by Dr. Ronald Higdon, retired pastor and author of All I Need To Know I’m Still Learning at 80, In Changing Times: A Guide for Reflection and Conversation and Surviving a Son’s Suicide. We have so much trouble with the word grace because it is such a wild and unpredictable word. Defined as “God’s unmerited favor” it seems simple enough – until in the divine economy it is put into practice. The book of Jonah concludes with our hero sulking under a withered bush angry over God’s failing to unleash his wrath on the city of Nineveh. Jonah, by way of a great fish side trip, finally preached his mandated prophetic message of judgment and was taken aback by repentance on the part of the king and his people. God’s grace won the day and the city was spared. But Jonah knew they didn’t deserve to be spared. When Jesus tells the parable of the workers hired at various times throughout the day to work in a vineyard, all goes well until compensation is dispensed. Those who worked only one hour all receive a full day’s pay. Those who worked all day expected a bonus but each simply received the agreed upon daily wage. They were furious. Those who had worked so much less didn’t deserve what the owner had given them. The parable ends with the question: “Are you envious because I am so generous.” The parable of the Waiting Father (we usually call it the parable of the Prodigal Son) has the surprise ending of a O’Henry short story. The younger son is welcomed home with the full benefits of sonship restored. The older dutiful son confronts his father about how unjust this is. His brother does not deserve the party that has been thrown in honor of his return. The parable ends with the father pleading for the older son to join the festivities but he remains outside the door because he knows his wayward brother has not earned what he is receiving. We might summarize these biblical accounts as a violation of what deep down too many of us really believe: grace should not go to the wrong people. It should not go to people who do not deserve it. Of course, we have made the decision about who should be on the receiving end of God’s favor and forgiveness. We unconsciously have drawn boundaries around God’s grace and only include deserving people – like ourselves. The biblical stories we cited are all illustrations of grace gone too far. The irony of this kind of thinking is that it belies the very meaning of grace. Grace is that which cannot be merited, earned, bargained for, or deserved in any sense of the word. And it doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to God who seems determined to keep coloring outside the lines of our religious thinking. In his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus’ first (and perhaps only) sermon ended in a riot with the towns people attempting to throw Jesus off a cliff. His heresy? He made heroes of the wrong kind of people. In the life and ministry of Jesus, God’s grace had no restrictions and no limits. No one was every told, “It’s not for you. Your kind won’t fit into the Kingdom.” From the scandalous theological conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well to the unheard of boldness in inviting himself to be a guest in the home of the tax collector Zacchaeus, Jesus just never seemed to be able to find anyone who shouldn’t be graced. Jesus must never have heard of “hate the sin but love the sinner” because he never began any of his encounters with the “undeserving” by condemnation. Even in the disputed encounter with the woman taken in the act of adultery, his words to her were the first like it she had ever heard: “Neither do I condemn you.” It seems to be he came at “correction” through the avenue of acceptance and grace. Almost all surveys of “outsiders” about what words they would use to describe Christians usually begin with the word judgmental. They never associate that word with Jesus. He never appears to have been afraid that people would believe he was “soft on sin.” Too often that seems to be the fear of those who want to be careful about how far grace and acceptance go. Jesus seemed to have the opposite worry: that God’s people would be too judgmental, too exclusive, too certain about who was in and who was out, too certain that they were the special ones who were God’s chosen and they could spot the unchosen a mile away. I have always believed that what will make heaven truly heaven is that no one will believe for a moment they deserve to be there. All will confess they are there by the grace of God. It is easy to say an “amen” to All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and forget the important word all. None of us has any claim on God’s grace or forgiveness. They are his gifts to us for the receiving. And once they are received they are for the sharing. Everyone’s favorite verse, John 3:16, should spill over and include the rest of the thought in John 3:17: God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. To follow that model, we can never begin with condemnation or correction. Does a word of correction never come? It seems to me that all of Jesus’ encounters with those deemed as needing correction, always began with their being graced by his presence and by his words. From that grace came salvation and healing and redirection of life. We can never do the correcting we feel necessary in another’s life. (Think how difficult it is for us to deal with those things that need correcting in our own lives.) Grace is always the necessary environment in which people find the place to begin the changes they know they need to make. Those who were heavy on condemnation, judgment, and correction never receive commendation from Jesus. I believe that when we are the bearers and sharers of the grace we have received, we will discover that correction finds it proper time and place. We remember: grace can never go too far. We are grateful every day that it went far enough to include each of us – and that was pretty far.
by Dr. Edward W.H. Vick, retired professor and author of From Inspiration to Understanding: Reading the Bible Seriously and Faithfully, Philosophy for Believers, Creation: The Christian Doctrine, History and Christian Faith and more! How utterly disheartening it is when you are in the thick of serious questions and doubts to be told that you should not be questioning and doubting. If you’re in the middle of a storm, it’s no help to be told that you should not be there. What you then need is a helping hand, a sharing mind. And the more important the questions are to you, the more urgent will be your desire for clarity, proper consideration, and decision. When we were children we did not have to be taught to accept what our parents and teachers said. There was no other alternative but to accept. They were there first. But we grow up and we learn more than we knew as children. We begin to have the problem of sorting out the answers we learned and even the questions we should now be asking. This produces more questions and, most likely, confusion and frustration. No one who thinks at all gets through this stage of life without doubting. At this stage, the people who think they know every answer, or worse still, every question, are the ones who may be able to help us the least. People who have gone through an experience similar to ours a long time ago, and who have now found working answers to their questions, may have forgotten how hard-won their conclusions and attitudes were. It’s easy once you’ve found a working answer to problems which were once important to us and forget or overlook the process of struggle that led up to our present positions. It is easy then to be unsympathetic. That happens when once has become very certain of the answer one has attained. There is, of course, a very different attitude. Having experienced a struggle, more or less intense, to achieve one’s present position, one can then reflect on that process. It becomes obvious on reflection that others who have achieved some certainty through the process of doubting have also had tensions, struggles, and opposition. Realising that is often the case, one may be ready to be sympathetic to them, and willing to give support and help as it is needed. Those who have not gone through what we go through in this period simply live in a different world from us, and speak to us in a language which does not connect. We hear the words and see the concern. We know their affection and appreciate it. Yet sometimes the very finality and placidity with which we are told what they believe what their new attitudes and positions are disarms us. Their position differs from ours and is considered unsatisfactory. It may even, if we are deeply troubled by dogmatism, lead us to reject not only the answer that but also the very quest in which we are participating. It may even lead top alienation. Fortunately sometimes respect and even affection can survive the emergence of drastic differences of belief. This is a gesture of despair, but quite an understandable one. To those who have difficulty finding people who will treat their questions seriously and with understanding, I say: ‘Do not be put off from the quest for truth and for life. Keep asking. Keep searching. And try, meanwhile, to be loving. If you don’ t appear to be understood, then turn the tables by trying, as far as possible, to be understanding.’ It might help if I made an explicit distinction for you to think about. It is one thing to ask questions about what faith means. It is another thing to give up the faith. Because you have questions about the faith does not mean at all that you are giving up the faith. Do not let anybody persuade you that it does. If you are alert you will have serious questions. If your faith is vital and healthy, it will give rise to inquiry, to careful thought, to examination of answers you did not question as a child. One of the emancipating discoveries you can make is that Christian faith is big enough to permit the believer to live with questions, and to go on living with questions. To some questions there simply is no intellectually satisfying answer. For example, I have yet to read an intellectually satisfying answer to the problem of suffering. Indeed I do not believe that one is possible. There will always be room to doubt the goodness of God. I believe that God is good. But my faith in God does not depend upon the answer to this problem being satisfying to my mind. This does not mean of course that I shouldn’t seek the very best explanation I can get. While to some questions there is no finally satisfying answer, there is an answer to the mystery of life – the answer of faith in Jesus as Lord. When Jesus is found, then the process of inquiry and of questioning is put into a context where it has both significance and direction. Life is not God’s reward for cleverness in solving problems. It is a gift he offers us because we need it. When we accept and live out of the grace he gives, joy is larger than frustration. How do you mark off what is beyond doubt from what you may doubt, and what you must doubt, what is indubitable from what may be doubted? Why do you not doubt if you feel you should? There is no virtue in resolving, ‘I will not doubt’. You maintain a belief because no alternative has yet been offered to you or come to your attention. You have asked questions and may be in the process of finding answers that provide you with satisfaction. Questioning is not doubting, but it is often a pathway that leads us to revise our understanding, to revise our beliefs. But you maintain a belief or set of beliefs because it is comfortable to be accepted by other believers. You may forget that life and understanding become richer as new perspectives emerge. But guidance is often needed even if it is not sought. We have distinguished faith from belief. We distinguish ‘the faith’ from beliefs held within its context. Because you have questions about the faith does not mean that you are giving up the faith. Do not let anybody persuade you that it does. If you are alert, you will have serious questions. If your faith is vital and healthy, it will give rise to inquiry, to careful thought, to examination of answers you did not question as a child, or have not questioned since. One of the emancipating discoveries you can make is that Christian faith is big enough to permit the believer to live with questions, and to go on living with questions.
by Dr. Allan R. Bevere, pastor, professor and author of Colossians and Philemon: A Participatory Study Guide, The Politics of Witness: The Character of the Church in the World, and The Character of our Discontent. John Wesley (1703-1791) believed the Sermon on the Mount was very relevant for the current age. Of his fifty-two standard sermons, thirteen are from texts on the Sermon on the Mount. Wesley says several things in his first sermon from Matthew 5:1-4. (All the following quotes are from this sermon of Wesley.)
First, Wesley suggests that Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5-7 focus on showing the way to heaven. He says this not only from the context of the Sermon, but because of the one preaching it– “From the character of the Speaker, we are well assured that he hath declared the full and perfect will of God.” The character of the one proclaiming means that the words spoken are “true and right concerning all things.” Wesley is placing the Sermon in the larger Nicene-Chalcedonian theological context. Jesus’ words are true and right because the one speaking the words is divine. (Read more)
by Dr. Allan R. Bevere, pastor, professor and author of Colossians and Philemon: A Participatory Study Guide, The Politics of Witness: The Character of the Church in the World, and The Character of our Discontent. Too many Christians often compare God’s will to a road map with very specific directions from the Almighty they need to discover– God wants you to turn left here and go right there– God only has one spouse in mind for you and only one profession you must enter. And while I do believe that at times God may call certain persons to specific things because the Bible itself contains such callings, God’s call is often more open and elastic.
I believe that most of the time, God’s calling is more like a canvas on which we are allowed to paint wherever we desire. We may not move off the canvas onto the walls, but anywhere on the canvas we express ourselves in daily living is acceptable and pleasing to God. God may call me to ministry, but that may be validly expressed in being a pastor, a missionary, or a professor. God will work God’s will through me regardless of the vocation I choose. (Read more)
by Doris H. Murdoch, teacher and author of Testify: By the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony and Constructing Your Testimony. Bethlehem
In God’s fulfilled promise of the Messiah, let us look at the Promise’s Names, the annunciation of the Promise, the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, and how all of this should affect us in our roles as followers of the Promise.
God’s promise was fulfilled through the Virgin Mary in the birth of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus (Luke 1:31 “the Lord saves”) is described as the Promised Messiah, the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32), Emmanuel (Isaiah 7:14-16), and the Son of God (Luke 1:35). In Micah 5:2-5, the Promise was described as the Ruler in Israel, Peace, Great, Shepherd, Eternal and This One. His name continues in Isaiah 9:6-7 with Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father and Prince of Peace.
We know that the Virgin Mary lived in the town of Nazareth (Luke 1:26) when the angel Gabriel spoke to her and the Holy Spirit came upon her. Today the Church of the Annunciation marks this part of Nazareth. This event came about fourteen generations from David to deportation to Babylon and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah (Matthew 1:17). God really has the details down in His plans, doesn’t He?
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit did not overlook other individuals involved in this story. We know the Holy Spirit moved in Elizabeth and her unborn son, John the Baptist, when the baby leaped with joy within Elizabeth’s womb (Luke 1:41, 44). With this indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth cried out with a loud voice, “Blessed are you, Mary, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” In Luke 1:68-79, we read how the Holy Spirit filled Zechariah (Zacharias) and revealed that John would “prepare the way” for the Promise of salvation and forgiveness of sins. Zechariah praises God in verses 68-75 and then gives a blessing on his newborn son in verses 76-79.
God’s favor or blessings don’t always bring immediate pleasure. Mary and Joseph had to be patient and forgiving for surely the two had to tolerate a certain amount of gossip and ridicule. Mary traveled to Bethlehem in the latter part of her pregnancy. Here she was, a young and probably petite girl about 13 years old when she gave birth to her first child in a stable or cave in extremely humble circumstances. After the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had to face the struggles of relocation in Egypt as they fled from King Herod. Mary had to face the death of her son Jesus as He was crucified on the cross in His adult years. Mary may not have felt blessed until after the resurrection of Jesus or possibly not until she sat at the feet of Jesus in heaven. We will face struggles also; belief in Jesus Christ does not free us from the struggles of life. We, too, may have to face death of family, persecution, relocation, discomforts, and so forth. We may not see blessings until we sit at the feet of Jesus! It may even be our children or grandchildren that receive the blessings of our faith while on earth.
Cherish the Promise and our role as a follower of Jesus Christ. Let’s offer ourselves wholly, joyfully and obediently to God, just as Mary did…”Here I am, Lord. Use me according to Your will or plan.”
by Dr. William Powell Tuck, friarsfragment.com, retired pastor, professor and author of The Forgotten Beatitude: Worshiping Through Stewardship, A Positive Word for Christian Lamenting: Funeral Homilies, The Church Under the Cross, and more! Jesus told his followers to love one’s neighbor as one’s self. (Mark 12: 28-34). Who is your neighbor? Jesus defined neighbor in his parable about the good Samaritan. Can you imagine Jesus telling a Pharisee, who even thought fellow Jews were unclean, that a Samaritan was his neighbor? Who did Jesus make a hero? A half-breed Samaritan! No, the Pharisees and other Jews would not have been too thrilled with that hero. In fact, when Jesus asked the Pharisee which of the three he thought had been neighbor to the man who fell among the thieves, he would not even say “Samaritan.” He replied simply: “The one who showed him kindness” (Luke 10:37). This parable focuses on those who talk a lot about religion but in time of need only walked by. The priest and the Levite walked by on the other side of the road and left the man in his pain after he had been robbed. The good Samaritan saw the need of his neighbor and came to his aid.
Who then is a neighbor? My neighbor is anybody who needs help. A real neighbor reaches out with spontaneous love and extravagant graciousness to help someone in need. There is a need, and we reach out to meet it. Can we turn our back on the refuges in the world or shut our borders to them and still claim we are following the teachings of Jesus?
The original meaning of our English word neighbor comes from an Anglo-Saxon word which meant “nigh boor” the person who lived “nigh”–near you. The person nigh you might live in the next hollow, on the hill nearby, in the valley below you–anyone nearby. But Jesus doesn’t want us to see our neighbor simply as somebody who happens to live next door, or on the next hill, or over in the next hollow, or in the valley, or on the next mountain peak. Any person who has a need is your neighbor and mine. Persons fleeing persecution around the world are indeed our neighbors.
The test of real love is not in talk but in action. Love is not limited to feelings but is most visibly realized in service. The real neighbor in the parable of the good Samaritan was the one who reached out and ministered to another person in need. It is one thing to talk about love and another thing to practice it. Who is your neighbor? Any person who has any kind of need at all is your neighbor and mine. When you and I listen to the television news or read the paper and learn about hurting persons around the world, these persons are neighbors too. If we shut our eyes to the immediate needs at hand or around the world, we refuse to be neighbors as God wants us to be. Wherever there is hurt, pain, sorrow, hunger, prejudice, or disease, there is an opportunity to be a neighbor.
But the tough question then arises: How can I really be a neighbor to others, even if I know there is a need? How can we love our neighbor as we do ourselves? That seems a tall command. Let me make several suggestions on how we can love our neighbor. First, to love my neighbor does not mean that I have to like him or her. If you and I are honest, there are a lot of folks who are hard to like! When we see some of the ugly things they do or say, they are not easy to like. But Jesus didn’t say that we had to like our neighbors, but we were to love them. This might sound like we are playing with words, but, I believe, there is a real difference.
Now let’s be honest! We all do a whole lot of things from time to time that we don’t like about ourselves, but we keep on loving ourselves. And that is the same way we need to act toward our neighbors. The reason we can do this is because the love which Jesus is talking about here is not an emotion. This love is not based on goose bumps or our feelings. Agape is love that directs the will to actions. Agape is an effort of the will. This is the kind of love that Jesus is calling us to have here. You may not like what somebody does, but you can love them and try to overcome the bad behavior and respond to a higher way.
Secondly, we can love another person as our neighbor if we treat him or her like we want to be treated ourselves. This teaching is summarized in the golden rule where Jesus taught: “Do unto others as you would have them do even also unto you.” If you and I would act toward other people as we want them to act toward us, then we could love them. This attitude means that you will not do anything to belittle another person, hurt them, or harass them. Your goal is to help them. You act kindly toward them because you know that is the kind of response you would like in return from them. When you and I treat other people as we want them to treat us, it gives us a different perspective toward them. If we see another person merely as someone we can manipulate, abuse, hurt, or criticize, then we do not see them as we want to be seen ourselves. We know that is not the way we act toward ourselves or want others to respond to us. We want to act toward them as we would want them to act toward us.
Thirdly, you can love your neighbor when you recognize that you cannot be indifferent to another person’s needs since you are not indifferent to your own. You cannot ignore needs in your own self. If you never responded to any of your own needs, you could not really exist. You have to meet those needs in your own life, whether they be food, water, sleep, or friendship. Our awareness of our own needs should make us more sensitive to our neighbor’s needs. This awareness should keep us from shutting our eyes and folding our hands and ignoring our neighbor. He or she is a person who wants love and care.
Fourthly, we can love our neighbors if we recognize that they are persons of worth and are loved by God, just as we ourselves have sensed that we are persons of worth and we too are loved by God. Even at times when we may feel the most unworthy and unacceptable to God, the good news is that God still loves us. Jesus expressed this in the way he reached out to persons in every walk of life. Tax collectors were among those who were often rejected by their fellow Jews in the time of Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus reached out to Zacchaeus and called Matthew to be one of his disciples. Mary Magdalene, who was most likely a prostitute, was also forgiven of her sins by Jesus. Jesus called his disciples from every walk of life to follow him. He communicated to all of them that they were persons of worth and were loved by him. He reached out to the hurting people of humanity–the blind, the lame, and the deaf. He reached out to people who were rejected and told them that God loved them.
Jesus didn’t say that this commandment was going to be easy. Loving God with your total being is certainly not easy. Loving your neighbor as yourself is likewise not easy. But think of the radical difference there would be in our world if we could really love God with all our personality and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In the early church what often made the real difference in how society responded to the first Christians was not their theology but their love for each other. Others observing the early Christians would often remark: “Behold, how they loved one another.” Do they say that today? How can the world see that kind of love in the constant fights in our denominations, the quarrels in our churches, and especially in how we treat our needy neighbors around the world in their time of need. I for one want to welcome the stranger, the refugee, and the immigrant as my neighbor. “Behold how they loved one another” needs to be a refrain in the life of the church once again.
We cannot build real communities on hate. They must be built on love. Helmut Thielicke has suggested that we need to turn the lawyer’s question around. We do not need to ask, “Who is my neighbor,” as the Pharisee asked. Our question should be, “To whom am I a neighbor?”i Needs are all around us in our world today. Jesus has told us that the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves is like the one about loving God. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus has instructed us. Let us as Christians get up and be about our Lord’s business as we confront the needs near us and around the world.
i Helmut Thielicke, The Waiting Father (New York: Harper & Row, 1959), p. 168.
Dr. Lee reading from My Utmost for His Highest on November 1st:
Know ye not that … ye are not your own? – 1 Corinthians 6:19
There is no such thing as a private life—‘a world within the world’—for a man or woman who is brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ’s sufferings. God breaks up the private life of His saints, and makes it a thoroughfare for the world on the one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves, we are called into the fellowship of the Gospel, and things happen which have nothing to do with us, God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have his way, if you do not, instead of being of the slightest use to God in His Redemptive work in the world, you will be a hindrance and a clog. The first thing God does with us is to get us based on rugged Reality until we do not care what becomes of us individually as long as He gets His way for the purpose of His Redemption. Why shouldn’t we go through heartbreaks? Through these doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain; we sit down on the threshold of God’s purpose and die away of self-pity, and all so-called Christian sympathy will aid us to our death-bed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, and says—‘Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.’ If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart. – Oswald Chambers, 1986
The words God sends to us are always right on time and perfect in exhortation and conviction. Through our brokenness, His way of bringing us to know Him more and have in our being, humility of His making, He moves. One tiny step of obedience, letting go of one’s way, confessing pride, humbling self before Him and others…He does a mighty work. He is glorified for without Him we are nothing.
He is faithful in preparing three of His little sheep, Mary, Cathy and myself to go to His other sheep in Guatemala. Faith, their mom, has been doing the study with us. She prays for us alot. We have been doing Seeking Him, a Bible Study which has been teaching us and changing our hearts showing us what is His revival, through humility, honesty, repentance. We are just starting the chapter on grace. It’s been a long time in coming to grace in the book but we have been filled with His grace as He has loved us to Himself and shown us Himself so clearly. He is doing a work of humility in each of us, bringing us to a place of honesty before Him and others we have not known so well before, and repentance is ongoing. The journey is just beginning. We pray it be a continual lifelong one.
This is Mary and Cathy’s first mission trip overseas. We covet your prayers. Many of you have shared of your abundance as well as prayer so the little ones in Guatemala will have a bit of Christmas, some babies will be blessed with “hand-made prayed over” love-sent baby hats to keep them warm this winter, others have shared their other extras. Thank you so much for sharing in the joy of His gifts.
Please keep in prayer:
1. The Lord’s ongoing work through Bible Study to disciple the moms and youth to bear eternal fruit and change a generation, as well as a generation yet to be born, for Jesus (Psalm 22:22-31).
2. His weary and worn children (adults and niños) will see Jesus through His Word and that those serving so steadfastly in Guatamala will be encouraged and strengthened by Him.
3. We would stay well in our physical bodies and in our spirits, serve Him well, keeping Jesus and His way and will foremost in our hearts and minds. And as far as the medical part, that we would be just the tool in His hand.
4. All of us sheep, State-side and Guatemala yield to Jesus for His humbling us, preparing us, breaking us, bringing us closer to Him at such a time as this that we would be passionate, on fire for Him. Time is short. Let us not waste the lives He has given. Jesus, You are faithful, humble and powerful in wisdom and grace, perfect in judgment and mercy. Thank You. You call, You work, You do a mighty change in our hearts and we are grateful. Keep us, Your sheep, near as You work in and through each of us in Guatemala and in the States, to know You more, to be captivated by You and to have no other before You. Your love is boundless, overwhelming in its mercy and grace and our recognition of the magnificence and unparalleled excellence of Your love brings us to see how undeserving we are and will always be. Yet, You pour out. This humbles us, Lord. Keep us there, that You would give grace…Your grace to us, grace overflowing so it reaches out beyond us into the lives of others for You and Your glory. Ah precious King…how great You are. Thank You. Thank You so much. Amen
Open up your English Bible and turn to Luke 23:34. Here’s how the verse reads in the Holman Christian Standard Bible: “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” I’m curious if your translation has a footnote at the bottom of the page dealing with this particular verse. The RSV has a footnote at the bottom of the page that reads, “Other ancient authorities omit the sentence And Jesus . . . what they do.” The ESV has one that reads, “Some manuscripts omit the sentence And Jesus . . . what they do.” Or maybe your translation has the entire verse in brackets. That’s what the Holman Christian Standard Bible does, along with a note that reads, “Other mss omit the bracketed text.” Maybe this is the first time you’ve ever even noticed that note. It might be surprising, but believe me when I say it’s not that wild. Manuscripts before the age of the printing press and Xerox machines were copied by hand. As they were used, they got wore out. As they got wore out, new copies had to be made. There’s a least a question about whether or not Jesus really prayed for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying him. Some manuscripts record that he did, others leave this verse out. We have to wrestle with this when we study our New Testament. Before I give you some ways that you can think about this issue (and others like it) for yourselves, let me just point out some very important observations: Just because there are some footnotes about different manuscripts having different readings in our New Testament doesn’t mean our Bibles are full of errors or that we can’t trust our Bible. That’s simply not the case. What it means is there are some differences among the manuscripts. Before the age of Gutenberg and Xerox, all texts were written by hand. And as you can imagine, if you were copying a manuscript as long as some of these, there might be some issues that arose along the way. You might make a mistake, leave off a word or two, copy a word wrong, etc. This happened with the New Testament texts just like it happened with every single work that was kept and preserved for historical, literary, and cultural reasons. And somewhere along the way someone might have even thought they were doing the text a favor by inserting or removing something to make the text clearer or better fit with their own setting. It just happens. There are some differences in the manuscripts, but nothing that should really cast any doubt on whether we can trust our Bibles. So let me just point out a few types of data that factor in to what is called a textual analysis, that is, an analysis that attempts to ascertain the original wording of a specific New Testament passage when manuscripts containing that passage are not in total agreement. There are more than a few, but I’m just going to highlight a few here. The first consideration is the date of the manuscripts. The thinking goes as follows: It is reasonable to think that there is a higher probability that earlier manuscripts will contain the original reading. Why? Because the time span between original composition and an earlier copy of a manuscript is smaller than the time span of a later copy. That’s what we call a firm grasp of the obvious, and I’ve been complimented many times in my life for having one of those (though not always much more than that!). The more time between original composition, the more opportunity there is for a change to occur in the text. But we have to remember, an early copy is still not the original and as such there is always a possibility that a change to a passage could have occurred—intentionally or accidentally—while it was being copied. No copy, no matter how early it is, is entirely trustworthy. One of the things I am discussing in the forthcoming Energion book on textual criticism is how God inspired the original manuscript. The act of divine inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16) occurred with the original composition, not the act of copying the original. The second consideration is the geographical distribution of a particular reading. This one is a little more difficult to explain. The best way I can describe it here is to imagine a map that focuses on the Middle East with the Mediterranean Sea (just north of Libya) as the focal center. There were four regions of the world that produced manuscripts over the millennia and a half following the original composition of the New Testament texts. And these manuscripts are grouped into respective groups based on patterns for how they read in certain places. Those manuscripts are identified in the following ways: (1) Alexandrian, associated with Alexandria, Egypt in northern Africa; (2) Caesarean, associated with the land of Israel and its environs; (3) Byzantine, associated with churches in the Byzantine Empire; and (4) Western, associated with the Western Roman Empire. Now none of these are wholly trustworthy. In other words, we can’t just prefer one over the other. In fact, there are differences between some manuscripts even within the respective groupings. God didn’t inspire one particular group. The groups exist because of what happened as the texts of the New Testament were copied over the years. One thing that is important though is we want to consider if a particular reading is only found in one location, or whether a particular reading is found in all of them. I’ll explain this in just a second when we come back to Luke 23:34. A third consideration is the context of a passage. We have to ask things like, “Does this particular reading fit in this context?” Rest assured, the original reading is going to fit with the context. It’s going to match the author’s style. It’s not going to contradict anything else in the New Testament. It’s going to fit. And if it doesn’t, we should start asking ourselves what’s going on and taking a hard look at the evidence for the other reading. So what about Luke 23:34? Is this sentence original or not: “And Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.’” We need to start by being able to explain what the issue is and why it matters for us? If we can’t explain why it matters for how we understand the passage, we’re not going to get anywhere. In this passage, it really matters. One of the reasons we read and study the Bible is because we want to know more about the one who gave his life for us on the cross. We want to know him, like Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10. We want to know who he is, how he acted, and what he cared about. We want to know how he suffered too, just like Peter pointed out in 1 Peter 2:21–25. Not only do we want to know more about the depths of his love and the incredibleness of his redemptive plan, we understand that we are being conformed into his image and, therefore, we want to know how he lived, so that we can begin to pursue a lifestyle that honors him and models for the world today the life he lived two millennia ago. This verse in Luke 23 is quite remarkable. If the verse is original, it sure tells us something amazing about Jesus: While he was being crucified, reviled, mocked, scorned etc., there was one thing on Jesus’ mind. The forgiveness of sins was the one thing that drove Jesus to the cross, the place where those he wanted to see forgiven would drive the nails into his hands and feet. In Luke 9:51 it says Jesus set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem. The cross was no accident (Matthew 16:21). He was going to Jerusalem so he could go to the cross. And he was going to cross so that those who believe in him could actually be treated as if they had never committed a single sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Incredible. But unless anyone question his resolve to bring about this forgiveness—if this verse is original—well, this verse drives it home even more. Jesus wanted people to be forgiven. And by the way, just an important observation here, the text doesn’t say that Jesus prayed; it says “and he was praying,” suggesting he pled for this forgiveness at least twice, but maybe even more. But what if the text is not original? Do we lose anything theologically? Does our understanding that Jesus wanted people to have forgiveness of their sins hinge on the originality of this verse? Nope. Just see Matthew 9:2–6; Luke 7:44–48; etc. Okay. Here’s the thing though: I can’t make a decision about the originality of a verse based on whether or not it’ll “preach” really good, or whether I just like the idea that Jesus prayed for people while he was being crucified, or something like that. No, I have to make a decision based on the evidence, taking into consideration things like the date of manuscripts, the geographical distribution, and whether a reading fits with the context of the passage (and, remember, there are other factors to consider). In this case, the earliest manuscript we have containing this portion of the Gospel of Luke that does not include this verse is a papyrus manuscript. It dates around the 3rd century. And we’ve got five other manuscripts that date between the 4th and 6th centuries. So give one point to “not original.” What about geographical distribution? Guess what. That reading where the verse is omitted—the one with the earliest manuscripts—well, it is almost entirely restricted to a single geographical location, namely Alexandrian. That just seems really problematic. How would the verse make it into all these other geographical regions if it wasn’t original? In fact, two of the manuscripts that contain the verse are dated to the 5th century. That’s pretty early, isn’t it? And those two manuscripts are associated with two different geographical regions, one Alexandrian and the other Byzantine. So give one point to “original.” And then we think about the context. The Gospels all indicate that Jesus was speaking from the cross. He prayed to the Father, he coordinated that John would care for his mother, and he even promised one of the thieves that he would be with Jesus in paradise when he died (i.e., he was forgiven!). If you ask me, the verse is original. It’s not supported by the oldest manuscripts, but it is supported by two manuscripts associated with two different geographical locales copied prior to the sixth century. And it definitely doesn’t conflict with the rest of the crucifixion narrative or the life and ministry of Jesus in general. Just imagine Jesus praying for these people. Even in his darkest hour of his life, one thing mattered—forgiveness of sins. What a savior! So someone is going to ask me the following question so I better just go ahead and answer it: How did the verse become missing in those early manuscripts? Ultimately, I cannot know for certain. I can make an educated guess. Maybe it was because after the fall of Jerusalem it looked like Jesus’ prayer for their forgiveness wasn’t answered and some scribes decided to take it out versus it looking like Jesus could pray a prayer and it not be answered. Or maybe someone glanced over it, forgot to copy it, and from that point, in those Alexandrian manuscripts, the verse was removed. But for the rest of the world, they kept hearing Jesus pray this prayer for forgiveness. And hopefully it would have the same impact on them that it had on Stephen when he encountered the darkest day of his life and prayed the forgiveness of those who were putting him to death (Acts 7:60).
Is your church up to doing a marathon? A marathon is 26.2 miles. It’s a slugfest. But you finish by taking one step at a time. So here are 26.2 ideas to get you started and maybe even keep you going to the end.
1) If you are a pastor, I might suggest that you stop training for “chief ministry provider” and start training for “chief ministry developer.”
2) Let us rid ourselves of the “consumerism” mentality once and for all. It stands opposite to the “body ministry” as described in the New Testament.
3) As leaders, let’s commit ourselves to discovering and employing the untapped potential that exists in our churches.
4) The shift from the “ministry of the clergy” to the “ministry of the laity” is one of the most important decisions facing the church today. Let’s make it.
5) Let’s self-identify first and foremost as a servant. Only one class of people exists within the church, servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. Within that class there will always be different functions, but servanthood is incumbent upon all of us.
6) (Read More)
Sorrowing Old Man by Vincent Van GoghHow utterly disheartening it is when you are in the thick of serious questions and doubts to be told that you should not be questioning and doubting. If you’re in the middle of a storm, it’s no help to be told that you should not be there. What you then need is a helping hand, a sharing mind. And the more important the questions are to you, the more urgent will be your desire for clarity, proper consideration, and decision. When we were children we did not have to be taught to accept what our parents and teachers said. There was no other alternative but to accept. They were there first. But we grow up and we learn more than we knew as children. We begin to have the problem of sorting out the answers we learned and even the questions we should now be asking. This produces more questions and, most likely, confusion and frustration. No one who thinks at all gets through this stage of life without doubting. At this stage, the people who think they know every answer, or worse still, every question, are the ones who may be able to help us the least. People who have gone through an experience similar to ours a long time ago, and who have now found working answers to their questions, may have forgotten how hard-won their conclusions and attitudes were. It’s easy once you’ve found a working answer to problems which were once important to us and forget or overlook the process of struggle that led up to our present positions. It is easy then to be unsympathetic. That happens when once has become very certain of the answer one has attained. There is, of course, a very different attitude. Having experienced a struggle, more or less intense, to achieve one’s present position, one can then reflect on that process. It becomes obvious on reflection that others who have achieved some certainty through the process of doubting have also had tensions, struggles, opposition. Realizing that is often the case, one may be ready to be sympathetic to them, and willing to give support and help as it is needed. Those who have not gone through what we go through in this period simply live in a different world from us, and speak to us in a language which does not connect. We hear the words and see the concern. We know their affection and appreciate it. Yet sometimes the very finality and placidity with which we are told what they believe what their new attitudes and positions are disarms us. Their position differs from ours and is considered unsatisfactory. It may even, if we are deeply troubled by dogmatism, lead us to reject not only the answer that but also the very quest in which we are participating. It may even lead top alienation. Fortunately sometimes respect and even affection can survive the emergence of drastic differences of belief. This is a gesture of despair, but quite an understandable one. To those who have difficulty finding people who will treat their questions seriously and with understanding, I say: ‘Do not be put off from the quest for truth and for life. Keep asking. Keep searching. And try, meanwhile, to be loving. If you don’ t appear to be understood, then turn the tables by trying, as far as possible, to be understanding.’ It might help if I made an explicit distinction for you to think about. It is one thing to ask questions about what faith means. It is another thing to give up the faith. Because you have questions about the faith does not mean at all that you are giving up the faith. Do not let anybody persuade you that it does. If you are alert you will have serious questions. If your faith is vital and healthy, it will give rise to inquiry, to careful thought, to examination of answers you did not question as a child. One of the emancipating discoveries you can make is that Christian faith is big enough to permit the believer to live with questions, and to go on living with questions. To some questions there simply is no intellectually satisfying answer. For example, I have yet to read an intellectually satisfying answer to the problem of suffering. Indeed I do not believe that one is possible. There will always be room to doubt the goodness of God. I believe that God is good. But my faith in God does not depend upon the answer to this problem being satisfying to my mind. This does not mean of course that I shouldn’t seek the very best explanation I can get. While to some questions there is no finally satisfying answer, there is an answer to the mystery of life–the answer of faith in Jesus as Lord. When Jesus is found, then the process of inquiry and of questioning is put into a context where it has both significance and direction. Life is not God’s reward for cleverness in solving problems. It is a gift he offers us because we need it. When we accept and live out of the grace he gives, joy is larger than frustration. How do you mark off what is beyond doubt from what you may doubt, and what you must doubt, what is indubitable from what may be doubted? Why do you not doubt if you feel you should? There is no virtue in resolving, ‘I will not doubt’. you maintain a belief because no alternative has yet been offered to you or come to your attention. You have asked questions and may be in the process of finding answers that provide you with satisfaction. Questioning is not doubting, but it is often a pathway that leads us to revise our understanding, to revise our beliefs. But you maintain a belief or set of beliefs because it is comfortable to be accepted by other believers. You may forget that life and understanding become richer as new perspectives emerge. But guidance is often needed even if it is not sought.
We have distinguished faith from belief. We distinguish ‘the faith’ from beliefs held with in its context. Because you have questions about the faith does not mean that you are giving up the faith. Do not let anybody persuade you that it does. If you are alert you will have serious questions. If your faith is vital and healthy, it will give rise to inquiry, to careful thought, to examination of answers you did not question as a child, or have not questioned since. One of the emancipating discoveries you can make is that Christian faith is big enough to permit the believer to live with questions, and to go on living with questions.
We have so much trouble with the word grace because it is such a wild and unpredictable word. Defined as “God’s unmerited favor” it seems simple enough – until in the divine economy it is put into practice.
How utterly disheartening it is when you are in the thick of serious questions and doubts to be told that you should not be questioning and doubting. If you’re in the middle of a storm, it’s no help to be told that you should not be there. What you then need is a helping hand, a sharing mind. And the more important the questions are to you, the more urgent will be your desire for clarity, proper consideration, and decision.
John Wesley (1703-1791) believed the Sermon on the Mount was very relevant for the current age. Of his fifty-two standard sermons, thirteen are from texts on the Sermon on the Mount. Wesley says several things in his first sermon from Matthew 5:1-4. (All the following quotes are from this sermon of Wesley.)
Too many Christians often compare God’s will to a road map with very specific directions from the Almighty they need to discover– God wants you to turn left here and go right there– God only has one spouse in mind for you and only one profession you must enter. And while I do believe that at times God may call certain persons to specific things because the Bible itself contains such callings, God’s call is often more open and elastic.
Jesus told his followers to love one’s neighbor as one’s self. (Mark 12: 28-34). Who is your neighbor? Jesus defined neighbor in his parable about the good Samaritan. Can you imagine Jesus telling a Pharisee, who even thought fellow Jews were unclean, that a Samaritan was his neighbor? Who did Jesus make a hero? A half-breed Samaritan! No, the Pharisees and other Jews would not have been too thrilled with that hero. In fact, when Jesus asked the Pharisee which of the three he thought had been neighbor to the man who fell among the thieves, he would not even say “Samaritan.” He replied simply: “The one who showed him kindness” (Luke 10:37). This parable focuses on those who talk a lot about religion but in time of need only walked by. The priest and the Levite walked by on the other side of the road and left the man in his pain after he had been robbed. The good Samaritan saw the need of his neighbor and came to his aid.
Dr. Lee reading from My Utmost for His Highest on November 1st:
Open up your English Bible and turn to Luke 23:34. Here’s how the verse reads in the Holman Christian Standard Bible: “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” I’m curious if your translation has a footnote at the bottom of the page dealing with this particular verse. The RSV has a footnote at the bottom of the page that reads, “Other ancient authorities omit the sentence And Jesus . . . what they do.” The ESV has one that reads, “Some manuscripts omit the sentence And Jesus . . . what they do.” Or maybe your translation has the entire verse in brackets. That’s what the Holman Christian Standard Bible does, along with a note that reads, “Other mss omit the bracketed text.” Maybe this is the first time you’ve ever even noticed that note. It might be surprising, but believe me when I say it’s not that wild. Manuscripts before the age of the printing press and Xerox machines were copied by hand. As they were used, they got wore out. As they got wore out, new copies had to be made. There’s a least a question about whether or not Jesus really prayed for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying him. Some manuscripts record that he did, others leave this verse out. We have to wrestle with this when we study our New Testament.
Is your church up to doing a marathon? A marathon is 26.2 miles. It’s a slugfest. But you finish by taking one step at a time. So here are 26.2 ideas to get you started and maybe even keep you going to the end.
