the garden of Eden, who also sought to undermine Eve’s confidence in God’s word.  The serpent asks her:

Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’ (Genesis 3:1).

Jesus, however, doesn’t take the bait.  Although he knows that Satan is misusing the Scriptures, he turns again to God’s word, from Deuteronomy 6:16:

 Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’

As it happens, this is exactly what Satan is doing — he is testing — tempting God’s own Son, God in the flesh!  Once again, Jesus feels no need to prove his relationship with the Father by performing a magic trick and throwing himself down from the temple.

Finally, the devil gives up any pretense at all.  He has appealed to the self-interest of Jesus, urging him to use his power to turn stones into bread.  He has attempted to tempt Jesus into proving his identity by putting the Father to the test — and even invoked Scripture in the process!  Now he cuts to the chase:

Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.  He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

This is a somewhat disturbing scenario.  If it is true that all of these kingdoms and their glory belong to the devil, then Jesus has entered enemy-occupied territory!  In fact, this is an accurate picture, Biblically.  Yes, God has created all things and called them good (Genesis 1).  However, the fall of humanity has permitted Satan to take possession of God’s world.

The analogy given by Oscar Cullman seems very applicable.  He compared the occupation of this earth by Satan and his angels to the occupation of Europe by the Nazis in WWII.  The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus was like the landing on D-Day by the allies. Just as D-Day was the beginning of the end of Nazi occupation, so the coming of Christ was the beginning of the end of the reign of Satan.

Three times in the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to the prince of this world, meaning Satan (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).  And Jesus makes it quite clear in John’s Gospel that though Satan has had temporary control in the world, his “reign” is at an end:

Now the prince of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:31-32).

For a third time, Jesus responds to Satan with Scripture, this time from Deuteronomy 6:13:

Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

Jesus passes the “test.”  Worshiping and serving God is not a means to some other goal — such as power and glory.  God is the goal.  That’s why Satan has nothing to offer Jesus that Jesus really wants.  Were he to worship the devil, it would be a subversion of everything that Jesus is.

In the last verse of this lectionary passage, there is an easily overlooked nod to grace:

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

The devil leaves, and Jesus is ministered to by God’s angels — he is never really quite alone.

APPLY:  

The typological method of Biblical interpretation is very fruitful when we consider this passage.  In this method, there are passages and characters from the Old Testament that prefigure the life and character of Christ — these Old Testament passages and characters are types that foreshadow Christ.  And there are events in the life of Christ that are the antitype that look back to Old Testament passages and characters.  There is a kind of dialogue, or a correspondence, between the two.

It is easy to see that the temptation of Christ corresponds with the temptation of Adam.  The devil comes to Jesus and seeks to subvert the authority of God’s word; and attempts to offer something “better” that God doesn’t seem to be offering at the time.

The primary difference, of course, is that Adam succumbs to temptation, and Jesus does not.  And I think both Adam’s failure and Jesus’ success hinges on the same concept.  The serpent tells Eve that if she eats of the fruit:

your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5).

The irony is that Adam and Eve are already like God — they are made in the image of God!  Eve either doesn’t believe that this is so, or wants to test it by “having her eyes opened.”

Jesus is tempted to prove that he is the Son of God by making stone into bread, or throwing himself down from the temple — and to worship something other than God in order to gain power and glory.  The truth is, the Father has already assured Jesus at his baptism that he is the beloved Son.  And Jesus does believe it.  The temptation loses its power because of his faith.

What does this mean for us?  We know what it is to be Adam and Eve.  We know what it is to want to take control of our own lives, and to seek our meaning in something other than God.  And Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted in the same way:

Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession.  For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need (Hebrew 4:14-16).

Jesus is Son of God and Son of Man.  In becoming fully human, Jesus can identify with our infirmities when he is tempted; but because he is fully God, Jesus remains sinless.  As our high priest he is able to mediate between ourselves and God — to be the bridge between us.  As Hebrews also says:

Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.  For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:17-18).

Perhaps a practical way to say it is this — when we are faced with temptation, we handle it the way Adam and Eve did.  Inevitably, we give in at some point because we respond to temptation in our own strength.  And eventually human nature breaks.

However, when we are identified with Christ by faith, he enables us to overcome because he is in us:

Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

RESPOND: 

Reading this account of Jesus’ temptation reminds me of the Heroes Journey as described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  This journey of the hero can be described in different ways, but similar elements appear in many ancient epics, myths and sagas, as well as in modern literature.

For simplicity’s sake, here is a broad outline of the hero’s journey:
[from Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero by David Adams Leeming]

• A miraculous conception and birth
• The initiation of the hero
• Withdrawal for the purpose of meditation and preparation
• Trial and quest
• Death
• Descent into the underworld
• Resurrection and rebirth
• Ascension, apotheosis and atonement

The parallels between this overview and the life of Jesus are obvious.  BUT THE LIFE OF JESUS IS NO MYTH.  I appreciate C.S. Lewis’ conclusion, after years of study as a scholar of literature — the Gospel is the myth that has become fact!

Jesus is the ultimate hero, who enters into the ordeal against Satan, and even descends into death through the cross, and — in my own understanding of Christian doctrine — descends into hell.  And then he rises to life bringing us with him.

This is fascinating to me.  I was an English major in college, prior to entering seminary.  The thought that the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the historical fulfillment of The Heroes Journey makes sense to me.  By faith in his reality, I too have been delivered from the power of sin, death and the devil.  As Jesus tells his disciples:

I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Our Lord, you have warned us that temptation is sure to come in our lives.  Satan wishes to separate us from you.  Thank you that we have a high priest who has endured the worst that Satan can deliver, and has overcome the world. And thank you that through our faith in our high priest we too may overcome the world!  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“The Temptation in the Wilderness” by Briton Rivière is in the Public Domain.

Old Testament for March 20, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 55:1-9
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage from Isaiah is one of the true mountain peaks of Scripture that people of faith may return to again and again for inspiration.

On the one hand, Isaiah is speaking comfort to the Israelites who have experienced invasion and exile.  On the other hand, he is speaking a timeless word to all who seek God’s presence.

Isaiah speaks in the imperative mood to Israel, first about God’s generous grace and eternal covenant; and second, exhorting Israel to seek God, whose mysterious and transcendent nature is beyond human understanding.

In the first two verses, Isaiah uses a metaphor to convey God’s extravagant grace.  Those who are hungry and thirsty are urged to come and take freely of water, wine and milk.  These represent the abundance of God’s largesse, that he makes available:

 without money and without price.

Not only that, Isaiah reproaches them for wasting time and energy — and money — on those things that do not satisfy.  What God provides is the only food and drink that does satisfy.

Isaiah grounds his message in the everlasting covenant made certain by God’s:

steadfast, sure love for David.

Here, he hearkens back to the promises made to David recorded in 2 Samuel 7:16, when God promises him:

Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;  your throne shall be established forever.

Despite setbacks and detours, the House of David is expected to remain a sign of God’s promises to Israel.  While they may have been conquered by the Babylonians, and humiliated by exile, Isaiah is cashing in the check of God’s promissory note.

And not only is this promise for Israel, God’s generous grace is offered also to the Gentile nations.

See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

Isaiah’s “good news” is not exclusive.  God has a vision to include those who do not yet know him.  We see this elsewhere throughout the Old Testament, and he says very clearly in Isaiah 56:7-8 that God’s covenant will be inclusive of foreigners and outcasts:

these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.

This is the fulfillment of Israel’s unique calling from God,

Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine,  but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites (Exodus 19:5-6).

Isaiah then returns to his exhortation:

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Not only is God’s grace available free of charge, and available to all people, it is also offered to the wicked and the unrighteous.  The opportunity to turn to God and receive his mercy is offered now, and they are pressed to receive it while they can.

Such inclusive mercy and grace, available even to the wicked who repent of their sins, is beyond human understanding:

 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This passage is a reminder of the transcendent mystery of God, who is creator of all the heavens, and yet cares even for the sinner who turns to him for mercy.

APPLY:  

This passage has been called the “Gospel of Isaiah.”  All the elements of the Gospel are there — free grace, received without cost; the promise of the covenant fulfilled in the House of David; the urgency that the gift be accepted now; and the mysterious nature of God’s grace, beyond all human understanding.

All of these are present in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Jesus is the source of free grace, received by faith.
• Jesus is the rightful heir of the promises made to David, and is the King of Judah as well as the King of Heaven.
• When salvation is offered, we are urged to receive it while there is time left to us. This urgency is stressed by Jesus:
  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).

God’s nature and his mercy are beyond our understanding.  Reliance on him produces the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

RESPOND: 

When I attended a worship service recently, there were two “means of grace” that were celebrated.  We received the Lord’s Supper, and we remembered our baptism by touching the water in the baptismal fount and applying the water to our foreheads.  This remembrance of baptism is not a rebaptism, but is a way of reaffirming our covenant with God.

As I sat in my pew, watching other worshipers approach the baptismal fount, and feeling the water cool on my forehead, my eyes filled with tears.  I had the clear sense that none of us deserved the grace that God has offered us — we are all sinners.  But I was also profoundly aware that God was offering himself to us, freely and without price.

God’s priceless love and acceptance, purchased for us through the precious blood of Jesus, was conveyed to us through these means of grace.  All I could do was say “Thank you!”

I am reminded of Paul’s words in Romans when he considers God’s mercy:

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33).

Lord, I cannot begin to understand your ways and your thoughts.  When I consider the stars that remind me of the vastness of creation, I am astonished.  But then when I consider your free grace, offered without price for a sinner like me —  I am humbled beyond measure. Thank you for your grace that is beyond my understanding and beyond my reach.  You alone make your free grace available to me.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Come and Drink (Isaiah 55:1-3)” by The TRUTH will set you free! is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for May 2, 2021

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 15:1-8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is another of the powerful “I Am” statements of Jesus that identifies him as one with the Father, and yet distinct as the Son. On multiple occasions in the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the phrase I am in such a way that clearly connects to the encounter between God and Moses in Exodus 3:14, when God reveals his identity:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

This image of the vine would have been familiar to Jesus’ Jewish disciples.  Israel was frequently described as a vine.  Jesus is declaring he is the true vine.   The Father cultivates and cares for the vine, and in this organic metaphor those who follow Jesus are incorporated into the vine as well.

Jesus shows familiarity with the husbandry of a vineyard.  It was said that for the Israelite true prosperity and peace (shalom) could be found when they were able to sit under their own vine (Micah 4:4).

However, Jesus understands that the unpruned vine will bear no fruit. The branch that bears no fruit is cut off, but even the branch that bore fruit last season must be cut back in order to bear grapes in the next season.  That seems paradoxical and counter-intuitive, but it is true.

Jesus tells the disciples that they have already been pruned clean, because they have listened to his teachings.  But he also tells them that in order for them to bear fruit they must remain connected to the vine, which is Jesus himself.  Jesus says:

Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

The disciple is to maintain connection with Jesus, and by doing so continues to receive the sustenance that comes from the vine.  The two become one.

Jesus reiterates this to make it perfectly clear:

 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

He then makes the astounding promise:

If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

Again, the premise is that they must remain connected to him, and then and only then will their requests be accomplished.

Finally, he tells the disciples that their productivity and fruitfulness will glorify God:

In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

This is reminiscent of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:16:

Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

APPLY:  

This is an encouraging picture for us as disciples. As we remain connected to Christ, the true vine, he abides in us and we abide in him.  Then our work cannot be in vain, because it is his work in us.

The converse of that is also true, however.  If we do not remain connected to him, we will not bear fruit.  Without him we can do nothing.

We do well to remember also that all will experience times of pruning, of being “cut back.”  Those who bear no fruit will be cut off.  But even those who are fruitful will experience times of pruning in order to bear more fruit later.

It may well be that when we consider the current “recession” in much of Western Christianity that what we are seeing is a kind pruning.  Perhaps this pruning of the branches will result in even more fruitful ministry for the sake of the Gospel.

And in our own lives as well, adversity may serve to prune away dead habits and unfruitful aspects of our lives so that we can be more productive.

RESPOND: 

When I think of remaining connected to Christ as the true vine, my mind turns naturally to what we call in my tradition the means of grace.  These are the spiritual disciplines that provide the channels for God to reach me — prayer, Bible study, corporate worship and Christian fellowship, fasting, the Lord’s Supper.

However, I’m also reminded that the power that flows toward me from staying attached to the vine is also to flow outward as I bear fruit.  That’s when I begin to wonder what that fruit is to be like — sharing my faith with someone; giving food to someone who is hungry; visiting a widow; reaching out to someone in jail; generosity.

It seems to me that the flow of this power is inward from the vine and then outward toward others.

Our Lord, my hope and my goal is to stay connected with you.  In you alone is found life and meaning and purpose.  May I be so connected to you that any fruit I bear is obviously your fruit, and you receive the glory.  And when the times of pruning come, help me bear that patiently and hopefully.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
The photo in the “Pruning is NOT optional” poster:  “Vineyard Pruning” by Cortes de Cima is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for March 1, 2020

“The Temptation in the Wilderness” by Briton Rivière (1898).

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 4:1-11
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness takes place near the very beginning of his ministry.  In a sense, this is a transitional moment in his life — he has just been baptized by John, with the dramatic affirmation from the other two persons of the Trinity:

He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.  Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”  (Matthew 3:16-17).

And following his 40 day ordeal of fasting and temptation, Jesus will begin his ministry in Galilee with the preaching of his central message:

 Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand  (Matthew 4:17).

The ordeal of Jesus in the wilderness is no accident.  All three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) make it clear that Jesus goes into the wilderness in obedience to God:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Two items deserve our notice before we continue  — one is the person of the devil; the other is the spiritual discipline of fasting.

If we read the New Testament following the church’s arrangement of the canon, this is the very first mention of the devil.  But it is certainly not the last.  There are 33 references to the devil in the New Testament, but none in the Old Testament.  Jesus refers to his adversary as Satan in verse 10.  There are 34 references to Satan in the New Testament, and 14 in the Old Testament, primarily in Job and Zechariah.  Demons appear 49 times in the New Testament, and just twice in the Old Testament.

Needless to say, in the New Testament world view the existence of the devil is assumed to be real.  While this is not the place for an extended discussion of demonology, we can at least say this — in the New Testament the devil is presumed to be a supernatural being who leads a host of evil supernatural beings:

The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him (Revelation 12:9).

And this devil and his angels have nothing but malice toward God and human beings.  The word devil — from the Greek diabolos — means slanderer or backbiter.  Satan means adversary or enemy.

Clearly, this encounter in the wilderness is a pitched battle of wills between God and Satan, and between good and evil.

But we can also say that Jesus has been preparing for his contest with Satan.  He has been fasting for forty days and forty nights.  Although we are told that Jesus was hungry — of course — this is not necessarily to be seen as a sign of his vulnerability.  Fasting in Scripture is regarded as a spiritual discipline, accompanied by intense prayer.  Fasting is a way of detaching. If anything, Jesus has been strengthening  himself for this moment through fasting!  The spiritual discipline of fasting is called a means of grace. 

The three temptations the devil brings attack Jesus at a radical level.  The first two temptations begin with Satan questioning the very affirmation that God the Father made when Jesus was baptized:

 If you are the Son of God…

This phrase will come up again — when Jesus is nailed to the cross.  Those who mock the dying Jesus say:

If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross! (Matthew 27:40).

In the first temptation, Jesus is tempted to use his unique relationship to the Father to satisfy his own appetites:

command that these stones become bread.

Jesus doesn’t respond by exerting his own authority, or even by invoking the power of his Father.  He responds by quoting the Scripture.  In other words, he uses another means of grace.  He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3:

 It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’

In other words, Jesus declares his ultimate dependency not upon physical resources but upon what God has declared in his word.  And what has God told him?  That he is the Son of God, and therefore he need not prove it to himself or to Satan!

The second temptation is certainly paranormal — the devil transports Jesus to Jerusalem and sets him at the peak of the temple.  And now the devil changes his tactics.  The devil still calls the identity of Jesus into question, but he himself quotes Scripture, from Psalm 91:11-12!

If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’

I can’t help but think of Shakespeare, who writes:

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!
(The Merchant of Venice, Act I, scene 3).

This must remind us a bit of the serpent in the garden of Eden, who also sought to undermine Eve’s confidence in God’s word.  The serpent asks her:

Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’ (Genesis 3:1).

Jesus, however, doesn’t take the bait.  Although he knows that Satan is misusing the Scriptures, he turns again to God’s word, from Deuteronomy 6:16:

 Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’

As it happens, this is exactly what Satan is doing — he is testing — tempting God’s own Son, God in the flesh!  Once again, Jesus feels no need to prove his relationship with the Father by performing a magic trick and throwing himself down from the temple.

Finally, the devil gives up any pretense at all.  He has appealed to the self-interest of Jesus, urging him to use his power to turn stones into bread.  He has attempted to tempt Jesus into proving his identity by putting the Father to the test  — and even invoked Scripture in the process!  Now he cuts to the chase:

Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.  He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

This is a somewhat disturbing scenario.  If it is true that all of these kingdoms and their glory belong to the devil, then Jesus has entered enemy-occupied territory!  In fact, this is an accurate picture, Biblically.  Yes, God has created all things and called them good (Genesis 1).  However, the fall of humanity has permitted Satan to take possession of God’s world.

The analogy given by Oscar Cullman seems very applicable.  He compared the occupation of this earth by Satan and his angels to the occupation of Europe by the Nazis in WWII.  The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus was like the landing on D-Day by the allies. Just as D-Day was the beginning of the end of Nazi occupation, so the coming of Christ was the beginning of the end of the reign of Satan.

Three times in the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to the prince of this world, meaning Satan (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).  And Jesus makes it quite clear in John’s Gospel that though Satan has had temporary control in the world, his “reign” is at an end:

Now the prince of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:31-32).

For a third time, Jesus responds to Satan with Scripture, this time from Deuteronomy 6:13:

Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

Jesus passes the “test.”  Worshiping and serving God is not a means to some other goal — such as power and glory.  God is the goal.  That’s why Satan has nothing to offer Jesus that Jesus really wants.  Were he to worship the devil, it would be a subversion of everything that Jesus is.

In the last verse of this lectionary passage, there is an easily overlooked nod to grace:

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

The devil leaves, and Jesus is ministered to by God’s angels — he is never really quite alone.

APPLY:  

The typological method of Biblical interpretation is very fruitful when we consider this passage.  In this method, there are passages and characters from the Old Testament that prefigure the life and character of Christ — these Old Testament passages and characters are types that foreshadow Christ.  And there are events in the life of Christ that are the antitype that look back to Old Testament passages and characters.  There is a kind of dialogue, or a correspondence, between the two.

It is easy to see that the temptation of Christ corresponds with the temptation of Adam.  The devil comes to Jesus and seeks to subvert the authority of God’s word; and attempts to offer something “better” that God doesn’t seem to be offering at the time.

The primary difference, of course, is that Adam succumbs to temptation, and Jesus does not.  And I think both Adam’s failure and Jesus’ success hinges on the same concept.  The serpent tells Eve that if she eats of the fruit:

your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5).

The irony is that Adam and Eve are already like God — they are made in the image of God!  Eve either doesn’t believe that this is so, or wants to test it by “having her eyes opened.”

Jesus is tempted to prove that he is the Son of God by making stone into bread, or throwing himself down from the temple  — and to worship something other than God in order to gain power and glory.  The truth is, the Father has already assured Jesus at his baptism that he is the beloved Son.  And Jesus does believe it.  The temptation loses its power because of his faith.

What does this mean for us?  We know what it is to be Adam and Eve.  We know what it is to want to take control of our own lives, and to seek our meaning in something other than God.  And Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted in the same way:

Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession.  For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need (Hebrew 4:14-16).

Jesus is Son of God and Son of Man.  In becoming fully human, Jesus can identify with our infirmities when he is tempted; but because he is fully God, Jesus remains sinless.  As our high priest he is able to mediate between ourselves and God — to be the bridge between us.  As Hebrews also says:

Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.  For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:17-18).

Perhaps a practical way to say it is this — when we are faced with temptation, we handle it the way Adam and Eve did.  Inevitably, we give in at some point because we respond to temptation in our own strength.  And eventually human nature breaks.

However, when we are identified with Christ by faith, he enables us to overcome because he is in us:

Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

RESPOND: 

Reading this account of Jesus’ temptation reminds me of the Heroes Journey as described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  This journey of the hero can be described in different ways, but similar elements appear in many ancient epics, myths and sagas, as well as in modern literature.

For simplicity’s sake,  here is a broad outline of the heroes journey:
[from Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero by David Adams Leeming]

• A miraculous conception and birth
• The initiation of the hero
• Withdrawl for the purpose of meditation and preparation
• Trial and quest
• Death
• Descent into the underworld
• Resurrection and rebirth
• Ascension, apotheosis and atonement

The parallels between this overview and the life of Jesus are obvious.  BUT THE LIFE OF JESUS IS NO MYTH.  I appreciate C.S. Lewis’ conclusion, after years of study as a scholar of literature — the Gospel is the myth that has become fact!

Jesus is the ultimate hero, who enters into the ordeal against Satan, and even descends into death through the cross,  and — in my own understanding of Christian doctrine — descends into hell.  And then he rises to life bringing us with him.

This is fascinating to me.  I was an English major in college, prior to entering seminary.  The thought that the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the historical fulfillment of The Heroes Journey makes sense to me.  By faith in his reality, I too have been delivered from the power of sin, death and the devil.  As Jesus tells his disciples:

I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Our Lord, you have warned us that temptation is sure to come in our lives.  Satan wishes to separate us from you.  Thank you that we have a high priest who has endured the worst that Satan can deliver, and has overcome the world. And thank you that through our faith in our high priest we too may overcome the world!  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“The Temptation in the Wilderness” by Briton Rivière is in the Public Domain.

Old Testament for March 24, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 55:1-9
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage from Isaiah is one of the true mountain peaks of Scripture that people of faith may return to again and again for inspiration.

On the one hand, Isaiah is speaking comfort to the Israelites who have experienced invasion and exile.  On the other hand, he is speaking a timeless word to all who seek God’s presence.

Isaiah speaks in the imperative mood to Israel, first about God’s generous grace and eternal covenant; and second, exhorting Israel to seek God, whose mysterious and transcendent nature is beyond human understanding.

In the first two verses, Isaiah uses a metaphor to convey God’s extravagant grace.  Those who are hungry and thirsty are urged to come and take freely of water, wine and milk.  These represent the abundance of God’s largesse, that he makes available:

 without money and without price.

Not only that, Isaiah reproaches them for wasting time and energy — and money — on those things that do not satisfy.  What God provides is the only food and drink that does satisfy.

Isaiah grounds his message in the everlasting covenant made certain by God’s:

steadfast, sure love for David.

Here, he hearkens back to the promises made to David recorded in 2 Samuel 7:16, when God promises him:

Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;  your throne shall be established forever.

Despite setbacks and detours, the House of David is expected to remain a sign of God’s promises to Israel.  While they may have been conquered by the Babylonians, and humiliated by exile, Isaiah is cashing in the check of God’s promissory note.

And not only is this promise for Israel, God’s generous grace is offered also to the Gentile nations.

See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

Isaiah’s “good news” is not exclusive.  God has a vision to include those who do not yet know him.  We see this elsewhere throughout the Old Testament, and he says very clearly in Isaiah 56:7-8 that God’s covenant will be inclusive of foreigners and outcasts:

these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.

This is the fulfillment of Israel’s unique calling from God,

Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine,  but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites (Exodus 19:5-6).

Isaiah then returns to his exhortation:

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Not only is God’s grace available free of charge, and available to all people, it is also offered to the wicked and the unrighteous.  The opportunity to turn to God and receive his mercy is offered now, and they are pressed to receive it while they can.

Such inclusive mercy and grace, available even to the wicked who repent of their sins, is beyond human understanding:

 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This passage is a reminder of the transcendent mystery of God, who is creator of all the heavens, and yet cares even for the sinner who turns to him for mercy.

APPLY:  

This passage has been called the “Gospel of Isaiah.”  All the elements of the Gospel are there — free grace, received without cost; the promise of the covenant fulfilled in the House of David; the urgency that the gift be accepted now; and the mysterious nature of God’s grace, beyond all human understanding.

All of these are present in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Jesus is the source of free grace, received by faith.
• Jesus is the rightful heir of the promises made to David, and is the King of Judah as well as the King of Heaven.
• When salvation is offered, we are urged to receive it while there is time left to us. This urgency is stressed by Jesus:
  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).

God’s nature and his mercy are beyond our understanding.  Reliance on him produces the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

RESPOND: 

When I attended a worship service recently, there were two “means of grace” that were celebrated.  We received the Lord’s Supper, and we remembered our baptism by touching the water in the baptismal fount and applying the water to our foreheads.  This remembrance of baptism is not a rebaptism, but is a way of reaffirming our covenant with God.

As I sat in my pew, watching other worshipers approach the baptismal fount, and feeling the water cool on my forehead, my eyes filled with tears.  I had the clear sense that none of us deserved the grace that God has offered us — we are all sinners.  But I was also profoundly aware that God was offering himself to us, freely and without price.

God’s priceless love and acceptance, purchased for us through the precious blood of Jesus, was conveyed to us through these means of grace.  All I could do was say “Thank you!”

I am reminded of Paul’s words in Romans when he considers God’s mercy:

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33).

Lord, I cannot begin to understand your ways and your thoughts.  When I consider the stars that remind me of the vastness of creation, I am astonished.  But then when I consider your free grace, offered without price for a sinner like me —  I am humbled beyond measure. Thank you for your grace that is beyond my understanding and beyond my reach.  You alone make your free grace available to me.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Come and Drink (Isaiah 55:1-3)” by Saved by Grace (100% God, 0% Me) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for April 29, 2018

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 15:1-8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is another of the powerful “I Am” statements of Jesus that identifies him as one with the Father, and yet distinct as the Son. On multiple occasions in the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the phrase I am in such a way that clearly connects to the encounter between God and Moses in Exodus 3:14, when God reveals his identity:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

This image of the vine would have been familiar to Jesus’ Jewish disciples.  Israel was frequently described as a vine.  Jesus is declaring he is the true vine.   The Father cultivates and cares for the vine, and in this organic metaphor those who follow Jesus are incorporated into the vine as well.

Jesus shows familiarity with the husbandry of a vineyard.  It was said that for the Israelite true prosperity and peace (shalom) could be found when they were able to sit under their own vine (Micah 4:4).

However, Jesus understands that the unpruned vine will bear no fruit. The branch that bears no fruit is cut off, but even the branch that bore fruit last season must be cut back in order to bear grapes in the next season.  That seems paradoxical and counter-intuitive, but it is true.

Jesus tells the disciples that they have already been pruned clean, because they have listened to his teachings.  But he also tells them that in order for them to bear fruit they must remain connected to the vine, which is Jesus himself.  Jesus says:

Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

The disciple is to maintain connection with Jesus, and by doing so continues to receive the sustenance that comes from the vine.  The two become one.

Jesus reiterates this to make it perfectly clear:

 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

He then makes the astounding promise:

If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

Again, the premise is that they must remain connected to him, and then and only then will their requests be accomplished.

Finally, he tells the disciples that their productivity and fruitfulness will glorify God:

In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

This is reminiscent of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:16:

Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

APPLY:  

This is an encouraging picture for us as disciples. As we remain connected to Christ, the true vine, he abides in us and we abide in him.  Then our work cannot be in vain, because it is his work in us.

The converse of that is also true, however.  If we do not remain connected to him, we will not bear fruit.  Without him we can do nothing.

We do well to remember also that all will experience times of pruning, of being “cut back.”  Those who bear no fruit will be cut off.  But even those who are fruitful will experience times of pruning in order to bear more fruit later.

It may well be that when we consider the current “recession” in much of Western Christianity that what we are seeing is a kind pruning.  Perhaps this pruning of the branches will result in even more fruitful ministry for the sake of the Gospel.

And in our own lives as well, adversity may serve to prune away dead habits and unfruitful aspects of our lives so that we can be more productive.

RESPOND: 

When I think of remaining connected to Christ as the true vine, my mind turns naturally to what we call in my tradition the means of grace.  These are the spiritual disciplines that provide the channels for God to reach me — prayer, Bible study, corporate worship and Christian fellowship, fasting, the Lord’s Supper.

However, I’m also reminded that the power that flows toward me from staying attached to the vine is also to flow outward as I bear fruit.  That’s when I begin to wonder what that fruit is to be like: sharing my faith with someone; giving food to someone who is hungry; visiting a widow; reaching out to someone in jail; generosity.

It seems to me that the flow of this power is inward from the vine and then outward toward others.

Our Lord, my hope and my goal is to stay connected with you.  In you alone is found life and meaning and purpose.  May I be so connected to you that any fruit I bear is obviously your fruit, and you receive the glory.  And when the times of pruning come, help me bear that patiently and hopefully.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
The photo in the “Pruning is NOT optional” poster:  “Vineyard Pruning” by Cortes de Cima is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for March 5, 2017

“The Temptation in the Wilderness” by Briton Rivière (1898).

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Matthew 4:1-11

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness takes place near the very beginning of his ministry.  In a sense, this is a transitional moment in his life — he has just been baptized by John, with the dramatic affirmation from the other two persons of the Trinity:

He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.  Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”  (Matthew 3:16-17).

And following his 40 day ordeal of fasting and temptation, Jesus will begin his ministry in Galilee with the preaching of his central message:

 Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand  (Matthew 4:17).

The ordeal of Jesus in the wilderness is no accident.  All three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) make it clear that Jesus goes into the wilderness in obedience to God:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Two items deserve our notice before we continue  — one is the person of the devil; the other is the spiritual discipline of fasting.

If we read the New Testament following the church’s arrangement of the canon, this is the very first mention of the devil.  But it is certainly not the last.  There are 33 references to the devil in the New Testament, but none in the Old Testament.  Jesus refers to his adversary as Satan in verse 10.  There are 34 references to Satan in the New Testament, and 14 in the Old Testament, primarily in Job and Zechariah.  Demons appear 49 times in the New Testament, and just twice in the Old Testament.

Needless to say, in the New Testament world view the existence of the devil is assumed to be real.  While this is not the place for an extended discussion of demonology, we can at least say this — in the New Testament the devil is presumed to be a supernatural being who leads a host of evil supernatural beings:

The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him (Revelation 12:9).

And this devil and his angels have nothing but malice toward God and human beings.  The word devil — from the Greek diabolos — means slanderer or backbiter.  Satan means adversary or enemy.

Clearly, this encounter in the wilderness is a pitched battle of wills between God and Satan, and between good and evil.

But we can also say that Jesus has been preparing for his contest with Satan.  He has been fasting for forty days and forty nights.  Although we are told that Jesus was hungry — of course — this is not necessarily to be seen as a sign of his vulnerability.  Fasting in Scripture is regarded as a spiritual discipline, accompanied by intense prayer.  Fasting is a way of detaching. If anything, Jesus has been strengthening  himself for this moment through fasting!  The spiritual discipline of fasting is called a means of grace. 

The three temptations the devil brings attack Jesus at a radical level.  The first two temptations begin with Satan questioning the very affirmation that God the Father made when Jesus was baptized:

 If you are the Son of God…

This phrase will come up again — when Jesus is nailed to the cross.  Those who mock the dying Jesus say:

If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross! (Matthew 27:40).

In the first temptation, Jesus is tempted to use his unique relationship to the Father to satisfy his own appetites:

command that these stones become bread.

Jesus doesn’t respond by exerting his own authority, or even by invoking the power of his Father.  He responds by quoting the Scripture.  In other words, he uses another means of grace.  He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3:

 It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’

In other words, Jesus declares his ultimate dependency not upon physical resources but upon what God has declared in his word.  And what has God told him?  That he is the Son of God, and therefore he need not prove it to himself or to Satan!

The second temptation is certainly paranormal — the devil transports Jesus to Jerusalem and sets him at the peak of the temple.  And now the devil changes his tactics.  The devil still calls the identity of Jesus into question, but he himself quotes Scripture, from Psalm 91:11-12!

If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’

I can’t help but think of Shakespeare, who writes:

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!
(The Merchant of Venice, Act I, scene 3).

This must remind us a bit of the serpent in the garden of Eden, who also sought to undermine Eve’s confidence in God’s word.  The serpent asks her:

Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’ (Genesis 3:1).

Jesus, however, doesn’t take the bait.  Although he knows that Satan is misusing the Scriptures, he turns again to God’s word, from Deuteronomy 6:16:

 Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’

As it happens, this is exactly what Satan is doing — he is testing — tempting God’s own Son, God in the flesh!  Once again, Jesus feels no need to prove his relationship with the Father by performing a magic trick and throwing himself down from the temple.

Finally, the devil gives up any pretense at all.  He has appealed to the self-interest of Jesus, urging him to use his power to turn stones into bread.  He has attempted to tempt Jesus into proving his identity by putting the Father to the test  — and even invoked Scripture in the process!  Now he cuts to the chase:

Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.  He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

This is a somewhat disturbing scenario.  If it is true that all of these kingdoms and their glory belong to the devil, then Jesus has entered enemy-occupied territory!  In fact, this is an accurate picture, Biblically.  Yes, God has created all things and called them good (Genesis 1).  However, the fall of humanity has permitted Satan to take possession of God’s world.

The analogy given by Oscar Cullman seems very applicable.  He compared the occupation of this earth by Satan and his angels to the occupation of Europe by the Nazis in WWII.  The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus was like the landing on D-Day by the allies. Just as D-Day was the beginning of the end of Nazi occupation, so the coming of Christ was the beginning of the end of the reign of Satan.

Three times in the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to the prince of this world, meaning Satan (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).  And Jesus makes it quite clear in John’s Gospel that though Satan has had temporary control in the world, his “reign” is at an end:

Now the prince of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:31-32).

For a third time, Jesus responds to Satan with Scripture, this time from Deuteronomy 6:13:

Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

Jesus passes the “test.”  Worshiping and serving God is not a means to some other goal — such as power and glory.  God is the goal.  That’s why Satan has nothing to offer Jesus that Jesus really wants.  Were he to worship the devil, it would be a subversion of everything that Jesus is.

In the last verse of this lectionary passage, there is an easily overlooked nod to grace:

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

The devil leaves, and Jesus is ministered to by God’s angels — he is never really quite alone.

APPLY:  

The typological method of Biblical interpretation is very fruitful when we consider this passage.  In this method, there are passages and characters from the Old Testament that prefigure the life and character of Christ — these Old Testament passages and characters are types that foreshadow Christ.  And there are events in the life of Christ that are the antitype that look back to Old Testament passages and characters.  There is a kind of dialogue, or a correspondence, between the two.

It is easy to see that the temptation of Christ corresponds with the temptation of Adam.  The devil comes to Jesus and seeks to subvert the authority of God’s word; and attempts to offer something “better” that God doesn’t seem to be offering at the time.

The primary difference, of course, is that Adam succumbs to temptation, and Jesus does not.  And I think both Adam’s failure and Jesus’ success hinges on the same concept.  The serpent tells Eve that if she eats of the fruit:

your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5).

The irony is that Adam and Eve are already like God — they are made in the image of God!  Eve either doesn’t believe that this is so, or wants to test it by “having her eyes opened.”

Jesus is tempted to prove that he is the Son of God by making stone into bread, or throwing himself down from the temple  — and to worship something other than God in order to gain power and glory.  The truth is, the Father has already assured Jesus at his baptism that he is the beloved Son.  And Jesus does believe it.  The temptation loses its power because of his faith.

What does this mean for us?  We know what it is to be Adam and Eve.  We know what it is to want to take control of our own lives, and to seek our meaning in something other than God.  And Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted in the same way:

Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession.  For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need (Hebrew 4:14-16).

Jesus is Son of God and Son of Man.  In becoming fully human, Jesus can identify with our infirmities when he is tempted; but because he is fully God, Jesus remains sinless.  As our high priest he is able to mediate between ourselves and God — to be the bridge between us.  As Hebrews also says:

Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.  For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:17-18).

Perhaps a practical way to say it is this — when we are faced with temptation, we handle it the way Adam and Eve did.  Inevitably, we give in at some point because we respond to temptation in our own strength.  And eventually human nature breaks.

However, when we are identified with Christ by faith, he enables us to overcome because he is in us:

Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

RESPOND: 

Reading this account of Jesus’ temptation reminds me of the Heroes Journey as described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  This journey of the hero can be described in different ways, but similar elements appear in many ancient epics, myths and sagas, as well as in modern literature.

For simplicity’s sake,  here is a broad outline of the heroes journey:
[from Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero by David Adams Leeming]

• A miraculous conception and birth
• The initiation of the hero
• Withdrawl for the purpose of meditation and preparation
• Trial and quest
• Death
• Descent into the underworld
• Resurrection and rebirth
• Ascension, apotheosis and atonement

The parallels between this overview and the life of Jesus are obvious.  BUT THE LIFE OF JESUS IS NO MYTH.  I appreciate C.S. Lewis’ conclusion, after years of study as a scholar of literature — the Gospel is the myth that has become fact!

Jesus is the ultimate hero, who enters into the ordeal against Satan, and even descends into death through the cross,  and — in my own understanding of Christian doctrine — descends into hell.  And then he rises to life bringing us with him.

This is fascinating to me.  I was an English major in college, prior to entering seminary.  The thought that the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the historical fulfillment of The Heroes Journey makes sense to me.  By faith in his reality, I too have been delivered from the power of sin, death and the devil.  As Jesus tells his disciples:

I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Our Lord, you have warned us that temptation is sure to come in our lives.  Satan wishes to separate us from you.  Thank you that we have a high priest who has endured the worst that Satan can deliver, and has overcome the world. And thank you that through our faith in our high priest we too may overcome the world!  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“The Temptation in the Wilderness” by Briton Rivière is in the Public Domain.

Old Testament for Feb. 28, 2016

Start with Scripture:

Isaiah 55:1-9

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OBSERVE:

This passage from Isaiah is one of the true mountain peaks of Scripture that people of faith may return to again and again for inspiration.

On the one hand, Isaiah is speaking comfort to the Israelites who have experienced invasion and exile.  On the other hand, he is speaking a timeless word to all who seek God’s presence.

Isaiah speaks in the imperative mood to Israel, first about God’s generous grace and eternal covenant; and second, exhorting Israel to seek God, whose mysterious and transcendent nature is beyond human understanding.

In the first two verses, Isaiah uses a metaphor to convey God’s extravagant grace.  Those who are hungry and thirsty are urged to come and take freely of water, wine and milk.  These represent the abundance of God’s largesse, that he makes available:

 without money and without price.

Not only that, Isaiah reproaches them for wasting time and energy — and money — on those things that do not satisfy.  What God provides is the only food and drink that does satisfy.

Isaiah grounds his message in the everlasting covenant made certain by God’s:

steadfast, sure love for David.

Here, he hearkens back to the promises made to David recorded in 2 Samuel 7:16, when God promises him:

Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;  your throne shall be established forever.

Despite setbacks and detours, the House of David is expected to remain a sign of God’s promises to Israel.  While they may have been conquered by the Babylonians, and humiliated by exile, Isaiah is cashing in the check of God’s promissory note.

And not only is this promise for Israel, God’s generous grace is offered also to the Gentile nations.

See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

Isaiah’s “good news” is not exclusive.  God has a vision to include those who do not yet know him.  We see this elsewhere throughout the Old Testament, and he says very clearly in Isaiah 56:7-8 that God’s covenant will be inclusive of foreigners and outcasts:

these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.

This is the fulfillment of Israel’s unique calling from God,

Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine,  but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites (Exodus 19:5-6).

Isaiah then returns to his exhortation:

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Not only is God’s grace available free of charge, and available to all people, it is also offered to the wicked and the unrighteous.  The opportunity to turn to God and receive his mercy is offered now, and they are pressed to receive it while they can.

Such inclusive mercy and grace, available even to the wicked who repent of their sins, is beyond human understanding:

 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This passage is a reminder of the transcendent mystery of God, who is creator of all the heavens, and yet cares even for the sinner who turns to him for mercy.

APPLY:  

This passage has been called the “Gospel of Isaiah.”  All the elements of the Gospel are there:  free grace, received without cost; the promise of the covenant fulfilled in the House of David; the urgency that the gift be accepted now; and the mysterious nature of God’s grace, beyond all human understanding.

All of these are present in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Jesus is the source of free grace, received by faith.
• Jesus is the rightful heir of the promises made to David, and is the King of Judah as well as the King of Heaven.
• when salvation is offered, we are urged to receive it while there is time left to us. This urgency is stressed by Jesus:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).

• God’s nature and his mercy are beyond our understanding.  Reliance on him produces

the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

RESPOND: 

When I attended a worship service recently, there were two “means of grace” that were celebrated.  We received the Lord’s Supper, and we remembered our baptism by touching the water in the baptismal fount and applying the water to our foreheads.  This remembrance of baptism is not a rebaptism, but is a way of reaffirming our covenant with God.

As I sat in my pew, watching other worshipers approach the baptismal fount, and feeling the water cool on my forehead, my eyes filled with tears.  I had the clear sense that none of us deserved the grace that God has offered us — we are all sinners.  But I was also profoundly aware that God was offering himself to us, freely and without price.

God’s priceless love and acceptance, purchased for us through the precious blood of Jesus, was conveyed to us through these means of grace.  All I could do was say “Thank you!”

I am reminded of Paul’s words in Romans when he considers God’s mercy:

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33).

Lord, I cannot begin to understand your ways and your thoughts.  When I consider the stars that remind me of the vastness of creation, I am astonished.  But then when I consider your free grace, offered without price for a sinner like me —  I am humbled beyond measure. Thank you for your grace that is beyond my understanding and beyond my reach.  You alone make your free grace available to me.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Come and Drink (Isaiah 55:1-3)” by For The Glory of Christ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.