S = Luke 8:16-18
“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a
bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For
nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that
will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the
one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he
thinks that he has will be taken away.”
O = Jesus’ brief parable is one they would immediately
understand… a softball pitch of a parable—an easy one! If you cover a lamp with
a jar there is no light to help anyone and the lamp will go out. If you hide
the lamp under a bed you will burn your house down and will be mocked by all
like “Old Lady Leary” whose cow kicked the lantern over! But
what is the lamp that has been lit? It is hearing Jesus’ message. It is harmful
to try to hide what he is teaching us. Put it on a stand. Live in the light of
his teaching.
A = Do I respond to the teaching of Jesus in obedience and
in testimony, or do I just try to stuff it away and not deal with it? If I
choose to not fully “hear” by compartmentalizing my life, keeping secrets, camouflaging
my character, then even what I think I have (as regarding moral sense) will be
taken from me. But if I am fully open and honest to Jesus’ words then I will
hear more and more, all the time.
P = O Lord, thank you for enlightening my dark soul. May I
not try to hide in the shadows from you and from people. May what you do in me
give light to all who are in my life. May I be able to continue to hear your
voice. Take not your word from me O Lord I pray! Amen.
S = Luke 8:5a, 6, 13 “A
sower went out to sow his seed... And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up,
it withered away, because it had no moisture… And the ones on the rock
are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no
root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.”
O = Parallel passages say, “they have no root” to which Luke
records “no moisture” as the reason why having no root was a problem. When there
is no moisture that is when the plant really needs deep roots. In Israel, during the rainy season, there is an explosion of growth, and the hills become green with grass and brightly colored with a variety of wildflowers. But when summer comes it is all withered away. Jesus uses this very familiar image to encourage his listeners to allow His teaching to put down deep roots for the heat of persecution would come. When
circumstances are not easy, or downright hellish, they needed to already be “rooted” so that the testing
would not be too hard for them to endure. Mark uses the words “persecution or
tribulation” and as is his custom the adverb “immediately” to describe the
testing and the catastrophic failure of the seed to endure to harvest.
A = This parable teaches that I need more than joy and
initial enthusiasm at hearing the word, I need to allow the Word to become
deeply rooted in my heart. Emotions do not have “the moisture”, the strength to
carry me through. I need a rooted commitment to the message of Christ, the Word
of God! How well do I let the word take root in my heart? Do I let it break up
the hardness of slightly subterranean pride and self-reliance? Do I trust God
to provide what I need or do I wither in fear and doubt when the world
challenges my new life in Christ?
P = O Lord, help me to not be superficial today, but to
allow your Word entrance into the depths of my heart today. May you water my soul
and sustain me until the harvest at your coming! I cannot do it in my own
strength, my own wisdom, my own courage, my own love. Let your Word do its work
in all of my life providing what I lack from your overflowing grace! Amen.
S = Luke 7:39 Now
when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this
man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who
is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
v. 47[Jesus said] Therefore I tell you, her sins, which
are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves
little.”
O = The Pharisee was grumbling to himself, that Jesus was
displaying a shocking lack of discernment and decorum…he apparently couldn’t
tell this woman was “a sinner.” Simon’s questioning implied that, in his view, a
prophet would not allow a sinner to touch him. Jesus turned this challenge
around and said that her expression of love was a sign of her having been
forgiven. Jesus not only knew the woman had been a sinner, but he knew the
questions in the Pharisee’s mind. He answered the Pharisee’s unspoken question
in v. 47 and made a further point that perhaps Simon’s lack of love and even
common hospitality showed that the Pharisee was in fact the unforgiven sinner. Ouch!
The unperceptive ones at this meal were Simon and his Pharisee friends, for
they did not realize that God sat down to eat with them that day, and that the
woman was very different now.
A = Do I second guess Jesus’ methods and plan at times? Do I
think I could do it better? How forgiven am I? The test of humility and love is
available to serve as a fact-checker on my life and my confession.
P = O Lord, thank you for your forgiveness and your loving
commitment to get through to everyone, to break down our walls of
self-righteousness so that your love can be poured into our hearts! May I love
much this week! Amen.
S = Luke 7:28-30 “I tell you, among those born of women
none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is
greater than he.” (When all the people heard this, and the tax
collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism
of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of
God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)”
O = Jesus gives John a very high evaluation…“none is greater”,
on a human level, which I think is because of his role as the messenger or
forerunner to the Messiah. Yet there is hope given to those who heard Jesus
that day, that entering by faith into God’s Kingdom set even the world’s least
(tax collectors?) above the highest born of humanity. Jesus is not so much
demoting John, but contrasting the two births—natural and spiritual, and two
kingdoms—the world’s and God’s. The people saw the justice of God in this
saying, but “the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purpose of God for
themselves.” What a scary thought…to reject the purposes of God! [On another
note, it is interesting to consider the role of earlier baptism and repentance
in allowing people to see God’s justice and agree with Jesus.]
A = Do I place more value on my birthright on earth, or my
inheritance in heaven? Do I claim greatness and privilege because of my family
name on earth or because I am humbly following God’s purpose for me by faith?
Do I praise myself or the lips of others…even Jesus? Jesus justified his time
spent with sinners and tax collectors because they were changed! They were becoming
the wise, the children of the wise justifying the plan of God. What is the
fruit of my life…do I bring glory to God by submitting to his plan? Where is my
value? It is in Christ alone!
P = O Lord, I have value because you have redeemed me and
given me a place in your kingdom. May I never reject your plan and purpose for
my life in self-righteousness or in apathy and disinterest. May I not be
offended by your wisdom and your ways and may I live into the blessing you
bestow on me. I come to you… I call on you in faith as the One, the Savior of
the world. Amen
S = Luke 7:14-17 “Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
O = Two crowds meet outside the city, one most likely filled with excited cheerful chatter and the other filled with wailing and tears. One group focused on life, the other on death. But these two waves of humanity didn’t just pass through the other but were arrested by the One with power over both life and death…because of his compassion (v.13) and they saw hopeless sorrow and death swallowed up in overflowing life! Seems to foreshadow a time later when two crowds would meet as Jesus entered Jerusalem for that last week…and another widow who would watch her son die to take away the sin of the world. But on this day, outside Nain, how did the people respond to this miracle? Their fear produced worshipful testimony. They knew God had visited them where their leaders did not have such an enlightened view. “To him who has…more will be given and he who has not even what he has will be taken away” (19:26). The prophet spoke God’s Word to the people with supporting power and revelatory signs… God has come in authority over his people to deliver and restore! The fear of the Lord is the natural result of seeing him as he truly is.
A = So do I live my life by following Jesus, listening and learning and talking about it with my fellow travelers, or do I trudge along in a solemn, grief-filled procession to my loss whether recent or just kept fresh and raw by the constant keening of the professional mourners I surround myself with? Do I have compassion for the hurting enough to stop and bring the visitation of God-in-me to their lives, in the midst of their pain and hopelessness? Jesus wants life, not death! What do I bring to the room?
P = O Lord, in my own strength I have nothing to touch the world, my own family, or even to put one foot in front of the other. Thank you for visiting me and enabling me to transcend my circumstances by bringing me your life, your love, your strength, and your hope. May I not be able to contain it all in the coffin of my own heart…may I be compelled to sit up and speak of your glory to those who need to hear it, to those who need to see a continued change in me! Amen.
S = Luke 19:40-42, 44b “He answered, ’I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’ And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes... And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’”
O = If they did not burst into praise, testifying, the very stones would. The people of Jerusalem didn’t know, they didn’t understand what had to happen for them to have peace. Jesus would do it all for them on the cross, but Jerusalem could have turned to him before that. Even after the cross, though many followed Jesus, the city and nation that rejected the chief cornerstone that day continued in their hardness of heart. They didn’t recognize God when he came to them in a visitation of grace. As a result of their rejection of the offer of reconciliation, there was no one to rescue them from themselves on the day that their empty stone facade would be torn down to speak no longer.
A = Do I recognize when God comes to me today in his Word (the Bible), in the witness of other Christians, and in “the least of these” I may encounter each day? How should I respond to this visitation? Have I stopped to consider the high cost of my salvation…recently? Will my life praise God and bless others this week? How?
P = O Lord, help me to get a clue! Open my eyes to see you as you really are…open my heart to believe and bless you enthusiastically! You are the Cornerstone of my life…may I build my house on a solid foundation, on rock, as a result of hearing and obeying your Word today, rather than trusting in my own sandy efforts and the sticky clay accomplishments of man. Amen.
S = Luke 19:37-40 “As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives— the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’”
O = The great crowd of disciples, the whole multitude was filled with joy that spilled out in praise—loud voices raised to testify of what mighty works they had seen—announcing the king-ness of the coming Messiah. He was not just “the king who was coming in the name of the Lord,” he was the king who was the name of the Lord incarnate. Another interesting phrase is “peace in heaven”…perhaps they realized that any true peace on earth must flow from peace with God in heaven. Here at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem the people were in solidarity with the whole creation in praising Christ! If the people didn’t do it Jesus’s said the very stones would! (More on this in my next journal…midweek.)
A = How enthusiastic am I in testifying to what God has done in my life? Do I praise Christ with all my heart? Or, like the Pharisees, do I see such displays as unseemly? Do I seek the blessedness of Christ and glory of God or my own position and power? If I am silent now, then who will speak of gospel of Jesus to those I know? If I don't speak of the great things that I have seen God do then how will others be encouraged, and how will I be encouraged?
P = O Lord, You are blessed and you make me to share in your blessing, your peace, and your glory by means of your love poured out in my heart! You are King, my king and my Lord. You are God and I am not, and I desire to live with that knowledge, that awareness, rather than being a self-proclaimed prince in the kingdom of my own heart. Amen.
