Not by might

Jesus tells Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world..."

Many Christians use the concept of not being "of this world" as meaning that there is some delineation from this world and heaven and that Jesus has come to establish the fact that they are separated.

First, nothing could be further from the truth. As in the Lord's prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...", Jesus has come to establish His kingdom here on earth.

There are a few things going on here that are worthy of our attention. First, it is probably more proper in our overly spiritualized view of Scripture to translate Jesus' words to pilate as "My kingdom is not from this world". Jesus pushes the point that if it was from this world, his followers would've taken up arms to destroy the kingdom of Rome. Of course, that's not how it happened.

There is a clear distinction here between how the world rulers reign and how Jesus reigns. Whereas the kings of this world rule with brute force and fear, Jesus rules with love and peace. This echoes what it says in Zechariah:

"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit" (Zechariah 4:6)

It is not by might or power that Jesus reigns, but through the Spirit. Jesus is very much apart of this world. His vocation was that of what was told in the OT—The Messiah would be the God of Israel coming to visit His people and restore them.

This is our calling. To restore the earth until it is all summed up in Jesus at the end. So many Christians want to leave this world and not labor in it. But remember what Paul has told us,

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

What we do in this world lasts. We are here to change it, not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit.

Are You a "Flip and Pick" Christian?

You're getting ready to read the Bible. It's been a while and you know that you have to get in the word. So you pick it up and stare at it for a few seconds wondering where you're going to start. You know the Bible is divinely inspired so anything you read will be good, right?

So what do you do? You flip the Bible open and you blindly use your index finger to pick a random piece of Scripture out from the Bible.

Ah! Your index finger suddenly lands at 1 Chronicles 7, a wonderful list of genealogies!

Oh well, you say, lets move on to an epistle or something. And the life of the "flip and pick" style of reading the Bible goes on. We come across a nice little verse you can fit in your pocket, share it on facebook, and you've done your meditation for the day.

I blame devotionals on this. I blame pastors for doing the same thing. I blame all sorts of personalized, pocket verses that have been used, abused, and taken out of context.

If you're a "flip and pick" Christian, you're not taking your faith seriously. The Bible is extremely rich in deep theological significance. No, I'm not talking about going to seminary and studying theology. I'm talking about theological significance for your faith. The more you understand the Bible, the stronger your faith will be.

There are many Christians who abandon their faith because of some apparent problem in the text that they simply cannot get over. Maybe its the ever famous, "This genration will not pass away..." verse in Matthew 24. Or maybe its the extravagant stories and epic tales in the Old Testament. Maybe its all the laws and seemingly irrelevant regulations God gives to the Israelites. I don't know, but I am sure it is grounded in not being able to read the Bible for all its worth.

Do I have the antitote? No! I wouldn't dare try to teach you how to read the Bible. But I can point to someone that can.

Enter How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth...

This book will save you from flipping and picking and bring into a world of searching the scriptures like the Bereans did. This book is easy to read and simple to understand. You don't have to major in theology to understand any of its concepts.

You will be edified and strengthened in your faith by learning how to do what the books says, read the Bible for all its worth.


My recommendation is to pick up a new NIV Bible and this book. If you like your current translation, then use that. But whatever you do, buy this book.

I started reading it for a class and I immediately started putting the principles in practice. Because of it, I can pick up the bible and start reading with serious comprehension. It's not that the Bible is "hard to read," its just that some people cannot successfully place context around what they're reading because they've been trained to "flip and pick."

So, to conclude my book recommendation for today....GO GET THE BOOK!

Luke's Christology

I hear it around that John's gospel is the "spiritual" gospel with "high Christology." This is nonsense. Each gospel writer had intentions in mind about what they were writing and how it would come across.

When we don't learn how to read the Bible for all its worth, we miss things that are right in front of us. The Western church is very concerned right now about "proving" that Jesus thought He was God. We do this in the face of Jehova's Witnesses, Mormons, and historical critics.

The most common gospel to go to is John because it is more direct about the fact that Jesus did indeed think He was God. But, we only go to this clear Scriptures because we don't fully understand the entire implications of the Gospel story represented in all four of the Gospels.

I'm not going to go into detail with each one, but I want to call attention to one that is almost always missed. Luke, in telling the story about Jesus casting out demons from a man into the pigs, gives us a very clear implication that Luke was trying to give us.

"The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him."

Did you catch it?

"...tell how much God has done for you."

and then...

"So the man...told all over town how much Jesus had done for him."


Did you ever catch that before?

This is just one little example, but there are several ways in which it is very clear in Mark, Matthew, and Luke that they were telling the story of God coming to visit His people just as He had promised.

We shall revisit this again soon...

Mary's Song

It may be that in reading Luke you came across the beautiful words of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in her song to God.

"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever
just as he promised our ancestors."

I want to call particular attention to the last portion of her song.


"He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors."

Mary is proclaiming what she knows to be true of her Son Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the promises to Israel. Yeshua, which means "YHWH saves," has indeed come to save His people, just as he promised their ancestors. 


We can't miss this stuff in the Gospels. They are the lifeblood of the Church. We have a mission to fulfill, a vocation that Jesus has given us. We are the people of God, called to carry on what God has always said He would accomplish—redeeming the whole world to Himself.

Israel was the instrument of God's saving plan. He dwelt among them in the tabernacle in the desert. He promised to dwell with them in a temple. He did, but then He left because Israel rebelled. Now, as Mary clearly understands, God "...has helped Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever," all by becoming flesh and dwelling among them.

The Gospels are incredibly important in understanding our mission as disciples. If we can't read them in the right light, then they become what they all to often have, simple stories to "recollect" what happened or moral teachings for our personal lives. That's not what the Gospels are.

Some may simply overlook Mary's song as beautiful. But it is packed with significance that we cannot miss.

Father, give me the strength...

To lead them with strong hands.

All I want to do is love them with everything that I am. Help me to love them with an undying passion just as you love us with yours.

Help me to be everything you want me to be.

I just want everything for the love of my life and the love of my life yet to come.

Lord, all things are possible with you. Jesus, I can do all things through you. Holy Spirit, lead me in the path of the righteous so I can lead them to you.

This is all I want Lord.

Amen.

Sitting in the back seat

It becomes apparent in Genesis 1 that there is a hierarchy being established as God creates everything. This hierarchy can be seen as God creates man to rule over the earth. The writer of Genesis 1 (which is traditionally seen as Moses) isn't interested in the how of creation as much as he is in the why.

Hierarchy is extremely important in understanding creation as a whole. There is an immediate hierarchy between the relationship with God and humans from the beginning. God creates man, places him at the top of the hierarchy of His creation and gives him his vocation.

When I was going to lunch today, I noticed something that came automatic to me. My co-worker was driving and our boss was coming with us. I defaulted to sitting in the back seat to allow my boss to take the front seat. This was the manifestation of hierarchy. Although there would be nothing wrong with me sitting in the front, it was a matter of "knowing my place" in the hierarchy of my company. My boss is above me and as a result has the authority to control my actions within the scope of my job. Giving him the front seat was a way of recognizing this hierarchy.

All of life runs in this way. There is always a hierarchy. Watch the animal kingdom and see hierarchies take place. Work for a company and its immediately important.

Hierarchy is important in running things.

Jesus stands as the sole owner of His kingdom. He has appointed His people to do a certain job. We live and breath in an everlasting hierarchy and to understand this is to understand creation.

The discipline of being a disciple.

If being a disciple of Jesus was easy, we'd all be flourishing in our faith.

The difficulty is our attachment to the things in the world that vie for our worship. The "world" in and of itself is not bad. God has declared His creation good.

The problem is where our hearts stand. Do we bow before the King? Or do we worship at the altar of career, possession, and lust?

It takes serious discipline to love, to turn the other cheek, to walk that extra mile. Every facet of our lives must be occupied with the Spirit with no room for compromise. This is the challenge of the Gospel.

Whats more, we were not called to make followers of all nations. Many people can "follow" Jesus. We are called to make DISCIPLES of all nations.

There is one prerequisite for this: be a disciple.