Plymothian

6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him,“Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciplesand chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

On Leadership

For those at The Chapel, this is a timely word from Darrell Bock:

“Jesus was looking for a few good men and chose them in the hopes of building their character to the point where they could lead the church he left behind.  That goal makes another key point about leadership.  The best leader is one who so prepares his community for the future that when he departs, he is barely missed, since solid leadership is left behind.  That principle warns us against a strong one-person show, which often sows the seeds of later destruction.  The best leadership is frequently seen not in what happens while the person is still around, but what happens after he or she has left.  If the Twelve as a group are measured by this standard of leadership, then Jesus’ choice for successors was a strategic one, since this group came to shake and shape the world.”

Prayer

May we be those in leadership who train up others to do the work.  Help us to see the potential in those around us and develop them whilst they are with us.

Questions

1. How does Jesus prepare to choose those who will lead his followers?
2. What kind of people does Jesus choose?
3. How might the Pharisees have chosen their disciples?
4. How does Jesus show good leadership?
5. How have those around you modeled this kind of leadership?

33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence,which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Old Wineskins

A wineskin needs to change and adapt.  To accommodate the fermenting of the grapes that it holds, it needs to change and adapt.  Wineskins that had dried out and ceased to be pliable would split and burst with new wine.  Jesus brings teaching that is not about performance and rule-keeping, it is about love and relationship.  As he interprets the laws of the Old Testament he communicates that their purpose was not to wrap people up in rules so they could be sure they had God placated, the rules were made to define sanctification: a holiness where God sets people apart for life-giving relationship.

In our society there are still those in churches who are driven by fear and a desire to control.  They are not free in the way they approach God an each other.  They have established patterns that are calcified.  For years they have numbed the soul into submission and they can not bear the pain of opening up a heart that has frozen itself for survival and preservation.  Can such a faith hold the life that Jesus brings?  Can a faith that never walks into change be a genuine faith?  We come to God with an unclean heart and we are given a new one.  The new heart informs all that we do and begins to change our approach to self, family, friends and work.  Someone who resists God, hides from God, and secretly hates God can not be successful in receiving the grace and the growth that God brings.

Open yourself to God’s grace but be willing for painful changes as you expand to develop the capacity to contain the love of God.

Prayer 

There are places I don’t know how to be flexible.  I have patterns of pain and isolation that are calcified.  I can blame others or I can let you fill me.  Make me a new wineskin and show me how to hold new wine.

Questions

1. Over which issues were the Pharisees rigid?
2. What was their motivation for being inflexible?
3. How does Jesus’ response challenge them?
4. Over what issues are you stuck or unwilling to change?
5. How does Jesus challenge you to be a new wineskin?

¹² While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy.^[a] And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesus^[b] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” ¹⁵ But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{[c] 18} And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralysed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’, or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralysed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

²⁷ After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰ And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Faith That Sits

Those who receive from Jesus beg, dig through a roof, or leave everything, get up and follow him.  In each of these scenes the Pharisees sit and evaluate and criticize.  One man is desperate to be clean, another group are desperate for their friend, another is desperate for a new way of life.  These are the ones who rise up and embrace change.  The ones who don’t want change and are comfortable with the status quo do nothing for themselves and nothing for others.  In fact they challenge and criticize God himself in the person of Jesus.

Some people value sitting in silence as part of a retreat.  However, it is not a critical or jaded sitting like that of the Pharisees.  It seeks to find Jesus and pursue him wherever he may lead.  It engages the sin in the life of the individual and wants nothing to do with it.  Sick hearts are brought to Jesus and healed.  Many people today have stalled in their spiritual growth.  They are busy and they are empty.  They criticize others whose doctrine isn’t quite the same as theirs on every point.  They do so to defend their inaction – their lack of growth.  We resist growth when we defend our position.  We embrace growth when we bring ourselves to Jesus and he heals us.  However, to continue in healing is to admit that we are still affected by the flesh and its disease.  It is not truly who we are, but it affects us and we need Jesus to lead us deeper.  When there is no change and we sit still in our faith, there is pride.  The Pharisees’ pride is an example to us.  They could not conceive of changing from their traditions and their interpretations of scripture.  I have seen bitter Christians who would love nothing better than embrace a sin spread a gospel of misery and restraint rather than a gospel of joy and engagement.  In fact atheists in Britain have seen those who are not committed to the joy of a relationship with Jesus, but are just worried about getting their dogma right.  They have used it to evangelize in their own way.

Prayer

May I not be so concerned with being right that I miss the relationship with the one who defines right.  May I be able to defend my faith with an atheist, not so  much by outarguing them, but by showing the truth in the way that I live.  May the reality of your existence and your nature be shown in both the joyful pursuit of you and also the way your existence explains reality more fully.

Questions

1. What situations does Jesus touch?
2. How do those who need Jesus respond?
3. How do the Pharisees respond?
4. How do atheists and religious bigots both miss Jesus?
5. How should we respond to Jesus on his terms?

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, ² and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Master of All Trades

I sat with a student today who is gifted.  Ben can perform drama, organise groups, play bass guitar, relate to people and burn out.  Because he has developed talents he has tried to help more people than he has capacity to help and he has at times burned himself out.  God is growing him in many areas and to have capacity to become who he must be, he needs to have margin in his life.  Jesus had capacity far in excess of Ben’s.  It seems he could have been many things, he focused on being a teacher, but he had a supernatural ability to fish.  Peter, in the narrative, was the fisherman and Jesus was the teacher.  However, Peter knew he was in the presence of someone exceptional who, without years of training, could be a fisherman with skills far in excess of Peter’s.  Peter’s only response was to throw himself on his knees and become a disciple.

How are you responding to Jesus?  Do you let him tell you how to do your job?  Do you let him decide for you which job you should be doing?  Jesus teaches us powerfully through the practical situations that we engage every day.  Are you an accountant?  Jesus has ideas for how to manage money.  Are you a machinist?  Jesus has ideas for production and efficiency.  In changing the environment where we work, Jesus communicates to us about who we are meant to be.  Primarily we are meant to live in awe of his expertise in every area.  We are meant to allow him to mold our lives.  He takes us from working with our minds numbed from the daily grind to those who work with our minds alive with a sense of purpose and calling.  Has Jesus taken a hold of you?  Are you functioning in line with your calling?

Prayer

Jesus, you know all of our jobs better than we do.  Help us to seek guidance from you as to our calling and how we should live that out.

Questions

1. What was Jesus’ job at the beginning?
2. What was Jesus’ change of career?
3. How is Peter’s response remarkable?
4. What is your calling?
5. How can Jesus enhance your work and use it to develop you as a disciple?

¹⁴ And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

¹⁶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your home town as well.” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his home town. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And there were many lepers^[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But passing through their midst, he went away.

 Jesus Rejected By His Home Town

Jesus returns in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and that means he probably did miracles in the region as well as teaching with great power.  However, when he returned for Saturday synagogue at his own town of Nazareth, he decides to make his most jaw-dropping proclamation of all.  The people of Israel had been waiting for centuries for the coming of the Messiah.  The Messiah would fulfill Abraham’s promised blessing to Jewish descendants and to the nations round about.  I think it is easy to develop myths in the abstract.  It is wonderful to tell stories of supernatural deeds, powerful teaching, and the changing of the world.  However, when the reality of change occurs it seldom starts with a cataclysmic upheaval, but with small conversations and very normal people.  Presidents of countries, heroes in the army, prophets, and priests all had to learn to dress themselves, study in school, and live at peace with their families.  When such prophets first speak, those from their hoe town tend to remember their formative years, their insignificance and their family background.  A prophet is particularly vulnerable.  An entertainer may gain acclaim which raises the profile of a home town.  People feel like they are carried along by the fame of the boy down the road.  However, the truth-talking prophet warns those far and near to change their behaviour.  Those who know the history of the truth-talker can belittle him and therefore his message by saying, “I know your family.  Who do you think you are?”  or in effect, “Shut up snot face!”  If Jesus had just read the prophet Isaiah with passion and interpreted him in a way that was positive for his hearers, they may have applauded.  However, he pointed out how people are contemptuous of the familiar and he challenged their assumptions that God chose Israel first regardless of their actions.  Jesus needs them to see that there is no security in their national heritage, but rather than have their secure lie exploded, they decide they want to kill him.  He could have brought them great grace from God that day, but because of their familiarity with him they chose God’s judgment.  This would be a recurring theme for Jesus in Israel.

Speaking the truth must be done with love.  However, many of us use the excuse of love to avoid speaking the truth.  We have been sent by God into the world to change it.  We must reform any environment that we are in.  All areas of living are tainted by sin and Jesus came to enable his followers to be a blessing to the nations.  Good news is truth.  To some it immediately resonates with them and they live life in an ever more righteous way.  Some have developed patterns which go deep.  they even appear godly, but truly they serve self.  Such people will eliminate the truth-teller in whatever way they can.  Many want to believe they are already good, they’re fine, they don’t need to change.  Change happens when we seek the truth.  It is good news because the truth changes things it touches to righteousness.  Work places become just.  Homes become harmonious.  Churches become safe.  Maybe, like Jesus, we have to become missionaries who preach far from our cities of origin, because if I went back to Plympton, England, they might say, “How dare Peter speak that way to us!  He thinks he’s become better than us because he has a Masters in Bible and is in a doctoral program.  We know his past.  We know who he is.”  Or perhaps I avoid speaking the truth from a pulpit in Plympton because I fear they would stone me.  Jesus spoke without fear.  He went where the Spirit took him with power.  Maybe I should be less afraid of Plympton and more mindful of the Spirit.

Prayer

Thank you for coming and speaking the truth.  Thank you for bringing blessing and allowing blessing to flourish.  Help us to walk in the Spirit as you did and preach truth that is biblical and transforming of individuals and culture.  Rejection will come.  I have to be stronger and remember that You were rejected.  Your message divides those who can accept truth and those who want nothing to do with it.  as I am changed by your word, help me to effectively communicate change.

Questions

1. Where did Jesus go in the power of the Spirit?
2. What passages were read in the synagogue?
3. How did Jesus’ application of the passages offend his readers?
4. Where has the Spirit led you and you feared rejection?
5. How does focus on God develop courage to speak truth to yourself, your church, your coworkers and your family?

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were over, he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ⁵ And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶ and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ And Jesus answered him, “It is written,

⁹ And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written,

¹¹ and

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Temptation

In contrast to Adam and Eve being tempted in the beautiful garden of provision from God, Jesus is tempted in a barren wilderness.  Jesus is walking with the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit leads him into the path of Satan.  Ten Satan plays with Jesus’ head concerning his sonship.  Surely as the Son he is withing his rights to make bread for himself from rocks? Surely he needn’t die on a cross to have the whole world bow down to him, he need only submit to the Prince of this World, Satan?  Surely he can force God the Father’s hand if he plummets from a parapet, that will show that the Father cares for him?  Jesus sees through each of these short cuts and so he stands firm when he is tempted, unlike Adam and Eve.

We are to resist temptation by knowing God’s word and the big picture of why he has taken hold of us.  The Spirit sometimes leads us into places that test us.  In this way the tempter is thwarted and we show more clearly the power of God.

Prayer

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Questions

1. Who led Jesus into the desert?
2. Who tempted Jesus?
3. Why?
4. When might the Spirit lead us to be tempted?
5. How do we resist temptation?

²³ Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,^[e] the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

One Big Story

As I read this I saw how the story of Jesus was the latest chapter in a story laid out by God at the beginning of time.  I saw that my own son is a chapter and I am to pass on the baton to him.  Of course, Jesus is the apex and my son is another fallen man. however, each of the links in the chain are significant.  Even if I am forgotten the truth must be passed on so that the story will continue.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics^[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ¹² Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, ¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹ But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰ added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;^[c] with you I am well pleased.”

Straighten Your Life Out!

To prepare the way for Jesus, John the Baptist comes to tell the people to straighten their lives out.  Note:  This is before they know Jesus.  If we can not hold non-Christians to Christian standards, what is the point of going to Jewish and Gentile people and telling them to get their lives in order.  John speaks to the high and the low and leaves no-one out.  He goes out into the wilderness and tells people to live better lives – without Jesus.  This is important, because I have heard many times that in this world people who know Jesus will live good lives and people who don’t will cuss, watch pornography, and drive like lunatics in traffic and we should just pity them and let them be because they don’t know Jesus.  How could we possibly expect them to live life rightly.  What do we also do with the fact that many Christians cuss, watch pornography and drive like lunatics.

In Matthew 7:11 Jesus states that evil people (people who are not sanctified by Jesus), can do good things.  John seems to be going further and seems to be helping people understand exactly what good things God requires of them.  Many go away and put those things in practice, and some become angry and even persecute John.  To understand what is going on, we need to go back to Genesis.

When God made the world it was all very good.  The whole created world gave glory to God wand was in harmony with God.  When sin entered the world it fell.  The road God wanted mankind to travel became twisted.  The way forward was obscured by mountains of sin and valleys of despair.  Through Abraham and his descendants God communicated how to be called out from the lost masses of humanity.  Through Moses, God clearly showed how to live in a way that was once more in harmony with him.  However, the Jewish people thought they were right with God because they were descendants of Abraham, chosen by God, and their lives reflected complacency and entitlement.

John is reminding the people that they know how life should be lived and they should live that way.  they will align their lives more with how God wanted them to live and so they will be attuned to the Messiah when he comes.  The path to him will be straight and the mountains will be leveled so that he will arrive to open arms.  God’s plan of redemption will run on tracks of right living.  However, the desire to live a perfect life in harmony with God will fall short of the reality.  They will see that they need a change of their hearts to be the person that God has called them to be.  Others will have their hearts revealed because they do not want what they know to be right.  Herod is the pinnacle of this.  did he really think living with his brother’s wife was a good thing?  I think he did not.  However, he had chosen dark paths which were crooked and obscure.  He rejects Jesus because he rejects righteousness.  Jesus says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled when they follow him.  That hunger is being awoken by John and suppressed by Herod and the leaders of Israel.

Today, there are those who insist we are born good.  We are born the way we are meant to be.  There is no straightening out to be done.  However, many in our society know that we are born into something profoundly wrong.  We can see in God’s law the ideals of how it should be.  However, our hearts and actions are far from those ideals.  Evil people can adopt God’s laws, and in so doing they will enter a path that leads to one who perfectly fulfills all God’s expectations.  In our society Christians must communicate the ideals that God has laid out.  God has laid out righteous principles for living which are true for all.  To be a blessing we need to communicate the ideals of home life, work practices, and education.  We have isolated God to a church life and a private hobby.  If we are to prepare the world for the gospel like John did, we need to preach a straight path in politics, we need to communicate a healthy view of exercise, we need to communicate Old Testament morality.  The moral laws of the Old Testament show us our hearts.  Some will have hatred for God revealed in their heart, others will have a desire for straighter living which will only be satisfied in Christ.

We are to be consecrated.  Like John, we are set apart by God to live a different kind of life.  this life is a model for those who observe us.  Kelli and I find ourselves as part of a group who long for deeper connection with God.  If God wills, we will be set apart.  We have to clean up our act and encourage others to do so.  Not in a desire to damn the lost, but with a desire to help them.  Sam, in our group, was extremely overweight but desired fitness and health in line with God’s design for the body.  God touched him and now he communicates godly health and fitness to others.  May they be led by their health to the God who governs health.  Kelli submitted her writing to God and surrendered her sabbatical to him, now she writes in a way that inspires me and others.  As we see more clearly the way that life is to be lived, we see more clearly how we are set apart for Jesus.  Just like at the end of this passage, Jesus beaks in on the scene.

Prayer

In evangelism, Jesus, we do not prepare people as John did in the gospels.  We do not hold up a standard of righteousness and guide people forward by it.  Help us to see how lives around us need to change and avoid arrogance in holding up a standard so that all people might see that they desire the peace of God that comes through You, or that they truly hate you and the righteousness that you desire.

Questions

1. What is John’s message?
2. Why is it necessary?
3. Why do the leaders and Herod respond so negatively?
4. What are some key ways people live in crooked and depraved ways today?
5. How can we challenge those around us to align their living with God’s blueprint?  What will be the affects?