Learning Evangelism from Jesus

David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary “I can think of no other living e...

Author: Jerram Barrs

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David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“I can think of no other living educator who better embodies the gospel’s tough love combined with its unconditional acceptance of flawed people than Jerram Barrs. In this wonderfully moving account of Jesus’ approach to evangelism, Barrs shows us the ways in which the Lord’s message penetrates deep into the human heart, uncovering its darkest secrets while always defending the dignity of its owner.”

William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary “The fruit of Jerram Barrs’s years of evangelistic experience comes to expression here for our benefit as he traces Jesus’ interaction in the Gospels with various individuals and groups.”

David Clyde Jones, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics, Covenant Theological Seminary

“In his practical, biblical, and winsome style, Jerram Barrs challenges us to humbly share good news with our friends who are far from God.”

Darrin Patrick, Founding Pastor, The Journey Church, St. Louis, Missouri

BARRS

JERRAM BARRS, a former staff member at English L’Abri, is the founder and resident scholar of the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theological Seminary, where he also teaches apologetics and outreach as professor of Christian studies and contemporary culture. His books include Crossway’s The Heart of Evangelism and Through His Eyes: God’s Perspective on Women in the Bible.

LEA RNING E VA N GELISM FROM JESUS

“This is not a book about evangelistic technique but about doing evangelism biblically. There is a difference! Jerram Barrs shows us that Jesus had no wooden formula that he followed but rather was about engaging people in the depths of their being. As a result, this is an unusually wise guide to doing evangelism. The great truths of the gospel shine forth undiminished while at the same time the recesses of the human heart are explored with real insight.”

L E A R N I NG E V A N G E L I S M

F R OM

J E R R A M U.S. $15.99

J E SUS

B A R R S

“This is not a book about evangelistic technique but about doing evangelism biblically. There is a difference! Beginning with some of the everyday scenes in the gospels and then examining some of the parables, Jerram Barrs shows us that Jesus had no wooden formula which he followed, but rather was about engaging people in the depths of their being. As a result, this is an unusually wise guide to doing evangelism. The great truths of the gospel shine forth undiminished while at the same time the recesses of the human heart are explored with real insight.” —David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary “It is my privilege to have known Jerram Barrs for forty years, first as a student, later as a faculty colleague, always as a friend. In this work, he invites us to follow Jesus’ example in seeking the lost, as he himself has done over the course of his life since Jesus found him as a despairing university student. The fruit of those years of evangelistic experience comes to expression here for our benefit as he traces Jesus’ interaction in the Gospels with various individuals and groups, as he goes about his business of seeking and saving the lost. Each retelling brims with exegetical insight and existential grasp of what’s going on at the time, followed by a section on ‘learning from Jesus’ that is full of practical wisdom, encouragement, and contemporary challenge. The whole book fairly breathes the Spirit of Christ, which is only to be expected from Jerram (as he is known to one and all) who embodies so well in his own life the example of Jesus.” —David Clyde Jones, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics, Covenant Theological Seminary “In his practical, biblical, and winsome style, Jerram Barrs challenges us to humbly share good news with our friends who are far from God.” —Darrin Patrick, Founding Pastor The Journey Church, St Louis, MO

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“I can think of no other living educator who better embodies the gospel’s tough love combined with its unconditional acceptance of flawed people than Jerram Barrs. In this wonderfully moving account of Jesus’ approach to evangelism, Professor Barrs shows us the ways in which the Lord’s message penetrates deep into the human heart, uncovering its darkest secrets, while always defending the dignity of its owner.” —William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary


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L E A R N I N G E VA N G E L I S M FROM JESUS


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Other Crossway books by Jerram Barrs: The Heart of Evangelism Through His Eyes: God’s Perspective on Women in the Bible


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LEARNING E VA N G E L I S M

FROM JESUS

J E R R A M

B A R R S

C R O S S W AY B O O K S W H E ATON, I L L I NOI S


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Learning Evangelism from Jesus Copyright © 2009 by Jerram Barrs Published by Crossway Books a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Cover design: Josh Dennis Cover photo: The Riverside Church, New York City First printing 2009 Printed in the United States of America Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture references marked NIV are from The Holy Bible: New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society. Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations marked AT are the author’s translation. All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author. Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-0318-4 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-1193-6 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-1194-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barrs, Jerram. Learning evangelism from Jesus / Jerram Barrs. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-4335-0318-4 (tpb) 1. Evangelistic work—Biblical teaching. 2. Bible. N.T.—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title. BS2545.E82B38 2009 269'.2—dc22 2008035821 VP 15

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To Jesus, with the prayer that you will be pleased to be honored as the greatest evangelist by all who read this book. Thank you, Lord!


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C ONTENT S 1 The Christian’s Calling to the World

11

2 Caught in the Act

21

3 The Woman of Samaria

35

4 Jesus and the Bible Teacher

53

5 A Wealthy Young Leader of the Church

69

6 An Unusual Dinner Invitation

83

7 The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin: Parables for a Mixed Gathering

101

8 The Two Lost Sons: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

117

9 The “Sinful Woman” and the “Righteous Man”

131

10 Revealing the Pharisee’s Heart

149

11 Religious and Moral Traditionalists: The Problem of Rules and Traditions

163

12 Faith among the Canaanites

179

13 The Faith of the Centurion: An Officer and a Gentleman

193

14 A Night Visitor

205

15 The Shrewd Manager: Money, Money, Money

219

16 Not the Most Comfortable Guest!

233

Conclusion

249

Study Guide

253

Notes

269

General Index

273

Scripture Index

279


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I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. JOHN 17:14–23


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1

T H E CHRISTI A N’S CA LLING T O TH E WORLD

What is the calling of Christian believers with regard to the unbelieving world in which we live? On the night before he died, Jesus prayed that the Father would send us into the world, just as he was sent into the world. He also prayed that the Father would keep us from the evil one. He recognized, too, that just as he was hated by the world, so Christian believers would also be hated by the world. The relationship of Christians to the cultures in which we live is a complex one. Reading the words that Jesus prayed for his church in John 17:14–23 will help us see this complexity. Jesus addresses many issues in this specific passage, but here we will focus on those that relate to our calling in the world. We begin with the reason why the Father sent Jesus into the world—here we will have to draw on earlier statements made by Jesus that are recorded for us in John’s Gospel. T H E FAT H ER’S LOVE FOR THE WORL D

Jesus came into this world of unbelief, rebellion against God, and disobedience to God’s commandments in order to reach the world with his love. He was sent by the Father to live a life of full obedience to the Father’s word, and then to offer up his life as a sacrifice for the world, because of the Father’s great love for the world. Whoever believes in Jesus will be granted God’s forgiveness and acceptance and becomes a child of God, born by the Spirit into his family. 11


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS S E N T I N T O THE WORLD BY JESUS

Just as Jesus was sent into the world by the Father, so he sends all those who believe in him into the world. The Christian’s calling is never to retreat from the world of unbelievers into an enclave where there are only fellow Christians, nor is it a calling to personal separation, where the only people one knows are fellow believers, for as we see in the Gospels, Jesus lived among those who did not know him. T H E H O S T I LITY OF THE WORLD

In the world we can expect hostility and even hatred, for Jesus experienced this from some of those around him. The reason for this is that the world is a place where many do not honor God, trust in his love, or walk in his ways. The world is also a place where Satan, the evil one, is actively at work, seeking to keep people satisfied with anything but the worship of God alone. I N , B U T N OT OF, THE WORLD

While Christians are to be in the world, they are to live not in conformity to the standards of the world, but rather in obedience to the Father’s word, just as Jesus did. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. Our calling is to give ourselves to being made holy by the truth of God’s Word, by the wisdom of his laws, and by the power of his Spirit. D E M O N S T R ATING THE TRINITY’S LOVE

We are to seek to demonstrate in our lives the perfect love that has existed between the Father and the Son through all eternity. It is the reality of love in our lives which will be one of the most powerful means of people in the world seeing the beauty of the message of Christ. By our love people will know that the Father sent the Son into the world. By our love for one another, people will know that we are loved by God. P R AY I N G F OR THE WORLD

The world is also a place where we must pray, just as Jesus prayed. We are to pray for ourselves, for our faithfulness to the Father’s word and 12


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The Christian’s Calling to the World

his call, for all others who come to faith in Jesus through the Word, and also for the world to come to know Jesus through our lives, through our love, through the Word, and by the Spirit. The heart of all these points is that we are to be in the world as Jesus was in the world. To express this call in another way, we might say that we are to imitate Jesus. T H E P R O B LEM OF CONFORMITY

However, this calling to imitate Jesus is very challenging. As we live in the world we find two great problems. One is that, very easily, we find ourselves conforming to the world’s values and lifestyle. We can look at any human culture and, unhappily, we can predict the areas where Christians are likely to be living in disobedience to God’s commandments, rather than imitating Jesus. It should be no surprise to any thoughtful Christian that many young male believers struggle with addiction to Internet pornography. Nor should it be any surprise that almost all of us Christians who live in the Western world find ourselves deeply trapped in the idolatry of money and possessions. We can also expect that we will find ourselves wanting to live for our own personal happiness and fulfillment without regard for the needs of other people. Each of these ways of thinking, seeing the world, and living are such basic parts of our cultures today that we find it difficult to walk in the ways of the Lord. We are not much like Jesus, for he was not shaped by the ungodly patterns of the culture of his day; rather, he lived in the world in perfect conformity to his Father’s commandments. T H E P R O B LEM OF RETREAT AND SEPARATION

But we also experience another problem. Because it is so difficult to live faithfully in the world, we are tempted to retreat from the world of sin and unbelief, and to develop a negative and superior attitude toward our neighbors in the world. Consequently many barriers arise between us and other people whose beliefs and way of life are different from our own. These barriers might come from pride in our own convictions and our own perceived rejection of worldliness. Or, 13


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS

we may find ourselves being hostile to others because of their beliefs or because of their manner of life. Such barriers may lead us, our church members, and our children to personal separation from them. Believers in Christ can, all too readily, desire a kind of cultural isolation. We say, “We are to be separate,” and so we have nothing to do with those around us. In this way we avoid the calling to be in the world, for we are so intent on keeping ourselves, our fellow believers, and our children “pure” and “apart” from anyone whose thinking and life is not exactly like our own. Yet we ought not to be surprised or shaken by the false beliefs, disinterest, or even hostility of the world. Jesus’ prayer, and the whole Scripture, teaches us that this is exactly what we are to expect in the world. All through this age we will be living and working among unbelieving people: people who do not know the Lord; people who do not love him; people who believe very differently from us; people who do not walk in obedience to his laws. However, it is precisely this world to which the Lord sends us; it is such people whom the Lord calls us to live among; and he calls us to reach out to them—whether we want to hear such a calling or not. Even the most surface reading of the New Testament makes it clear that this is the church’s task all through the present age. I M I TAT I N G JESUS IN THE WORLD

Instead of retreating, isolating ourselves, and condemning unbelievers and our culture, Jesus calls us to something very different. He desires that we give ourselves to the understanding of the culture around us; he urges us to stop condemning the world and unbelievers; his passion is for us to listen to his prayer for us, that we might be in the world as he was in the world; he is eager for us to imitate him and to give our lives gladly to love and to serve non-Christians. His desire is that we be like him, and that we commit ourselves to developing intimate relationships with non-Christians. He wants us to teach our church members and our children to do the same—no matter what the belief system and the lifestyle of the people around us. The theme of this book is that Jesus, the Son of God, shows us the 14


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way to be in the world. It is my deep conviction that our evangelism, both in theory and practice, must be shaped not only by the general teaching of Scripture but also, indeed most of all, by imitating the pattern of Christ. Now, it is no simple matter to say: “Imitate Jesus.” We are not all called to be celibate like him. Nor are we all called by the Lord to be itinerant evangelists. Nor is every Christian commanded by our Father to be healers of all who are sick with every kind of disease (though we often wish we could do this when someone we love is sick or dying). It is not our place to turn water into wine at every wedding celebration we attend (though we might wish we could!). Nor is every believer asked by the Lord to die in early maturity as a martyr. We are not called to imitate Christ in every aspect of his life—so much is evident. But, in what ways are we to imitate him? J E S U S ’ M ORAL PERFECTION

We are to observe the way God’s moral perfection shines forth from him. We see how he lives a human life that is fully conformed to the image of God. We hear him committed to speaking only the words the Father wants him to say, and to say every word in a manner that delights the Father’s heart. We see him waking up each morning eager to listen to his Father’s voice and to do whatever pleases him. We learn that he does everything set before him in the power of the Spirit. As we observe this perfection in his life and in his words we can draw ethical teaching for the lives of all believers. We can also draw principles to govern our practice for all our relationships with others, both believers and unbelievers, and for all our communication of the truth. These lessons that we can learn by considering the example of Jesus will apply to all Christians—including those who have the particular calling to be teachers and evangelists. J E S U S ’ E T ERNAL GLORY

What are some of the convictions that we hold about Jesus? All Christians acknowledge that he is the Creator of all things who upholds this universe by the Word of his power. He is the one who all 15


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through history has revealed his glory through the unwritten words of creation. He is the eternal Word bringing light to those who dwell in darkness. He is the mighty God who was born as a human baby that he might become our Savior. He is the great High Priest who prays for the forgiveness of his enemies. He is the one who died for unbelievers and who rose again to justify them before God. He is the one who will come again to reign with all those who put their hope in him. T H E G R E AT EST EVANGELIST

In addition to these glorious truths, when we look at Jesus’ life and ministry we also see that he was the greatest evangelist. In his earthly ministry he was the light of the world, the one who always lived in a way that was pleasing to his Father. Therefore, he was the one above all others who made the truth about God beautiful and lived in this world attracting those around him to the Father. He was the one who in every moment of his life for thirty-three years filled every word he spoke with grace and truth. Now that he is raised and ascended to the Father’s right hand, he continues his saving work. He, even now, is the one who draws men and women to himself, so that, whenever we seek to obey his call and take up the task of evangelism, we discover that he has already done the hard work. We are simply his fellow laborers. This conviction that Jesus does the main work of calling people to faith is a truth that all Christians affirm when we reflect on how people are saved. However, it is often forgotten when preachers climb into the pulpit and proclaim the gospel. It is all too easy to begin to think that it is our preaching gifts, or our exposition of the Word, that is the primary means of salvation. But, it is not just preachers who forget that Jesus does the greatest part of the work of bringing others to faith. We all tend to lose our memories when we get into conversation with our unbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. We begin to think that it is all up to us, when in reality, along with our efforts, we should most of all be asking the Lord to do his work in the hearts of those we long to see come to faith. The theme of this book will be that Jesus is the greatest evangelist. 16


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As we read the four Gospels we learn that Jesus is the best example of how we are to relate to those we meet, whatever their views, whatever their way of life. He is the best example of how we are to live before unbelievers and how we are to love them, serve them, and speak truth to them. We may also add that his apostles, as his first representatives whom he sent out into the world, learned to obey his command to go to all the nations with the gospel; and they also learned to imitate the example Jesus had set in his life. T H E R E G U LATIVE PRINCIPLE

Much of the church throughout her history has treasured what has been called the “regulative principle” with regard to worship and the structure of church life. This principle simply means that in our church life we have sought to follow the explicit teaching of Scripture wherever such teaching is present. Our worship is to be governed by the teaching of God’s Word about worship and by the worship practices that we find described in Scripture. In like manner, our patterns of church leadership are to be shaped by the command of Scripture and by the pattern of leadership we see in the New Testament church. It is my deep conviction that our evangelism both in theory and practice ought also to be shaped by the teaching of Scripture and the example that Scripture sets before us. As soon as we reflect on this subject of evangelism, it is evident that Jesus is the greatest evangelist. It is impossible to imagine any Christian disagreeing with that statement. If we stop and think practically about this issue, it is also clear that by far the greatest number of passages in the Bible that describe encounters with unbelievers, and the communication of truth to them, come in the four Gospel accounts of the ministry of Jesus. This is not surprising, of course, for Jesus repeatedly declares that he has come into the world to save sinners. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

The approach of this book will be to look at a series of passages in the Gospels. Our goal will be to learn from Jesus as he reached out to those he came into this word to save. In each chapter we will study one 17


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story that recounts Jesus’ meeting with someone who is not a believer, or some group of those who have no faith in him. In some of these encounters we will see people coming to faith in Jesus; in others we read of no conversion taking place—at least at that time. As we study each story, we will seek to discover some of the principles present both in Jesus’ life and in his words that shape the way he meets and talks with people, and we will seek to draw some lessons for our own lives and for our communication of the gospel. One final point I wish to make in this introduction is this: it has been a great joy to me to undertake this study. My prayer is that these studies will be a joy and a blessing to you the reader, and that the Lord will take pleasure in this little book and be pleased to use it for the extension of his kingdom.

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They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” JOHN 7:53–8:11


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2

CAUGHT IN TH E ACT

W

hen we read John’s Gospel we see into the inner being of Jesus. John is the beloved disciple, the one who is close to Jesus’ heart, and so we hear from him more of Jesus’ personal reflections than we find in the other Gospels. J O H N ’ S K NOWLEDGE OF JESUS

Because of John’s intimacy with Jesus, we have a privileged window into the way Jesus thought about his calling in this world and about his relationship with the Father. It is in John that we read these words: I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. (John 14:31) Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. (John 5:19–20)

C. S. Lewis comments on this second passage, that when we read these words, we can imagine Jesus as a child in the carpenter’s shop watching everything that Joseph was doing, and so learning by imitation.1 All children learn to do many things by watching their mother or their father and then imitating their actions. Just so with Jesus and his heavenly Father—in everything he does he desires to please his Father and to imitate him, not only in his actions, but also in his words and manner of speech: 21


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father had told me. (John 12:49–50; the niv has “what to say and how to say it” rather than “what to say and what to speak.”)

As we think about Jesus meeting with people, this means that in every encounter he had, he did exactly what the Father wanted him to do. His actions, his attitude of heart, his words and the manner in which he expressed them were always precisely what the Father desired of him. How different we are! So often in our encounters with people we are reluctant to put ourselves out; we have self-centered and judgmental attitudes of heart; our actions do not always show love; our words are inadequate or confusing, too many or too few, problematic in all kinds of ways. We need to learn at Jesus’ feet, and make it our daily longing that we might “do as the Father wishes us to do” and “speak only the words that the Father wishes us to speak.” We can ask the Lord to help us in this, that our lives in the world, as well as our actions, words, and attitudes of heart, may be as he desires for us. In addition, we can look at how Jesus related to people and the words he spoke and seek to learn some lessons for our own encounters with people as we go about our daily lives—for in Jesus’ life and words we learn what pleases the Father. I S T H I S S T ORY TRULY SCRIPTURE?

This brings us to our first passage. Before reading this account of Jesus meeting the woman caught in adultery, we need to think about whether it is appropriate to regard this story as part of the biblical text. Despite the doubts about its authenticity, it is generally accepted by the church as being part of God’s Word—which is why we find it in all our Bibles, even if it often is set in parentheses with comments and explanations in the footnotes. The story and the words used to tell it carry the ring of a true encounter between Jesus and a person whose life is a moral disaster. It is interesting that in some early manuscripts it appears after the 22


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Caught in the Act

final words of John’s Gospel, at the end of chapter 21. John tells us that Jesus did many other things; and that not everything he did was written down (John 21:25). It may be, therefore, that this story is one of those many additional events in Jesus’ life that took place, and here is an example of such an incident set down for us. In some early manuscripts this story is included at the end of Luke 21, after we read these words: Early in the morning all the people came to him [Jesus] in the temple to hear him. (Luke 21:38)

This is a suitable setting for the account of Jesus’ meeting with the woman as it gives us another example of Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts. Some of the language, as we shall see later, is more typical of Luke’s terminology than it is of John’s. Wherever this story should be put, there is very substantial manuscript evidence for its authenticity, and it has many elements in it that are similar to other encounters between Jesus and “sinners.” We need have no doubts about the wisdom or appropriateness of reading this passage or of teaching on it as a genuine part of Scripture. W H O WA S THIS WOMAN?

We know nothing about this woman except her adultery. Whether she was the married person, or whether it is the man she was found having sex with who was married, we are not told, but for her sin to be adultery, rather than fornication, we must assume that at least one of them was married. We must also assume that she is a Jewish woman, as it is the religious authorities (“the scribes and the Pharisees”) who bring her to Jesus—they would not have brought a Gentile to him, for they would have had no authority over her. (“The scribes and the Pharisees” is Luke’s usual term for the religious leaders and an expression that John never uses in this form. John usually refers simply to “the Pharisees” or sometimes “the chief priests and the Pharisees.”) The location is the temple where Jesus is teaching the people—as he does on so many occasions. The events described for us are taking 23


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place at the heart of the religious establishment, and in front of a sizable crowd. The Pharisees and scribes (or teachers of the law) have chosen their moment well. T E S T I N G J E SUS

The text tells us that Jesus is being tested by the religious leaders. They come to him with a problem, calling Jesus “Teacher.” We must assume some sarcasm in their use of the title “Teacher,” for it is clear that they do not approve of much that he is teaching. They regard Jesus as someone who does not have the appropriate accreditation to set himself up as a teacher of the people. Appropriate accreditation in their eyes requires education under one of their own respected rabbis, and then their approval. Jesus has sidestepped this formal training, and has no desire to seek their approval. Consequently, the religious leaders are always on the lookout to find means of discrediting him in the eyes of the people, for the people flock to his teaching, and this popularity galls them. We need to think about their motivation in bringing this woman before Jesus. We should notice that it is the woman they bring and not the couple together—since adultery, of course, takes two people. They must know who the man is, on this occasion, since the woman has been caught in the act, but they choose the one who is physically weaker, the one whom they can more easily intimidate, the one they can more readily accuse and denounce. Such people are always guilty of blaming women for the problems of adultery and prostitution, rather than recognizing that, far more frequently, it is men who are the initiators in such situations. It is evident that these religious leaders have no concern for her at all. Concern for one’s students ought to be a central motivation for any teacher of God’s Word; but her well-being does not appear to have entered their minds. It is clearly their intention that this confrontation with Jesus should take place in the most public setting imaginable. Try to picture yourself being dragged like this—presumably half-clothed from bed—through the streets before crowds of onlookers, and then 24


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deposited before a great number of people gathering for worship and to hear Jesus teach. This is a scene of total humiliation. Their only desire is to “test” Jesus. What will he do? They have concluded from previous observation that Jesus is “soft on sinners,” and therefore in their view Jesus cannot be a faithful teacher of God’s Word. He is a man whom they have often seen eating and drinking with people who are obviously sinners. In their understanding—and they are quite right about this—eating and drinking with someone means that one is having intimate fellowship with that person. This is something the teachers of God’s Word and the Pharisees would never do, for they believe that such intimate “table” fellowship is morally polluting. They are scandalized by this pattern of Jesus’ life, this pattern of his consorting with sinful people. Their longing is to find some occasion to discredit him in the eyes of the whole community so that they can silence him once and for all. It is clear that on this particular day, the religious leaders believe they have discovered the perfect problem with which to embarrass Jesus. Their desire is to reveal to everyone how improper it is that Jesus has set himself up as a teacher of God’s Word and as a godly leader of the people. What is their plan? Everyone knows the requirements of the law, which they quote for Jesus’ benefit. Both Leviticus and Deuteronomy give this command of the law and require those who commit adultery to be put to death. We should observe that they quote the passages with a slight difference: “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.” What the law actually says is this: “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death” (Lev. 20:10; see also Deut. 22:22). Moses explicitly commanded that the man and woman caught in adultery should both receive the death penalty. However, the concern of the Pharisees and scribes on this day is not to obey the law, but rather to create problems for Jesus. T H E P R O B LEM

The problem they present to Jesus is a double one. First, there is the requirement of the law of God. Jesus claims to be from God, so will 25


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he obey the law? If he does not accede to their demand and join in the stoning of the woman, they can accuse him of ignoring a specific command of God’s Word. They could even quote Jesus’ own words against him: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. . . . Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:17, 19). Jesus has publicly presented himself as a faithful upholder of God’s law, and as a true expounder of the law. Will he, in this test case, accept God’s command and put it into practice? Or will he set aside, or relax, God’s commandments, and so demonstrate that he is unfit to continue to teach? This, then, is one horn of the dilemma. Second, the Roman authorities had reserved the right of capital punishment for themselves. If Jesus accedes to and joins in the stoning of the woman, they can accuse him to the Romans of being a rebel against Roman authority. This they were eager to do. We should recall how, on another occasion, Caiaphas declares that it would be expedient for Jesus to be put to death for the sake of the peace and stability of the nation (John 11:49–50). Caiaphas is concerned that Jesus’ popularity, and the public excitement it is causing, will bring about swift and terrible retribution from the Roman authorities. He argues, therefore, that Jesus should die so that the whole nation would not perish. (Little did Caiaphas realize how his words were indeed prophetic, and in a much deeper sense than he could ever have imagined.) So, what will Jesus do? Will he break the law, or will he play into their hands so that they can accuse him to the Romans? O U R Q U E S TION FOR JESUS

For us, there are other questions that are important at every moment of our history as the people of God: what will our Lord do when faced with flagrant sin? How will he respond to adulterers and homosexual offenders, blasphemers and thieves, dishonest business people and idolaters, gossips and slanderers, and others caught in deep sin? How 26


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does he desire that we respond in such situations? What can we learn from his response on this occasion? As we think about what Jesus did—writing on the ground with his finger—we could speculate endlessly about what he wrote. The passage that most obviously comes to mind is the account of the tablets of the law being inscribed by the finger of God. The repetition of Jesus’ action draws our attention to this, and we may safely assume that the text intends for us to have this image in our minds. Here is God in the flesh writing the law in the dust of the earth. In addition, it aids our understanding if we imagine ourselves present there among the accusers. We must realize that—whatever it is that Jesus is writing—the effect is to cause each man present to remember his own most serious sins, the most morally embarrassing moments of his life. It is as if each one of them is standing half-naked and exposed (just like this poor woman) before the judgment seat of God and crowds of onlookers. There are no excuses, no prevarication—just the clear knowledge of each one’s guilt. The evident meaning of the text is that each man present is confronted with God’s law, and with his own failure to keep that law. Each one of them experiences what Paul describes in Romans 3: Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Rom. 3:19–20)

If you or I had been present that day before Jesus, the Holy One, as he wrote God’s law in the dust, not one of us would have been able to stay as accusers. We, each one, may ask ourselves: “What hidden sin am I most ashamed of, as I look back at my life?” N O P R I VATE SINS

This poor woman was caught in the act of her sin, and brought before the Lord as one undoubtedly guilty. The truth is, of course, that all of us have been caught in the act by the Lord. We may think here of the 27


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example of Internet pornography, a sin which appears to be private; but between us and the Lord, there is no privacy; before him there are no private sins. Whatever particular sin we are guilty of, each of us has broken the law at some point (indeed, at many points). Therefore, like this woman, each of us stands condemned before the whole law. It will not help to say: “But, I have not committed adultery, or any such serious sin. It is fine to condemn such flagrant sinners, but not people like me. I consider myself guilty only of less awful sin.” The apostle James comments on this kind of attitude with words of searing clarity and power: If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. (James 2:8–11)

The story of the woman caught in adultery is a convicting illustration of this text. These men come to accuse and to judge this woman. Jesus shows them that they also deserve judgment. If they can show no mercy to her, no mercy will be shown to them. Whoever sees their own sin can no longer accuse and condemn other people, however serious their sin may be. God’s Word teaches us that before the law we are all guilty. Each of us deserves death and eternal separation from God, whatever our sins may be. One by one, beginning with the older ones, they see their own sin and so—in silence—they leave, until she is alone with Christ to receive his words and looks of mercy, his refusal to condemn her and his command to go and sin no more. We must assume, I think, that this woman came to faith in Jesus, overwhelmed as she was by his love and his grace in the face of her obvious guilt and public shame. One day we can ask her to tell the rest of her story. In the meantime, great crowds of people over the past two thousand years have 28


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been moved by this brief account of her sin, and of the mercy of Jesus. One day we will see all those who have come to faith in Christ because of her story. She will shine like a star in the kingdom of God, for through her, or rather, through Jesus’ gracious treatment of her, great numbers of people have believed in the Savior. This story is, of course, beautiful in its simplicity and power. What may we learn about our own calling in this world of sin and unbelief? How are we to respond to those who are “caught in sin”? L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

No Condemnation of Unbelievers Jesus teaches us not to condemn those who are discovered to be living in disobedience to God’s commandments. This is to be true of us as well, no matter how serious the sin of the people around us. John’s Gospel teaches us that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Great numbers of Christian believers around the world could quote this verse. These words are placed on the front walls of many churches, on bulletin boards, and on countless greeting cards, calendars, and decorative wall hangings. However, far fewer believers are familiar with the next words in John’s Gospel: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)

Jesus did not come into the world to condemn sinners, and that is why he does not condemn this woman. To condemn her for her sin would undermine the very purpose for which the Father sent the Son into the world. And yet, many Christians have assumed that “condemning the sins around us” is exactly what we are called to do. We have all seen Christians marching with placards condemning homosexuals. A very sad story told me by one of our students who works at a local school sets out the problem starkly. He was responsible to 29


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oversee the children during their break time in the playground, and one day he heard a group of children shouting over the wall. He went to find out what the problem was, but when he got close enough to understand what had aroused their loud shouts, he discovered that they were yelling abusive and judgmental words at two women who had come outside the office building where they were working to have a smoke during their lunch break. These were Christian children. Evidently the pattern that they had learned from their parents was one of condemning all people seen as guilty of sin. Will those children become adults who would drag sinners before Jesus for him to cast the first stone? Is this what we are teaching our children, either by explicit instruction, or by implicit conversations of condemnation around our tables, in our cars, or as we walk and talk together? In contrast to this, Jesus does not condemn sinners, for he came into the world to save them. The apostle Paul applies this example of Jesus’ way of life to all believers. In this context he is discussing the issue of church discipline for a fellow believer who is guilty of some flagrant sin. He writes both about the need for Christians to have association with unbelievers in their sin, and also about our calling not to judge them: I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? (1 Cor. 5:9–12)

Criticizing, judging, or condemning non-Christians for their behavior completely undermines the very purpose and nature of the gospel and the work of Christ. Let us learn from him, not from the Pharisees, how we are to live in the world. 30


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Seeing Our Own Sin Instead of condemning others, Jesus calls each one of us to consider always the sin in our own hearts and lives: “Let the one without sin cast the first stone” (see John 8:7). If the finger of Jesus were to write out my most flagrant sins on the ground for everyone to read, what would I see? What would everyone hear if my sins were shouted from the rooftops and heralded through the streets as I was dragged along, my worst failures exposed and publicly declared? Jesus charges us that we are always to take the “log” out of our own eye before we can see the speck of dust in someone else’s eye (Matt. 7:3). He uses a ludicrous image very purposefully so that we will get his point. My sins are to seem to me like a large plank, while the sins of others are to seem like specks of dust. The Lord wants me to consider my own sin before God, rather than the sins of others. If I desire mercy myself I must be eager to show mercy to others; if not, judgment without mercy will be shown to me. “Do not judge, lest you be judged” applies even more fully to our relationships with unbelievers than to our relationships with fellow believers.

Mercy and Love I am not to separate myself from sinners but rather to welcome them and treat them with love and mercy. This is what Jesus has done with me, despite my sin (which is just as clear and heinous to him as the sin of this woman caught in the act of adultery). I am to be like my Father in heaven, who is kind to the ungrateful and the evil (Luke 6:40). The Lord God Almighty is constantly giving his good gifts to all those who live in his world, not only to those who believe in his Son and who walk in his ways, but also to those who do not believe in the Son, and who turn away from his commandments. I am called to imitate this general kindness and grace of God. Will I welcome an unmarried, cohabiting couple into my home? Of course I will—for the Lord welcomes them into this world, the world he made and the world he owns. He is not compromised by the presence in his world of those who disobey his word; and neither am I compromised by the 31


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presence in my home of those who do not know the Lord, and who ignore his righteous directions for human life.

Calling to Obedience I am to love the sinner, and then, when the time is appropriate, I am to call the sinner to live a life of obedience to God’s commandments. Even when the time is right, that call to discipleship is to be given without condemnation, just as Jesus does with this woman, and just as he has done for me, and for all of his children, over and over again.

Making the Gospel Attractive Above all, the example of Jesus calls me to make the gospel of God our Savior attractive in my life and words. We are to lead people to Jesus, though not in the way that the Pharisees and teachers of the law led this woman to him. Rather, we are to introduce people to Jesus by the gracious beauty of our lives.

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A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. . . . Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” . . . The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” JOHN 4:7–26


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3

T H E WOM A N OF S A M A RI A

In this chapter we turn to a setting where Jesus is communicating the truth to a person who is not a Jew, but rather a Samaritan. At the end of this story we read that the inhabitants of her community come to the conviction that Jesus is the Savior of the world (John 4:42). Indeed he is! There is a beautiful passage in the book of Isaiah which says that God considered it “too small a thing” to send his Messiah only for the Jewish people, for his passion is to reach the entire world: It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isa. 49:6, niv)

Most of Jesus’ three years of ministry takes place among the Jews, for he was indeed sent first to the “lost sheep of Israel,” but this story of the woman at the well shows us that his gospel will eventually go far beyond the Jewish people, first to Samaria, and then ultimately to the ends of the earth. Our text in John 4 describes a meeting that Jesus has with the Samaritan woman. The encounter between the two is described at some length, but even so, we should probably assume that John has summarized for us the discussion that took place on that day. Certainly he gives a very brief account of the follow-up to their time together, for he reduces more than two days of almost constant teaching by Jesus to a short paragraph account. John presents the outline 35


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of the subjects covered by Jesus and the woman, but this conversation is so significant in her life that it leads to Jesus’ being asked to stay those extra days. In consequence of his time among them, many more of the villagers come to believe in Jesus. This may lead us to wonder: “Surely this meeting does not come about by chance? It must be the Lord who brings this woman to the well when Jesus stops there to rest from his journey.” J E S U S ’ I N T ENTIONAL LIFE

We are told in the Gospel of Luke that even in his childhood Jesus is committed to “being about his Father’s work” (Luke 2:49). In our second chapter we saw that Jesus explicitly teaches that everything he does, everything he says, and even how he speaks his words, is in obedience to his Father’s will (John 12:49; 14:31). This means that Jesus does not go anywhere by chance. His whole life is a series of divine appointments. So it should be no surprise that in describing Jesus’ journey to the well at Sychar, John opens his account with the words, “And he had to pass through Samaria” (John 4:4). Why does Jesus have to go through Samaria? We might say: “Well, of course he has to go through Samaria. Jesus is in Judea, to the south, and he is on his way to Galilee in the north; Samaria lies between the two, and so the most practical way, and the shortest route to get to his destination, is to take the road through Samaria.” However, in Jesus’ day Jewish people usually did not go through Samaria unless they were in a hurry (and Jesus is clearly not in a hurry, for he ended up spending two extra days in Sychar). There were three routes by which a Jew could travel north from Judea to Galilee. First, one could journey inland along the Jordan River to the east; second, one could go by the coast road along the Mediterranean to the west; and third, one could go by the most direct route through Samaria. Usually the Jews would not take the shortcut through Samaria without compelling reasons. They would go by either of the two longer roads to Galilee from Judea in order to avoid contact with the Samaritans. The Jews had a saying that if one met a Samaritan walking along the road one should walk into the ditch to 36


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avoid contact even between the two shadows. They believed that any contact with Samaritans would make them morally and religiously unclean.1 So, why does Jesus, a Jew, have compelling reasons to go through Samaria? He is eager to meet the woman at the well. In obedience to his Father, Jesus desires to make the gospel known in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and beyond to Gentiles in the region around Galilee, in Syria. John draws attention to the divine constraint which burns in Jesus’ heart to be the Savior, not only of the Jews, but of the world. That is why he begins his account with the words, “And he had to pass through Samaria.” T H E W O MAN AT THE WELL

Who was this person whom Jesus feels constrained to meet? What do we know about the woman at the well? For many religiously committed Jews of that time, there would be a series of barriers that would forestall serious conversation with this Samaritan woman.

The Problem of Her Race First, from the perspective of the Jews, the Samaritan woman is a member of the wrong race. The Samaritans were a people of mixed race, partially descended from the remnants of the northern tribes of Israel who had originally inhabited the northern part of the land of Palestine. After the reign of Solomon the nation of Israel had split, becoming two nations: the southern kingdom of Judah, made up of people from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem; and the northern kingdom of Israel, made up of people from the ten northern tribes, with its capital in Samaria. In the eighth century BC many of the people from the kingdom of Samaria were taken captive, after their defeat at the hands of the Assyrians, and resettled in far eastern parts of the Assyrian Empire (in the region of Iraq and Iran today). Long before Jesus’ day, these descendants of the ten northern tribes were no longer purely Israeli, for many of their ancestors had intermarried while they were living in exile (as did Esther, when she became queen in the Persian court). Great numbers 37


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who had returned to Samaria after their years of exile, or who had remained in Samaria after Israel’s defeat, had intermarried with the other peoples that had been moved to Samaria by the Assyrians, in their policy of conquer and resettle (see 2 Kings 17:21–24). In Jesus’ time the Jews hated the Samaritans even more than they despised “pure” Gentiles, for they regarded them as polluting the blood of the patriarchs. It was for this reason that Jews often took one of the longer routes around Samaria rather than the direct and shorter road through the center of their country.

The Problem of Her Religion The religious beliefs of the Samaritan woman at the well were also mixed, and this would present a second barrier for a devout Jew. The religion of the Samaritans was a blend of the worship of the true God with the pagan idolatry of the peoples from around Babylon who had been settled there in the northern part of Israel by the conquering Assyrians (see 2 Kings 17:21–41). The Samaritans accepted only the books of Moses as Scripture, and had built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, for they claimed that Mount Gerizim was the proper place to worship the Lord. There was such fierce religious hostility between these two peoples that in 128 BC, the Jews had fought against the Samaritans and burned down their temple as a place of abominable sacrilege. The Jews despised Samaritans as heretics because of their confused theology and their improper worship.

The Problem of Her Gender In addition to the barriers of race and religion that would have prevented most Jews from talking with her, the woman at the well also has the problem of her gender. She is, of course, a woman. Why should this be considered a problem? At that time, Jewish rabbis or teachers did not have women as disciples. Women were not allowed to be witnesses in court, for the rabbis considered women to be irrational and untrustworthy. In fact, there is said to have been a prayer of the Pharisees in which they thanked God that they were not Gentiles 38


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by praying, “Thank you God that I am not a Gentile, but a Jew; that I am not a slave, but am free; not a woman, but a man.” It is very striking that Paul quotes this prayer, or rather, reverses it, when he describes believers’ unity in Christ: In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal. 3:26–29)

Paul clearly learned from Jesus’ own example and teaching that this view of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law was offensive to the Lord. Jesus, as God’s Son, is the second person of the Trinity. It is he, the eternal Word, who is the Creator of both male and female in his image and likeness. Who better than Jesus to show by his example that women, designed and created by him, are the full equals of men, that every woman in this world is just as fully the representative and bearer of God’s image as is every man. Jesus loves to honor women by asking them to bear witness to him—just as he called two women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, to be the first witnesses of his resurrection. Unlike his contemporaries, Jesus trusts the witness of women. He is eager to meet this woman, for he gladly calls women to faith and discipleship.

The Problem of Her Sin Jesus feels constrained to overcome these barriers of race, religion, and gender, but the woman at the well also has a fourth problem—her sin. Her sin is not the secret or “respectable” kind; rather, this woman is known by all to be a sinner. She has been married five times and she is now living with a man outside of any marriage contract. Divorce, at that time, was fairly easy for men. If a man found another woman more to his liking, or if he found fault with a woman for any reason (see Matt. 19:3), he could divorce her. This was the understanding of the more “liberal” wing of the Pharisees in the first 39


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century AD, and apparently there was a similar approach among the Samaritans. In such situations the woman was always viewed as the one “at fault.” Consequently, a woman divorced five times, like this woman at the well, has become a person who is despised by everyone. A man does not need to marry her to have her, for she is now a woman who can be passed from man to man until they tire of her. She would be scorned and hated by other women, for they would see her not only as a failure in her five separate marriages but as a danger to their own marriages. Here was a woman in their small community who was known to be sexually available—and so, in every way, she would have a very low social status. She would be regarded by everyone as a “real sinner.” This badge of dishonor meant that the Samaritan woman was unacceptable not only to Jews but even to her own people. That is probably why she is at this particular well some distance from town, alone, and at an unusual time of day. Most women would usually go to draw water in the cool early morning, or in the evening after the heat of the day had passed, and ordinarily they would go together, for this was a time for meeting friends and for social interaction with one’s neighbors. But this woman is at the well by herself in the full heat of the day. J E S U S , F R I END OF THE OUTCAST

Who is the one who goes out of his way to meet this person of mixed race, heretical beliefs, wrong gender, and immorality? It is, of course, Jesus, who in this one passage is described as: The Gift of God The One Who Gives Living Water A Prophet One Greater than the Patriarch Jacob The Messiah The One Who Will Explain Everything to Us “I Am He” The One Who Can Tell Us Everything We Ever Did The Savior of the World

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How does the Son of God, the Messiah, meet the woman at the well? How does the one who is both God and man, who in his Godhead and his manhood is completely holy, who is separated from sinners, relate to this person who has so many barriers existing between himself and her? S E T T I N G ASIDE CUSTOM AND LAW

Jesus breaks his culture’s customs and laws by asking the woman at the well for a drink of water (v. 7). In reflecting on this seemingly very ordinary request, we should note that Jews did not drink or eat from containers used by Samaritans. Rabbi Eliezer taught: “He who eats the bread of the Samaritans is like one who eats the flesh of swine”2 (and we know, of course, that the Jews were forbidden to eat pork). Yet Jesus breaks his people’s social customs, as well as the Jewish law of the time, when he asks the woman to use her container to draw water from the well for him and then to give him a drink from her vessel. Jesus does not even have something of his own to drink from, something purified by Jewish law. He will have to drink from a container she has handled. No Jew had ever requested food or drink from her before. She is amazed because she is aware of the extraordinary nature of his request: The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (John 4:9)

We should notice also how John draws attention to the woman’s amazement that Jesus is talking to her, a woman and a Samaritan. No man has ever before addressed her as a social equal. His disciples, too, are surprised to find him talking with a woman when they return (John 4:27). This surprise shows how little they knew him. All through the Gospel accounts we see Jesus treating women as equals, calling women to faith and to discipleship, teaching them the truth and commissioning them for service in his kingdom. Jesus sets aside the usual barriers that would have kept him apart from the woman at the well. He ignores social custom, even Jewish 41


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law, in order to reach out to her. In the eyes of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and of all devout Jews at that time, Jesus would have been making himself ceremonially unclean. Jesus would pollute himself by drinking water the woman had drawn for him, from a container she had touched. Jesus acts as if the problem of race does not exist at all. And, of course, it does not. He is the Creator of every people on the face of this earth; and as the Lord of Israel, and the Lord of heaven and earth, he knows better than anyone how far from racially pure the people of Israel were. He did not desire them to be racially pure. Indeed, there can be no such state as “racial purity,” for all of us, from every people and tribe and language, are descended from Eve and Adam. That is why we can find such great genetic similarity in two individuals who come from far apart in terms of geographic distance, tribal origin, color of skin, or language. From the moment he called Sarah and Abraham, God longed for the people of Israel to include those from all over the earth (see Psalm 87). He was the Lord who had called individuals and groups from many nations to be a part of his holy nation. The eternal Son of God was the one who had chosen women from outside Israel, women like Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth, to be his own ancestors. So Jesus has no regard for his fellow Jews’ views about the importance of racial purity, and the fact that this Samaritan is a woman is not an issue to consider. He treats her as a social equal, with respect. R E V E A L I N G HIS NEEDS

Jesus shows his vulnerability and need to her—he is tired and thirsty. The Creator of the world, the One who is the source of every river, every spring, every ocean, every drop of rainfall, the One who is the fountain of living water, the One who needs nothing from anyone— this One asks the Samaritan woman for a drink. He dignifies her by acknowledging his need of something she can do for him. He shows his vulnerability to her. He is thirsty and tired and she can help him. Again, this is such an ordinary request, but Jesus could not have done anything more dignifying. 42


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Such a request would have scandalized his contemporaries, not only the Pharisees and rabbis with their rules and regulations for every detail of life, but even the ordinary people whose lives were burdened down with such teaching. Yet we find Jesus asking for help or receiving what sinners can give him on numerous occasions: for example, when Jesus invites himself to the home of the tax collector Zacchaeus for a meal (Luke 19:1–9); and when Jesus allows a prostitute to anoint his feet with precious ointment, after washing them with her tears and drying them with her hair (Luke 7:36–50). R E S P E C T F UL DISCUSSION

Jesus treats the Samaritan woman as a rational and thoughtful person. He should know, of course, for he is the Creator of women as persons, persons who are just as much the image of God as any man he has made. As the Creator of women he is fully aware of her intellectual abilities and her capacity to learn and to discuss theology. No teacher (and no man) has ever spoken to her in this way before. But Jesus enters into a theological discussion with her. What subjects did they cover? John’s account is brief, so one day we can ask the Samaritan woman for a full recap of her conversation with Jesus; but, even in John’s few words, we see them discussing the living water which only Jesus can give and which fills the soul to overflowing forever. They discuss the patriarch Jacob who had given that particular well to his descendants and who was honored by the Samaritans. They discuss the site of the proper place for worship— whether it should be Jerusalem as the Jews claimed, or Mt. Gerizim, as the Samaritans insisted. Jesus takes the Jews’ side on that discussion. They discuss the nature of true worship which will soon no longer be bound to a particular place, but which the Father desires to be offered in spirit and in truth in every place across the world where he is honored and adored. They also discuss the coming of the Messiah. The Samaritans expected the Messiah, and called him the Taheb, the “Restorer,” on the basis of the promise of a great prophet like Moses who would teach all the truth, a promise recorded in Deuteronomy (see Deut. 43


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18:17–19). The Samaritans had only the first five books of the Bible— but, even so they expected the Messiah because of the promise given in Deuteronomy. In addition they discuss the fact that salvation will be from the Jews. The Samaritan woman would have known this because of the prophecy that the Messiah would come as the lion from the tribe of Judah to rule all the nations (Gen. 49:10). In discussing theology with her, Jesus is again demonstrating respect despite her race, despite her wrong theology, despite her gender, and despite her sin. G E N T L E N E SS AND GRACE

Jesus approaches the Samaritan woman graciously. He speaks to her with grace and gentleness even about her sin, which clearly weighs heavily upon her. She refers to this part of their conversation later when she tells the villagers about him with such excitement: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? (John 4:29)

The villagers were so impressed by her account of her conversation with Jesus that they refer back to it in the same way: Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” (John 4:39)

Her failures in the area of marriage and sexuality had become for her a definition of her whole life. Everyone else characterized her by her broken marriages, and so she had begun to think of herself in the same way. In her mind it is clearly this aspect of what Jesus says that causes her to draw the conclusion that he is a prophet (John 4:16–19). She knows that the Messiah is one who will teach the whole truth of God, and she realizes that Jesus must be the Messiah because of his deep and truthful knowledge of her life (John 4:25). Her response to Jesus’ words leads in turn to Jesus’ plain declaration that he is indeed the Messiah, and to her putting her faith in him. Because Jesus delights in entrusting those who come to him 44


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with responsible tasks in his service, he commissions this Samaritan woman to bear the good news to her husband and bring him back— she cannot do this, of course, but later on she does bear the good news to her neighbors, and she brings them back to meet him. Jesus gladly commissions women to be ambassadors of his reconciliation and to be witnesses to his divine nature, his identity as the Messiah, and his amazing love, and this woman is the first witness to Jesus in her community. This Samaritan woman is a very successful evangelist. Her words to her neighbors lead to their coming immediately to meet Jesus. It is because he can see them, in their white garments, coming across the fields from the village that Jesus says to his disciples: Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. (John 4:35)

On meeting Jesus they ask him to stop there and to teach them, so Jesus ends up staying two more days in the village. The result of his apparently “chance encounter” with the woman at the well is that many of the people in her community meet Jesus and become believers. Like her, they come to know that this man is the Savior of the world. Jesus is glad to honor her witness, and to do his work in that village. Jesus does the hard work of breaking down the barriers to the community by his initial meeting with her. Then he calls her to serve him in his mission to her people. The disciples also join in this work, reaping the harvest that Jesus has prepared for them. This “side trip” to Sychar is one of the most successful times of mission that is recorded for us in the Gospels. The despised Samaritans welcome Jesus and put their faith in him as the Messiah, while many of his own Jewish communities, including his hometown of Nazareth, give him no true honor. 45


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Intentional Lives Jesus lived every moment of his life doing the Father’s will. In comparison, our lives are often disordered and unplanned, yet the Lord asks us to “redeem the time” and to “make the most of every opportunity” (see Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). This challenge to make the most of every opportunity comes in a context where Paul is urging believers to be intentional about outreach. All of us are called to offer our lives to the Lord so that he may use us in whatever way he wills. Each day we should be praying that the Lord will enable us to serve him: to go where he wants us to go; to meet the people he has in mind for us; to live in a manner that he desires; to speak the words he has prepared for us.

Overcoming Barriers In his encounter with the Samaritan woman, Jesus set about dismantling all the barriers which his culture had erected to prevent the two of them ever meeting in such a way. What barriers keep us apart from those around us? How do we see our fellow human beings? Do we categorize the people around us according to race, or social class, or economic status, or religion, or whatever other group we may put them in? If we do see people in such categories, is it for the purpose of deciding whom we will intentionally dismiss and avoid? Jesus reminds us that all human persons are made in God’s image, that all have dignity. He also teaches us that it is deeply dishonoring to the Lord when we live separating ourselves from those whom he has made, those whom he treasures, and those whom he is eager to save. Being a Christian means that we have become part of the new humanity, the people of God among whom all barriers are cast down by Christ’s work. We are called by the New Testament to give ourselves to the realization of this unity. We are to get to work casting down all barriers that keep us apart from people, and that prevent us praying for them, being eager to know them, and sharing the truth of Christ with them. 46


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Setting Aside Custom and Christian Rules Jesus broke his culture’s customs and religious laws to meet the Samaritan woman. What customs keep us apart from the people around us? What Christian rules about living a separated and godly life have we devised to keep ourselves at a distance from nonChristians? God forbids us to add to his laws, yet doing so is one of the most obvious characteristics of much of our evangelical culture. Many of these rules are created for the specific purpose of preventing us, and especially our children, from being together with those outside the church. One of our graduates from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis (where I teach evangelism) telephoned me one day with a very sad and very common example of this problem. He is the pastor of a church that is deeply committed to outreach into their community. The youth group was planning a pool party, not only for themselves, but also so that they could invite their non-Christian friends. A sister church not far away heard about the planned party and asked to join them. The other pastor’s wife came to speak to him about it: “We must have some ground rules for this party. The first of these is: no two-piece bathing suits for the girls. Teenage boys have raging hormones, so everyone must be decently clothed.” My friend responded: “But if we have a rule like this, our young people, including my own daughters, will not be able to invite their non-Christian friends. Their friends will think we are crazy to have rules like that, and they won’t come.” The pastor’s wife replied: “Your daughters shouldn’t have friends like that.” It is, of course, important to teach our children modesty in dress and other such matters. However, when we make rules like this, the immediate effect (often an intentional effect) is to keep us, and especially our children, apart from the non-Christians around us. Jesus forbids us to do this. He shows us another way—the way of both purity and love. We may find this difficult and even frightening, but as we saw in our first chapter, Jesus is praying for us, and for our children, as we follow him into the world. 47


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Being Vulnerable and Receiving the Good Gifts of Unbelievers We noted how Jesus’ first approach to the woman was to ask her to do something for him. So often as Christians we think it inappropriate or even ungodly to have friends who are sinners, to have any personal and warm social interaction with unbelievers. Behind this thinking there are several ideas. One is that unbelievers can only influence for the bad, and never for the good. We sometimes behave as if we have everything to give to the non-Christian, and nothing to receive. We imagine that it would be demeaning for us to acknowledge any weakness or need. Christians are supposed to “have it all together,” and letting an unbeliever see that I don’t have all the answers, and that I need or value what a non-Christian has to give me, or that I value the unbeliever as a person, might discredit both myself and the gospel. This is folly, for the truth is that we are always morally flawed, our theology is never perfect, and, like everyone else in this fallen world, we are weak and needy. The gospel of Christ is not served by pretending otherwise. Like Jesus, we must acknowledge our need for the kindness, gifts, wisdom, or advice an unbeliever may give us, because it is encouraging and ennobling to those who may have been led to expect only scorn or condescension from us. I grew up in a home in which my parents were not at that time believers in the gospel of Christ. My father was a committed communist. However, my parents had the best marriage I have ever seen and they were wonderful parents. Every day of my life I am proud to say that they are my inspiration as I think about how the Lord calls me to love my wife, my three sons, my daughters-in-law, and my seven grandchildren. We Christians need to learn to gladly receive the gifts of unbelievers. They are made in God’s image, and they are recipients of the gracious kindness of God’s general goodness to all people. We have much to learn from those around us. Just stop one day and take the time to think about who grew and prepared the food you eat; who designed and made the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the car you drive, and the computer you use. Every day of our lives, every Christian in this world is benefiting from the wisdom and talents of 48


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non-Christians. Let us humble ourselves and learn at Jesus’ feet to be thankful for this constant reality.

Respectful Discussion Are we prepared to follow Jesus’ example and to take people and their theology seriously and respectfully? Are we willing to have thoughtful discussions with them, even if we consider their ideas to be confused or heretical, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or those who follow a “New Age” Jesus? Will we speak with thoughtfulness and respect to Muslims and Hindus and anyone else who follows another religion? Jesus treats this woman with respect, and his Word insists that Christians are to imitate him: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (1 Pet. 3:15, niv) Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Col. 4:6)

Gentleness and Grace The words of the apostles Peter and Paul, quoted above, call us not only to respect unbelievers, but also to always have our speech characterized by gentleness and grace. How can we respect people or be gentle with them, some Christians will protest, when their lives are characterized by sin? Their sin is offensive to heaven, and offensive to us. In responding to this protest, we need to reflect once more on how sweetly and gently Jesus draws the Samaritan woman to himself—although he is fully aware of the moral disaster of her life. We need to ask ourselves how we might behave in similar circumstances. How do we respond to the sin that is so often apparent in people’s lives? Do we become guarded, reserved, and withdrawn? Do we communicate disapproval and personal rejection? Is scorn and contempt revealed in our tone of voice and our facial expression? Jesus shows none of these things to the Samaritan woman, and he shows none of these things to you or to me. 49


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Yet we are sinners too, just like this woman. We need to remember that all of us should be outcasts. We should have no social entrance into the presence of the Son of God—for he is the man who is God, and who is therefore higher above us than the heavens are above the earth. We should be thrown out, religiously and theologically—for we are all confused in our thinking, and have many errors in our lives (not one of us has all our doctrine correct). We should be sent away in disgrace—for we are all idolaters who worship many things in addition to the Lord. We should all be moral rejects, people with no right of entrance to meet with him who is the absolutely Holy One. Yet, despite the reality of these failures in our lives, failures that do not disappear when we come to faith, but rather continue to haunt us until we die, Jesus comes to each of us with grace, gentleness, and respect. He meets each of us and leads us through our confusion to the knowledge of the truth, just as he brings this Samaritan woman to himself. He shows us our sin without making us feel rejected and condemned in his holy presence. Instead, he causes us to know that we are loved, forgiven, welcomed, and accepted, just as he accepts this lonely woman. He welcomes us to sit at his table and to eat with him, and he intends to serve us at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And who knows? There, at his wedding feast, we may find ourselves sitting next to the woman at the well, sharing stories of his merciful and amazing love. In the meantime he desires that we love our neighbors as ourselves, whoever our neighbors may be, and that we relate to them with gentleness and grace.

Commissioned for Service Jesus called the Samaritan woman to himself, and then he commissioned her to proclaim the gospel to her community. This same Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth, calls us to himself. He who needs nothing from us asks for our friendship. He even declares himself proud to be our God (Heb. 11:16). Jesus also calls us to ministry, to take the message about him into our communities and out into the world. 50


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This is a wonderful honor, that the Lord would commission us in his service. At times we may get to reap a harvest when we see a family member, friend, neighbor, or workmate come to faith in Christ. When we do enjoy this privilege, we are to remember that someone else has already done the hard labor—and that someone else is Jesus.

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And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” LUKE 10:25–37


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4

JESUS A ND TH E BIBLE TEACH ER

Our last chapter looked at an encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman that was very fruitful, in that it led to many conversions. Our next encounter does not have a similar outcome, though it is a portion of Scripture that is probably even better known than John’s account of the woman at the well. In this chapter we turn to a very familiar passage, an account in the Gospels of one of Jesus’ confrontations with “a lawyer” (esv), “an expert in the Law” (niv)— or as we might put it today—“a Bible teacher,” for this man was a leading Bible scholar of his day. Luke’s story of this meeting contains Jesus’ exposition of the second great commandment, or what it means to love one’s neighbor. In addition, in the course of his conversation with this Bible teacher, Jesus tells one of his best-known parables, in fact one of the best-known stories in the world—the parable of the Good Samaritan. T H E B I B L E TEACHER’S QUESTION

The expert in the law, or, as we shall call him in our reflections, “the Bible teacher,” has spent his life studying and teaching the Scriptures and is clearly confident of his knowledge. This man comes to Jesus with a question: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). What a great question! Wouldn’t we be pleased if someone, anyone, came to one of us with such a question? The man approaches Jesus as a fellow Bible teacher. This is the kind of question that an evangelist longs for and prays for. Imagine being a 53


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Sunday school teacher, or a speaker at a conference, and being asked such a wonderful question. Think of a neighbor or a workmate asking such a question. How would we have answered? Wouldn’t we have jumped in quickly with an account of how to be saved and then urged this inquirer to follow us in a prayer of commitment? But, do we notice as we read the record of Jesus’ response, that he never answers this man’s great question? Jesus does not tell this fellow scholar and teacher how he may inherit eternal life. This failure of Jesus to answer the question leaves us with many of our own questions. How would we reply if someone were to come to us and ask this kind of question? Why does Jesus not answer this question? What are we being taught by the way that Jesus replies? What is going on here? Luke helps our understanding by letting us know that the scholar’s question is not sincere; rather, he is testing Jesus. He is not coming to learn from Jesus. He is saying in effect, “Let’s see if you know the Scriptures; are you fit to teach the Word? Are you properly trained, like me?” He believed that he had gone to the best Bible school of the day, and he knew that Jesus had never been a student there, or at any other school with which he was familiar. J E S U S ’ A N SWERING QUESTION

Jesus sees deep into this Bible teacher’s heart, he observes his insincerity, and he responds, not with a direct answer to the man’s great question, but with a question of his own: “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” “The law” could refer to the Ten Commandments, to all the laws of Moses, to the five books of the Pentateuch, or to the whole Old Testament, the complete Word of God at the time. Here, Jesus is asking: “What does God’s Word teach about the way to inherit eternal life?” The scholar could have replied: “I asked first!” Or he could have felt ashamed of his heart’s attitude to Jesus, and said: “Teacher, forgive me for my insincerity, but I would indeed like to know what you think.” However, he cannot resist showing off his knowledge, and so 54


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Jesus and the Bible Teacher

he gives his answer, demonstrating that he is not at all interested in learning from Jesus. T H E B I B L E TEACHER’S ANSWER

The answer of the scholar is a wonderful answer. He displays a deep knowledge of Scripture. He summarizes the whole law of God in his reply: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)

In fact, his summary of the law of God is the same as that which Jesus himself gave on another occasion (Mark 12:28–34). We might say that, theoretically, this is an accurate answer to the question. If any of us were to keep these commandments of loving God with our whole being, and of loving our neighbor as ourselves, we would indeed inherit eternal life. However, God never intended to give his law as a prescription for attaining eternal life, for the Lord knew when he handed the law to his people that they were sinners who needed his forgiveness. The law is a gift of God’s grace to the people he already loves, the people he has already delivered from bondage to be his own. As such, as a gift of grace, the law gives a description of how God has designed human life to be lived, but certainly not a prescription for attaining life with God. In all the long years of the history of our race there is only one human being who has ever kept these two great commandments fully and truly—and that is Jesus himself. J E S U S ’ R E PLY

How will Jesus respond to this beautiful and accurate summary of the law? He could have given a brief exposition of his Father’s purpose in giving the law (similar to the paragraph above). However, Jesus knows that if he were to enter into an exposition of the purpose of the law, the Bible teacher would have been delighted, and he would have entered happily into a long debate about the law in which he could 55


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show off more of his knowledge. The Bible teacher’s desire is still to display his learning and, if possible, to prove Jesus’ inadequacy, either in Biblical knowledge or in debate. Because Jesus sees the motives of his heart, he does not go the route the Bible teacher is intent on pursuing. Instead Jesus commends the teacher for his answer: “You have answered correctly.” However, Jesus adds a stinger to his words of commendation: “Do this and you will live.” AV O I D I N G THE CHALLENGE

Jesus’ answer to him implies that if he were to obey the two great commandments perfectly, then he would in truth inherit eternal life. So, how does the Bible teacher respond at this point? He should have said something like this: “I know that the Word of God teaches these two great commandments as summarizing the whole duty of every man and woman. And, I hope that at least to some small degree, I have tried to keep these laws, but I am unable. My heart is so often cold toward God; and I am afraid that I do not love my neighbor as I love myself. Neither I, nor anyone I know, ever perfectly keeps these laws. Jesus, please tell me what to do.” If he had answered in this way, we may be sure that Jesus would have answered his initial question: “How do I inherit eternal life?” Instead of being open and honest and acknowledging his sin and need, the Bible teacher tries to justify himself. Perhaps he also hopes to gain some time, as Jesus’ words are not at all what he is expecting. Jesus’ reply unsettles him and rocks him back a little. The Bible teacher hopes to get back to demonstrating his knowledge, so he asks the question, “And who is my neighbor?” His desire is that he can engage Jesus in a comfortable and technical discussion as to how exactly “my neighbor” is to be defined. J E S U S T E L L S A STORY

Again, Jesus refuses to play the intellectual games the Bible teacher desires. Instead of giving a direct answer to his question about “my neighbor,” Jesus answers by telling him a story. The story does of course answer the teacher’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” and 56


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it answers many other questions as well. Jesus’ story is the one we know as the parable of the good samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), one of the best-known and best-loved stories in the world. U N D E R S TANDING PARABLES

How are we to read parables? We can begin to answer this question by looking at what Jesus himself has to say about his use of parables. (His answer is given briefly in Luke 8:8–10; Mark 4:9–13; and more fully in Matt. 13:9–17, 34–35.) Jesus declares that the parables reveal the “good news” of the kingdom to those with open ears and hearts, people who are eager to hear his message; but the parables are “bad news” for those whose ears and hearts are closed to his message of salvation, revealing only judgment. Parables have two opposite effects, depending on the hearer. To some they are a rich treasury of truth; to others they are an offense. How is this possible that a story can work in such contrary ways? At one level most of the parables seem to be simple stories, often drawn from everyday life. This is part of the reason why they are a word of judgment for some. The Pharisees and teachers of the law desire to parade their learning before Jesus and to engage with him at the level of sophisticated theological and ethical discussion. Jesus, most of the time, resists their attempts to engage him at this level, as he sees that this would simply cater to their arrogance, their idolatrous love of learning, and their desire for endless disputation without ever coming to a heartfelt commitment to the practice of the truth. Jesus refuses to play their game, and instead tells stories to the theological heavyweights to throw them off balance. Their tendency is to dismiss his teaching as naïve stories, better suited for the “common-folk” and ignorant sinners. In their minds, Jesus the story teller is just a crowd pleaser. But Jesus’ stories are rarely as simple or as straightforward as they seem. In fact, they do communicate profound theological and moral truths, and often they do answer the testing questions that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law bring to Jesus. This is true of the parable of the Good Samaritan. However, when Jesus does answer 57


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their questions, his answer is not straightforward. It is hidden within the parable, in a manner that is much more challenging personally than a straightforward reply would be. Parables can be very simple, or they may work on as many as four levels, as can be seen in chart 4.1. CHART 4.1: THE FOUR LEVELS OF A PARABLE Level one:

A marvelous story that captures the imagination of the listener

Level two:

A story that teaches moral behavior

Level three:

A story that reveals something about the kingdom of God

Level four:

A story that reveals something about Jesus himself

The parable of the Good Samaritan works on all these levels. It is a marvelous, unforgettable story. It certainly teaches us about how we are to live. It reveals much about the kingdom of God. And it teaches us about Jesus. But what is this particular story teaching our Bible teacher—and us? T H E PA R A B LE’S LESSONS FOR THE BIBLE TEACHER

A Theological Put-Down Jesus’ story is first of all a theological put-down. Jesus refuses to engage in the kind of theological game the teacher desires—a game where each player in turn shows off his knowledge, verbal acuity, and dexterity, and then the cleverest is declared the winner of the debate. Instead of a debate, the Bible teacher hears (in his mind) a children’s story.

What Is True Love for My Neighbor? The story is teaching the lawyer, and us, the answer to the questions “What does it mean to love one’s neighbor as oneself?” and “How does one keep the second great commandment?” Jesus’ answer to this question is very challenging. The parable teaches that true love for one’s neighbor requires the sacrifice of time, money, energy, convenience, and even safety—in other words, the sacrifice of oneself—for another. This is the kind of love that the Samaritan shows for the man who fell among thieves. He endangers himself by stopping to care for the robbed and 58


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wounded man. He puts the man on his animal, and so he himself has to walk. He uses what he has to care for the man. He spends a considerable amount of time and money to ensure that the man recovers. This is love for one’s neighbor: spending on others the time, energy, money, service, and sacrifice that one would spend on oneself. Jesus is challenging the Bible teacher: “Think, before you so lightly declare God’s commandments. It is easy enough to say that God’s law requires us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. However, it is another matter altogether to put this into practice.”

Who Is My Neighbor? The story is answering for the Bible teacher, and for us, the question that he has actually asked and about which he has every intention of parading his knowledge. The question is, of course, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ reply to his question is, once more, very challenging. My neighbor, whom God demands that I love, is not just my spouse, my children, my family, and my close friends—people for whom I care. My neighbor is anyone in need of my help, perhaps even an enemy. The Old Testament law itself is clear about this (Ex. 23:4–5; Deut. 22:1–4). Jesus adds an extra challenge for the teacher: “For you, a Jew, ‘your neighbor’ includes a needy Samaritan, just as in my story, a needy Jew is the neighbor of the Samaritan.” Like the Bible teacher, we all like to restrict the scope of God’s commandments to make them more manageable. Jesus exposes this as self-justifying hypocrisy.

Knowing and Doing The story is pushing the Bible teacher, and us, to think about the relationship between “knowing the truth” and “doing the truth.” People who know God’s Word well may not necessarily be people who are obeying that Word. Even those who are called by God to be scholars and teachers of the law may not be practicing what they preach. The priest and Levite, examples of those God appointed, are not obedient to the law in Jesus’ story. Expert knowledge does not necessarily lead to living the law of love. Again, this is an indirect challenge to the Bible teacher. He has come to Jesus to test him and to prove how 59


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knowledgeable he is. Jesus tells him that teachers will be judged with greater strictness (see James 3:1). In effect, Jesus says to him, “Stop parading your knowledge of Scripture until you have started practicing what you know.”

Revealing the Prejudices of the Heart The story is intended to make the Bible teacher, and us, examine the prejudices that dwell within our hearts. The Samaritans (as we saw in our last chapter) were regarded as unclean, immoral, and heretical by the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. But Jesus’ parable suggests that a despised Samaritan is fulfilling God’s law, when the leaders of Judaism are not. Jesus uses the most difficult example possible for his story to make it scandalous to the scholar. The one obedient to God’s law is the one least expected! To get some idea of the power and offense of this example, we need to ask ourselves, “Whom would I least like to find as the hero of this story?” (A gay rights activist; a left-wing politician; a right-wing politician; a wealthy businessman; a liberal lawyer . . . you fill in the blank.) A F I N A L Q UESTION AND ONE LAST CHALLENGE

Jesus finishes the story with another question: “Which of these three was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of thieves?” The teacher cannot bring himself to say, “The Samaritan” and so he replies, “The one who had mercy on him.” The encounter between the two comes to an end, probably very much to the scholar’s relief, with Jesus’ parting words, “Go and do likewise.” Jesus challenges him to bring his practice of truth up to the level of his knowledge. What lessons are we to draw from Jesus’ conversation with this Bible scholar? L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Evangelism Takes Time Evangelism is often a slow process. We earlier observed that Jesus never answered the man’s question about how to inherit eternal life, 60


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even though it is such a wonderful question. Jesus was content, on this occasion, to send this man away without the message of the gospel. Instead of the good news of salvation, Jesus leaves this teacher with some issues to ponder in his heart. For us, the challenge is, do we believe that God is the one who saves? Do we truly acknowledge that he is the one who does the hard labor? One practical step that will help us to grasp this truth more deeply is this: we should learn to ask people questions about what the Lord has done to bring them to faith in himself. It is especially important to ask such a question when we are involved in leading someone to faith. If we ask someone what the Lord has done to bring them to salvation, the reply will almost always reveal a series of events and experiences, often spanning many years, which reveal the Lord’s hand at work in the person’s life. This will demonstrate to us how small a part we have played in the great work that the Lord has done. Do we see that we are simply servants in his field, servants who have each been assigned a particular task?1 Do we trust the Lord enough to send someone away without telling the person how to inherit eternal life? Do we recognize that many of those we meet are not yet ready to hear the gospel, just as this man was not ready? We will find out one day whether he came back to Jesus later, humbled and ready at last to learn from Jesus. We can be confident that Jesus was eager to communicate the truth to him, despite his closed heart and arrogant mind, for the Lord took considerable effort to try to talk to him and to get him to begin to think in a better way. However, he was not yet ready to hear the gospel. All of us have family members, friends, or workmates who are not yet at the point where it would be appropriate to tell them how to inherit eternal life. If we have any non-Christians whom we know well, we also know that it is not wise, sensible, or right to try to call them to faith in Jesus every time we see them. We will soon lose any possibility of talking to people at all if we insist on requiring them to hear the gospel, and then demand a response to it, every time we talk. 61


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Asking Questions We need to learn to ask questions that will help us to understand what is in a person’s heart and mind. This is what Jesus does with this man, and we find him taking this approach repeatedly in his discussions with people. Paul Weston has assembled figures of the number of questions Jesus asked during evangelistic conversations.2 The results of his calculations can be seen in chart 4.2. CHART 4.2: J ESUS’ QUESTIONS DURING EVANGELISTIC CONVERSATIONS Book

Questions asked by Jesus

Matthew

94

Mark

59

Luke

82

John

49

The point is very simple: one of Jesus’ primary means of communication to unbelievers was asking good questions. Francis Schaeffer used to say that if he had only one hour with someone, he would spend 55 minutes asking them questions, and 5 minutes trying to say something that would speak to their situation once he understood a little more about what was going on in their heart and mind.3 Questions, however, are not to be regarded as part of Jesus’ “sales technique.” Nor were they a sales technique for Francis Schaeffer; and they must not be such for us. Rather, our questions must arise from a relationship that has integrity. Jesus asks people questions because he wants to know them, and because he desires that people come to know him. They are not a way to avoid spending time or effort or to side-step the need for relationship, as if we could say, “Here is a sure-fire method to quickly communicate the gospel, bring someone to faith, and then pass on to the next person.” What is needed is genuine love and concern for the person we are talking to, the readiness to ask questions because we truly desire to 62


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know the person, and prayer for the discernment of the Holy Spirit about what questions to ask, and what— and how much—we should try to communicate. Jesus, we remember, spoke only the words the Father gave him to say, and this should be our desire. Will we eagerly pray that the Lord will give us his questions to ask, whenever we meet people?

Revealing the Secrets of the Heart We need to try to help people understand themselves. This Bible teacher clearly did not understand his own heart; he had little selfknowledge. Jesus seeks to help him see his own motivations. Jesus asks specific questions in order to get this man thinking about why he approached Jesus as he did, and why he answered as he did. Jesus is encouraging him to go away with many self-searching questions in his heart: “Why did I ask that question about inheriting eternal life? Did I truly want to know what Jesus believes about this issue?” “What is my attitude toward people in need of my help? Have I ever loved anyone in the manner of ‘the one who showed mercy’ to the one who fell among thieves?” “Why could I not say: ‘the Samaritan,’ when Jesus asked me that question?” “How deep is my own obedience to the commandments I know so well?” Most people we meet are in such a position, with very little selfknowledge, and also with all sorts of ways of concealing from themselves the true nature of what is going on in the deepest recesses of their being. As the prophet Jeremiah says, the heart is deceitful (Jer. 17:9). None of us know ourselves very well. Here we have to be very gentle and gracious with people, for as soon as we think about the motives of the heart and lack of self-awareness, we see our own problems very clearly. Even so, this task is basic in communicating God’s truth to people. Calvin says that any true knowledge of oneself will lead to the knowledge of God. So, can we help people toward self-understanding as Jesus does? Asking this question reveals very powerfully our great need to pray for wisdom and grace as we talk to people. 63


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An Indirect Approach Jesus does not always confront people head‑on. In a later chapter we will look at an encounter where he does confront someone directly. Our example of this will be Nicodemus, but Nicodemus was a true seeker. Here, however, where the man is further from the kingdom of God, Jesus does not come at this scholar with a full frontal attack. Also known as “direct evangelism,” this method can raise a person’s pride, create antagonism in the heart, and drive him or her further away from the truth if the ground of the person’s heart is unprepared. A straight proclamation and a challenge to faith and repentance can have the effect of raising barriers against the gospel by giving people answers to questions they are not yet ready to ask. Such directness can burn the ground, rather than helping prepare it to become ready soil for the seed of the Word. Instead, Jesus asks questions and tells stories so that he may say things that are difficult for people to hear as direct statements, and so that he can begin to move their heart toward the truth. The story, which is indirect, is subversive and powerful. A story engages the imagination, the will, and the emotions much more fully than a full frontal assault, precisely because it is indirect. One obvious reason for this is that people are reluctant to know God; they are disobedient to his commands, prideful, and resistant to direct communication as a result. For example, think of the parable that Nathan tells David in order to reveal David’s sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 12:1–6). But there is an additional issue here, besides the problem of “sin.” God has made us in his image, not just with minds, but as people with creative imaginations, emotions, and passionate wills. We may even say that the two primary ways children learn virtue are (1) by example, by seeing virtue modeled by their parents and others who are close; and (2) by stories that touch their imagination. A fine story, like the good samaritan, appeals to the whole of our humanity as God’s image bearers, rendering it hard to forget. A story stays in the mind of the hearer long after it is told, working to turn the hearer’s world upside down. 64


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In the case of Jesus and the Bible teacher, the story is intended to exercise the scholar’s imagination, will, emotions, and mind: “Why did he use a Samaritan as his example? Am I like the priest and Levite in that story? Have I ever helped a stranger in need? Have I ever loved anyone to the same degree that I love myself? Do I obey the commandments of God in a deep way? Will my knowledge of the law be sufficient for me to inherit eternal life? What ought I to have said to Jesus, instead of the arrogant things I did say? Can I bring myself to go back to him, humble myself before him, and ask him different questions?” Questions and stories work together like this, long after they are heard, because they engage a person so fully. Consider C. S. Lewis. He is, perhaps, the most effective apologist of this past century, partly because he was such a fine storyteller. The Chronicles of Narnia are read by millions of children who, after meeting Aslan, the great lion, and falling in love with him, are prepared to love Christ when they hear about him—perhaps years later. In a similar fashion, Lewis’s science-fiction trilogy, particularly the second book, Perelandra, prepares many adult readers to find the true account of our world and human life in the biblical story.

Law before Gospel Many people need to hear the law before they are ready to hear the gospel. This is the situation for the Bible teacher. He is not at the point where his heart is ready to hear how he can be saved. When he comes to Jesus, his heart is proud, and he is confident he is serving God well. As long as this is the state of his heart, the gospel cannot be heard. This is true for many people we meet, and, indeed, for many people in our churches. We think we are living decent lives. We feel that God could not possibly judge us. Many of us have little idea of what God’s law truly demands of us, for we try to get to the gospel without teaching the law. Consequently, there is often very little sense of sin. We all, like this Bible teacher, need to hear the law clearly first, and to be told to go and keep that law, so that we might discover that such a command is impossible. Then we will be ready to come back 65


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humbled, and we will be prepared to hear the good news of the gospel of forgiveness. This is, in effect, what Jesus says to the Bible teacher: “Go and keep the law you think you know so well, and then come back to tell me you have tried and you have failed.” For this man, there was no gospel yet.

Where Is the Gospel? Is there any gospel of good news present in the story of this encounter between the Bible teacher and Jesus? There are several answers to this question. Clearly there is no direct presentation of the good news of forgiveness, grace, and mercy of God in Christ. However, grace and mercy are present in Christ himself—in the time, energy, and careful reflection he gives to this man who came to him “to test him.” The Bible teacher did not deserve such care and kindness from Jesus, but he received it. So it must be with us. In all our conversations with people, they need to see in our words, in our manner, and in the beauty of our lives some small reflection of the grace of Christ. This man went away knowing that Jesus would take time for him in the future and would be eager and kind if he were to come to him with a more humble attitude. What about us—are we living and communicating grace and kindness in our interactions with people? We should also note that the story of the good samaritan that Jesus tells is itself a gracious story, a story of amazing love. That is one of the reasons it is such a well-known story, for it is a tale that warms the heart. In addition, Christians throughout the history of the church have seen Christ in the Good Samaritan. Admiring and loving the Samaritan is like admiring and loving Aslan (the beloved lion from The Chronicles of Narnia)—a preparation for Christ. We need to ask ourselves this question, when we find ourselves dealing with a person like the Bible teacher in Luke 10: are there indirect ways in which the message of grace can be communicated, if we judge that it is not yet the time to make a direct presentation of the good news of God’s love in Christ?

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And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” LUKE 18:18–30


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5

A W EA LTH Y YOUNG LEA DER OF TH E CH URCH

I

n this chapter we are going to look at another story of a man who asks Jesus the same great question as the Bible teacher: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Who is the questioner on this occasion? Luke describes him as “a certain ruler,” and as the conversation with Jesus unfolds we also learn that he is wealthy. Two other Gospel accounts add a little more information about him. Matthew tells us that he is a young man (19:22). Mark adds that he ran up to Jesus (Mark 10:17); he was clearly a strong and healthy young man. “A rich young ruler” is how Christians have usually described this man. By “ruler” Luke probably means that he is a ruler or “elder” of the synagogue, for Luke uses a similar word to describe Jairus (Luke 8:49). Even though he is young, it is possible that he is already a member of the Sanhedrin; but most likely, he is an elder of his local synagogue. In our setting today he would be a youthful elder in a church. We can easily imagine this young man. We all know men like him: bright, fit, prosperous, successful, gifted in leadership, eager to learn and to serve, earnest, and well-meaning. He is evidently an upright, outstanding, respectable, and decent man. He is the kind of man we would be proud to have as a brother, friend, son, or son-in-law. Here is the young man’s question that Luke recorded: “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” It is clear that this man’s question is sincere, for there is no suggestion that he is testing Jesus, or simply wanting to engage in theological 69


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debate—unlike the Bible teacher of Luke 10. This young man is being genuine in his respect when he addresses Jesus as “Good Teacher.” Just as in the story of the Bible teacher, this encounter raises the question: “Why does Jesus not answer him?” In this situation it seems even more troubling, for here is a man who is eager to know the answer to his question, not someone who is playing games. Why does Jesus not tell him how to inherit eternal life? For those of us who are Christian believers, how would we be likely to respond if such an earnest young man were to ask us such a question? We would be out with our Bibles in a moment, stumbling over our words in our eagerness to tell him how to “be saved.” We might want to share with him a clear summary of the gospel, such as the Evangelism Explosion outline, or the Four Spiritual Laws, or the Roman Road. On reflection we can fairly readily understand why Jesus did not answer the insincere Bible teacher who asked a similar question, but why not this serious young man? He is sincere. He is eager to know, so eager that he has run up to Jesus and fallen on his knees before him. He genuinely respects Jesus. Mark even tells us that Jesus looked at him and loved him (Mark 10:21). We wonder what is going on, for the truth is that many Christians are troubled by this story and by what Jesus says to him. Is Jesus driving him away? Is he teaching him salvation through good deeds? Is he telling him that he will only get to heaven by giving up his wealth? I have heard sermons in evangelical churches that have understood the passage this way, sermons in which there is no message of salvation by grace, but only a challenge to be obedient to God’s commandments, and to be prepared to give away one’s wealth. J E S U S ’ R E S PONSE TO THE YOUNG MAN’S QUESTION

We can be certain that Jesus is not teaching this young man salvation by good works; nor is he encouraging him to try to inherit eternal life by giving money to the poor. So what is Jesus saying to him? To understand what Jesus is doing, we need to look with care at this conversation. Jesus, as he does in so many of his encounters with people, 70


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A Wealthy Young Leader of the Church

responds to the young man’s question with a question of his own. On this occasion, Jesus adds a couple of statements to his question: Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. (Luke 18:19–20)

Jesus’ question is in itself a fascinating question, and again some Christians are troubled by it. Is Jesus denying that he is good? Of course not! The question is to help Jesus understand the heart and mind of this young man;1 and, even more, its purpose is to help the young man understand his own heart and mind. Jesus is eager to get him reflecting on what it means to be called “Good.” Jesus does not ask the young man directly, “Are you good?” or “Am I good?” Rather Jesus replies with a less direct question: “Why do you call me good?” Then Jesus explains his question with his first statement: “No one is good except God alone.” What is Jesus getting at here? There is a lot for this young man to think about in Jesus’ brief response. If we reflect on it we can see perhaps four questions within Jesus’ words. 1) “What is true goodness? Do you understand what it means to describe someone as good?” We throw the ascription of goodness around very lightly; but we need to ask ourselves if we have truly thought about what we mean when we give someone such an ascription. 2) “What are the consequences of recognizing that only God is good?” This is the theological affirmation that Jesus makes here: true goodness is found in God alone. Given this, what does that mean for any ordinary human person who does not measure up to this goodness of God? 3) “Why are you calling me good? If you truly see me as good, then who am I? I do not deny that I am good, but rather I ask you to reflect on who I must be if I am indeed good.” The question is, in fact, an indirect claim to divinity by Jesus. 4) “What about you? If you understand what goodness is, then is it possible for you to claim to be good? But if you recognize that you are not good, then what are the consequences?”

After his question and affirmation that only God has true goodness, Jesus helps the young man further by summarizing the second 71


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table of the law. (The first half, or table, of the law is about our relationship with God; the second half is about our relationships with each other.) You know the commandments: “Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.” (Luke 18:20)

What Jesus desires to do with his summary of the law about human relationships is to get the young man thinking about his failure to keep these commandments. Jesus is encouraging him to see that he is not truly good. He may be a decent young man, but he is not good like God, for, as the apostle Paul says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Any true and deep understanding of these requirements of the law will convict the young man of the poverty of his goodness. T H E Y O U N G MAN’S ANSWER

As a leader of God’s people, the young man, of course, knows the second table of the law very well with its outline of what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves. He not only knows this outline of the law, but as a faithful and regular worshiper at his synagogue he has spent his life trying to devote himself to observing these commandments, and so he responds: All these I have kept from my youth. (Luke 18:21)

He is clearly not aware of the vast gap between his own “goodness” and the true goodness of God. He has not yet understood the full meaning of these commandments that are so simple to learn, and even appear to be easily obeyed—at least externally. His understanding of the law is shallow, for he does not yet see that each of these commandments demands purity of the heart. The tenth commandment makes this clear by applying the rest of the commandments to the heart: “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17). The commandments this young man has committed himself to 72


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observe since he was a boy are these: adultery is not just the outward act but lust of the eyes and mind; murder is not only killing someone, but hatred, scorn, and spite for another; theft is not merely the stealing of someone’s property, but covetousness toward property, reputation, ability, or anything else that belongs to another; false testimony is not simply telling falsehoods in court to harm another, but any failure to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about one’s neighbor. What does it truly mean to honor one’s parents? It certainly means that we are to treat them with respect, whether they always deserve it or not, but it also means to love, care for, and serve them when they become in need of our help and support. And so it is with every other commandment—we cannot claim to have kept them until we have understood and perfectly obeyed the full measure of what these commandments require of us. The young leader of the church has not begun to reflect upon the extent of the righteousness that the law of God requires, and so he is unaware that he is not a “good” man. He is oblivious to his true state—that he is in desperate need of the forgiveness of God. He knows that he is not a murderer; he is not an adulterer or fornicator; he is not a thief; he has never testified falsely about anyone in court; and he has been respectful to his parents in word and deed. Consequently, he believes himself to be a decent, churchgoing, Godfearing man. He misses entirely the point of Jesus’ statement that only God is good, for he claims goodness for himself. His reply says in effect, “I am good too, for I have kept the law fully.” J E S U S ’ R E PLY TO THIS CLAIM OF VIRTUE

What does Jesus say in response to this claim of goodness? Jesus does not simply contradict him with the words, “You are quite wrong. You have not kept these commandments. You are not good. You need forgiveness.” It is noteworthy that Jesus does not refute his claim of goodness with a direct statement. (“You are a sinner; you deserve judgment.”) Such an approach is what preachers of the Word often do, especially in evangelistic meetings; and we seem to think that the louder 73


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and more vehemently we say this, the more strongly people will be convicted. This is also what we feel we need to try to do in personal conversations with non-Christians. We think that the way to convict of sin is that we must have the courage to come out with direct statements: “You are a sinner. You need to repent and believe the gospel.” It is of course true that all people are sinners, and that they need to repent and believe the gospel. But Jesus does not approach the conversation in this way. Instead, Jesus tries once more to help the man see the true state of his heart: One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. (Luke 18:22)

Jesus asks him to give up his wealth, distribute it to the poor, and then return to follow him. Why does Jesus say this to him? Again, many believers are troubled by these words. Is Jesus teaching that one can obtain salvation by distributing one’s wealth? Once more, no! Jesus has so far been unable to help the young man see that he does not understand the requirements of the second half of the law, and that he has no sense yet of his own moral poverty. By bringing up his wealth, Jesus is returning the young man to the law and its requirements. But this time Jesus wants him to reflect on the first half or table of the law, the commandments about worshiping and serving God alone, in particular the commandment against idolatry. By challenging the young man to give up his wealth, Jesus is asking him, “What has the place of priority in your heart? You think you are obeying the commandments and are therefore good. But ask your heart where its devotion lies. Whom do you worship in truth? Or, perhaps, what do you worship? What do you live for? What shapes your choices day by day: is it the Lord, or is it your money?” The young man knows that the law commands him to love and serve God alone, and, of course, he thinks that he does love and serve God alone. So what is Jesus telling him, or seeking to help him to understand? 74


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A Wealthy Young Leader of the Church 1) Jesus desires to expose the young man’s devotion to his wealth; to turn his eyes to look into his heart where he will see not only love for God, but love for money hidden there. What does his heart treasure? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it plain that it is impossible to love both God and money. 2) Jesus wants this leader of the church to realize that he lacks true righteousness toward God and toward his neighbor. He thinks that he is keeping the commandments about loving one’s neighbor, the second table of the law—but does he, in fact, love the poor as the law of God commands? Is it not true that when he sees the poor he often closes his heart against their need of his help, rather than giving generously to them? The apostle John teaches us that if we close our hearts against our neighbor who is in need of our help, then the love of God has no place in us. 3) Is his treasure on earth, or is it in heaven? Is he genuinely seeking eternal life, the life of the heavenly kingdom, or is it his present comfort that means most to him? What governs the choices that he makes: life now, or the life to come? Jesus charges us to lay up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt and where thieves do not break in and steal, rather than to lay up treasures on earth, devoting our time to thinking about how we can make our own lives more comfortable and financially secure (see Matt. 6:19–20). 4) Jesus also claims to be the one the young man should love and serve: “Forsake everything else in your life and follow me. I am indeed good, as you say, and that means that I am God, and therefore you should forsake your riches to serve me alone.” The whole law teaches that we should serve Jesus (God) alone: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5).

T H E Y O U NG MAN’S SORROW

These are challenging words to this young churchgoer and so he goes away sorrowful. Jesus has spoken to his heart at last. He is beginning to understand that he is not, after all, quite such a good man as he has always thought. But he is not yet ready to reveal the secrets of his heart to Jesus and then to acknowledge his need. Jesus wants him to come to the point where he can say, “I see now that I have not kept the commandments from my youth. In fact, I see that I have not kept them one single day of my life. There 75


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is nothing I can do that will qualify me for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. My heart is torn between devotion to God and to my wealth. I know that I am a selfish man who is sometimes kind to the poor, but so much more often I am kind only to myself. My treasures are mostly here on earth. How did you see into my heart? How are you able to tell me everything I ever did? Lord, help me!” This is the cry that should have come from his sorrowing heart. But instead, the young man says nothing. As a result, we want to ask: “Is this the end of the story? Hasn’t Jesus just driven him away?” We cannot be certain of course, but it is very probable that the young elder of the synagogue came back to Jesus later. The early church seems to have identified Joseph of Arimathea—the rich man who provided a tomb for Jesus’ body after his crucifixion—as the young man of this encounter with Jesus. We will find out for sure one day, but it seems likely that by revealing the secrets of the young man’s heart, Jesus did begin to draw the young man to his love. If this was indeed the man, then one day we can ask him how long it was before the worldly sorrow he experienced the day he met Jesus was turned to a godly sorrow that led him back to Jesus, and on to repentance and faith. Although it was impossible for the young man to change his heart on his own, nothing is impossible for Jesus. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Earning the Right to Ask Questions Just as in the encounter with the Bible teacher in Luke 10, we see in this story how important it is to learn to ask questions. In this case it is the question about goodness that reveals to Jesus the inadequacy of the young man’s understanding of God’s character, the law of God, and his own lack of virtue. We need to work hard at asking people questions that will help us better understand them. Of course, we must be careful not to be intrusive. We have to earn the right to ask penetrating questions that will reveal someone’s inner life to us. Jesus, in this encounter with the young man, has already earned the right to ask such a deep question. The moral beauty of Jesus’ life and his wonderful teaching are well known. His well-earned reputation has gone 76


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before him—and so the young man comes to him with respect and a willingness to learn. Only when we are respected and loved by family members, friends, neighbors, and workmates will they bring their questions to us, and will we be able to ask good questions of them.

Helping People See into Their Hearts Once again, as we read this story, we see the need to help people understand themselves. The rich young ruler is an earnest seeker, but he does not see into his own heart with any clarity; thus, Jesus speaks to the young man with the purpose of helping him understand the true nature of his heart. This is not an easy task for us to replicate. To do this requires three things: first, we need to have shown such care for people that they will allow us to get to know them well; second, we have to be deeply interested in people, willing to spend time developing close relationships; and third, we should be ready to count the cost of what it will mean for a person to open his or her heart to us. Jesus was ready to give his life to this young man, to have him come and follow him. What this underlines is that none of these points we are making as we seek to learn from Jesus will give us some kind of cost-free evangelistic method. Christ gave himself fully to those who came to him to learn the truth. While our efforts will always be a poor imitation of Jesus’ perfection, we are to give ourselves to those whom we seek to lead to Jesus.

Helping People Understand the Character of God Jesus sought to help this young man understand the perfect goodness of God, in order that he could see himself clearly in contrast. Like this man, most of the people we will meet, including many churchgoers, will have very inadequate views of the true nature and character of God. Calvin said that any faithful knowledge of God will lead us to see ourselves with new clarity.2 It is when we confess God’s holiness that we have to confess our sin. In Scripture we read many accounts of people meeting God. Always they are overwhelmed and become deeply aware of their sin and their own finiteness. Anything that we can do to help people see God more accurately will be a great bless77


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ing to them and is an essential preparatory step on the way to true faith in Christ.

Being Indirect As we saw, Jesus did not say directly to the young man, “You are a sinner. Repent.” Rather, his desire and approach was to get the young man to the point where he would be able to say from his heart, “I am a sinner. I need to repent. I need forgiveness and mercy.” We need to learn the wisdom of this. Showing the beauty of righteousness or the ugliness of sin is a far more effective way of bringing people to conviction, rather than telling them directly that they are sinners. Revealing the character of God and helping people see the impurity of their heart—these open the eyes far more effectively than accusation or condemnation. Any of us who have children, or who teach children in any setting, will understand the wisdom of this without difficulty. Conviction has to arise from within, from the recognition inside a person that there is immorality, lust, greed, selfishness, envy, and other evil passions present. Without such internal knowledge there is no true sense of guilt or need of grace.

Exposing the Idols of the Heart For many people, the idols of their heart must be exposed before they can understand their need of God’s mercy in Jesus. Until the secret devotion of their heart is uncovered, people may think they are good; they may see themselves as obeying God’s commandments in an acceptable manner; they may believe that they are serving God. Serving something in place of God is the deepest disobedience to the law, a disobedience that is often completely unnoticed, even by those who consider themselves devoutly religious and zealous for God and his Word. It is Jesus’ uncovering of his idol that speaks to this young man’s heart. Many Christian believers are made very uncomfortable by Jesus’ words about the idolatry of money and how hard it is to let go of this idolatry. Jesus looks at the young man with sadness and says: 78


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How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:24–25)

These are troubling words, because if we are honest, we all see how difficult it is to deal with our money. When I had very little, I may have sometimes struggled with envy of those who had more, but basically, money was not important to me. It was easier to be generous with the little I had. Now, I have a well-paying job. I doubt if most of my fellow Americans would consider me wealthy, but in comparison with what I once had, and in comparison with most people in the rest of the world, I am wealthy. Money has become much more important to me, and it is harder to be generous. I get anxious when I hear the stock market falling. I wonder how my pension fund is doing . . . You can readily fill in the blanks for yourself. Jesus sees this problem very clearly, and that is why he says in the Sermon on the Mount that it is impossible to love both God and money (Matt. 6:24). We do not want to believe this word, though Jesus speaks with complete clarity and passion, in a manner that cannot be gainsaid. It is evident, and comforting, that the disciples listening to Jesus’ words about the problem of money and the wealthy young man had exactly the same response that we do: Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:26–27)

Jesus is quite aware that his words make it seem impossible for the wealthy, or anyone else for that matter, to be saved. It is the truth that no wealthy man can by himself choose to let go of his wealth and serve God with full devotion. We cannot let go of any idol without God’s help. What is impossible for us is possible for him—thank heaven! For us there is a two-fold challenge here: one, do we believe that only God can set people free from the idols of their hearts? Two, how 79


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can we help people see what governs the choices and priorities of their lives? This is what Jesus was doing in his conversation with the young man. For us, this is not just a difficult task, but an impossible one. We cannot make ourselves clever enough to expose the secret devotion of the heart, and even if we could, we have no power to make someone relinquish that devotion and turn to worship the Lord instead. We have nowhere to turn but to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit. He sees the heart’s secrets and he can help us uncover them.

Wounding the Heart in Love However, it is of the greatest importance that this work of wounding people must be done with love, just as Jesus loved this young man. It is evident that he must have experienced Jesus’ love for him, both as he looked into Jesus’ face, and also in the manner in which Jesus spoke to him—for if not, he would have gone away angry rather than sorrowful. When I seek to wound people’s hearts by challenging their secret devotion, the love that shapes their lives, and the priorities they choose, I am always to wound with grace. I myself am always struggling with a divided heart—the better I know my heart, the more clearly I see this lack of perfect devotion to the Lord. Therefore, I need to speak to others with sympathy and compassion, for in challenging them I am challenging myself.

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He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” LUKE 19:1–10


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6

A N UNUSUA L DINNER IN V ITATION

For this study, we stay in Luke’s Gospel and explore the story he tells of Jesus going to the home of Zacchaeus. This particular episode in Jesus’ life is recorded only in Luke’s Gospel, so we may assume that Zacchaeus is one of those eyewitnesses whom Luke searched out, and whom he interviewed as he was preparing to write his Gospel. There are many lovely things to note as we read this story, but most of all we will focus on the honor, respect, and grace that the Lord showed to this despised man. J E S U S ’ K NOWLEDGE OF ZACCHAEUS

First, note that Jesus knows this man by name. Even though he has clearly never met Zacchaeus before this occasion, he knows him out of all the other people in Palestine at that time, and out of all the other people throughout history. You may respond, “But of course Jesus knows Zacchaeus, for Jesus is the eternal Son of God.” However, in the incarnation the Son’s divine nature is veiled for much of the time. That is why as a child Jesus grew in wisdom as well as stature. But from time to time—when he stilled the storm, when he walked on the water, when he showed his disciples a vast catch of fish (and Peter, overwhelmed by his sudden sense of the divine majesty of Christ, cried out “depart from me for I am a sinful man”), when he turned water into wine to help the wedding celebrations, when he called Zacchaeus by name—on these occasions we see that truly in Christ the whole fullness of the godhead dwelled bodily (Col. 2:9). So it is 83


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here: Jesus is passing along the road through Jericho and there are great crowds of people; but out of all those people Jesus sees this one man and he knows him. He knows who he is and he knows his name; he sees into his heart and recognizes his desire to know who Jesus is. Z A C C H A E U S’S EAGERNESS

Zacchaeus is so eager to see Jesus that he climbs into a tree to see over the crowd because he is short. His small stature is the one thing about Zacchaeus that every child knows from Sunday school. The tree that he climbs is called in our English Bibles either a “sycamore” (esv) or a “sycamore-fig” (niv). These “sycamore figs” are neither sycamores, nor figs, botanically, but have similarly shaped leaves to sycamores. Their advantage, for Zacchaeus’s purpose, is that these trees often have branches growing out horizontally from the main trunk, beginning down low, so it would have been easy for even a small man to climb into this tree. He is so intent on seeing Jesus that clearly Zacchaeus is not interested in preserving his dignity. The wealthy and powerful (and he was very wealthy and very powerful) do not usually behave like small boys and climb trees in front of a crowd of people. B E H O L D , Z ACCHAEUS

The Greek text draws attention to Zacchaeus. “There” (esv and niv), “Behold” (kjv), or “Take note” (at), “a man named Zacchaeus . . . he was a chief tax collector . . . he was rich.” There is a particular emphasis that highlights this person—an emphasis that reflects the way in which Jesus meets him and singles him out, not because he was rich, and not because he was a tax collector, a man of importance who deserves Jesus’ attention, but because Jesus desires to meet him. The Lord sees past all the social exterior to find the searching heart and the dignity of this man. He recognizes that he is one who bears the image of God and who is a unique and precious person, and he sees Zacchaeus’s eagerness to learn more about him; so Jesus calls to him by name and says to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down.” 84


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An Unusual Dinner Invitation

A N U N U S UAL DINNER INVITATION

One of the more remarkable aspects of this encounter is Jesus’ request to be entertained by Zacchaeus in his home for the rest of that day. Just as with the Samaritan woman, Jesus is eager to receive what Zacchaeus can give to him, so he invites himself to Zacchaeus’s home for a meal: Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. (Luke 19:5)

We might be tempted to say: “Well! That is rather a presumption, a bit of a cheek, inviting yourself to the home of someone you have never met.” So, we need to ask, “What is happening here?” Zacchaeus would not, and could not, have invited a Jew, and especially a Jewish religious leader, into his home, for no self-respecting Jew, and certainly no rabbi, teacher, or synagogue leader in that day would have ever considered accepting such an invitation. No such person would have dreamed of ever visiting the home of such a man as Zacchaeus, a tax collector—it would have been even more unthinkable than going into a Gentile’s house. So, because Zacchaeus cannot invite him, Jesus invites himself— much to the amazement of Zacchaeus and everyone else. As we saw in the story of the Samaritan woman, Jesus delights in showing his need of what others can give to him; especially with people who are despised and regarded as social and moral outcasts. So it is on this occasion. We should notice the reaction of the people. It is not just the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who criticize Jesus, but everyone in the crowd as well; they all grumble and murmur about it (“He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner,” Luke 19:7). And Jesus does this gladly. With Zacchaeus, with the Samaritan woman, with the woman who is a prostitute, Jesus gladly receives what they can give to him. There is nothing more honoring, or dignifying, that Jesus could have done for Zacchaeus. H AT R E D OF ZACCHAEUS

Here is a man who is hated by people. Why? He is a tax collector, and not just that, but a chief tax collector. He and all those in his profession 85


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are despised by people for all sorts of reasons. He worked, not for your tax authorities (whatever hard thoughts you may harbor about them when you complete your tax returns each year), but for the Romans, the occupying army of the Jews’ loathed oppressors. These tax collectors were not paid by the Romans for their work, and so they had to collect enough for their own salary as well. Consequently, this was a system that left plenty of room for greed and abuse. Zacchaeus, the head of the whole Jericho area’s tax collection district, has become very rich at his job. It is quite likely that chief tax collectors required bribes from their subordinates or from anyone who desired to work as a tax collector. He is a man with great power and with a position that has opened the door to great wealth. Zacchaeus is what the Chinese today call a “man eat man” capitalist. In many of our cities we have one or two corrupt politicians, and a few dishonest business people who are always lining their own pockets at other people’s expense. To understand the attitude of the crowd to Zacchaeus, we should try to imagine the very worst of these modern day examples, while at the same time imagining that person collaborating with whoever we hate most passionately, such as someone working with a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of many innocent people. This is how the Jews of Jesus’ day thought of the Romans and those who collaborated with them. The Romans were brutal tyrants, not some pleasant occupying force seeking to bring peace and stability to the region. They gained and held their power by acts of terrible ferocity. In Gaul (present-day France) alone at the time of Julius Caesar, just a few decades before Jesus’ birth, the Romans had slaughtered two million people as they brought Gaul into their empire. For a New Testament example of this brutality we can look at Luke 13. We are told there that Pilot had his soldiers massacre a group of Galileans so that their blood was mingled with the blood of the sacrifices they were planning to offer at the temple (Luke 13:1). This is why the people grumbled—they hated men like Zacchaeus, both for their greed and for their collaboration with the enemy. Despite all this, and despite the response of the crowd, Jesus delights 86


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in the opportunity to spend time with Zacchaeus, and honors him by gracing him with his presence at a meal in Zacchaeus’s home. Zacchaeus responds to this amazing invitation with joy: He hurried and came down and received him joyfully. (Luke 19:6)

We do not know all that happened that day, for Luke has compressed the day’s events into a few short verses. However, it is clearly understood by everyone present in the crowd that Jesus is received by Zacchaeus, and that the two of them head off to Zacchaeus’s home for a meal and a lengthy visit. O U T R A G E OUS SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

The reason for the crowd’s complaints and criticisms is that Jesus’ actions are totally unacceptable, even outrageous. What happens is remarkable, for in going to Zacchaeus’s home to eat, Jesus is breaking not only the social customs, but also the religious and moral laws of his time, by becoming a guest and eating in the home of a sinner, a man with an unclean profession. Jesus is making himself socially, ritually, morally, and religiously unclean by going to Zacchaeus’s home. He is polluting himself just as if he had gone to the home of a Samaritan or a Gentile. To try to understand this reaction, we can think of the words of the apostle Peter when he goes to the home of the Gentile Cornelius. Cornelius was a devout and God-fearing man, a man who gave generously to the poor and who was held in high honor by the local Jews in Caesarea. Yet, Peter says to those present on entering Cornelius’ home: You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation. (Acts 10:28)

What Jesus is doing on this occasion is much worse than what Peter finds both difficult and unlawful. Zacchaeus was considered as unclean as any Gentile because of his profession and his daily inter87


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actions with the Romans. In addition, he is viewed as a notorious public sinner. J E S U S I G N ORES SOCIAL CUSTOMS AND HUMAN R E L I G I O U S LAWS

Jesus sets all this custom and law aside—for it is not God’s law. These laws were designed to foster and maintain religious and moral separation and purity. But, regardless of the intention of such laws, regardless of the motivation of separation and purity, Jesus sets them aside as “merely human” rules; for these rules were created by the leaders of God’s people, rather than by God—they were part of what was called “the tradition of the elders.” In addition to this problem of their origin, these laws also prevent God’s people from being obedient to their Lord’s command to practice hospitality to strangers, to be merciful and gracious to the alien (that is, Gentiles), and to be kind to the sinful, the needy, and the poor. Of course it is true that such people—strangers, aliens, sinners, the needy, and the poor—are always regarded as outcast and unclean, in every human society. But these laws about socially acceptable behavior are a moral offense to God, who calls his people to precisely the opposite way of life: to be a people characterized by the mercy, compassion, and grace that he has shown to them. S E E K I N G A ND SAVING THE LOST

These social barriers mean nothing to the Lord Jesus in his passion to save the lost—for that is why he came into the world. This, of course, is what he tells us in this account: The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)

Jesus did not come into the world to keep himself apart from sinners, nor to demonstrate that his life was socially acceptable. Rather he came in fulfillment of the promise of the Lord made in Ezekiel 34: For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. . . . I [will] seek out my sheep,

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and I will rescue them. . . . I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed. (Ezek. 34:11–16)

By quoting these verses, Jesus is announcing both his divinity and the purpose of his coming. He is making the claim that he is “the Lord” (“Yahweh,” God’s personal name); he is the true shepherd of his people; he is the one who will seek and save the lost. God’s passionate desire and purpose, which is revealed both in the Old Testament and in the coming of the Christ, is to seek and to save those who are lost, those who have strayed from him and from his ways. This is, of course, the condition of each one of us. In his sight all of us are unclean and outcast because of our failure to love him and because of our flagrant disobedience to his commandments. Yet he sets aside his moral and religious outrage, not counting our sins against us, but against himself, when he comes to seek and to save us who are lost without him. He calls us to have fellowship with him and to be his friends. That is why he goes to Zacchaeus’s home, to eat and to visit there, in utter disregard for the custom and law of his day. J E S U S A N D SINNERS

This action of Jesus in going to a sinner’s home should cause us to think with care about the way Jesus relates to sinners. Jesus does not keep his distance from sinners, like the Pharisees and teachers of the law; nor does he preach condemning sermons at sinners, like the Pharisees and teachers of the law. If Jesus had conformed to their practice of devotion to God, moral purity, and separation, they would not have been outraged by his behavior. What is so shocking and unacceptable to them is that Jesus desires to have intimate fellowship with sinners. He visits with them. He sits down and eats with them. He invites them to the homes of his friends and disciples (see Matt. 9:9–10 as an example of this). He goes gladly to their homes; he even invites himself to be their guest, just as he does with Zacchaeus. He welcomes them joyfully, and in return, they welcome him joyfully. 89


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“Intimate fellowship with sinners”—these are shocking words to many of us. However, that is exactly what it meant for Jesus to go to Zacchaeus’s home. That is what it meant when Jesus went to the home of Matthew (who had also been a tax collector) and ate with many tax collectors and sinners there. Eating with people, visiting with them in their home, is seen all through the Bible as the mark of intimate fellowship—and, of course, it has been seen this way in almost all human societies. Many of the sacrifices end with a fellowship meal in the temple, signifying God’s love and acceptance of the person who has come to make an offering. God invites us to his table at the Lord’s Supper to be his well-beloved guests. One day we will sit with the Lord and eat at his table at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Eating together, being at home together: these imply love and personal fellowship. It is because of this that Jesus’ behavior is considered scandalous. Such a commitment—to have intimate fellowship with sinners—is still considered scandalous by many Christian believers today. We will look at this issue in more depth later in this chapter. G R A C E A N D REPENTANCE

Jesus treats Zacchaeus with wonderful grace in going to his home. It is, of course, this lovely grace, this mercy and respect, this honor and love that lead Zacchaeus to repentance. We are not told at what point in Jesus’ time in his home that Zacchaeus makes his amazing statement about giving half of his goods to the poor and paying back those he had defrauded four times as much. Perhaps it was at the end of their meal together, for the text says that Zacchaeus “stood” to say his remarkable words of repentance. Whatever the time that this took place, what Zacchaeus proposes to do is beautiful. The law required that if one had defrauded someone then one should repay—plus twenty percent (Lev. 6:5). If one had stolen something outright, and had already consumed what was stolen, then the law required that one should repay either four or five times the value of what one had stolen. One would have to pay only double the value if, for example, a stolen animal was still alive and in the possession of the thief. If the person realized the guilt of his theft 90


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or any other such sin and openly confessed the wrong he had done, then the penalty was restitution plus twenty percent, just as in the case of fraud (Ex. 22:1–5; Num. 5:6–7; 2 Sam. 12:6). What is the point of giving all these details about the penalty for various forms of fraud or theft? The point is simply this: Zacchaeus is so deeply moved by the grace of Jesus that he chooses to regard his defrauding as the very worst kind of theft. This deep sense of sin and desire for full repentance is what takes place in the heart when a person meets the Lord and sees him as he is in his moral perfection and marvelous grace. When a person sees the Lord as he truly is, then that person also sees himself or herself with a clear vision of the seriousness of his or her sin. When we meet the Lord in his glory, we see our sin in all its ugliness, rather than minimizing it. This is what happens to Zacchaeus. His clear sight of his sin leads to a passionate desire to make amends and to do what is right and pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. What Zacchaeus does is wonderful to read. He is overwhelmed by the grace and love of Christ, and so generosity flows from his heart. There are very few people in this world who joyfully give away half of their possessions to the poor, and who are so deeply committed to making restitution for the wrongs of their past life. But that is Zacchaeus. His stated intentions are so overwhelmingly generous that some of the commentators even suggest that we should not take them literally. But such a response is absurd. We must presume that Luke has spoken to Zacchaeus many years later, and that he recounts to Luke exactly what he said and did on that day he had Jesus in his home. I know of people who have had just this same kind of extraordinary response in coming to know Christ. Indeed, in the kingdom of God, such a response ought not to surprise us. What the Lord has done for us is inexpressibly generous and kind. Why should we be reluctant to believe that this inexpressible grace has such lovely consequences in the lives of those who receive it? 91


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS S A LVAT I O N HAS COME TO THIS HOUSE

When he hears Zacchaeus’s words of repentance Jesus then declares “salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9). Salvation comes to dwell in Zacchaeus’s house. From then on his home would be a place of love, of generosity, of grace, in place of the corruption and greed that had been present before. This is the way that our homes should be described: homes in which salvation dwells. Here I will use the example of my fatherin-law, who died just this past year in his early nineties. When I was studying at Covenant Theological Seminary back in the late sixties, my wife and I used to spend each summer with Dad and Mom at their home, and I would work with him on the farm all summer long. Dad owned a small farm in Central California, and grew tree fruit like peaches, nectarines, plums, and persimmons, and also some grapes and kiwis. In the summer of 1969 I was walking back through the fields before lunch and I came across Dad kneeling in his orchard, praying. Dad was holding up a peach in his hand and he was saying: “Lord, these peaches are yours. These trees are yours, and all the fruit they will ever bear. This orchard is yours. My farm is yours. I am yours. Thank you for your love to me in Jesus. Help me to serve you in all I do.” When he had finished and got up from his knees, he saw me there and was quite embarrassed; but I quietly asked him to tell me what he was doing. He said that he was offering the firstfruits of his young peach trees to the Lord. When a peach tree is three or four years old it will bear its first fruit—it will have four or five large, beautiful peaches, some of the finest fruit the tree will ever bear. Dad had never been taught in his church the true meaning of the various offerings and services in the Old Testament law that were required of the people of Israel; and certainly no one had ever suggested to him that he ought to put them into practice. But he read the Bible himself, and he understood the intent of these laws, and so he had decided that he would regularly have this service of firstfruits just between himself and the Lord. Every time any of his fruit trees started to bear, he would have this little service. He never told anyone about 92


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it—it was a private matter between himself and the Lord. I had the privilege of sharing about this at his memorial service this past fall, and also in many other settings. The Lord has used this story to touch the lives of many people very deeply—just as he uses the story of Zacchaeus to transform the hearts and lives of many. The consequences of Dad’s little ceremony were remarkable. First, it impacted his attitude toward his employees and anyone with whom he did business. He did not ask about his “bottom line”—what profit he would make, or what he could afford—when he was thinking about paying the men who worked on his farm. Rather, he asked what would be pleasing to the Lord, what was just, merciful, and fair. Second, when he gave, he gave generously without thinking about how much precisely he could spare. Many years, he gave away more than 50 percent of his income (and he was not a wealthy man). He gave to his church, to ministries, to orphans, and to many other individuals. He did not keep careful records of all his giving, though, of course, with more regular gifts he received tax deductible receipts. He was once audited by the IRS for giving away too much of his income—afterward, they sent him a personal letter of commendation, both for the honesty and clearness of his book-keeping, and also for his extraordinary generosity. They informed him, however, that he could not give so much and claim it all as tax deductible. He was giving over the limit. He had no idea there was a limit—he continued giving just as generously, but in the future kept the limit in mind when he filled out his return. We need to ask ourselves, “In what way do others see salvation dwelling in my house?” In some small way we, like Zacchaeus, are to show the grace that God has shown to us: God’s response to our sin is grace, the grace of Jesus Christ. Our response to others is to be the grace that has been extended to us. A S O N O F ABRAHAM

Jesus declared that Zacchaeus, too, was a son of Abraham. God came to Abraham to promise to be the God of Abraham and his descendants after him. Zacchaeus, even though he was Jew, a literal descendant of 93


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Abraham, was just as lost as any Gentile. However, Jesus came into the world with the explicit purpose of seeking and saving the lost sheep of Israel. Through meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus became a true son of Abraham, sharing not only literal descent from the first patriarch, but also his faith. From that point on, this Zacchaeus became a man whose life and words showed to others the seeking and saving grace of Jesus that had sought him out and found him. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

There are so many lessons for us in this account of Jesus’ visit in the home of Zacchaeus. At the heart of them is a restatement of what it means to be a Christian in this world: our calling today and every day is to show to the lost world and to our lost neighbors this seeking and saving grace that we have received from the One who came and sought and found us.

Taking the Initiative with Our Neighbors Jesus has to make the first move with Zacchaeus if there is going to be any possibility of a relationship with him. Because he is a social and moral outcast, Zacchaeus cannot invite the Lord to his home, or into fellowship. We learn from Jesus in this encounter how necessary it is for believers to take the initiative with those who are outcasts, indeed with any who are despised or looked down on, socially, economically, culturally, racially, or even morally. In truth, in all relationships Christians should be glad to take the first step in seeking to get to know people, for this is what grace is. We did not go looking for the Lord, for no one truly seeks God. Rather, the Lord came looking for us.

Dignifying the Despised We learn from Jesus how important it is to seek for ways to dignify those who are despised and who may despise themselves. What can we do or say that will restore to people a sense of their own worth and value in the sight of God? How can this be possible for people like us who are naturally so self-centered? Each one of us needs to think of the respect and honor that the Lord has shown to us. In addi94


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tion, as we begin to get to know every person we meet, we need to ask ourselves, How does this person demonstrate the image of God? Where do I see even the slightest evidence of a seeking heart, or of any response to, or enjoyment of, God’s gifts of general grace that he pours on all people so richly? These will always be present, even in the most hardened person, no matter what their belief system or way of life. There in the greedy, corrupt, idolatrous heart of Zacchaeus was some little interest in learning who Jesus was. Such sparks of true humanity exist in everyone. Will we have eyes to see these sparks, like Jesus?

Honoring the Evildoer This encounter teaches us that, in particular, we are to seek to honor those who are dishonest, corrupt, and wicked. Calvin writes about the difficulty of loving the evil, and even those who have done wrong to us, with words of great power: If he not only merits no good, but has provoked you by injury and mischief, still this is no good reason why you should not embrace him in love, and visit him with offices of love. He has deserved very differently from me, you will say. But what has the Lord deserved? Whatever injury he has done you, when he enjoins you to forgive him, he certainly means that it should be imputed to himself. In this way only we attain to what is not to say difficult but altogether against nature, to love those that hate us, render good for evil, and blessing for cursing, remembering that we are not to reflect on the wickedness of men, but look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, should by its beauty and dignity allure us to love and embrace them. (Institutes III, vii, 6)1

Calvin makes two points here: the first is that we are to see the image of God in a person, no matter how covered over with sin it may be; the second is that we are to remember that Christ is willing to have all this person’s sins counted against himself. Our sin becomes Christ’s; his righteousness becomes ours. This is the gospel, and we 95


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are to remember its power and extraordinary grace even with those who make themselves our enemies.

Receiving the Gifts of the Unbeliever Just as in the story of the Samaritan woman, we are taught in this encounter how important it is for us to honor unbelievers and sinners. We need to ask ourselves what we can do to put ourselves in the place where we can receive gladly what the unbeliever can give to us—especially when the unbeliever is a social and moral outcast.

Intimate Fellowship with Sinners Here I need to address in detail one of the issues that many Christians reading this book will find most challenging. We are to imitate Jesus by being intentional about developing intimate fellowship with sinners. This means that we are to make the effort to build such close relationships with unbelievers, regardless of their beliefs or way of life, that we delight to eat and drink at one another’s tables and visit joyfully in one another’s homes. This will mean that we are going to get to know people who are considered by some of our churches to be sinners—the kind of people that God-fearing people should despise. Why should we welcome sinners and unbelievers joyfully, and why should they welcome us joyfully? Every day of our lives Jesus comes to each of us in our rebellion, moral failures, lack of love, and our reluctance to honor him. Even though we have cold hearts, every day he asks us to welcome him into our lives and into our homes. Every day he says to each one of us: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev. 3:20)

How poorly we understand the gospel and the grace of God to us when we think we ought not to have “sinners” in our homes, or that we ought to keep ourselves and our children away from the homes 96


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of obvious sinners. Fellowship with sinners is the gospel. There is no other gospel of Christ. The people around us are of course sinners: some commit adultery; some are practicing homosexuals; some steal; some mistreat their employees; some cheat in their business practice; some are in love with money, fame, cleverness, or beauty; some gossip; some slander; all are idolaters. We often assume that even though the Scriptures require us to acknowledge that such people bear God’s image we must despise them for their sin and keep ourselves apart from them. But Jesus teaches us by his Word and by his example that, precisely because they are sinners, we are to look at them with mercy and gentleness, for they are in need of his forgiveness—his “seeking and saving.” I quote here from a pastor’s paper I read and graded a few months back: When I first began ministry years ago as a vocation, I tended to allow little room for error and I basically showed a lack of grace. In response to the knowledge of someone who was having an affair and cheating on their wife, or someone who was struggling with homosexual tendencies, or someone depending on illegal drugs for happiness, I would more times than not just write them off as unregenerate. And for those who were admittedly unsaved and caught up in immoral acts, I would consider them worthless and simply retreat from their direction. If sickness was in the equation, it was either the devil or God’s judgment. God’s judgment would definitely apply to natural disasters. To say it another way, mercy was nowhere in my spiritual gift mix. But to say all of that, it is refreshing to know how sin devastates everything and everyone. I do not like the evil produced by this sin but understanding it has created a sense of mercy and compassion in me for people in general . . . (Now) it is convicting to stereotype and profile people. It is hard not to look at the homeless man and woman and view them in terms of compassion rather than automatically assuming that they are alcoholics or drug addicts. When I counsel people who come into my office with tears in their eyes, it is hard for me not to hurt with them, hating the sin that has caused so much pain. I feel confident that

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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS this is how Christ also responded to the hurting. We see this in John 11:33: “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.” . . . Christ understood sin, and because he understood sin he responded accordingly.

These are wonderful words, for this pastor has gained a deep insight into the nature of the gospel, a gospel that calls us to draw close to sinners with the love and compassion Jesus showed for Zacchaeus, and that he has shown and continues to show to each of us. I am well aware that one regular response to what I have written in these last few pages is to appeal to texts that call us to separation (texts like 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1). In this passage Paul calls believers to “come out from them and be separate.” He challenges us with the words, “What portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” (2 Cor. 6:15). Does this text mean that all I have said about following Jesus’ call and example to share our lives with unbelievers is to be set aside, because we will be inevitably polluted and corrupted by any personal fellowship or close relationship? In order to respond to this question we need to ask what Paul’s purpose is in this passage. It is clear that he is concerned that the Corinthian Christians are in danger of losing their distinct identity as believers in Christ who have turned to the living God from their idolatry. They are being tempted to return to their former way of life so that there will be nothing uniquely Christian about them. Paul confronts them with a series of Old Testament texts about the call to holiness and purity of life, and he reminds them that they have been called into the family of God. He urges them to flee from idolatry and not to join in with the sinful patterns of life that the pagans around them engage in. All Christians in every age face the temptation to be conformed to the way of life of the culture in which they live. In our age two of the most prominent characteristics of our culture are (1) the idolatry of the self (“I am free to govern my own life and choose my own 98


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lifestyle”) and (2) the idolatry of money and material comfort. Of course it is true that all of us are attracted to and tempted by these two idolatries. The Lord calls us to see them clearly for what they are (falling away from the service and love of God alone) and what they will bring about (the ruin of our lives). We need to always ask ourselves, “Do I have these friends, and do I spend time with these people because I want to enter into their idolatries and their lifestyle? Do I want to join them in the indulgence of their passions and pleasures?” If that is our purpose (even secretly in our hearts), then we are to keep ourselves separate, for the Lord calls us to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). However, recognizing this terrible propensity to worship the idols of our time, and standing fast against that propensity, is not to prevent us from following the Lord’s call into the world. Is my motivation for being with people a desire to imitate their sin and to worship at the shrine of their idols, or is my motivation mercy, compassion, love, and a desire to serve the purposes of Christ? That commitment to mercy, compassion, love, and service is the calling of every Christian, and it is that calling that leads us into close personal relationships with unbelievers around us.

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Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” LUKE 15:1–10


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7

T H E L OST SH EEP A ND TH E L O S T C OIN: PA R A BLES F OR A M IXED GAT H ERING

For this study we turn to an encounter with a very different setting, though several of the themes that emerged in our reflections on Jesus’ meeting with Zacchaeus appear once more. TA X C O L L ECTORS AND SINNERS

In Luke 15 we find Jesus in a situation where there is a mixed group of people gathered in conversation with him: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1–2)

Obviously Jesus’ reputation has gone before him, as there are several tax collectors, men like Zacchaeus, and other “sinners” assembled to listen to him. These kinds of people liked to crowd around Jesus, for he was a very different kind of preacher from the ones to whom they were accustomed. Unlike other Bible teachers of that day, Jesus clearly believed it was his calling to spend his time in the company of “sinners” rather than to develop a public image of personal holiness and closeness to God by keeping himself separate. As we saw in our last chapter it is evident that Jesus always welcomed these sinners gladly, and in turn they enjoyed being with him. That may seem strange to some of us, for we often associate true holi101


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ness with a purity of life that is known by personal separation from “worldly” people. Usually, we associate deep knowledge of God’s Word with clear and forthright condemnation both of obvious sins and of those who practice them. But Jesus was a different kind of holy man and teacher. We have already seen that Jesus did not seek to keep apart from sinners. He also did not turn sinners away. Jesus did not abuse sinners, single them out for condemnation, or avoid them. Rather, he was a teacher who spoke words of comfort and grace to them, a teacher who showed them such respect, honor, and love that many of them responded by happily turning away from their sin. This, of course, was what happened in the life of Zacchaeus. Grace and mercy are a far more effective means of creating love and devotion than condemnation. A new affection for Christ has a much greater power to drive out sin and bring lasting repentance than any sermon on moral improvement, or any program for straightening out one’s life. P H A R I S E E S AND SCRIBES

On this particular day, Pharisees and scribes were present along with the tax collectors and sinners. We should recognize that referring to people as “scribes” simply means that they were teachers of the Old Testament Scriptures, and particularly teachers of the Law of Moses. The name “Pharisees” refers to those who saw themselves as devoted to the service of God and as committed to living lives of obedience to his laws. We might say that they saw themselves as the “super-moral minority” who set themselves up as the leaders of the moral majority—the faithful God-fearing Israelites of that time. On this occasion, as has become their custom, the Pharisees and teachers of the law are once more criticizing Jesus for the company he keeps. We do not know the place or situation, but perhaps it is a casual meal in some public setting, since their particular criticism is of Jesus “receiving sinners” (esv; niv, “welcoming sinners”) and eating with them. As we saw in the last chapter, visiting and eating with people is understood to mean personal and intimate fellowship, not 102


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The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin

simply casual acquaintance. The Pharisees see this table fellowship and mutter their judgment, a judgment directed both at the sinners and at Jesus. We should imagine whatever people we think of as “sinners” to feel the significance of the occasion and the force of the criticism. What sort of people would we be surprised and distressed to see our pastor, or one of the “pillar members” of our church, eating with in public? This is a story that appears only in Luke’s Gospel. Some of the disciples may have been present, and perhaps one of them passed on the account of this conversation to Luke when he was doing his research for his Gospel. Or, of course, one of the tax collectors, sinners, scribes, or Pharisees present to hear Jesus’ teaching could have passed this account on to Luke. Maybe it was someone who was converted as a consequence of this occasion, and who had these particular words of Jesus burned into his or her heart, and then treasured them up and one day recounted them to Luke. H O W T O TEACH A DIVERSE GROUP OF PEOPLE

There is a very mixed group of people present to hear Jesus speak, and the question arises: how will Jesus address such a diverse gathering? It takes an outstanding communicator to speak to very different people at once. Jesus, of course, is the greatest communicator ever—he is the eternal Word of God, now made flesh so that he might reveal the truth. So, how does the Word made flesh deal with this interesting situation in which there are some people who welcome him joyfully, and others who are bent on criticism? Jesus tells three parables that go together and build on each other until the climax of the third. Each of them addresses both groups present: the tax collectors and sinners, and the scribes and Pharisees. How do these different people hear the parables? How do we hear them today? As we saw in an earlier chapter, it is helpful to remember that a parable can be listened to at various levels (see chart 7.1). 103


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS CHART 7.1: THE FOUR LEVELS OF A PARABLE Level one:

A marvelous story that captures the imagination of the listener

Level two:

A story that teaches moral behavior

Level three:

A story that reveals something about the kingdom of God

Level four:

A story that reveals something about Jesus himself

As we explore the following parables, ask yourself these questions: What are these three parables communicating? On how many of these levels are they operating? How does Jesus build his message over the course of these three stories? And how are these very diverse people challenged by them? We will look at the first two parables in this chapter, and the third parable in chapter 8. PA R A B L E O NE: THE LOST SHEEP ( T H E G O O D SHEPHERD) So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninetynine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninetynine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:3–7)

Jesus begins by telling a simple story about a shepherd with a hundred sheep, one of which has wandered away. What will the shepherd do? To understand the story we need to think about the way herds and flocks were grazed in that part of the world at the time. The shepherd or herder for cattle, goats, sheep, or other animals would take them out in the morning. He did not put them into a field surrounded by a fence or hedge, but rather grazed them in the open countryside. In much of the world, sheep and other herd animals are still grazed this way. In contrast to this, where I lived in Britain for the early part of my life, most grazing took place in fenced, walled, or hedged fields—so animals could not wander away, and consequently there was not usually a shepherd or herder present. 104


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But in the open grazing setting it is possible for a sheep or other animal to wander away from the care of the shepherd. That is what happens in the story Jesus tells; and so the shepherd is faced with a dilemma. Will he stay with the ninety-nine sheep safely grazing in the open fields, or will he search for the one that is missing? He goes to find the lost sheep and returns with it on his shoulders. Clearly it had wandered some distance and is too tired to make the journey home on its own legs. On his return, the shepherd is so full of joy that he throws a party for his friends and neighbors to celebrate finding his lost sheep. Jesus then explains that this is exactly what happens in heaven every time a sinner repents. There is more rejoicing in heaven over a repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent. This is a very simple but powerful story, a story that has generated thousands of paintings, hymns, poems, and many other stories, even full-length novels. It is clear that this first parable operates on all four levels. It is a good story that captures the imagination. It challenges our attitudes and our behavior in showing us how we should treat those who have fallen into sin and who have turned away from God. It reveals to us the nature of God’s kingdom, a kingdom that is devoted to finding those who are lost and sinning and that delights in celebration. It teaches us about Jesus who is the Good Shepherd. Christians of every generation since its first telling have seen Jesus in this story.

The Great Shepherd of the Sheep We should note that on this occasion, as in his meeting with Zacchaeus, Jesus is claiming to be the Lord God who has come to shepherd his people (see Ezek. 34:11–31; see also Psalm 23). He also claims to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises that God would send the Messiah, the true king in David’s line, to be the shepherd of God’s flock (Ezek. 34:17–24; see also Jer. 23:1–6). It is instructive to reflect on the way the shepherd is depicted by artists. We have all seen many popular renderings of this story that portray a young, handsome shepherd carrying a little lamb on his 105


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shoulders. The shepherd is often pictured as a somewhat effeminate young man with long, brown wavy hair—a man who looks like he has never done a hard day’s work in his life. This depiction of the parable is fairly recent, coming from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, earlier portrayals of this story are very different. In the first centuries of the church, paintings, sculptures, sermons, and commentaries depict the sheep as full-grown, and the shepherd is weary, bowed down by the weight of the heavy animal over his shoulders and exhausted from carrying it the long distance home. He is dirty, bloodstained, and stumbling. The story was understood to be describing the cost to the shepherd of bringing home his lost sheep. The early church saw the cross in this parable, not the pleasant young man with brown wavy hair, effortlessly carrying a little lamb.

How Will the “Righteous” Hear? One other point we should observe about this first parable is that Jesus makes it very easy for the Pharisees and teachers of the law (the Bible students and the Bible scholars) to hear. Indeed, Jesus lulls them into a sense of false security, so that they will keep on listening. As they hear it, we can be confident that they see themselves as the ninety-nine righteous persons who need not repent. We can imagine them feeling self-righteous as they listen. The most arrogant of the Pharisees and scribes would preen themselves: “I do not need to repent. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all I get. I am not an adulterer or a robber; I do not practice extortion, like these tax collectors. My life is perfectly in order, unlike these wretched sinners. I am ready for heaven.” However, there are no people in the world who are perfectly righteous and who need no repentance. We need to remember that this is a story, and one of its purposes is not to be an exact presentation of reality at every point, but to capture the interest of those listening. The Pharisees and scribes will be caught by this “false element” of this first story. On the other hand, the Pharisees would be very upset by the thought that the kingdom of heaven would be filled with more rejoic106


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ing over the presence of one of these “sinners” than over them. They would not like the emphasis of the story on celebration in heaven over the repenting sinner; nor would they warm to the notion that God goes out of his way to seek and to find those who are lost.

How Will the “Sinners” Hear? The tax collectors and sinners would hear the story and rejoice that Jesus cares for them and is eager to find them. They know that they are people who need to be rescued from their lost state, and that they are sinners who must repent. As they listened, many of them would be saying in their own hearts, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” They would be amazed that there will actually be a party in heaven for them, for they think that they are not worthy even to lift their eyes up to heaven. They would undoubtedly accept the implication that the Pharisees and teachers of the law are (compared with themselves) righteous and so do not need to repent—for this is exactly what these men had been telling them all their lives. PA R A B L E TWO: THE LOST COIN ( T H E S E A RCHING WOMAN) Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:8–10)

The second parable that Jesus tells is a little more challenging. To understand it we need to try to imagine a typical house at the time of Jesus.1

A House of that Time and Place A typical house of that time would be built of stone. Because people did not have glass, each house would have just one or two tiny high windows that gave very little light; a window was quite literally “an eye for the wind” (this is the actual origin of our English word 107


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“window”—“windaug,” “a windeye”). The floors in these houses were made of stones with many cracks and gaps into which a coin could slip. Such a home would be very different from well-lighted rooms with large glazed windows and smooth floors. The house Jesus mentions belongs to an ordinary woman who truly values her money. The coin is worth a day’s wages, so it is a substantial loss. To find the missing coin she has to light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully, either stooped down to the floor or on hands and knees, shining her lamp into every nook and cranny. On finding it she calls her friends to celebrate with her. As with the first parable, Jesus adds the commentary that God and his angels rejoice whenever a single sinner repents. Again, the parable is to be heard or read at several levels. It is a captivating story; it reminds us to gladly count the cost of finding the lost and to rejoice over anyone who comes to repentance; it reaffirms the merciful and celebratory nature of God’s kingdom; and it shows Christ delighting to take time and effort to search for those who are social outcasts.

How Will the “Sinners” Hear? How do those listening hear this story? The tax collectors and sinners would hear it gladly, for it assures them once more that God will go to great lengths and to much trouble to seek and find each one of them. For these sinners the second parable would be received much like the first, though it would have been a particular comfort to any women present. We can imagine them saying, “No teacher has ever spoken to us, or about us, like this. Have you ever heard of a Pharisee or a scribe who used a woman to tell a story about God’s love?” Again, Jesus’ encouraging words came with a challenge to repentance, but in both stories the challenge is a minor theme compared to the major emphasis on God’s love, his joyful willingness to count the cost of searching for those who are lost, and the heavenly party he holds to celebrate. Imagine their hearts bounding at the thought of the angels of God celebrating about their presence in heaven for a party in Paradise with one of them as the honored guest! These would have 108


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been exciting and comforting new teachings for the sinners listening to Jesus.

How Will the “Righteous” Hear? What of the Pharisees and teachers of the law? This parable has no comfort for them. In fact, they would be troubled by it. They are being taught to adjust themselves to the notion that in God’s kingdom, both now and for the future life, those present will be rejoicing over the presence of people like the sinners around them. Those who will be honored in heaven are people that they have despised their whole lives, avoiding them as if they had the plague. They would begin to realize that Jesus is explicitly condemning their attitude toward these sinners in his stories. The implication of this is that they are not, after all, righteous. The parable requires them to change; their hearts need to come to repentance. It is not just the “sinners” who need to repent.

God Represented by a Woman! Another shock for them is that a woman is at the center of the story. There is no room in their theology for God to be represented by a woman. They do not regard women as rational, moral, or spiritual enough to be taught the law or to become disciples. A woman’s testimony could not be used in court as trustworthy, so the idea of a woman being used to reveal a truth about God’s love for sinners would be unthinkable to them. Their response would be, “He tells a story with a housewife as the model to teach about the character of God—blasphemous!” This time there is no crumb of comfort for them, only consternation. Jesus is not, of course, teaching that God is a woman, any more than he is teaching that God is a man. Rather, his point is that a woman may be used as a model to teach about the nature and acts of God, just as a father or shepherd may be used for the same purpose—simply because all human persons are made equally in the image of God. Both of these parables challenge each group of hearers. The “sinners” are not only comforted by this story; they are challenged to come to repentance. Pharisees and teachers of the law need to change 109


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their view of God’s love, of God’s kingdom, of women, and of Jesus. The first two parables prepare the way for the third and final parable, which will cut to all of their hearts. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Issues of Human Dignity and Shame Reflecting on the criticism that the Pharisees and scribes make of Jesus at the beginning of Luke 15 brings to our attention an issue of fundamental importance. The religious leaders criticize Jesus for his table fellowship with “sinners” and the company he keeps. There is also an explicit criticism of the tax collectors and others present with Jesus. They are characterized by the Pharisees and teachers of God’s law simply as “sinners.” In their minds that sums up these people. They see nothing else but their sin—and so they dismiss them. One of the temptations that Christians face in every age is to view the people around us in this kind of judgmental and dismissive way. One person is dismissed as a “philanderer;” another as “homosexual”; others as “humanists,” “liberals,” “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” “Hindus,” etc. One of the most striking things about Jesus is that he never seems to look at people in this kind of “summarize by one obvious characteristic, and then dismiss them” manner. We will find in every story we look at that Jesus treats each person he meets with dignity and respect—despite the shame that accompanies the sin in their lives. One of the most important lessons we can learn from Jesus is this: to see beyond the exterior of a person, especially beyond their sin, and to treat them with honor and with love. In an earlier chapter we marveled at the way Jesus treated the Samaritan woman with such respect, gentleness, and grace. From the perspective of most devout Jewish males at the time, this woman had four distinguishing marks against her: her race, her religion, her gender, and her sin. These four things set her apart from the possibility of any kind of social relationship. But these racial, religious, cultural, and gender barriers that divided society were set aside by Christ as if for him they did not exist at all—of course they did not exist for him, since he was the creator of 110


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all people on both sides of each of these barriers. In addition, he was the Savior of the world—the One who came into the world to redeem people from every cultural and racial group, from both genders, from all religions, and from every kind of sin. Jesus was able to see the human dignity of each person he encountered, even where that dignity was expressed in a very different cultural form than his own human culture as a Jew, and even where that dignity was deeply damaged by moral failure, as was true of the Samaritan woman, and as was true of the sinners and tax collectors to whom he told the three marvelous parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. (The parable of the lost son is the third parable we will look at in the next chapter.) Jesus’ encounters with Samaritans, Gentiles (we will look at some examples in later chapters), tax collectors, and the sinners of his day are a model and a challenge to every modern Christian believer. Are we able to look beyond the outside of a person, past the surface matters of racial, religious, economic, cultural, gender, and educational differences, and most of all, past the presence in people’s lives of particular sins, idolatries, and false beliefs? Can we see through such differences to each person’s abiding glory as a bearer of God’s image? Can we move beyond seeing racial and cultural diversity as problems and see them instead as part of the glory of our humanity? The God who made us delights in variety, and so should we. Just as each sunset is different from every other sunset that God has designed, so each person in this world is unique. We worship a God who loves diversity. A question even more challenging for Christians today is this: can we see beyond the sin that disfigures people to treat them with the respect they deserve, as people created in God’s likeness? Are we willing to value each individual we meet as Jesus did, and as he still does, since he values each of us as having inestimable worth? Two films that were released in the 1990s make this point. Dead Man Walking, a true story of a man on death row for murder and rape, describes how the man becomes a believer through a nun, his counselor as he awaits his execution. What is remarkable about this story is that the nun is able to look beyond the horrible crime the 111


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man has committed to see his human dignity. It is her recognition of his worth that leads to his conversion, making her a wonderful example of imitating Jesus’ treatment of the sinners of his day. Another film that illustrates this principle is Paradise Row, a movie set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War II. The heroine of the story is a missionary who is captured by the Japanese, along with several other women. She spends several years in the prisoner of war camp, enduring severe mistreatment and suffering at the hands of the camp guards. Again, what is most powerful about the film is the way this believer in Jesus is able to see the dignity of each person in the camp, including the guards who abuse the women so terribly. Turning back to the Gospels we see many occasions when Jesus shows respect, gentleness, and grace to unbelievers. The living Word is simply practicing for us in a perfect way what he tells us through his apostles elsewhere (we saw these in an earlier chapter, but here they are set down again): Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (1 Pet. 3:15, niv) Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Col. 4:6)

A troublesome question arises for us at this point. If Jesus is so clear both in his example and in his teaching, why do so many of us Christians have such a problem with practicing his command? I believe that this issue is one of the major problems that the evangelical church has today—the issue of the way we treat unbelievers because of their sin. We may be tempted to ask the following question (a question that many people, even leaders of churches and ministries, have asked me): 112


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How can we respect people, or be gentle and gracious with them, when they are living in sin and believing in false ideas (as did the Samaritan woman)? Surely it is impossible to respect people who break God’s commandments by living in open sexual sin or by practicing other behavior that God’s Word clearly condemns. Some of them are even teaching that people should disobey God’s commandments or believe false ideas! In such situations respect, gentleness, and grace are inappropriate and impossible. These people reek to heaven!

I will give some examples here of actual situations that believers have presented to me as their understanding of what it means to bear a good testimony to Jesus. One person told me that one day at work, she had criticized her fellow employee for the soft porn novels sitting on her desk. She had told the other woman that they were offensive to her as a Christian. I asked what the effect of this was. She replied that the woman had told everyone else in the office about it during the coffee break; and then, the next day, the woman asked her to remove her Bible from her desk, because she found it offensive. An even sadder example came from a young man who started working at a garage. On the first day he was deeply upset by the “girly” posters prominently displayed in the work area. He denounced the posters to the other men, telling them how offended he was, and he gave them a stern lecture about sexual purity and God’s condemnation of lustful thoughts. The next day the men had obtained some far worse posters of pornographic images and tacked them to the walls. The young man immediately resigned his position. He told me this story because he was proud of his actions. He had been a good witness to Christ, and then he had been persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Both of these believers had been taught to behave this way to “unbelievers” and “sinners.” Both were confident that what they had done was a faithful testimony to Jesus and to the truth of the gospel. Both stories raise the question very acutely: “How are respect, gentleness, and grace possible in a world of such sin?” Our first answer brings us back to the foundational teaching 113


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of the very first chapter of the Bible in which we are taught that all people bear the image of God. The definition of what it means to be human is that we have been created in the image and likeness of God. He is infinite and we are finite. But he is personal, and so are we—infinitely precious persons made to be like him and bearing the worth of that likeness. But the question comes: “Can we continue to affirm human dignity when it is horribly defaced by sin?” In Psalm 8, David asks the question of whether the Lord can still affirm human dignity when humans are so finite and so fallen. David then answers this question: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet. (Ps. 8:3–6)

Because we are made in his image, God has given us such great dignity that, as the psalmist says, even God himself is mindful of us. If the perfectly holy God can respect and be mindful of the glory of our humanity, how much more should we respect the divine image in all those we meet, since we share the same sinful nature? The apostle James reminds us of this very fact when he rebukes his readers for failing to show honor to their fellow human beings. James’s simple point is that it is dishonoring to God to disrespect anyone who is made in the image of God: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. (James 3:9–10, niv)

All people are, as John Calvin put it, like ruined statues on which we can still trace the outlines of their former glory.2 J. R. R. Tolkien 114


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described us as having still the “rags of the lordship” that once was ours, and as “minting a blurred image of a distant king.”3 Francis Schaeffer said that we are “glorious ruins.”4 Our task, then, is to see what is beautiful and true, the outlines, the lordship, the blurred image, and the glory still present in the lives of obviously sinful and difficult people. In addition to seeing the glory of our neighbors as those who share God’s image with us, we also should see them as sinners in need of Christ’s forgiveness. We cannot ignore sin, but when we see their sin, we see them as therefore in need of the forgiveness of Christ. This again is the example that Jesus shows us when he meets the Samaritan woman, or when he eats with tax collectors and sinners. He shows respect for their dignity as persons he has made, and he shows gentleness and grace toward them as sinners in need of his love. Christ showed love and grace to sinners even though he was perfectly holy. It is different for us—when it comes to sin we all stand on a level playing field before God. Our sin makes us all equals, and the only way we can approach God is to acknowledge our unworthiness before him. That is the only way to approach our fellow human beings too, whoever they are, whatever they have done. We are one with them in human dignity, and we are one with them in human shame. The face of each one of us is covered with the shame of our sin. This means that we are never in a position to look down on other people, no matter how serious their sin or false belief. If we were to despise, rebuke, and condemn the people around us, we would be despising, rebuking, and condemning ourselves.

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And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country. . . . “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father. . . .’ But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. . . . He was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” LUKE 15:11–32


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8

T H E T WO L OST SONS: TH E GOOD, TH E BA D, A ND TH E UGLY

The two short parables, The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin, act as an introduction to the third parable. This one is much longer, far more complex, and even more riveting than the other two. The listeners are all “hooked,” so now they settle down to hear the story of the two lost sons. PA R A B L E THREE: THE TWO LOST SONS ( A N D T H E LOVING FATHER)

Like the parable of the Good Samaritan, this is one of the most famous stories ever told, a story that reveals Jesus as a master communicator. To understand the story, a little background information should help (again, I am indebted to Bailey1). First of all, the family’s home is often depicted in children’s Bible storybooks as a big mansion up on an isolated hill, or as a farmhouse out in the country by itself surrounded by fields. However, it is more likely that their home was simply a house set in a small village. T H E S E T T I NG

Jewish communities like the one in the story were small villages with houses lining each side of a main street. The houses stood close together for protection (this is the case in every agrarian society in the world, for there is the constant threat of attack from marauding ene117


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mies or bands of thieves). The street was only about eight feet wide, so a camel with its big load would brush against the walls on both sides of the street, and even through the unglazed windows. People lived close together for security, and then went out to work in the fields surrounding the town during the day. Everyone knew everyone else’s business, and there were no secrets in this village. (I grew up in a tiny village in the south of England and everyone knew almost every detail of everyone else’s life—both what was happening in the present, and what had happened over the past generation and centuries.) Such a community would be in the imaginations of all those who listened to Jesus tell the parable. A N U N T H I NKABLE REQUEST AND A FATHER’S G E N E R O S I TY

The story begins with a request that all of Jesus’ listeners would have considered unthinkable. No one would ask for their inheritance while their father was alive. It would be like saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead. I can’t wait for you to die, so give me what’s coming now!” Everyone listening to Jesus would be appalled by the son’s demand. They expect the next line to be, “So the father disinherited his son and drove him away from his home.” However, Jesus is full of surprises, and throughout this parable, the surprises all come from the responses of the father. His first surprise is the father’s generous response. The father does not even rebuke his son for his unthinkable request; rather he accedes and, in fact, gives both of his sons their inheritance. E S C A P I N G TO ANONYMITY

The younger son leaves the village immediately. If he had not left of his own accord, the neighbors would cast him out of the community, since such behavior would be seen as totally unacceptable. The son has to go far away where no one will know him, so he journeys to another country where he will not be recognized. There he goes through his inheritance quickly, spending all his money on wild living. Destitute during a severe famine in his new country, the son ends up 118


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being so hungry that he takes a job looking after pigs (not a normal occupation for a Jew). He gets so hungry that he even tries to eat pig food. All his dignity is gone, along with his wealth. Finally he comes to his senses; the son decides to return to his father and throw himself on his mercy. He knows he has sinned, both against his father and against God. T H E FAT H ER’S LONGING

The second surprise of the story comes now—the attitude and behavior of the father. The father is clearly longing for his son’s return and always watching for him. He sees him while he is still a long way off and runs out to meet him. If the villagers see him first they will pronounce a solemn “ban” on the young man and drive him out. The Jews had a special ceremony that was used on such occasions for people who sinned so grossly against family and community. The father has to get to his son first, but his behavior shocks Jesus’ hearers. He runs to his son to be the first to meet him, but this meant picking up his full-length robes and tying them around his waist so that he was able to run. However, men of his age did not show their legs, and they did not run. The father is publicly humiliating himself for his son’s sake. He cares nothing for the opinion of his neighbors or for the scandal of his actions. T H E FAT H ER’S WELCOME

The servants (we are explicitly told), and indeed the whole community (we may assume), follow the running father, so the exchange between father and son is overheard. Then we hear the third surprise in this remarkable story. A public rebuke is expected, but instead the father hugs his son and kisses him before everyone. The son tries to get out the words of repentance he had planned, including his begging to be treated as a hired hand, but his father does not let him speak. There is no criticism, no “I told you so,” and no demand for long apologies and self-humbling. Instead, the father tells the servants (who are listening and watching like everyone else) to fetch his best robe, to bring a signet ring (with the family seal), to find sandals to 119


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protect his son’s sore feet, and to kill a fattened calf to prepare for a feast of celebration. A PA RT Y I N CELEBRATION

The feast is a huge affair. It will take more than a hundred people to eat a fattened calf, so the whole village is invited to celebrate with the family the return of the prodigal, and local musicians are hired to help the party along. After his unthinkable request, the son would have been regarded as dead by the community (today’s equivalent would be having the son’s face cut out of family photos), but now he is alive again. He was lost, but now he is found. T H E A N G RY ELDER BROTHER

At the height of the celebration the elder son returns from the fields and asks one of the young servants in the courtyard what is going on. The servant explains what has happened: “Your brother has come; your father has him back safe and sound.” The implication of his words is: “You should come in and join your family’s happiness.” The elder son refuses to go in and the servant has to report his words and anger to the father, in front of everyone. We can imagine the music stopping and the people ceasing to eat and to talk. T H E P L E A D I NG FATHER

Then we hear Jesus’ fourth surprise. Everyone listening expects a sharp rebuke from the father to the elder son, for he is dishonoring his father by refusing to come in to the party. But there is no rebuke. Instead the father pleads with his son (with a crowd of listeners around) and begs him to come in. For those listening to Jesus tell this story, such pleading by the father would be understood as completely humiliating. U G LY B E H AVIOR

The elder son’s next response is even more shocking. He shames his family in front of everyone by accusing his brother of spending his father’s property on prostitutes (the first mention of them in the 120


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story). He will not speak of his brother as “mine” but refers to him as “yours.” The elder brother claims to have not been loved but treated as a servant: “I have nothing of my own. You never throw a party for me and for my friends. I have slaved for you all my life.” Because he was so full of pride, self-centered thoughts about his life, and—above all—self-righteousness, he did not see his father as a loving father who had been giving to him graciously all his life; rather he saw his father as a slave master who had not even given him the rewards that he felt were his rightful due. It is important to notice that not only are his words self-righteous and accusatory, they are appallingly wrong. His father had already given him his full inheritance. He was no slave driver who had treated his hard-working son poorly; he was the most kind-hearted, loving, and generous father imaginable. But, there is yet another surprise—the father still does not become angry or rebuke the elder son. He affirms his love for him: “You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15:31). He reminds him that this is “your” brother, and urges that celebration is the only right response to his return. The story has no ending. The younger son is safely home, but the older son has not yet joined the feast. Both we and Jesus’ listeners are left with a hanging question: Will the elder brother come in and join the celebration? A N U N F O RGETTABLE STORY

This story of The Two Lost Sons, or, as it is often called, The Prodigal Son, is simply an unforgettable story, one of the greatest stories ever told, a story to capture the imagination and haunt the memory. (If you have not read it, you might want to find the lovely book about Rembrandt’s great painting of this story. The book is The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henry Nouwen.2) M O R A L C HALLENGES

At the moral level this parable teaches us about the ingratitude, self-centeredness, and destructive folly of sin. It shows us plain common sense in the face of personal ruin, as well as the necessity of 121


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humble repentance. It also teaches us about how we are to relate to one another. What is our reaction when someone is trapped in sin? Do we rejoice, gloat, point an accusing finger, gossip, or even turn away, banishing them from our sight? Or are we merciful, prayerful, longing and hoping for repentance, gladly welcoming any sign of a change of heart, ready to do anything we can to help a lost brother or sister back into the family and the community? This parable also has many wise lessons for parents. Apart from Jesus, our heavenly Father has only prodigal children, yet how gracious, kind, generous, and forgiving he is. T H E B E A U T Y OF GOD’S KINGDOM

The parable teaches us about the kingdom of God: a kingdom of love, mercy, forgiveness, and forbearance; a kingdom that goes out to find and welcome the lost, brings them back without rebuke or any recrimination, and rejoices with great celebration for any who are found. Above all, those who have leadership and power in the kingdom are revealed as those who will count any cost, go to any length, and even endure humiliation to bring about the restoration of those who wander away or who have hard hearts. R E V E L AT I O N OF JESUS’ CHARACTER

Like the other two shorter stories, this longer one is also about Jesus. He is the one who sets out to find each one of us, regardless of the shame or cost to himself. He is the everlasting Father who is always eagerly waiting, anxious for us to show the slightest sign of sorrow for our ingratitude, our rebellion, our wasting of his gifts, and our disobedience to his commandments. He is the one who humbles himself for our sake, who runs to meet us, who pleads with us to be reconciled to himself and to one another. He is the one who counts himself proud to know us, no matter what anyone else thinks about us. He is the one who endures mistreatment and disregard from sinners and yet is full of mercy, kindness, and gentleness. He is the one who starts the party in heaven and who welcomes us to his banquet feast. He will even serve us at that feast! 122


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L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Taking These Stories into Our Hearts How do we receive this story? Are we like the younger son, using and abusing Christ’s good gifts without any regard for his generosity? Are we like the older son, thinking that we deserve all the good gifts we have and considering others as worthless and unreachable? Whichever we are—and I think in all of us there is some of the badness of the younger son and some of the ugliness of the older son— Jesus is waiting for us, pleading with us, and running to meet us. He humiliated himself for us, enduring the cross and despising its shame for us. And, like the two sons of this parable, we too need a daily dose of Jesus’ love and forgiveness. Have we grasped deeply for ourselves the merciful nature of the truth? This is the most important issue for anyone who desires to share his or her faith with family members, neighbors, friends, workmates, new acquaintances, people here at home, or those on the other side of the world. Does the message that we communicate in our words and demonstrate in our lives remain faithful to this gospel? Will we live like the older brother, scorning the shortcomings of others, or will our words and lives demonstrate the character of the good shepherd, the searching woman, and the waiting and running father? How do those we think of as “sinners” see us and see what we believe? Do they see and hear this message that overflows with mercy, forgiveness, and joy? When we share the good news with people, do we demand a full account of their sins before we are willing to take their response to Christ seriously? Do we rejoice at the first sign of response and repentance and do we plan celebrations for returning prodigals?

Who Is the God I Reveal? Do we think of God as one who likes to “haul sinners over the coals”? Do we think of the Lord as one who likes to list our sins for us and force us to “eat humble pie”? How we see God’s character will determine how we reveal God to others, so what kind of a picture of God 123


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are we communicating to people? Is “our God” always angry, never truly satisfied, constantly carping and criticizing, or is he the gracious and amazingly merciful God of these parables? To bring this question down to the daily reality of our lives: how do our children see God in us, and hear about God from us? How do unbelievers in our workplace, school, or neighborhood see and hear about God through us? In our lives, are we communicating a portrait of a truly gracious God? Or are we communicating a portrait of our heavenly Father as a slave master? This past year one of my students shared in class a most painful story about his son putting a gun in his own mouth and threatening to blow off his head. He said with tears that he had failed as a father to communicate graciousness to his son in the demands he made and in the way he treated him. Many fathers are like this. I will never forget one of my sons saying to me, “Dad, what have you got against me?” His words shocked me deeply, and I said to him with tears, “Son, I have nothing against you. I love you!” I couldn’t believe I had made him feel that I was unhappy with him, or dissatisfied with who he was. We need to remember that no one has ever seen God; what they know of God’s love is what they see in us. So, again, what are people learning about the character of God from our lives?

Celebration and the Kingdom Do we recognize and delight in the celebratory nature of the kingdom that Christ has inaugurated? We are those who know the bridegroom has come. What about our family lives? Does my marriage, my family, and my personal life show this celebratory heart of the kingdom? When it comes to family parties (birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter), what do those present see? Do they see deep rejoicing because we are those who know the King? For those of us who teach and preach: is this celebratory element present in our communication of the gospel? In our churches and ministries, are we demonstrating a celebratory kind of Christianity? Is this the way our church life appears to those outside? One of my colleagues at Covenant Theological Seminary, Professor Anthony Bradley, spoke 124


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about this in chapel one day. He said: “Covenant Theological Seminary should be known as the foremost party school in the nation.” Do unbelievers characterize our churches as “party churches”? If we turn to the Old Testament we see that celebration is built into the life of the people of Israel by the Lord. At regular times each year, as each season came and went, God called his people to come together and have huge festivals with music, singing, dancing, lights, feasting, and worship. Celebration should be at the heart of our worship and should flow out of our worship. At the core of this celebration is the wonderful truth that the Lord delights in saving the lost, the strayed, and those who are in desperate need of his love. That is why in Israel their festivals were to include the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the alien. At Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, are we welcoming those who are in need—widows, orphans, the poor, overseas students, new immigrants, and single-parent families who need support and love? I believe that weddings, and even funerals, are some of the best times in the life of our churches when the world has the opportunity to see this joyful nature of the kingdom of God. Marriage is a damaged institution in our culture; but our weddings ought to be communicating its true glory and the happiness of living in the married state that God designed for us. When we have funerals, there must be room for grief, tears, and sorrow at the abnormality of death and the pain of parting with those we love. Even so, a Christian funeral ought to have an element of confidence, hope, and even joy. I remember as a pastor one particular funeral where this was very evident. One man who became a believer in our church had fragile bone disease. This is an abominable disease in which the bones become so weak and brittle that they will not bear the body’s own weight, and so, early in the disease, the sufferer is confined to a wheelchair. As the disease progresses even a cough can break ribs. During the last few weeks of his life, he had pneumonia along with other serious health issues, and so was in terrible pain. I visited him several times in the hospital and we planned his funeral. He wanted it to be like a wedding celebration, for he said, “It will be such a relief to be rid of this awful 125


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body I have to endure and go to be with the Lord. Of course I long for my resurrection body, but death will be welcome to me, even though it will be a great grief to my family.” On the day of the service the church sanctuary was filled with flowers—more like a wedding than a typical funeral. He had chosen hymns that celebrated the love of Christ, the hope of the resurrection, the wonder of the gospel, and the festive nature of the kingdom. Many unbelievers, most of whom had very rarely been to a church service, came and were overwhelmed and amazed by the loveliness of the service and the combination of sorrow and joy that was present that day.

Patience and Humiliation Do we understand the patience and humiliation that God daily endures because of our hard-heartedness? Are we willing to demonstrate the same patience and humiliation in our relationships with people? Do we search for those who are lost, willing to endure humiliation as we go out into the world? Is this how unbelievers would characterize us, our ministries, and our churches—as those who are eager to find rebels and outcasts, and who will joyfully count the cost of seeking and finding those caught in troubled situations and sinful patterns? I will share an example here. One of my students moved into a very run-down neighborhood with many broken families and children without fathers. In such a setting there were gangs, drugs, and petty crime. He started reaching out to the kids on the street by playing basketball with them, and because he was a good athlete, both he and the kids enjoyed their games. When winter came he rented space in a gym and drove around picking up the boys who wanted to play. This effort to “reach the lost” had a very profound impact on the lives of several young men, an impact that is ongoing to this day. He was Caucasian, and the young men he was reaching out to were African-Americans from broken homes. We need to ask ourselves: would such a man be able to bring these young people to his church with the full confidence that they would be welcomed gladly? 126


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Older Brothers Jesus challenged the scribes and Pharisees in all three of these stories. In the third one he reveals the mercy and grace of God—even to the ugly older brother. What about us: do we challenge the “older brothers” in our midst? Do we show love and proclaim the gospel to the “older brothers” in our churches? I don’t think I have ever heard a sermon addressing the “older brother syndrome”—and yet, in many of our churches, there are people like the older brother: people whose hearts have not been softened by the gospel of mercy; people who are self-righteous and even angry about the “sinners” in our communities; people who do not want “sinners” coming to church functions and being welcomed; people who do not want to recognize that such people may become part of the family of God; and people who want the sinners attacked at every opportunity. But we need to recognize that this is not just someone else’s problem: every one of us has an older brother in our hearts. We must be touched repeatedly by the grace of Jesus Christ by continuously relearning the good news of the gospel. T H E P O W ER OF STORIES

At the beginning of chapter 7, we asked the question, “How does Jesus speak so effectively to such a diverse group of people?” The medium he chose was this set of parables. Once again, we learn the power of stories to communicate truth to very different kinds of people. This should be particularly interesting to us in a postmodern setting, for one of the characteristics of postmodernism is resistance to truth claims. This makes communicating the truth of Christ very challenging. However, on the positive side, postmodernists are very interested in storytelling. This is one of the reasons that C. S. Lewis’s work is so popular today. People love good stories, and in stories truth can be told in indirect ways. Take the example of J. R. R. Tolkien’s books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In these books, especially in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien is telling a myth rather than writing a Christian 127


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allegory. The reason for this is that Tolkien held the view that myths, legends, and fairy stories are filled with memories of Paradise, or echoes of Eden. In them we find memories of the beauty of the world before the fall of man, the world as it came from the hand of God. We find a deep sense of the tragedy of our present condition as we wander in this world, cut off from our original home, yet at the same time enjoying many of the good gifts of creation. We have longings for redemption and deliverance from the powers of evil that seek to destroy our lives, and we have hope for the restoration of all things when salvation comes to us through what appears weak, foolish, humble, and above all, self-sacrificial love for others. In myths, legends, and fairy stories, these echoes of Eden are present, though often in muted form and covered over with false ideas and idolatries. In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien set out to write a myth that would be filled with these echoes. Anyone who reads the book or sees the movies (directed by Peter Jackson) will immediately be caught up into this world that mythically portrays the central truths of the Christian message. Many people who read the books with delight, or who watch the movies repeatedly, may be quite unaware of this. They may think that they are simply enjoying the great story of Middle Earth, the extraordinary detail of Tolkien’s mythical world, the gallery of unforgettable characters, or the wonderful way all this is conveyed in the movie trilogy. But while they are unaware, their hearts are being secretly enticed to love what is good, beautiful, and true, and above all to love the ideas of humility, servanthood, and self-sacrifice. These books, and the movies, are working as a very powerful preparation for the gospel of Christ. (This is also true of The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, and the movies being made from them.) I personally know people who have become believers after falling in love with Aslan and Narnia, or with Aragorn, Gandalf, the Hobbits, and the other peoples and places of Middle Earth. Stories can communicate Christian truth in a very powerful way, even in our postmodern culture that resists truth. At Covenant Theological Seminary we have had a discussion series called “Friday Nights @ 128


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the [Francis Schaeffer] Institute.” Often held in local bookstores, these have been great opportunities to communicate with people who would not normally attend church. By far, the most popular of these have been the evenings where we are looking at the works of storytellers like Lewis, Tolkien, or J. K. Rowling. Good stories, just like the parables that Jesus tells, work inside the heart, the imagination, and the memory long after they are first heard. Eventually, in God’s good time, they bear fruit for eternal life. As was said at the beginning of this chapter, Luke probably learned of these three parables from someone who heard them first-hand and came to faith in Christ at some point along the way. Later on, this person gave Luke an account of that unforgettable day, with these stories still clearly remembered. One day we can ask Luke who it was, and then talk to this person directly.

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One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” LUKE 7:36–50


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9

T H E “SINFUL WOM A N” A ND T H E “RIGHTEOUS M A N”

Our earlier reflections on our common human dignity, our common human shame, and the wonderful grace of Christ are underlined in the passage from Luke 7 that gives the title for our next reflection: “The ‘Sinful Woman’ and the ‘Righteous Man.’” In this section of Luke’s Gospel we get another close look at how Jesus treated those regarded as “sinners,” and we also get a glimpse into the mind of a Pharisee. Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, one of the temptations confronting everyone who desires to serve God is to become a Pharisee. When we read this account of the “sinful woman” meeting Jesus in the home of a Pharisee, we need to ask ourselves the following questions: Which of these two people am I? Do I see myself as a sinner in desperate need of the kindness and mercy of the Lord? Or do I congratulate myself that I am at least better than a prostitute, an adulterer, a homosexual, a pornography addict, a drug user, etc.? (We may fill in the blank for ourselves with a list of whichever sins each of us finds particularly abhorrent and which help us to feel that we are better than others.) T H O S E P R ESENT AT DINNER

There are a number of people present at this dinner, but among those present, two very different individuals are singled out as paying honor to Christ. One of these two is a Pharisee named Simon. Simon invites Jesus to dinner in his home, presumably because he has been impressed by what he has heard about Jesus’ teaching and is eager to 131


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find out whether Jesus is truly a prophet from God. This is apparently the question that is in his heart as he observes Jesus’ behavior at his table and as he listens to Jesus’ teaching. The other person is the woman who comes to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears, dry them with her hair, and anoint them with precious ointment. We are not told any details of her background, other than Luke’s statement that she was “a woman of the city, who was a sinner” (Luke 7:37). She has not been invited to join in the dinner at Simon’s home, but she comes anyway, risking being thrown out of this Pharisee’s home, as well as ridicule, public exposure, and disgrace. Word has somehow reached the woman’s ears that this man Jesus is a friend of those who are categorized by society as “sinners,” and so she comes to pay Jesus honor. It should not surprise us that such a woman would seek Jesus out, for we are repeatedly told in the Gospels that Jesus is a friend of “sinners” and that the “sinners” welcomed him gladly. W H O W E R E THE PHARISEES?

Simon, the text informs us, is a Pharisee. It is perhaps too easy for us to criticize the Pharisees, for we can readily present them as thoroughly unattractive people, with whom we in the church today have nothing in common. But who were the Pharisees? The Pharisees were committed to serving God; they were faithful in their attendance at worship and in their commitment to daily prayer; they were careful to live in obedience to God’s commandments. They were devoted to reading and understanding God’s Word, teaching it to others, and applying it to every area of their lives—they were the churchgoers at that time who were committed to God’s lordship over every square inch of this world. When we describe the Pharisees in this way it should be easier for us to have some sympathy with them. We should, at the very least, be able to see in them a portrait of many a committed Christian today. As believers, would not most of us want to be described in the way I have presented the Pharisees: “Committed to serving God; faithful 132


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The “Sinful Woman” and the “Righteous Man”

worshipers; devoted to prayer; obedient to God’s Word” . . . ? Would you not be pleased if someone were to describe you in such a way? R E C O G N I ZING AND RESPONDING RIGHTLY TO SIN

In their eagerness to serve God and to commit themselves to living righteously, the Pharisees were acutely aware of the uncleanness and impropriety of sin. They believed that “bad company corrupts good morals,” and consequently they did everything they could to avoid contact with both sin and “sinners.” Again, this is a sentiment with which many of us as believers would identify—both for ourselves and, most especially, for our children. However, it is at this point that we begin to see some of the problems in the hearts of the Pharisees—and in the hearts of many of us in the church today. In our present passage we find Simon making a typical “righteous” response to the sight of this “sinful woman” washing Jesus’ feet. He knows her to be a “sinner,” for her sin was obviously well known in the community, as the text tells us. From the way Simon thinks about her we should probably assume that she is either a prostitute or a woman who has been sexually promiscuous in such an open way that the whole community knows about her immoral life. S I M O N ’ S THOUGHTS ABOUT JESUS

The fact that Jesus allows the woman to come so close to him and to touch him in such a personal and intimate way makes Simon question whether Jesus can truly be a prophet from God. We may imagine Simon’s inner response in the following way: “If Jesus is prepared to have such a sinner get so close to him, then it is obvious that either he does not know what kind of a person she is, or if he does know, then he is not committed to righteousness. If either of these is true then I have to conclude that Jesus cannot be a prophet from God.” In Simon’s view, those who know God and pursue righteousness will know sin when they see it, and, even more importantly, they will keep themselves apart from such sinners. 133


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS T H E S I N F U L WOMAN

Let us think some more about the woman who comes, literally, to kiss Jesus’ feet. She is described in the text simply as “a sinner.” Again, we are almost certainly right to assume that she is a prostitute or someone who has lived a sexually promiscuous life. This woman is clearly aware of and burdened by her sinfulness. Like the Samaritan woman, she probably thinks of herself as a person whose whole life is subsumed by the description, “one who had lived a sinful life.” She is accustomed to being ignored and despised by churchgoers, worshipers of God, and those known as “righteous” people, particularly the preachers, Pharisees, and teachers of the law. These self-styled leaders of God’s people have made sure that she, and everyone else, knows that she is a “sinful woman.” H E R L O V E FOR JESUS

This “sinful woman” has also heard of Jesus; she has heard that he is, apparently, a preacher with a difference. She has heard that he welcomes sinners and eats with them, as numerous examples in the Gospels recount for us, and so she comes to honor him with a jar of expensive ointment and to give to him all of the devotion of her heart. As Jesus reclines at the table, his feet behind him, she comes and washes his feet with her tears, wipes them dry with her hair, kisses them repeatedly, and pours perfume on them from an alabaster jar. She does this, we presume, with tears that are a mixture of repentant sorrow and joyful gratitude. J E S U S ’ R E S PONSE TO THE SINFUL WOMAN

Jesus responds to the woman and Simon in very different ways. Jesus gladly receives the devotion that the woman offers him, for he understands that her extraordinary gesture of love comes from a heart that is overwhelmed by an awareness of her sin. She has come to him, weeping about her sin and ready to wash his feet with tears of repentance, to kiss his feet with a heart full of gratitude, and to anoint his feet as an indication of her love in response to his glad acceptance of her. 134


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This sinful woman understands that Jesus is receiving her with love despite her sin—indeed, we should say, “because of her sin.” For, as we learned in the account of Jesus and Zacchaeus, the reason Jesus came into the world was “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He came and loved people, not despite their sin, but because of it. It is because people are sinners that they need his love. This woman has no doubt that Jesus knows she is a sinner (everyone knows it); she has no doubt that she needs his forgiveness and acceptance; and she understands that he is giving her his full acceptance without any word of disapproval or condemnation, without even a demand for public and explicit repudiation of her sin. He does not ask her to stand up and give a verbal disavowal of her past life, nor does he insist that she give a testimony of her intention to live purely in the future. He does not suggest that her display of devotion is too emotional, that it is distasteful to him in any way, or inappropriate in its intimacy. There is nothing about his response to her that would indicate the slightest hesitation about his welcoming her actions wholeheartedly. Does this mean that her act of devotion earns her forgiveness? No! Her washing, wiping, kissing, and anointing of Jesus’ feet comes from a grateful heart, and Jesus delightedly accepts her gift. Hers is not a work to earn his love; rather it is a response to his love, pouring out of her grateful heart. As the apostle Paul says, “Faith works through love” (see Gal. 5:6). The truest sign of genuine faith in Jesus is love for Jesus that is founded on, or rooted in, his love for us. Therefore, to the one who is responding to his grace and love, Jesus pronounces the good news of forgiveness and salvation. He commends her for her faith, and he sends her away with the peace of God in her heart. She is overwhelmed by his love and acceptance of her, and so she pours out her gifts accordingly. J E S U S ’ R E SPONSE TO THE “RIGHTEOUS MAN”

To Simon, Jesus tells a story. This story is very simple and is about gratitude for canceled debts. Two men owe debts; one of them owes a large sum, the other a much smaller amount (about one-tenth of 135


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the size). The one is equivalent to five hundred days’ wages (let’s say, two years’ salary). In other words, this is a debt that is almost impossible to pay off. The other is a debt of an amount equivalent to fifty days’ wages: two months’ salary is still a significant amount, but not an impossible debt. However, in this case the debts are both canceled as neither can pay what they owe. This is true of course of our sins: whether we are guilty of “big sins” or what seem to us “little sins,” none of us are in a position to pay off our debts to God. As Psalm 49:7 teaches, there is not one person who can make atonement for his or her own sins. Jesus finishes the story with a question: “Which of the debtors will love the one who canceled their debts more?” Simon replies that the one who has the bigger debt will love his benefactor more. Yet he still does not see how the story applies to the situation right before his own eyes. Jesus, despite the simplicity and clarity of the story, still does not directly tell Simon the good news of forgiveness and eternal life. (We might say that he gives the good news to the “sinful woman” and the bad news to the “righteous man.”) Instead of praising him, Jesus rebukes Simon for not having shown more devotion to him. Simon has failed to do certain things for Jesus that would demonstrate his hospitality as a genuinely welcoming host who seeks to honor his special guest. A P P R O P R I ATE HONOR FOR A DISTINGUISHED GUEST

“I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet” (Luke 7:44). If Simon had any idea of the true nature of Jesus, he would have asked one of his household servants to wash Jesus’ feet when he arrived for dinner; or better still, if he truly regarded Jesus with appropriate honor, he would have welcomed him by washing Jesus’ feet himself. (Jesus himself took the task of the lowliest servant when he washed the feet of his disciples before his crucifixion, to show them the kind of service one should gladly give to those one honors and loves.) “You gave me no kiss” (Luke 7:45). Simon should have welcomed Jesus with a kiss when Jesus entered his home, if he had been 136


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truly pleased to see him. This was a custom of the culture, but Simon had not greeted Jesus with a kiss. “You did not anoint my head with oil” (Luke 7:46). A good host would honor a distinguished or loved visitor to his home by anointing his guest’s hair with oil; but Simon fails to do this. In contrast, the sinful woman anoints Jesus’ feet and showers them with kisses, demonstrating her awareness of the honor that is due to Jesus. She will not presume to anoint his head or kiss his cheek, for she sees herself as unworthy; instead, she anoints his feet and kisses them. She, in other words, does far more than is required of a good host. On the contrary, Simon does far less than is required of a good host, for he has no true idea of who Jesus is. He invites Jesus that he might make a skeptical assessment of Jesus’ credentials. Simon does not know that Jesus is the Savior, Messiah, and Lord. He does not realize the kind of love, devotion, and honor that ought to be given to Jesus. And he does not have a clear idea about his own true status before God, as well as the reality of his own sin. He is quite unaware of the place of humble supplication that he should be in, and clearly lacks a true and deep knowledge of God. H O W M U CH HAVE WE BEEN FORGIVEN?

We should notice the remarkable words of Jesus in Luke 7:47: Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.

The sinful woman is deeply aware of her moral need before God and before Jesus—and so she pours out her love upon Jesus in passionate thankfulness. The righteous man, on the other hand, does not think that he needs to be forgiven anything, and so he offers to Jesus no thanks for the Lord’s presence in his home, no love, no devotion. He has no true sense of his own sin. While he might say in prayer, “Lord, I know that I am not perfect,” Simon is not aware of his desperate need for the forgiveness and mercy of God, and so it does not enter his mind that Christ, who is reclining at his table, is the 137


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One who has come into this world to forgive sinners. Jesus is God’s provision to make a way to show mercy to all whose lives fall short of God’s perfect standards of righteousness. For the sake of the sinful woman, and also for the sake of Simon and the other guests, Jesus declares openly to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” He also says, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” With these words Jesus makes an open declaration of his mission from God, his identity as the Messiah, and his divine nature. Only God can forgive sins. Only God can declare that someone will inherit salvation and be welcomed into his eternal kingdom. Only God can see into the heart of a person and observe with complete assurance the presence of saving faith in that person’s heart. Only God can send someone away with the certainty that this person is at peace with heaven, and at peace with her Creator and Judge. The sinful woman leaves, but she departs as one who has now received, through faith, the righteousness of God. She is, as Martin Luther said, “simul justus et peccator”—she is one who knows she is a sinner, but who also knows that she is fully justified and declared righteous by the Lord. On the other hand, Simon, the “righteous” man, is still a sinner, unaware of his need for forgiveness and thus not justified. He does not know that he also is unrighteous and unclean before God, lacking a true knowledge of God, forgiveness, salvation, and God’s peace. Simon is left to ponder the significance of the story about debts: “What was Jesus implying when he spoke of one who owes little and one who owes much?” He is left to reflect on what he perceives to be a strange and distasteful encounter between Jesus and the sinful woman. He is left to wonder who Jesus is that he should claim to be worthy of honor as Simon’s guest, that he should openly forgive sin, and that he should declare the woman to be saved and assure her of the peace of God. Simon is left to think about his own standing before God: is he truly a righteous man, after all? Above all, Jesus wants to drive Simon to the point where he will begin to understand that he too is a sinner. Jesus wants Simon to recognize the possibility that he too needs forgiveness, and that just like the woman, he is also in debt before God. But, for the present, Simon 138


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gets no good news. The sinful woman receives the good news of forgiveness, but for the righteous man there is only more law, combined with a challenge to treat the Lord as he deserves and to honor him with wholehearted devotion. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

What does this encounter between Jesus, the sinful woman, and the righteous man teach us about ourselves and about the communication of the gospel?

The Challenge to Our Own Hearts Addressed to our own hearts, Jesus’ words are very challenging. We are not to compare ourselves with other people; nor are we to think of ourselves as more righteous or of others as more sinful. We are to compare ourselves only with God in his absolute moral perfection, goodness, justice, mercy, and love. As we grow in the true knowledge of God, we become far more deeply aware of the gap between the Lord’s holiness and purity and our own lack of holiness and the absence of purity in our hearts and in our thoughts. If I still think of others as “the sinners” and myself as “good enough,” then it is clear I know God very poorly, if at all. But when I begin to know him and come before him with a true acknowledgement of who he is, then the moral differences between myself and other people become insignificant. Before him my own sins loom large and ugly.

Kneeling before Jesus When I am on my knees before Jesus, I know my dependence on his mercy and the hopelessness of my position without his forgiveness. I begin to look with kindness and grace on others, however awful their sin, for I no longer think of myself as being better than they are. Rather, my own sins become very clear and truly heinous to me, so when I look at others, I see that we share the bond of a common plight and possess the same need for God’s unmerited favor. If my heart does not have compassion and sympathy for the broken lives of 139


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other people, then I must conclude that my knowledge of Jesus’ love for me is merely superficial.

Repentance Proofs We are reminded by this story that we do not need to make people “jump through hoops” to prove their repentance, nor are we to require that they make explicit statements of repudiation of their past sins. Rather we are to receive gladly their signs of repentance and love, no matter how unusual they may be. We do not need some formula that people must be pressed to observe before we accept their sorrow for sin and their faith in Jesus as genuine. Of course, it is true that people who have come to true faith will, over time, produce fruit that are marks of repentance. However, Jesus teaches us here how important it is to accept joyfully, without skepticism, the signs of a heart that grieves over sin and is touched by Jesus’ love.

The Kindergarten of the Law For many people the law of God (what God demands of us) must be communicated prior to the gospel. We might describe the law (i.e., “You should obey these commandments; you should do these good deeds”) as “preparatory school” or “kindergarten,” a necessary precursor to the good news of the forgiveness of sins. Jesus essentially sends Simon to kindergarten, outlining the requirements for pleasing God and listing the acts of love that the woman has done in service to God’s Son. While the gospel (i.e., “There is nothing you have done which can make you acceptable to God; acknowledge your guilt and need and receive the forgiveness of Christ”) is for those who know they are sinners, kindergarten is for those who don’t. That is why the sinful woman receives the good news and Simon is left with only the charge to serve God better. So, when should we give the good news, and when should we send someone off to kindergarten? To which unbelievers should we give only the law for the present, and to which should we give the good news right away? These may seem like strange questions—a new way of thinking to some, and absurd or even heretical to others. 140


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However, there are many examples of Jesus doing precisely this in the Gospels. The Bible teacher (Luke 10:25–37; see chapter 4) and the wealthy young man (Luke 18:18–27; see chapter 5) are both given tasks and sent away to obey the law. They are sent off to kindergarten. It may not disturb us that the Bible teacher is sent away to learn what it truly means to love God and to love his neighbor, so that he might discover that he too is a sinner in need of mercy. However, we find it more troublesome that Jesus also sends the wealthy young man away with a set of commandments to obey, even though he is a person who claims to be genuinely seeking God and eternal life. We want to say, “Surely everyone needs the good news of forgiveness and grace. People should not be left hanging in limbo, trying to please God by keeping his commandments, when nobody will be saved that way. Why not tell everyone the good news and forget about ‘kindergarten’?” How should we respond to such concerns? In answering this difficult question, it will be helpful for us to compare what we see in Jesus with what is often the situation in the church today.

True Righteousness In this story, once again, Jesus causes offense by the kind of relationship he has with a sinner. We are being shown by Jesus’ example and teaching that true righteousness, truly knowing God and being a follower of Christ, does not mean despising sinners or separating ourselves from them—although it is very widely taught among evangelical Christians today that this is precisely what Christian faith means. According to Jesus, truly believing him and being his disciple means welcoming sinners. The Pharisees taught personal separation from sinners, just as so much of the Christian church today teaches separation from sinners, but it is clearly evident that this is not what Jesus taught and this is not how Jesus lived. Remember the story I recounted earlier of the pastor and the pool party and of the other pastor’s wife who said, “Your daughters should not have friends who want to wear two-piece bathing suits!” This same pastor has found that the people who are uncomfortable with the outreach of their church are often “mature Christians” who 141


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start attending the church after moving to the area. At first they find the worship uplifting and glorifying to the Lord; they are pleased by the solid Biblical teaching; they enjoy the fellowship and the spiritual vitality. But many of them leave after six months because they are afraid their kids will be polluted by the kind of non-Christian young people who are coming to the services and youth group. Some may respond to this by saying, “Consorting with sinners is one thing for mature, adult believers. But our children need to be kept separate.” However, there are two problems with this response. First, if a child or young person is taught to stay away from “sinners” because they are unclean and polluting, it is very difficult to try to break the habit when one becomes an adult. It is even more difficult to change one’s way of thinking, the way one sees the world, and one’s attitude toward unbelievers. The second problem is even more serious. There is only one kind of true Christian obedience, and at its heart, that obedience requires being merciful and compassionate to sinners—of whom “I am the foremost.” It is this message of grace and mercy that we are called to teach our families and the young people in our churches. When Jesus is told that holiness means that sinners should be kept away, his response is that he came into the world to save sinners. In obedience to Jesus, and in imitation of Jesus, every Christian, no matter what age they may be, is called to be gracious and gentle to sinners, to befriend them and show them the mercy of Christ.

What about the Need to Condemn Sinners? What about the issue of condemning sinners? What about “blasting them with the fear of judgment,” exposing their sin, rebuking it and insisting on a demonstration of repentance and a changed life before welcoming them to the sound of the celebration of the good news of the gospel? Unfortunately, in many churches today we are taught that Christians are not only to separate themselves from sinners, but that they are to condemn their behavior openly and to challenge them with the requirements of God’s law. In other words, we are taught, both by precept and by frequent example, to send the sinners to kindergarten. 142


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I know a pastor who had charges brought against him by some members of his congregation for not preaching sermons directed at unbelieving sinners to make them feel guilty. Another sad story makes the point even more clearly. When I was in seminary during the late sixties, one of my fellow students was invited to preach a series of revival meetings at a nearby church. One evening he had stopped to get a meal at a local fast-food place before the service. He met some young people who were arrayed in the typical hippie style of the time: long hair, beards, colorful clothes, and no shoes. After a good conversation together, they asked him where he was going, and why he was “dressed up” in a suit, white shirt, and tie on a weekday evening. He told them about the service he was going to preach at, and they asked if they could come. He was delighted and so they walked together over to the church. The pastor was waiting at the door to welcome people. When he saw the “hippies” he told them politely that they would have to go home and put shoes on their feet—they could not come to the revival service “looking like that.” Of course they did not return. The message those people received that night was this: “Unless you clean up your life and your appearance, you can have nothing to do with God. We Christians want nothing to do with you until you change, because you offend us, and you might contaminate us or our children.” But Jesus’ behavior toward sinners, and his message to them, was very different.

The Kindergarten of the Law for the “Righteous” Indeed Jesus, unlike us, preaches the “school of the law” to those who seem closest to God, to those who already have extensive knowledge of the truth, to those who value God’s law and teach it, and to those who seem committed to living in obedience to God’s commandments. Think again of Simon in this story in Luke 7, as well as the wealthy young man (Luke 18:18–24) and the Bible teacher (Luke 10:25–37). Each of these men is a person who is deeply concerned about God’s Word and who, apparently, is devoted to obeying God’s commandments. They are decent, respectable, upright, clean-living, God143


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fearing people. How are we to apply the “kindergarten” principle to people we know who are similar to these upstanding, righteous men of Jesus’ time? 1) We might say that we are to tell the law to any members of religious groups who commit themselves to living by the laws of God and who see their obedience as the foundation and effectual cause of their expectation of eternal life: Jehovah’s Witnesses; Mormons; Orthodox Jews; devout Muslims. 2) Also, perhaps, we should communicate the law to many of our co-belligerents in the Culture War, those who claim to be on the side of “family values” and those who choose a conservative lifestyle. I am not criticizing those who support family values, or those who live a lifestyle that is morally conservative (far from it; I thank God for them). My point is simply this: such people—and I count myself as one of them—very easily become self-righteous and critical toward those we see as being on the other side of the moral fence. 3) It may well be that we ourselves, and any of our own fellow church members who are confident that we are serving God zealously, ought also to be challenged with God’s commandments, rather than hearing the gospel over and over again with little true understanding. For all of us, grace can become something on which we presume. The lack of a sense of accountability to God that is so prevalent in our culture is also everywhere present in our churches. We are a generation of whom it can be said “there is no fear of God before [their] eyes” (Psalm 36:1). Yet despite the widespread ignoring of God’s standards for our financial dealings, our sexual lives, and many other areas where we follow the pattern of our culture, it is perhaps correct to say this: one of the great weaknesses of evangelical churches today is a serious failure to teach thoroughly the requirements of God’s law. Instead, we have endless humanly devised rules about what Christians ought to do or ought not to do—rules about movies not to see, music to avoid, and books that must not be read; rules about clothing, drink, public and private behavior; rules about church attendance, membership 144


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requirements, and tithing on gross or net income. These rules that we design for ourselves, our children, and our church members will never produce righteousness, though they may have the appearance of wisdom. Nor will these rules produce the humility before God that is at the heart of the Christian life. However, what we really need is to be taught what it means to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We need to be taught God’s commandments about showing mercy and sacrificial love to those in need, about faithfulness in the home and the workplace, about justice and integrity in our business practices, and about righteousness and generosity in the use of money. In most of our churches there are many man-made rules, but very little serious exposition of the kind of righteousness that God and God’s laws demand. Wherever there is little serious exposition of the school of the law of God, people end up with a devalued understanding of the good news of the gospel: “We, who think we have been forgiven little, love little!” Of course, the law is not really a kindergarten, a school for infants! God’s commandments are altogether lovely because they reflect his own character and describe the way he has made us to live as those designed to imitate his likeness. But the law, because it is so beautiful, also exposes the ugliness of our sin. That is why I am referring to the teaching of the law as preparatory school or kindergarten. This is, of course, a Biblical image. Paul calls the law a “pedagogue,” that is, a “slave whose task it is to take a child to school,” with the purpose of leading people to Christ (see Gal. 3:24). Without understanding of the law we have no sense of our own sin, and therefore, we have no sense of our need for Christ. As long as we think we are righteous and living a “good Christian life,” as long as we mistakenly believe that we have “been a Christian” all together, we simply are not ready to hear the good news, and so we have no understanding at all of the gospel of Christ. We are like those of whom Christ said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ 145


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will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Many of us in our churches think of ourselves as living upright and outstanding lives as faithful Christian women and solid Christian men, and that, therefore, God is going to accept us. He will not! All of us need to hear the law of God, taught frequently and powerfully, so that we may be convicted of sin and come to understand our continuing need for Christ. G O O D N E WS FOR THE GRADUATES OF A SINFUL LIFE

Jesus preaches the gospel of forgiveness to those who seem farthest away from God: the prostitutes, sinners, tax collectors, and Samaritans. Today, our equivalent would be perhaps prostitutes, drug addicts, gang members, homosexuals, adulterers, corrupt business people and politicians, and any others whom we think of as being hopelessly wrong in their beliefs and lifestyles. These people have already graduated from the school of sin, and are often deeply aware of their need and shame. It is to the people who seem farthest from truth and righteousness that Jesus preaches the good news of salvation with the utmost grace and gentleness. This may seem completely wrong to us, a kind of upside-down world. Think of attitudes in our society as well as our attitudes often found within the church: “Condemn the poor, the weak, the sinners! Commend the rich, the powerful, the upright!” Jesus, however, does precisely the opposite.

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As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” M AT T H E W 9 : 9 – 1 3

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” LUKE 18:9–14


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10

RE V EA LING TH E PH A RISEE’S H EA R T

T

he call to give the gospel to “sinners” and to proclaim the law to others, such as people in the churches who think of themselves as godly and upright, or to people like Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Orthodox Jews, or devout Muslims sounds very strange to us. “This must be wrong,” we think. If indeed I had meant this in an absolute sense, that we are never to proclaim the gospel of Christ’s mercy and forgiveness to such kinds of people, then I would of course be profoundly wrong. E V E RY O N E NEEDS THE GOSPEL

Jesus himself declares that he is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one can come to the Father except through him (John 14:6). Repeatedly in the New Testament we are told that there is only one name given under heaven by which any person can be saved and that name is the name of Jesus Christ (see Acts 4:12). Paul insists in Romans 3 that before God every mouth is stopped and the whole world held accountable to God, for no one will be justified by obedience to the law. He goes on from this universal statement of condemnation to assure us that there is, however, a way to be justified, and that is through faith in Christ as the one who is our righteousness. In other words—coming back to our discussion—everyone needs to hear the good news of the gospel. We know this for, indeed, everyone is a sinner; there are no exceptions to this rule, apart from Jesus 149


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himself who was tempted in every way like us, but yet was without sin. N E E D I N G T O KNOW ONE’S NEED

However, we need to take very seriously the words of Jesus that we have been studying as he brought the law to bear on the Bible teacher, on the wealthy young man, and on Simon the Pharisee. In this chapter we turn to look at two passages that clearly address the problem on which we have been reflecting. The first of these is in Matthew’s Gospel, and we begin with Jesus’ words at the end of this passage: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. . . . For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. (Matt. 9:12–13)

Those who think they are well have no need of a physician. Those who believe themselves to be righteous will never listen to Jesus’ offer of mercy to sinners. Such people need to be persuaded that they are sick, that they are sinners. This is the point of our reflections on the Bible teacher, the wealthy young man, and Simon the Pharisee. Each of these men thought that they were righteous, and that is why Jesus does not directly tell them the good news, though the good news is of course obliquely present in each of these encounters. As we saw in our earlier studies, grace is always present in Christ himself, and there is grace in the stories he tells. He looked at the wealthy young man and “loved him.” The Good Samaritan is a story of grace, as also is each one of the three parables in Luke 15. But, at the end of the first parable, Jesus speaks about the ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. By the end of the third parable it is evident that it is not only the “sinner,” the younger brother, who needs to come to repentance and hear the father’s message of grace, but also the “righteous one,” the elder brother. He too needs to recognize his sin, his presumption, and the hardness of his heart; he too needs to come to repentance; and he too needs to hear and receive 150


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Revealing the Pharisee’s Heart

the words of grace and the deep love of his father for him. He too is a sinner and not one of the righteous. The reality, then, is that there is no one who does not need to hear the message of forgiveness and come to repentance and faith. Everyone needs that message. The problem is that there are people who do not see that they are sinners and who therefore do not realize that they need to repent and put their trust in Jesus. That is why Jesus teaches them the law, so that they will become aware of their sinful hearts and their desperate need for repentance and mercy. Last year I had a series of encounters at my home with two Jehovah’s Witnesses. As each of our conversations progressed, they would describe for me in more detail the doctrines that were necessary to believe and the good works of witnessing and obedience to the law that were necessary to do. However, they never displayed the slightest sense of a need for mercy and forgiveness. There was no recognition of their moral bankruptcy before the Lord, or of their need for dependence on his grace—nor did they communicate such a message to me. I only was told which doctrines to believe and the good works I must do, in order to become like them. Finally, after I had listened patiently to them for long periods of time on several occasions, they came with one of their “ministers.” I asked them about their message and said how deeply troubled I was by this, particularly by their pride before the Lord, their deep self-satisfaction, and their complete confidence that they were theologically and morally right. I tried to communicate to them that I saw this as so very different from the humility that goes with a true understanding of the biblical message, since Jesus tells us that it is the poor in spirit who are blessed. I tried to challenge them that they needed to cry out to the Lord to soften their hearts, make them new, and grant them a humble dependence on Jesus. I suggested that, like Nicodemus, they needed to be born from above by the work of the Holy Spirit. Above all, I urged them to stop relying on their own sound doctrine and their own zealous service of God. These Jehovah’s Witnesses were deeply disturbed by what I said and they have never returned to talk to me again. I try to remember 151


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to pray for them: that they might gain a true vision of the absolute moral beauty of God; that they might come to a deep understanding of the kind of purity and righteousness he requires; that they might develop a growing awareness that all their good works and carefully crafted theological positions are just dirty rags; and that they might come to their senses and realize that they must cast themselves on the mercy of God in Jesus to have any hope of salvation. I needed Jesus there to speak to them! Thankfully, we can have him speak to us. Here we will listen to him as he addresses the Pharisees of his day and seeks to expose the thoughts that dominate a Pharisee’s heart. In Luke 18, Jesus is speaking to some who were “confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else” (Luke 18:9, niv) As he does on so many similar occasions, Jesus tells a story, this time about two men at the temple: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 18:10–13)

The story teaches us about three basic characteristics of a Pharisee. PRIDE

The Pharisee stands in the temple praying about the difference between himself and other people who are “sinners” and “enemies” of God’s laws. Jesus points out that the Pharisee is not, in fact, offering acceptable prayers to God. He is simply congratulating himself (he “prayed about himself,” Luke 18:11, niv). The Pharisee lists before God his own acts of righteousness and religious devotion: he does not commit adultery; he does not extort money from people; he 152


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is not unjust; he is certainly not like a tax collector; he fasts twice each week (the Pharisees fasted on Mondays and Thursdays); and he carefully gives a tithe of all that he gets (not simply a tenth of the money he earns, but a tenth of everything he receives). In his prayers he is able to feel good about himself because of what he does and because he is comparing himself with others. He sees himself as better than most people. The “sinner,” on the other hand, in this case a tax collector (a completely unacceptable person to a Pharisee), stands off by himself, some distance away from the front of the sanctuary. He does not consider himself worthy to be there. He does not presume even to lift his eyes to heaven. His prayer is a passionate cry to God for mercy for himself. He is acutely aware of his own sin as he stands before God. Jesus comments that God justifies this man rather than the Pharisee. A C R I T I C AL SPIRIT

Closely related to the problem of pride is the tendency to be more critical of other people than we are of ourselves. Jesus tells his parable in Luke 18 to those who “treated others with contempt” (v. 9, esv) and “looked down on everybody else” (v. 9, niv). In his prayer the Pharisee is seduced by his own self-righteousness into comparing himself favorably with some other person he can look down on as a sinner. His devotion to God turns into a negative attitude toward others. This is one of the most common failings for those who regard themselves as zealous and faithful in the service of God. Jesus challenges the self-righteous to focus on their personal sins rather than on the sins of other people. This same problem of a critical spirit is evident in the passage in Matthew 9. The Pharisees are critical of both the “sinners” and Jesus. The “sinners” are just that—sinners—and that is enough to bring condemnation from the Pharisees. And while Jesus is not observed to be guilty of flagrant sin, he is criticized for the company he keeps. The Pharisee pronounces judgment based on outer appearances; for him, “holiness” is seeing people’s sin, condemning the sin and the sinner, and keeping himself separated from them. 153


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS L A C K O F MERCY

A critical spirit does not stand alone; it always leads to a lack of mercy, and this is the third challenge that Jesus presents to the Pharisees. He quotes from the prophet Hosea: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6, niv). Jesus could have quoted from any number of passages in the Old Testament Scriptures on this subject, as indeed he does on other occasions (see for example Matt. 23:23, with its reference to Mic. 6:8 and Zech. 7:9). At the heart of God’s law is mercy toward the poor, the alien, the widow, the orphan, and above all, the sinner. This is why, when the Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating and drinking with sinners, Jesus told them to go back and read the law of God. The law, Jesus reminds them, teaches that God desires that anyone who serves him is to show mercy to sinners, for at the foundation of the law is God’s mercy to his people in spite of their disobedience to him. In return, the Lord demands mercy toward others as the very heart of obedience, rather than religious devotion such as the offering of sacrifices. This issue of mercy and the law is so important to Jesus that we need to see why he is so insistent that ignoring mercy is a gross misunderstanding of God’s law. First, we note that the beginning of the law is the reminder of God’s mercy to his people Israel: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Ex. 20:2)

Second, the law has at its center the sacrificial system. The sacrifices and all the ceremonial laws deal with the reality of the constant sinfulness of God’s people. In the tabernacle and the temple there is this constant rehearsal of the Lord’s merciful provision for his people through the sacrifices and ceremonies that display his love, forgiveness, and eagerness to reconcile these disobedient sinners to himself. Third, we can think of the many commandments which explicitly remind Israel that she was an alien and a slave in Egypt, and so she is to be merciful to the aliens and slaves; that she was once oppressed, and so she is to be merciful to those who are oppressed; that all of 154


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her people, from the patriarchs onward, were stubborn, hard-hearted, and unfaithful, and yet the Lord was gracious and merciful to them, forgiving them and redeeming them to be his people. All these reminders of God’s grace and mercy are in the law so that the people of Israel will never forget that they are to show this same grace and mercy to others. Fourth, there are many particular laws that call the people to the practice of mercy in their daily lives—mercy to aliens (Gentiles), the poor, widows, orphans, and everyone in need of kindness, compassion, and justice. In particular, those in authority have as one of their most sacred obligations the responsibility to care for those who are oppressed and to speak up for those who are defenseless and who have no voice themselves. Kings, governors, local authorities, priests, Levites, judges, teachers—all in positions of leadership are to take this obligation seriously, because this is the character of their God. As we read through Old Testament history we see that whenever Israel forgets the mercy of God, she becomes proud of herself, looks down on others, and loses her merciful spirit. Israel’s prophets constantly challenge her pride, arrogance, and loss of mercy. That is why Jesus quotes from the prophet Hosea, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” and that is why Jesus sends the Pharisees back to the most basic teaching of the law: to remind them of who God is for his people, and to remind them of what it is that God desires of his people. The Lord does not want a concentration on external acts of devotion in public worship; rather, he desires a heart that is devoted to showing mercy and love to those in need. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

A Heart of Humility Jesus’ most passionate attack on the Pharisees comes against their pride. Above all else, those who are confident of their own righteousness need to be humbled before God. We need to ask ourselves, both in our own individual hearts and as the people of God in our churches, “How often are our prayers like the prayers of the Pharisee? 155


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How often does our public worship or our preaching and teaching sound like the Pharisee’s words in the temple?” Scripture teaches us that God resists the proud, but gladly receives the humble. Humility needs to be a lifelong attribute, not simply a brief recognition of our unworthiness when we first come to Christ. We are always to remember our own need of God’s mercy, because of the ongoing problems and failures in our own lives. The most fundamental of all human sins is pride. This self-serving aspect of our fallen natures does not just disappear when we are converted, though it receives a mortal blow. Pride takes our whole lifetime to die. So deep is the problem of pride that even the good gifts of God to us can readily be turned into means of self-congratulation. This is true for hereditary gifts, gifts bestowed by the Lord when we come to faith, and any special blessing that we receive from God. Even biblical knowledge can make us proud. Consider Paul’s words: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. (1 Cor. 8:1–2, niv)

Whatever our strength as individuals, whatever blessings and gifts God gives us, these will be the places in our lives where we have to be most on guard against pride. For example, if the strength and glory of one’s denomination is teaching and sound doctrine, then that will be the location of pride’s entrance, and the place where we indulge in self-congratulation before God; that will be where we turn our strengths into a weapon against others. More than anything else, we each need to pray for a humble and grateful heart and for clarity about the ease with which we become self-serving and full of pride. We need to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from him. The truth of our pride is hard for us to receive. A good name, wealth, social standing, self-reliance, intelligence, and success—all these easily breed an attitude of self-righteousness. This bright shell of self-satisfaction and self-righteousness is far harder for God to break through. This is why Jesus so often sends the self-satisfied and the self-righteous back to the 156


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school of the law: “Give all you have to the poor. Love your neighbor truly. Devote yourself to a life of mercy.” When we think our lives are good and upright, we very readily start imagining that we are “earning heaven”; we begin to take the love of God for granted, as if fellowship with him were something to which we have a right; we congratulate ourselves on our faith and devotion, our regular attendance at worship, and our participation in the life of the church. When we become trapped in such selfsatisfaction, we have to discover that we must not presume upon our relationship with God. Jesus returns the Pharisees to the kindergarten of the law in order to puncture their self-righteousness and confident presumption. Jesus longs for them to understand that they also are sinners, just as desperately in need of mercy as the sinful woman who washed his feet. When we become proud and self-satisfied, the Lord desires for us to see once again the depravity of our own hearts and to know each day that we are poor in spirit; only when we know that will we be truly blessed. We too need to fall at Jesus’ feet and stay there, to know in the deepest places of our hearts that we are not worthy to kneel at his feet, to untie his sandals, to wash his feet with our tears, or to anoint them with the most precious gifts, abilities, or possessions we have. Yet, if this is the truth within us, Jesus welcomes us with gladness. He receives with great joy whatever we wish to bring to him and to pour out at his feet, and then he tells us: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50). If instead we come to Jesus with pride and self-congratulation in our hearts for our faithful service to him, if we come pleased with ourselves because of our knowledge of God’s Word, if there is presumption in our inmost being, then Jesus will give us only the challenge: “Pour out on me the full love of the prostitute; kiss me—the One who is the everlasting Son of God; wash my feet with your tears; dry my feet with your hair; anoint me with the most precious ointment you can find.” If we were to give ourselves fully to such tasks we would come to see the beauty and perfect compassion of Christ; we would see his worthiness to receive all the devotion we could ever offer; and we would also see 157


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how everything we offer to him is completely inadequate, and how full we are of failure, coldness, and lack of zeal. Any true giving of ourselves to righteousness, any true sacrifice from our hearts, will never lead us to pride, but rather to humility before the Lord. Such humility is the most winsome characteristic that Christian believers can display to the world, because it is not self-conscious. It is simply the natural consequence of knowing Jesus.

Criticizing Ourselves, Not Others Pride leads to a critical spirit, and just like the elder brother in the parable, a critical spirit is ugly. If we turn away from the church to our culture for a moment, an illustration will help us see this. Consider our election seasons and the constant carping of the political canvassing that we see on our television screens, hear on our radios and telephones, and read in our mail. In politics both sides are full of the self-righteous, critical spirit which so typified the Pharisees. We all know that election season is appallingly ugly and that, often, one of its purposes is to stop people who are open to persuasion from voting so that only the party faithful will come out and cast their ballots on Election Day. The effect of constant criticism from both political parties helps to decrease the number of people who will participate in the democratic process. In similar fashion, self-righteousness and a critical spirit emanating from our churches have precisely the same effect on those outside the church. Even our sermons can turn into sessions for criticizing whoever is our particular source of self-righteous scorn at the present time, whether that person is from some other church or from the society around us. How virtuous we can feel as we expose the enemies of God and Christian values. But what is the impact of this on nonChristians? People who visit our churches and hear such worship and teaching are driven to disinterest, apathy, cynicism, and disgust. Is this how we want unbelievers to respond to our lives and to our words? God forbid! Scripture requires that true worship and faithful teaching are to focus on dealing with the sins of the church and believers, instead of 158


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the sins of those outside the church, in the world. The sharpest criticisms in Jesus’ teaching are reserved for those who see themselves as devoted worshipers of the Lord. We do not see Jesus condemning the sinners in the world; rather, he condemns the leaders of God’s people with his severest words. Jesus challenges us to concentrate on our own sins. I am the one I need to ask the Lord to change, and I am to give myself to the task of mortifying my own sins. It is not my family members whose sins I can mortify, not my friends or neighbors, not my work colleagues, not politicians I dislike, and not my enemies. I need to get to work on number one. Judgment is to begin with the house of God, not with the world, and I am the household of the living God—the temple in which the Lord dwells by his Spirit. Once our hearts are in the right place before Jesus, we will begin to think very differently about our fellow sinners who, like ourselves, are trapped in sin of one kind or another. In fact, it may be stated as an absolute principle: if I have a hard heart toward the unbelievers and sinners around me, then it is a certain sign that I do not have a good understanding of my own sin and unbelief, nor of my own need before Jesus for his continual mercy and forgiveness. That is why the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to ask for forgiveness for ourselves just as we offer forgiveness to those who have sinned against us. I am to know that I am just like my neighbors. They need forgiveness and so do I. They need the gospel and I do, too. We all need the good news of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ, every day. Only then will we stop comparing other people unfavorably with ourselves, for it is we who are not worthy to lift our eyes to heaven. When our worship and teaching focus on our own sin, we will be seen in a very different way by those who are unbelievers. Those who come in from outside would stop seeing us as selfrighteous, pompous, and critical. There is a wonderful story in the book Blue Like Jazz that captures this.1 The author describes how a group of Christians on the campus of a college in Oregon set up a confession booth. When people stopped by, the Christians who were manning the booth would confess the sins of Christians and the sins 159


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of the churches, both today and in the past. This was deeply moving to non-Christians who were accustomed to hear Christians being critical of the world, rather than of themselves.

Showing Mercy What God desires from every true Christian believer is mercy for sinners. This, after all, is who God is, someone who delights in showing mercy to sinners. If it were not so, there would be not a single Christian in the world. Even if the friends we have appear to be so sinful that they scandalize some of our fellow believers, we need to be ready to endure criticism and persevere in loving those whom others may consider unlovable. We constantly get distracted from this calling to mercy, for mercy is time-consuming and costly and receives very little overt praise from others. In addition, showing mercy does not readily make us feel how wonderfully godly we are. In comparison, one of the attractions of public involvement in worship, in service to the church, and in other external acts of devotion is that these are measurable forms of spirituality. Because these things can be measured in terms of time and results, we are able to feel good about ourselves. Remember the Pharisee’s prayer—he is congratulating himself on things he can list and measure. In contrast, giving ourselves to the task of showing mercy to the needy is uncomfortable. Trying to be genuinely merciful tends to reveal the selfishness and sinfulness of our hearts. Mercy disrupts our lives; but this again is what the law is all about—an uncomfortable turning upside-down of our lives (think of the parable of the Good Samaritan). However, just as with the actions of the Good Samaritan, living a life of mercy does start to produce true beauty, and we begin, in some small way, to look like Jesus. Mercy is full of good fruits and is deeply attractive to the unbelievers around us.

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Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, . . . the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” . . . And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” MARK 7:1–23


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11

R ELIGIOUS A N D MOR A L TR A DITIONA LIST S: TH E PR OBLEM OF R ULES A ND TR A DITIONS

For this chapter’s reflections we turn to an occasion in which Jesus’ words are a response to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. He and his disciples are apparently at Gennesaret (Mark 6:53), close to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, not far from Capernaum. A deputation from Jerusalem has come to check on Jesus, some perhaps to learn, others, evidently, to find fault. The discussion that takes place is triggered by someone in the deputation noticing that some of Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands before eating. We should be aware of course that their criticism of the disciples is not about hygiene but about ritual cleanliness. Notice how Mark keeps drawing our attention to the words “washing,” “defiled,” and “unwashed.” Some background might help us here as we think about these traditions of the elders. In the Old Testament law the priests were required to be washed and ritually clean before taking up their duties in the temple, including their participation in ceremonial meals (Ex. 30:17–21; 40:30–32; Lev. 8:5–6). This “washing” was also required for the Levites and for many of the various vessels and implements used in the ceremonies. By the time of Jesus some of the Pharisees had decided that it would be appropriate for “laymen” to observe these laws as well. 163


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Their motivation seems to have been the desire to be holy, “undefiled,” and dedicated to God in all their life, and so they began to require that they and their fellow Jews should be scrupulous about ritual washing before any meal. They created laws to define exactly how this should be done, including regulations governing necessary occasions, the manner of washing, and the amount of water. Mark, in his editorial comment, tells us that there were also laws governing the ceremonial washing of various household articles (Mark 7:4). Again, the motivation for this seems to have been to take the laws about the articles used in the temple service and apply them to the articles in one’s home, in order to demonstrate one’s commitment to the service of God in all of one’s life. We can imagine that the Pharisees’ thought process went something like this: “It is not just the priests and the temple that are intended for the worship and service of the Lord. The Lord has told us that we are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:6). My life, my body, and my home are also a temple of the living God. Just as the priests have a sign saying ‘holy to the Lord,’ so I, too, will dedicate myself to him as one who is ‘holy to the Lord.’” By the New Testament time period, these attempts to apply the law of God to every part of life had developed into a great body of rules, some written down and some oral, and these were referred to as “the tradition of the elders.” The Pharisees and teachers of the law saw the keeping of these rules as essential for true holiness and dedication to God’s service. They required obedience in their own lives and they devoted themselves to the teaching of these “traditions,” imposing them on all their fellow Jews. Before we simply dismiss this, we should notice that their motivation seems originally to have been good. They wanted to apply the law to all of life. They desired to be “clean”—that is, undefiled or wholly set apart to the Lord in everything they did. They wanted to ensure the law was obeyed by making it more precise and more universal than it was in its original form. They wanted to be faithful in encouraging the service of God, recognizing that all God’s people are priests before him. They knew that Moses taught that the whole 164


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Religious and Moral Traditionalists

people of Israel was a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” so they appear to have reasoned that the application of the laws for the priests and the vessels of the temple to the lives of all the “nation of priests” and the “holy people” would be a demonstration of devotion and godly zeal in the service of the Lord. How could God fail to be pleased with such zealous worship and such careful application of his Word? Before we consider Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ question, and to their teaching and practice, we need to understand that something very similar exists in evangelicalism today. We make God’s moral laws more explicit as we apply them to our cultural setting, but in the process we create rules for the Christian life. Many seminars, books, magazine articles, radio and television programs, and sermons are devoted to telling believers how to serve God more faithfully by listing rules to govern our lives. The motivation seems good and thoroughly spiritual to us. We want to be wholly committed to serving God. We want to apply his law to our contemporary situation so that we know exactly what Christian obedience will be. We want to protect ourselves and our children from the world and its pressures. We want to be able to “see” what faithful discipleship means for us so that we can discern more readily our progress in the Christian life. We imagine that we are designing these disciplines with the best of intentions. How does Jesus respond to all this well-intentioned teaching and practice? He makes a series of powerful criticisms to which we need to attend, for ourselves, for our children, and for any context in which we are teaching young people or new Christians, as it is most often with them that extra rules seem to us to be most wise and necessary. One additional introductory remark might be helpful here. There are various comments that Mark includes with his account of this discussion between Jesus and those present. Mark’s editorial comments are added for the believers who are the readers of his Gospel. It is thought that Mark was writing down the gospel that Peter taught (this is told us by very early witnesses in the church1), and that the congregations for which this Gospel was written were primarily made up of Gentile converts. The question of how much of the Jewish law was required of Gentiles would have been a very 165


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important one. This was clearly one of the issues that troubled the first-century churches. Some Jewish believers in Christ insisted that Gentile converts, in order to be “clean”—that is, pure and holy— must obey the Jewish laws about purity. So, given the setting in the churches for which Mark is writing his Gospel, Jesus’ answer is of great practical importance. So how does Jesus respond to all this seemingly well-intentioned effort to be zealous for God? HYPOCRISY

He begins by quoting the prophet Isaiah and accusing them of hypocrisy. The Greek word for “hypocrite” means “actor” or “player of a part.” The Pharisees and scribes desire to be seen as acting purely and devoutly. One problem with this is that people could be more committed to being seen by others as acting purely and devoutly, more concerned with the outside appearance of spirituality, than they are concerned with inward devotion and the internal righteousness of their own hearts. This is one of the problems with all rules we make up for the Christian life. Our rules tend to focus on the outside rather than on the heart and inner motivations. God’s law, in contrast, always points us to the heart and then sees the devotion of the heart as the motivating power for acts of genuine righteousness. (See the tenth commandment as an example [Ex. 20:17], for it applies all the laws about my relationship with my neighbor to the motives of the heart.) It is this problem that Jesus addresses in the Sermon on the Mount when he speaks not only of adultery and murder, but also lust and abusive language. An external focus readily decays into hypocrisy, for the outer appearance of spirituality can quickly replace the much more demanding inner devotion of the heart. This is the same criticism that many of the prophets directed toward the people of Israel: “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart” (Deut. 10:16), and “For you will not delight in sacrifice . . . The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart . . . ” (Ps. 51:16–17). When the focus of spiritual obedience is on the rules we design, or when we legislate our 166


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application of God’s law to the details of people’s lives, then we slip easily into going through the outer motions of obedience and become satisfied with the external appearance of spirituality rather than a deep internal obedience. M E R E LY H UMAN RULES

Jesus accuses them of raising human rules to the status of God’s law. Jesus tells them (and us) that leaders will make this mistake whenever they require of people what God has not commanded. This is true even if the leaders’ intentions are zealous, protective, and apparently spiritual. Think of all the laws that exist among believers today regarding music, movies, books, clothing, devotions, church membership requirements, tithing, drinking, smoking, and so on. These teachings “are but rules taught by men” (Mark 7:7, niv; see also esv, “the commandments of men”), and therefore, Jesus says, they must not be made binding on the conscience of God’s people. The apostle Paul teaches in his letter to the Colossians that, despite their appearance of wisdom, such rules for Christian living have no value in restraining the indulgence of the sinful nature (Col. 2:23). The most important point, though, in Jesus’ criticism here, is that God has given us no authority to increase what he, the Lord, has demanded of his people. He is their Creator; we are not. He is their Lawgiver and Judge; we are not. They are his sheep and not ours. He purchased them for himself—and we did not. He knows them as we do not. This is true even of our own children. God is their true Father, their true parent, and he is the only one who has the right to demand full obedience to laws that he gives. Our authority over others is always secondary and subordinate and is “declarative rather than legislative”—to quote the Book of Church Order in the Presbyterian Church in America, the denomination in which I serve. We do not have the right to make new laws binding on the conscience of other believers, no matter how good we believe our intentions to be. 167


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS R E P L A C I N G GOD’S COMMANDMENTS WITH OURS

Whenever we add our own rules to God’s law, no matter what the original motivation, the effect will be to replace God’s commandments with human rules—to jettison what God has required and instead insist on submission to our own laws. (Notice Jesus’ progression of words in Mark 7: the esv reads “leave” [v. 8], “rejecting” [v. 9], “making void” [v. 13], and the niv reads “let go” [v. 8], “setting aside” [v. 9], “nullify” [v. 13].) We may protest that it is not our intention to abandon God’s laws and replace them with our own, but Jesus’ point is that this is inevitably the consequence of making up human rules and imposing them on God’s people. Remember the example of the pool party—the rules for the young people were intended to keep Christians apart from sinful, nonbelieving teenagers. However, the Lord commands his people, at whatever age, to love their neighbors and to show mercy to them. V O I D I N G GOD’S COMMANDS—AN EXAMPLE

Jesus gives an example of this problem of ignoring what God desires when we focus on our rules. In Jesus’ day a Jew could say his possessions were “Corban,” that is, they were devoted to the service of God. This appears to be very thoughtful, truly spiritual, and revealing of a passionate dedication to honor the Lord—and this, no doubt, was the original intention. Faithful Jews could “leave” all they possessed to the temple, or to the local synagogue, by making this declaration. Their money and possessions could still be used for their own care and support as long as they lived, but at death, the remainder would go to the temple for its upkeep and services. This, of course, is exactly how a will works today. Once an individual’s possessions were declared “Corban,” then this could not be revoked, and they could be used for no other purposes, such as care for one’s parents, even if the parents became elderly and sick and needed one’s support. This was true whatever the motivation of the “Corban” declaration, whether it was truly from devotion to God, or whether the vow had been taken because of dislike for one’s parents or anger toward them for whatever reason. Jesus reminds them that to honor (including to 168


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care for) one’s parents is an absolute requirement of God, and cannot be set aside for any reason. He adds the stern warning of the law that to dishonor one’s parents makes one subject to the death penalty. What parallels could we point to in our own time? One such parallel today might be a pastor or missionary saying, “I am devoted to the service of God’s kingdom. God will take care of my children, for I am serving him first, and doing his work.” This sounds very spiritual, but, just like “Corban,” it is fundamentally disobedient to God’s commandments. A dear friend of ours experienced the consequences of just such a vow. When she was three years old her parents set sail for India to be missionaries there. She was left in England with an aunt and had to stand on the dock in Southampton and sing “Count your blessings, name them one by one” as her parents disappeared across the sea; the next time she saw them was when she was twenty-three. This is an extreme example, but many pastors neglect their wives and children for the sake of the gospel. The apostle Paul tells us that if we neglect our own families, we have denied the faith and are worse than unbelievers (1 Timothy 5:8). D E F I L E M E NT COMES FROM THE HEART

Jesus then calls the crowds to him to add a further commentary on his response, bringing them back to the original issue: And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” (Mark 7:14–15)

Jesus’ point here is that the ritual washings imposed on them by the Pharisees can never make a person “clean” before God. Indeed, nothing that enters a man or touches him on the outside can make him unclean. Rather it is what is within a man that makes him “unclean.” All the rules the Pharisees and teachers of the law had so carefully developed over the centuries, all the additions to the law they had so painstakingly designed to help the people serve God more faithfully, all their attempts to apply God’s law to every area of life in 169


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explicit detail—all of this human effort was a total waste and had no effect whatsoever on true purity and holiness. These words of Jesus were revolutionary. It is no wonder that he was hated by so many of the religious leaders of his time, for these brief words completely undermine their authority over the people. He says in effect, “The teaching of the Pharisees and the scribes is absolutely worthless in helping you walk in God’s ways. Their rules and traditions will not enable you to deal with the sin in your hearts.” J E S U S H A S TO REPEAT HIS RADICAL WORDS

The words of Jesus to the crowd were so shocking and so radically different from anything they had ever heard before that the disciples did not understand this “parable.” (Here “parable” carries the meaning not of a story, but of a “riddle” or a “dark saying.”) The disciples themselves were so influenced by the teachings of first-century Judaism that they did not grasp the meaning or implication of what Jesus says to the crowd, and so Jesus has to give further explanation of what to the disciples appears to be a new, strange, difficult, and thoroughly confusing teaching. And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:17–23)

This teaching of Jesus is so very different from what the disciples are used to hearing, from their own thinking, and from the way they have lived their whole lives, that it is only later that they understand Jesus’ meaning, as Mark makes clear by his comment in parentheses (Mark 7:19b). 170


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The first time Jesus says these words to the crowds, the disciples simply fail to understand him, so he makes it clear to them that he is declaring all food clean, setting aside the food laws of the Old Testament and not just the rules of the Pharisees. The biblical laws about diet and defilement were given in the Old Testament to keep the Jews distinct in all of life from the pagan nations around them. Because Jesus is himself the Lawgiver, he declares with absolute authority that the time of Israel’s separation from the nations is now over. With Jesus’ coming, a new day has dawned, a day for people in every part of the world to worship God in spirit and truth. Jesus had made the same point in his conversation with the Samaritan woman—worship will no longer be in Jerusalem alone, or at the temple, but will be offered in every nation by those who come to know him. In addition to declaring all foods clean, Jesus insists that the food and defilement laws were never intended to make the people think that food and ritual can make you morally unclean; that was not their purpose. The Old Testament itself makes this point repeatedly. Think, for example, of the refrain, “Circumcise your hearts, and not your foreskins,” or, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart” (see Deut. 10:16; Ps. 51:16–17). In this element of his teaching, Jesus is saying nothing new when he declares that it is only what is in the heart that makes us unclean morally, and this uncleanness cannot be removed by laws about food, or ritual washing, or any other external rules. While this teaching of Jesus was actually an established truth, it appeared new to the disciples, and it was very challenging for them to understand and accept, so deeply were they shaped by the understanding of centuries of interpretation. To help us realize how difficult this teaching was for them, we can look, for example, at Acts 10 and Peter’s struggle with visiting the home of a Gentile and eating unclean food. It is only after several visions, the appearance of an angel, direct commandments from God, and Peter’s arrival at the home of Cornelius, a God-fearing Gentile, that Peter finally grasps what Jesus had said to him years before, on this occasion (Acts 10:28; see also Gal. 2:11–16). Only looking back 171


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many years later at Jesus’ words in Mark 7 regarding this discussion did the disciples finally understand what he had meant. One more point to add here is this: it is evident from Mark’s editorial comments that he is seeking to help his Gentile readers know that Jesus himself is already thinking about their place in the church, even before his death and resurrection. His teaching is designed not only to rebuke the Pharisees and teachers of the law for their adding to God’s Word but also to ensure that Gentiles will be able to enter the church as full members without their having to become Jews, or to observe the ritual and food laws of scrupulous Jewish members of their churches. This was to become one of the most contentious issues in the first-century churches (see the books of Galatians, Colossians, and 1–2 Timothy, as well as the extensive discussion of this topic in the book of Acts). However, Jesus, the Lord of history, is teaching the church of the future here in Mark 7 as well as communicating the truth to the people present on that day. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Jesus denounces the traditions and spiritual disciplines of the Pharisees and teachers of the law far more strongly than we might expect. Even though their motivation in practicing and teaching these rules for a life of holiness seems originally to have been good, Jesus accuses them of hypocrisy, of superficiality, of replacing God’s Word with their own teachings, and of nullifying God’s commands. Like us today, they may have designed their rules as aids to spiritual devotion, as helpful marks of religious seriousness, or as practical ways to avoid the pollution of the world. Yet Jesus is far from impressed. He criticizes them, and he criticizes us where we make the same mistake, no matter how wise and holy our rules seem to be. Jesus’ words are still difficult for the church today. We are sure it is wise and spiritual to add to God’s commandments, to make them contemporary, and to have outward measures of inward obedience. Jesus rebukes us for this. He has not given us the right or authority as parents, teachers, pastors, or simply as individuals seeking to serve him, to make our own rules in addition to what he has given us once 172


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for all. Disobedience in this regard is one of the most serious weaknesses of the evangelical church today. We feel so threatened by the world that we feel we must add to God’s Word, but Jesus forbids us. However, very often we ignore his passionate denunciation and so we make our endless rules about what a Christian can see or read or listen to, what a believer is supposed to wear or drink, and so on. However, Jesus tells us that any such rules will do nothing to make a person genuinely holy or protect them from sin. Tattoos and earpiercing, coloring one’s hair, wearing it in spikes or ringlets, or any such external cultural practices (or refraining from doing these things and instead imitating more mainline social habits with regard to appearance, hair style, etc.) will not help or hinder a person’s spiritual growth or moral maturity, simply because these are all affecting the outside of a person, rather than indicating or impacting the status of a person’s heart. The same is true with rules about books, movies, music, and other similar things; again, the rules we design for spiritual purity and maturity are many. Here we need to think about the impact that ignoring Jesus’ teaching in Mark 7 has on the outreach of the church, as well as the damage done inside the church.

The Problem of Detailed Rules If we emphasize the details of being a Christian and our lists of rules giving a detailed account of our vision of purity, we end up with a “to do” list so that we will know precisely what we are to do to live a godly life. Like the Pharisee in Luke 18, we will want to list our keeping of the rules or our spiritual accomplishments as we pray—but Jesus is unimpressed by that. Instead, Jesus tells us that we have neglected the more important matters of the law, and we have substituted our ideas of what being spiritual or righteous is in place of those things that God regards as central and which he requires of us when we come to know him (Matt. 23:23–24). Legalism is ugly and has no power to attract unbelievers to the truth. If our focus is on our rules for holy living, then true Christianity will not be communicated to unbelievers, either by our words or in our lives; for the Scriptures teach us that the attractiveness 173


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of the gospel to non-Christians resides to a large degree in Christians practicing justice, mercy, faithfulness, and love.

Rules Separate Us Legalism encourages separation and drives unbelievers away, for my character is demonstrated by the company I keep, rather than by the quality of my life. We develop a kind of “safety in numbers” mentality, and we become more concerned with ourselves and our purity than with the needs of the world around us. As we have seen in earlier chapters, Jesus reminds us that the heart of the law is mercy, and that sinners need mercy (Matt. 9:9–13; 11:19; Luke 7:39; 19:7). The rules that are intended to make us pure are essentially designed to try to keep us apart from sinful people, and to keep our children apart from sinful children or children from sinful homes. We teach our children to be undefiled and separate rather than to show mercy—then, when they grow up, we wonder why they find evangelism to be so difficult. In other words, the rules we adopt have the effect of undermining our desire to love, serve, and communicate the gospel to unbelievers, because we are to “be separate” and also because our rules undermine the believer’s ability to relate to non-Christians in a comfortable way. We make ourselves so culturally different that we feel “out of place” and non-Christians feel uncomfortable with us. Yet these things that produce this effect are not the marks of genuine righteousness and godliness, but simply external cultural differences. Even where the differences between Christians and the world are not merely external cultural practices but the contrast between purity of life and genuinely sinful patterns, our calling is to be merciful, just as Jesus was, and to delight in being friends with those around us, just as Jesus has come to us in love and friendship.

Undermining Authority Legalism fosters rebellion against parents, schools, and churches, and ultimately against God. Whenever we add to God’s Word we immediately increase the likelihood of resistance to our authority. Take the example of a required chapel service, or compulsory attendance 174


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at a certain number of church meetings, or enforced devotions, or obligatory spiritual disciplines. God does not force us to adore him and we cannot compel a person to worship our Lord. If we try to make worship obligatory, we will produce either spiritual arrogance or superficial observance and a resistant heart. Some of the most difficult people to reach are those who are rebellious because of the overly legalistic homes in which they were raised, or because of membership in churches that impose all sorts of unscriptural demands on those who participate. The sinful nature responds even to the requirements of God’s beautiful commandments with rebellion (Rom. 7:8–11); it responds even more negatively to those obligations imposed by humans in authority. People who know that they are unbelievers will rebel even more, because they will assume there is nothing in the church for them. If they are rigid people who cannot live without strict structures they may join us at church, but their hearts will be closed to the truth and they will participate in church life with no understanding of the grace that is the very heart of the gospel. It is surely in such a context that Jesus says that Pharisees and legalists will make converts who are twice as much children of hell as they are themselves (Matt. 23:15).

Worldly Religion in Place of the Gospel Legalism is fundamentally worldly, though it claims to be true religion (see Col. 2:8, 20). All other religions, including many unfaithful versions of the Christian faith (the only exception here is true Christianity), are basically rule-oriented and require particular moral and spiritual disciplines to be practiced, enabling their followers to find God through a disciplined life. Because of this, all other religions lead to a mentality of salvation and spiritual life—however these may be defined—as a result of human effort. Basically, and I write this as respectfully as I can, all the religions of this world are forms of “works-righteousness,” the human effort to search for and to please God. But Christians are to make known the one message that is different, the one message that alone can save and transform. Christ did not come to bring religious devotion or 175


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spiritual discipline or even an ethical code (though a life of devotion and moral beauty will come as fruits of knowing him). Rather, he came to substitute his moral perfection for our moral failures and to bear our deserved penalty by his death on our behalf. Life, godliness, spirituality, and goodness come to us only as we hold out to him the empty hands of faith and as we begin to love him in response to his love for us. Any other message should be an abomination to us, for it is a different gospel.

Jesus’ Passion for the Salvation of the Legalists We also need to think about Jesus’ evangelistic intent in this discussion of the problem with the rules and traditions of the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus’ words are very challenging to these “designers of rules,” these who are passionately committed to being as explicit as possible about the requirements of detailed obedience to the Lord. Jesus is hard on them because their pride in their knowledge of their laws and their commitment to keep them is an obstacle to faith. His passionate denunciation has the purpose of humbling them. As he says to them on another occasion: If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains. (John 9:41)

Pride creates a heart that is hard to penetrate, eyes that refuse to see, and ears that are closed. Jesus’ harsh words arise from his commitment to break through their arrogant obstinacy. An even more damning indictment of the teaching and the lives of the Pharisees and scribes comes in Matthew 23 when Jesus pronounces his seven terrible woes on them. Even there, in that shocking condemnation of their service of God, Jesus has the desire to save them. See his words of love, longing, and distress at the end of that passage: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! (Matt. 23:37)

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When we read in the book of Acts that a great number of the Pharisees eventually came to faith, we know that the Lord’s severe words bore their fruit in time; for he did at last gather many of those reluctant and obstinate people to himself. The problem we face is this: “When could it ever be appropriate for us to speak to people with the severity of Jesus?” This is a very difficult question to answer, for unlike him, each one of us has a Pharisee in our own heart, a Pharisee who needs regular rebukes. This sad reality of our own inner lives should mean that our severity to the self-righteous and to the legalists around us must always be tempered by compassion borne of our own failings in these matters. Our severity should also always be tempered by the agonized prayer of the tax collector whom Jesus quoted: “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Is our denunciation of self-righteousness and legalism motivated by our own pride that “we are not like the self-righteous Pharisees of our time, and we are not legalists”? Or is our denunciation of these obstacles to the gospel motivated by a passion for truth and by compassion for the Pharisees? Having made these necessary qualifications, we still must sit at Jesus’ feet and recognize that legalism is an implacable enemy of the gospel of grace. And we need to be prepared to fight against it, rather than bow to it or allow it to govern the life and outreach of our churches. Indeed, we may regard it as a principle: the more legalistic a church is, the less genuine outreach there will be. Attacking legalism is necessary to bring about the salvation of the legalists themselves by humbling them before the Lord, before his truth, and before his grace. Attacking legalism is also necessary in setting people free from the rules that the legalists impose upon them. We are to proclaim liberty: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). This proclamation of liberty from legalism is one of the great friends of true proclamation of the gospel, both to the church and to the world.

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And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. M AT T H E W 1 5 : 2 1 – 2 8

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. MARK 7:24–30


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12

FA ITH A MONG TH E CA NA A NITES

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n this present chapter we will study an interesting meeting between Jesus and a Gentile woman. Both Mark and Matthew include this encounter between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman in the same context in their Gospels, in order to draw attention to the relevance for Gentile converts of Jesus’ teaching on the Jewish “rules,” and particularly to the relevance of his teaching about food and social interaction. In Mark’s presentation of what took place, it seems that this encounter occurred soon after the discussion of the “traditions,” for we are told that Jesus and his disciples “withdrew” from the area near the northwest shore of Galilee, where that discussion took place, to the region of Tyre and Sidon. We are not told why Jesus goes there (since it was a largely Gentile area), but it seems he needs a break from the pressures of his ministry, as, at first, he tries to keep his presence secret. Presumably he is staying in the home of a Jewish friend, for there were many Jews living in this region. It is possible, of course, that he is visiting in the home of a Gentile, for we know from John 4 that Jesus happily stayed in a Samaritan village and ate unclean food there for several days. There was no Jewish shop selling kosher food there. In the setting of this present story, we also know that Jesus has just declared all foods clean. However, from the disciples’ confusion, it is clear that they did not yet fully grasp the importance of his words on that occasion. 179


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS T H E W O M AN

One who comes to know of Jesus’ presence is the Syrophoenician woman. Mark calls her a “Greek,” by which he means she is a Gentile, rather than a Jew, and a pagan in her religion and culture (see Gal. 3:28). Matthew calls her a “Canaanite,” a generic term for the pagan peoples who have lived in the region from back before the time of the patriarchs, and who for millennia have been the enemies of Israel. She lives in the area of Tyre and Sidon—names which stand for enmity to the Lord and to the truth. Mark tells us she was born in Syrian Phoenicia (as opposed to Libyan Phoenicia in North Africa). This area was largely Greek speaking and had been so since the time of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC. It is probable that Jesus’ conversation with her takes place in Greek. It will be helpful to have both accounts before us, as each writer adds some particular detail that impressed itself upon him (Peter, in the case of Mark’s Gospel, and, of course, Matthew). H E R FA I T H IN THE COMING MESSIAH

The woman comes to Jesus “immediately” (Mark 7:25) after she hears about him to beg him to heal her little daughter of demon possession: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David” (Matt. 15:22). Both Mark and Matthew draw attention to her faith in contrast to the lack of faith of many in Israel, particularly the lack of faith among the spiritual leaders. She has no doubts and no hesitation; rather, she comes immediately to Jesus, recognizing him as the Messiah. It took the disciples themselves some time to draw this conclusion, but this is her heart’s response to what she has heard about him. “Son of David” is of course a Messianic title—and so we have to assume that she has some knowledge of Israel’s expectation of the Messiah, God’s promised deliverer and king, who would come from the lineage of King David. We may ask: “How did a pagan Canaanite have such detailed and accurate knowledge of Judaism?” The answer to such a question would be that this hope for a king to arise and to drive out the Romans was one of the heartbeats of Jewish life at that time. Consequently, 180


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Faith among the Canaanites

any Gentile who was at all familiar with any of the Jews living among them would have learned of this belief and longing. While Gentiles were despised by most Jews at that period of history, Gentiles were able to attend the services at the synagogue. One day we can ask this woman how she came to hear of the Messiah: whether she had begun to go to the local synagogue and had heard readings there from the prophets about the coming of the Messiah, or whether she had heard a public talk on the subject, or whether she had a friendly Jewish neighbor who took the time to share her own hope in the promise of the coming Son of David. J E S U S ’ I N ITIAL RESPONSE

At first, Jesus makes no response to her request. He simply listens to her. The disciples, on the other hand, try to drive her away (as they did with little children on another occasion). To put the most pleasant interpretation on their actions, we might say that they are trying to make sure Jesus has a respite from the business of his ministry, and it’s likely that they also feel in need of a break. However that may be, it is almost certainly true that they have no time for a Gentile, even one with some knowledge of Jewish hopes, and even one with the beginnings of faith. (Remember their response to seeing Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:27.) In this woman’s case, her faith in Jesus is persistent, and the texts stress this persistence: “keeps crying out” (Matt. 15:23, niv); she “fell down at his feet. . . . And she begged him” (Mark 7:25–26). Jesus then replies, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). G E N T I L E DOGS!

Remarkably, the woman seems undeterred by Jesus’ initial silence and keeps crying out her request. Jesus eventually speaks, making no direct reply to her pleas for her daughter. Instead, he says: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Again, she is undeterred by what seems a discouraging reply from Jesus, and, instead of leaving, as the disciples desire her to do, she falls at his feet asking for his help, begging him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 181


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Jesus then quotes what must have been a Jewish proverb, or even a popular joke, about the children and dogs: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Mark 7:27). Jesus is certainly not calling Gentiles “dogs” as some of his Jewish contemporaries did, so we must assume that he is using irony: “You know what they say—‘You can’t give the children’s bread to the dogs.’” We can perhaps speculate that Jesus repeats this popular saying with a smile or a twinkle in his eye. We are right, I think, to read the text this way, because of the manner of her response. She catches on immediately, enters into the spirit of his ironic words, and continues the joke by replying: “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28). Jesus responds to her persevering faith by healing her daughter. It is the only “healing at a distance” recorded in Mark’s Gospel and this draws attention both to the power of Christ and to the persistent and true faith of this Gentile woman. For us, the question is: “Whatever are we to make of Jesus’ words?” I put it this strongly, because many Christians find this passage troubling. I S J E S U S D I SMISSING HER?

First, we can be confident that Jesus is not uninterested in her, nor is he trying to drive her away. Rather he is deeply moved by the strength and persistence of her faith and he gladly responds to it. If he is pleased with her faith, and eager to heal her daughter, what are we to make of his initial silence, his challenging words about his mission to Israel, and his repetition of a dubious proverb? I think we can conclude that Jesus’ intention is to elicit and to encourage the faith of this Gentile woman. His initial silence at her first plea, his declaration of his limited mission, and then his ironic words all have the purpose of challenging her to persevere in her request and to declare her faith ever more boldly. All Christians have the experience of the Lord not answering our prayers at first. All of us sometimes feel that the Lord is far off and is 182


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not listening to us. Think of the words of David in Psalm 10, words which every honest believer can echo: Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? (Ps. 10:1)

There are also occasions when we sense the Lord is stretching our faith, even that he is mocking us—mocking us kindly, but mocking us nonetheless. In Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah pours out his plea and complaint to the Lord. Jeremiah says, “I know you are righteous, Lord. But even so, I want to plead my case to you” (12:1, at). The Lord replies with words that are startling, and that appear gently mocking: If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? (Jer. 12:5)

The Lord’s intention is to challenge and stretch Jeremiah’s faith. He is quite aware of Jeremiah’s limits, and he is completely committed to Jeremiah, both in this life and forever. So it is with the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus is refining her faith like gold in a furnace. Her response is exactly what the Lord desires; that is why he says, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter” (Mark 7:29). The Lord is deeply moved by her faith and so, at that very instant, he delivers her daughter from the demon that has possessed her—even though the girl must be some distance away and Jesus has not seen her. S T R O N G FAITH

Jesus also desires to draw his disciples’ attention to her faith in comparison to the lack of faith he so often finds in Israel, the people to whom he came and to whom he devoted almost the entirety of his efforts during the three short years of his ministry. This is a woman who has never met Jesus before, who has not had the privilege of hearing his teaching or seeing his miracles, and yet she has a deep 183


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and passionate faith in him as God’s promised Messiah. Again, this is the only healing at a distance that Mark records for us—his clear intention is to encourage his Gentile readers by including this story. M I N I S T RY T O THE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL

Jesus’ words about “the lost sheep of Israel” are to be taken as a genuine statement of his ministry purpose. As one who is truly human and who is therefore finite in energy, who is living in the time constraints of this universe, and who can, as a man, only be in one place at one time, Jesus sets limited goals for the three years of his ministry. He devotes that brief time to reaching the people of Israel, rather than rushing around the world—this would of course have been impractical at that period in history, even if he had any interest in such an approach to proclaiming the gospel. He could not book jet flights to all the major population centers of the world and set up brief evangelistic crusades. (The apostle Paul did indeed travel to many great cities to proclaim the gospel, but his stays were not brief. In Ephesus, the major city of Western Asia Minor, in modern-day Turkey, Paul’s “crusade” lasted three years—the extent of Jesus’ whole teaching ministry.) More importantly than this limitation of his human finiteness, Jesus comes to Israel in obedience to the Father’s will. This is what the Lord had promised in his Word concerning the ministry of the Messiah. The Jewish people do indeed have a priority in God’s dealings with the human race (see Rom. 1:16, which says that the gospel is “to the Jew first and also to the Greek”). The Jews were God’s children, called by him to eat at his table; they were given his word and the law; they were called to worship him as he instructed them; they were the heirs of the covenant promises; and they were taught to expect that the Messiah would be born among them. Paul writes of this when he sets out his longing for his brothers, his “kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3): They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the prom-

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ises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. (Rom. 9:4–5)

Jesus, in his conversation with the woman, recognizes this prominence of Israel in God’s purposes to be the sober truth. He also asks this Gentile woman to acknowledge the truth that Israel is at the heart of God’s redemptive purposes—and she does acknowledge this. Indeed, all Gentile believers in Christ ought to acknowledge that when we come to Christ we are engrafted into the olive tree of the Lord’s people, Israel, and so we become children of Abraham and sharers in the covenant promises given to him and to the other patriarchs. In his earthly ministry of three years, it was necessary for Christ to “primarily” limit his ministry to the Jewish people in fulfillment of Scripture. The apostle John says in the prologue to his Gospel: “He came to his own” (John 1:11); that is, “He came to Israel, his covenant people.” As Jesus’ death approaches, and after his resurrection, he makes it absolutely clear to his disciples that they must go to the whole world, to all the nations and not only to the Jews (see, for example, Matt. 24:14; 28:19; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8). We may contrast this horizon for their future ministry with Jesus’ sending them only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” on their mission trip during his three years of ministry (Matt. 10:5–6). It was first to Israel, and then through Israel, that Christ has reached the world. He came as an Israelite to redeem his people Israel—and then all the nations. Yet even then, when he came to the Jews, to the lost sheep of Israel, he gladly reached out to a Gentile and healed her child, marveling at her faith. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Her Motherly Love This woman’s love for her daughter is the impulse that drives her to Christ. She is prepared to suffer scorn, rejection, even being cast out physically, in order to bring her daughter’s need to the attention of 185


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Jesus. It is this fundamental way in which she displays the image of God that is the “bridge” for the gospel to be made known to her. Very often we will find that it is not people’s weaknesses but their strengths (though these strengths may be drawn out of them in times of great trouble) that bring them to the place where they can acknowledge their need for the Lord and for his help. In churches where the members are truly engaged in reaching out to non-Christians around them, we can observe this principle in practice—even though the church may not have realized that this is what is taking place. There are many examples of this: people may become open to the gospel in their hearts and minds when they are about to become or have just become parents. Their love for their children and their sense of responsibility to their children (ways in which they exhibit the image of God) lead them to a readiness to seek the help of the church. This is often the point in life when those who have grown up as Christians, but who have drifted away for a while from their faith and from the church, return to the church and their faith begins to grow once more. The same thing may happen when children are going through difficult times in their teenage years, attracted to all sorts of problematic behavior patterns in the culture. The parents’ love for their child overrides their sense of pride, a pride which makes it difficult to acknowledge that they are not coping in raising their son or daughter. Humbled by their love and anxiety they will seek support and sometimes turn to a church that is known to have a fine youth ministry to get help with their rebellious teen. It is important to recognize this so that we are prepared to appeal to people’s strong points and not only to offer help in their weakness—or to assume that they have nothing to offer in service of Christ. Certainly, as Francis Schaeffer would say, we come to Jesus with the empty hands of faith. But, like this woman, or like the magi, people may well be drawn to Christ, and bring gifts to him, because of admirable qualities within them. There are many examples of this in the book of Acts. Think of Paul’s message on Mars Hill (Acts 17:22–31): he appeals to the Athenians’ sense of religious obligation; their commitment to wor186


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ship; their recognition that there is a divine origin for this universe; their knowledge that there is some likeness to God in human persons, for we are “his offspring”; their wisdom that teaches them that temples and statues do not contain the reality of God; and their expectation of facing judgment and having to give an answer for their lives. All these notions are present in the thinking of the people listening to Paul on Mars Hill, and it is these elements of truth and genuine wisdom that he uses as bridges to communicate truth. We may set it down as a principle that the way that is wisest, and best imitates the practice of Christ, is to approach most people who are unbelievers by applying Paul’s words from Philippians 4: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil. 4:8)

Stretching and Challenging Faith Jesus did not always make it easy for people to respond. Sometimes, of course, his message comes with a simple and direct invitation to faith, but not always: for example, Jesus desires that the Samaritan woman (see John 4) acknowledge that Jerusalem was the right place to worship God, not Mount Gerizim, for “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). In addition, he is eager for her to acknowledge the problem of her failed marriages, which is why he asks her to go and fetch her husband. Just so, in the Syrophoenician woman’s case, both Jesus’ behavior and his words to the woman represent a challenge— Jesus chooses a more indirect method, rather than a straightforward invitation or an attempt to “close the deal” as easily and painlessly as possible. In this situation, the challenge Jesus gives has to do with her understanding of the history of redemption and her acknowledgment of the priority of Israel. Jesus is stretching her mind and humbling her heart, for he desires that there be a response of genuine understanding and deep commitment. In contrast to this approach of Jesus, we have been accustomed to 187


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think that we need to make the gospel as easy as possible, so that we get people in through the “gate of salvation” by ignoring challenging or difficult elements of the biblical message. Jesus never does this. Nor does the apostle Paul do this in his presentations of the gospel. Rather, Paul writes, “By the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 4:2). The gospel contains challenging doctrines and ideas that are difficult for people to hear. It also includes a call to repentance, a call to discipleship, a call to service, and a call to stewardship—not only an offer of forgiveness.

Recognizing Our Finiteness Jesus acknowledged his humanity and his particular calling. In the same way each of us has to recognize our finiteness as human beings, and we need to acknowledge that the Lord has made us to live in particular places and at particular moments in history. We should embrace this reality rather than view it as a problem—to be human is to be finite. Finiteness is not sin, and it is not a consequence of the fall. If we have been called by the Lord to give our lives to the proclamation of his Word, we also need to ask where the Lord may be calling us. We need to be able to say to him as Isaiah did: “Here I am; send me.” With the Lord’s direction we each will have a particular place to which we are called, and a particular group of people to whom we are called. We cannot go everywhere and do everything that needs to be done. A wise friend of mine used to say, “A need does not constitute a call.” What I have written here about individuals is also true of churches. A church cannot support every mission that exists in the world, but has to make wise choices about the missions it will pray for and give to, and where it will send both its long-term and short-term missionaries. However, we need always to remember that the gospel is by nature a message that is for the world. We cannot say, “We are called only to people of English origin or of European stock, or only to AfricanAmericans, or only to Chinese, or only to Koreans . . . ” We ought not to make such statements and then refuse to see beyond this particular 188


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horizon of mission. Jesus was called to the Jews, but he reached out to many Samaritans and Gentiles as well as to the lost sheep of Israel. Then, at the climax of his ministry on earth, he began to call his disciples to go to the whole world and to proclaim the gospel to every person. In the same way, each one of us, and all of our churches, have a responsibility to teach and to be an example of our glad submission to the wide horizons of mission that the New Testament sets out for us. We should not ever communicate in word, or in action, that we believe in restricting the gospel to a message for ourselves, for our own people, for our own place, or for our own particular calling. As we think about our responsibility to make the gospel known, we need to heed Jesus’ words: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We, of course, are in a very different moment of history, and in different geographical settings from the time and situation in which Jesus spoke these words; but I believe that it is appropriate to apply Jesus’ words to our own times and our own situations. If we seek to do this work of application we may come up with a mission purpose and vision for our own lives and our own churches that might look something like this, as we reflect on our calling to be Christ’s witnesses in our world. We begin with our own cities and move out from there. This sort of vision leads to churches from all over the world seeing themselves as missionary centers, from which the Word goes out to all the world, and also as reception centers, to which the Word comes from all over the world: 1) Our own Jerusalem; that is, our own city of St. Louis, or London, or Seoul, or Sao Paulo, or wherever we live. 2) Our own Judea; that is, our own nation of Brazil, or Korea, or England, or the United States of America, or wherever we may live. 3) Our own Samaria; that is, those among us and alongside us who are different, racially and culturally. 4) The ends of the earth; that is, all the nations of the world who need to hear the gospel. 5) The people of Israel (literal Jerusalem and Judea). God has an ongoing desire to save the people of Israel, who are beloved by

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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS him because of his covenant promises. Paul makes it abundantly clear in Romans 9–11 that the Lord has not abandoned his commitment to the salvation of Israel according to the flesh. Because God has this passion, so should we. All of our churches ought to consider being committed to evangelism among the Jewish people, at least at the level of prayer; and perhaps also at the level of financial support of such a mission, sending missionaries to Israel, or reaching out to the many Jewish people who live around us, if our home is in the United States or in many other parts of the world where there is a Jewish population.

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When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority.” . . . When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. M AT T H E W 8 : 5 – 1 3

After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. . . . And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well. LUKE 7:1–10


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13

TH E FA ITH OF TH E CENT URION: A N OFFICER A ND A GENTLE M A N

Even though Jesus spent most of his time seeking to reach out to his fellow Jews, he did also gladly minister to Gentiles, as we saw in his encounter with the Syrophoenician woman. This woman had a sense of humor as well as a persevering faith. Jesus healed her daughter, demonstrating his love for Gentiles as well as his power to heal at a distance. For this present chapter we turn to another encounter with a Gentile, this time a military officer in the occupying Roman army. Rome had its garrisons of soldiers spread right across its vast empire, both to keep conquered peoples in peaceful and quiet subjection, and to help local authorities with the task of government and the administration of justice. Luke and Matthew each give partial accounts of what took place (similiar to two different news reporters covering the same story). Luke gives more detail of how the centurion asked Jesus to come and heal his servant (by Jewish emissaries and friends) while Matthew gives more detail about 193


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Jesus’ response to the centurion’s faith, and also a fuller account of Jesus’ challenge to the Jews who were present in the crowd that day. W H AT D O WE LEARN ABOUT THIS MILITARY MAN?

Care for His Servant We are told that the centurion cares deeply for his servant. Matthew uses the term pais, which can mean “son” or “boy,” but which can also mean “servant” or “slave” in relation to his “master.” Luke uses the term doulos, that is, “slave,” to refer to the boy in his narrative, while in Luke’s account the centurion calls the boy my pais, by which he could mean “son” or “boy,” but which almost certainly means in this setting “my servant” or “my slave.” However, he is not a typical master of his day (or of any other day), but a man who regards with affection and responsibility those who work for him (the servant “was dear unto him” [kjv] and “highly valued” [esv and niv], and the value is clearly due to the master’s concern and affection rather than the servant’s financial importance). The centurion cares enough to send to Jesus for his help to heal the “boy” of the paralysis that is afflicting him (the servant is “lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly,” Matt. 8:6). Those of us with relatives or friends afflicted by Lou Gehrig’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or some other illness which causes gradually increasing paralysis will have particular sympathies with this servant’s plight. We long to see the one we love having control of their muscles once again and a body restored to its former strength and abilities.

A Gentile Held in Honor by the Jews In addition to being an unusual master, this Roman centurion is an unusual Gentile. He is highly respected, even loved by the Jews. A Jewish deputation made up of synagogue elders comes to plead with Jesus for the healing of this Gentile’s servant. Remember, this man is a member of the hated occupying army, not just any regular Gentile “dog” or even the “family dog” that lies under the meal table (the term for “dog” used in the encounter between Jesus and the woman in our last chapter). When we consider the attitude of most Jews at 194


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The Faith of the Centurion

that time (and of most Jewish religious leaders of that time) toward Gentiles, this deputation to Jesus is remarkable. The centurion is described by them as “one who loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” The point to notice here is that the Jews think so highly of this man that they regard him as “deserving” of Jesus’ care and of their pleas on his behalf. He is a “righteous Gentile,” like Oscar Schindler, the friend of Jews during World War II, who worked at rescuing Jews from their Nazi oppressors.

A God-Fearing Gentile The centurion has become a God-fearer, a Gentile who worships the God of Israel. Not only that, he understands that “salvation is from the Jews” (Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman), and so he loves the people of Israel (as we should too, once we understand them to be the people through whom salvation has come to us). He is so committed to his faith in the God of Israel that he has given his own money to build a synagogue in Capernaum (a city on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee). This synagogue has been discovered and excavated. On the lintel and doorposts there are engravings in the stone of a pot of manna and of vines with fruit. It is in this synagogue that Jesus spoke of himself as the true manna, the bread from heaven, and called his hearers to eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:29–59). Jesus must have noted the engravings as he entered the synagogue and then used these “illustrations” in his teaching. We will find out one day how much this centurion had to do with the actual construction and the engravings on this synagogue. We can ask him, “Was that your idea?”

Personal Humility The centurion has a deep personal humility. He sees, or hears, that Jesus is on his way to his house to heal the boy in response to the request by the Jewish elders, and he sends friends (this time, we should assume they are Gentile friends, for they come from the house and return to it) to tell Jesus “Lord, don’t trouble yourself.” While the Jewish elders think of him as a “worthy” Gentile, he does not think of 195


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himself as “worthy” of having Jesus come under his roof. As a Gentile who understood and loved Judaism, he knew that Jews were not allowed by their law to enter a Gentile’s house (see Acts 10:28). He is, therefore, anxious to show his sensitivity to Jesus, a Jew. However, there seems to be more than just cultural sensitivity in the account. He is clearly conscious of Jesus’ authority and lordship, so he does not consider himself worthy as a man, not just as a Gentile, to have Jesus enter his house. This too is the reason he gives for not coming in person: “I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you” (Luke 7:7, niv). Instead he sends a second group, this time of his Gentile friends. Here is a man who understands the goodness and greatness of Jesus, and so he sends others to ask on his behalf. This attitude of heart is a delight to the Lord, for Scripture teaches us everywhere that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

Understanding Authority He is a man who understands the nature of authority. He is accustomed to obeying those over him, and to giving orders that he knows will be obeyed by those under him. He therefore believes that Jesus does not need to come in person to heal his servant, but that he only needs to “say the word, and let my servant be healed” (Luke 7:7). He recognizes that Jesus has authority to teach, to heal, to cast out evil spirits, and therefore he reasons that Jesus can heal at a distance. There is no necessity for some dramatic or spectacular display that will demonstrate Jesus’ healing power. If Jesus has such authority and power, and he believes that Jesus does, then there is no need for him to be physically present for healing to take place. (I expect that probably all of us think our prayers for healing for those we love would more likely be answered if Jesus were present in person, able to see and touch the one we love.) Jesus is astonished by the strength of his faith; he commends the centurion’s respect for him and trust in him to the crowd; and he heals the servant so that those who have come to Jesus return and find the servant well. There are only a very few examples in the Gospels of Jesus healing someone from a distance. 196


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J E S U S ’ R E ACTION

Matthew expands on Jesus’ response to the centurion’s faith. He records for us what Jesus said to the crowd that was following him as he walked toward the centurion’s house. This would include the Jewish elders who are the original deputation, the Gentile friends who come from the centurion, probably some disciples who are almost always with Jesus, and perhaps some onlookers who are caught up in the excitement of the moment. This centurion is a man respected by the whole community, and thus, everything that happens, and all that is said, takes place before a substantial group of people.

Jesus Marvels at the Centurion’s Faith First, Jesus commends the centurion’s faith. His faith, Jesus says, is greater than that of any Israelite he has met. This is high praise, for there are many examples of Jesus commending people for their faith. This man understands the lordship and saving power of Jesus in great depth, and is also characterized by the humility of true faith. Jesus challenges all his hearers to the same humility and faith—and he also challenges us who read this account. Here is a man who has not seen and yet who believes. Even some of Jesus’ closest disciples who have seen many miracles have less faith than this man.

Jesus’ Challenge to the Jews Second, Jesus challenges all the Jewish people; he essentially says, “You respect this man, and so you should, for he is just an early example of the faith of many other Gentiles who will enter the kingdom of God as he has done.” Jesus looks forward to the coming of the kingdom of heaven, and he forecasts the presence of many Gentiles from every race, nation, tongue, and people on the earth at the great banquet at the close of the age. The patriarchs will be there, and the promises to them will be fulfilled, for they will indeed be the fathers of many nations and not just the fathers of the people of Israel. God had repeated over and again the original promise he had made to Abraham that he would make Abraham and his descendants a blessing to all the nations. This is truly the call and purpose of 197


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God’s chosen people, not just that they themselves might be saved, but that they might also be the means of bringing salvation to all other peoples. For God it is always “too small a thing” just to save one group of people; he wants each set of people he saves to be the channels of his redeeming love to reach others across the face of this world (see Isa. 49:6–7).

Comfort for the Gentiles Third, Jesus comforts the Gentiles listening to him. His words would have been enormously encouraging to any Gentiles who were present in the crowd, including those who had come from the centurion’s home. We can imagine them returning to the house and telling the centurion, “There is a future for us in God’s kingdom, and not just a future, but a place of honor next to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, at the banquet table of the Lord.” These people could not enter the main parts of the temple, but only the court especially set aside for Gentile visitors. Even in the synagogue that he had helped build with his generous gifts, this centurion would have to sit apart from the Jews and would never be fully received as a “brother.”

Confrontation for the Jews Fourth, Jesus confronts the Jews listening to him. We can express what he says in this way: “You cannot presume that simply because you were born as Jews you will be part of the coming kingdom of God. Unless you share the faith of this Gentile, and of all the other Gentile believers who will come to me in the future, you will be thrown out of the kingdom and you will experience the judgment of God, and not his blessing. Your lot will not be the great feast of God, but a place of torment, grief and bitterness.” Jesus’ words are a passionate warning and would have been heard as powerfully provocative by the Jews. We can imagine some of them talking to one another later: “He is telling us that we cannot take our place in God’s kingdom for granted; we are to humble ourselves and become like this Gentile.” As usual, Jesus turns the world of his hearers upside down. We need to recognize that this is still a difficult message for people to 198


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hear today, for Jews of course, but also for many Christians. When I teach that it is necessary for Jewish people to humble themselves and come to faith in Christ in order to be saved, I often get a very negative reaction, even in evangelical churches. Such conviction about the necessity of repentance and faith in Christ, and about the reality of God’s judgment, goes against the spirit of the age in which we live, and is deeply offensive both to unbelievers and to believers. Many of the opinion polls done by Gallup and Barna suggest to us that over half of all Americans who claim to believe in Jesus, and who say that they are born-again Christians, do not think it necessary for sincere Jews, Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists to come to faith in Christ in order for them to be saved. Sincerity, religious devotion, and moral decency are seen as equivalents to faith in Jesus by the overwhelming majority of those around us, both those who are Christian believers and those who are not. God, they believe, will accept all people who are sincere, religiously devout, and moral, and will count these things to them as faith. Jesus, however, has no such views. He teaches with great clarity and passion that the kingdom of God will be taken away from the Jews, both personally and as a people, unless they humble themselves and come to faith in him. It is not their religious zeal, their sincerity, or their devotion to the law that Jesus doubts. It is their lack of humility and their failure to put their trust in him as the One whom God had sent. Jesus warns those listening to him of God’s judgment and the reality of hell. We need to bow before this and accept and teach these things ourselves, no matter how unpopular these principles may be in this moment of history and this cultural setting. L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

The Image of God Just as with the Syrophoenician woman, Jesus delights in the glory of this man as an image bearer of God. The Lord makes the centurion’s good qualities as a human person his primary point of communication. Here is a man with love and compassion for those under him, a man with deep respect for Christ, a man with a profound understand199


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ing of leadership and authority, a man who is noble enough to show great honor to the Jews (despised and abused by many of his fellow military officers), and a man of great humility. Jesus sees all this and marvels at this man. We need to learn to look for such beautiful qualities in the lives of the people around us, both fellow believers and unbelievers. Think of the example of C. S. Lewis. His delight in joy, his creative imagination, his life of self-sacrifice, his respect for holiness, and his love for good literature (especially stories and myths with their echoes of truth) were the primary means that the Lord used to get his attention and to call him to faith. On a more personal level, my father had a deep love for my mother (my parents had one of the best marriages I have ever had the privilege to see), and it was this love for his wife, his strong commitment to family, and his passion for social and economic justice that were the points at which I could begin to talk to him with real seriousness about ultimate truth. Do we marvel, like Jesus, at the good qualities of the unbelievers we meet so that their glory becomes a bridge for the good news of the gospel? I do not mean of course that such beauty in the life of an unbeliever is adequate to earn the love of God; nor will it gain them entrance into the kingdom. No human person, apart from Christ himself, has ever lived a life of such moral loveliness that he or she merits salvation. God’s standard is his own perfect holiness. But these noble characteristics in an unbeliever’s life are God’s general graces that he gives richly in order to draw people to faith in his Son.

The Faith of a Person Who Is Socially Despised Jesus uses the faith of this Gentile as a spur to challenge the Jewish people in his audience, and also to encourage the Gentiles who must have been present. It is not easy to hear of someone from a despised social group being commended as an example, but Jesus does this on numerous occasions (e.g., the Syrophoenician woman; the parable of the Good Samaritan; the healing of the ten lepers—when only one, a Samaritan came back; and his commendations of the faith and devotion of “sinners” like the woman who washed his feet). Jesus has two 200


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purposes: first, to lift up and encourage those who are despised and who, consequently, often have a low view of themselves; and second, to challenge and cast down the proud. We should remember that this is precisely what was prophesied about him at the time of his birth: He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. (Luke 1:51–52) Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel. (Luke 2:34)

Jesus’ comments to his Jewish hearers, particularly to the spiritual leaders, are often like hammer blows—and these hammer blows clearly have the intention of humbling the proud. We need to pray for discernment to know when such an approach is appropriate, rather than gleefully applying this whenever we meet a proud person, as if we were never in need of such humbling ourselves! However, we need to remember that it is indeed Jesus’ approach in settings where he finds spiritual arrogance, presumption before God, and self-righteousness.

The Gospel for All Peoples We are reminded again that the gospel is for people of all nations, and not just for our own people group, cultural background, language, nationality, or color, or whatever other categories of classification we use to separate ourselves from our fellow humans. Jesus is the Savior of the world, and we are not to set limits on those to whom we will speak about Christ. Rather, we are to be ready to make the truth known, and to build relationships with those around us, without regard to matters of social and cultural identity. Of course we need to respect people’s diverse social and cultural backgrounds in the ways we honor them and communicate to them—Jesus does this everywhere—but we are never to exclude people because of their social and cultural differences from ourselves. 201


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No Stereotypes We also learn from this encounter how important it is not to stereotype people on the basis of race, cultural background, job, or any other such criterion. Here is a man who every Jewish reader of the gospels will be predisposed to have a low opinion of, because he is a Gentile and because he is a commanding officer in an invading army. The boy, or young man, in the story is presumably a slave of this military officer. We can fill in for ourselves how we might imagine such a man—a slave-owning, foreign, high-ranking soldier in an occupying army—and yet what a remarkable man this centurion is. We are challenged by this story to put away our prejudices and to see people we meet for who they truly are, and not for who they seem to be according to cultural profiling and stereotypes. The same is true when we consider the encounter of Jesus with Zacchaeus. We need to ask ourselves, “Who are the groups of people that we consider despicable or unreachable, or who we personally would be reluctant to get to know?” In contrast to the folly of the social barriers that we erect, we see the joy with which Jesus thrusts them aside. We see the beauty of Jesus, who as Creator of all people and Redeemer of all nations, is not bound by such absurdities. Thank heaven for all of us that this is so, for otherwise, not one of us would be saved.

Only One Way We are reminded once more that there is only one way of salvation and that one way is through explicit faith in Jesus Christ. Sincerity, virtue, and faith, by themselves, will save no one, even if that faith is religious faith coming from Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or whomever. Only faith in Jesus is acceptable to God our Father and our Judge—for there is no other name given under heaven by which we may be saved. Will we have the humility before the Lord, and before his Word, to bow before him in acceptance of this truth? And will we pray for the courage to communicate this hard truth with both clarity and compassion? 202


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The Reality of Judgment We are sobered and challenged by Jesus’ clear teaching on hell. We should notice that the setting in which he does this is one of spiritual pride and self-righteousness. He says these words of terrible warning to those who see themselves as the people of God. His purpose in warning them of hellfire so clearly is to humble them. His desire is to teach them to have the lowly mentality of this Gentile who did not consider himself worthy to have Christ enter into his home, and who did not presume to come into Jesus’ presence to ask him for his help. We have to ask ourselves when it is appropriate to warn others of hell. We should probably draw the conclusion that the proper setting for such warnings is within the church herself, especially when there is the problem of spiritual pride, or presumption upon God’s grace and an arrogant self-righteousness.

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Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” JOHN 3:1–15


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14

A NIGHT V ISIT OR

Our last two chapters have looked at examples of Gentiles who are presented as having come very quickly to a deep understanding of the true nature of Jesus as God’s Messiah, and to a strong faith in him and the new life and relationship which Jesus delights to give. All through his ministry Jesus calls people into this new relationship with himself, but, in contrast to these past two examples, he often has to overturn previous understandings of how one can come to know God. The Gentiles, who were not expected to see truth clearly or possess genuine faith, have the clearest vision of who Jesus is. The Jewish people (in particular their leaders), who ought to have known God’s Word and who should have embraced Jesus as their promised Messiah, struggle to come to a grasp of the truth about Jesus and the way of salvation. Thus, all through his ministry we find Jesus challenging the Jewish leaders to a new understanding of what it means to know God and to follow the Lord’s ways. Here, we turn to one such encounter: the meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus, recorded for us by the apostle John. The setting is night. Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a “teacher of Israel” (v. 10), and a member of the ruling council, the Sanhedrin. Clearly he is a man of some prominence. We should perhaps regard his coming at night as a sign of his timidity. (For Nicodemus’s subsequent story we can read about him twice more, in John 7:50–52 and John 19:39. From these two passages it seems evident that he eventually became a believer and an open follower of Jesus.) 205


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS R E S P E C T F OR JESUS

Nicodemus approaches Jesus with great respect. He addresses Jesus as “Rabbi,” and acknowledges that Jesus is a teacher from God, and that he understands that God is clearly with Jesus, demonstrated by the miracles Jesus has done. He distances himself a little by saying, “We know” rather than “I know” (v. 2)—but he is clearly someone who is not testing Jesus, as did so many of his fellow Pharisees. Rather, he is a man who seems anxious to be convinced that Jesus is the one to follow. He is not yet ready for open discipleship; however, his coming and his eagerness to ask and to listen demonstrate that he is willing to hear Jesus assure him that Jesus is indeed God’s Messiah. How glad we would be to have someone come to us with such a seeking and open heart. J E S U S ’ I M MEDIATE CHALLENGE

Jesus answers Nicodemus with the utmost seriousness. Three times in this passage we read the words, “Truly, truly, I say to you.” This opening statement communicates Jesus’ assurance to Nicodemus that he is completely convinced of what he says and of the necessity of Nicodemus’s belief in these words. But without any introduction or explanation, Jesus responds to this would-be disciple with a dramatic and unexpected challenge: “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). We are all familiar with the “evangelical” language of the new birth, so these words of Jesus will not appear startling to us, but we need to remember that this was not a common way of speaking. It is obvious from Nicodemus’s reply that he did not understand Jesus’ words, for he appears to take Jesus literally, and thinks he must be referring to a physical second birth. So, what does Jesus mean, and why does he use this startling new form of expression? Jesus is trying to tell Nicodemus that entrance into God’s kingdom cannot be had simply by being born as an Israelite; nor can he gain entry to the kingdom by being a teacher of God’s Word, by his obedience to the commandments of the law, or even by seeking entry. Instead, entrance to the kingdom requires a mysterious new beginning 206


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to life. Nicodemus needs a radical renewal which seems impossible for one to accomplish for oneself. His reply shows his bewilderment, and if we try to put ourselves in his shoes, we can begin to sympathize with his confusion. “Born again” was not part of the usual religious language of the day, so Nicodemus’s puzzlement is quite understandable. In addition, at a much more basic level, it goes against all our ideas about ourselves that there is nothing we can accomplish to ensure entry into the kingdom of God. Pride in ourselves and in what we do is the heart of our human condition of rebellion against God, and this confidence that we can make our own way is the most persistent of all sins. It is so persistent that we are mystified when we are told that we cannot and that we must start life all over again. Nicodemus’s follow-up questions express this mystification. He is thoroughly confused by Jesus’ words. N E W B I RT H BY THE SPIRIT

Jesus does not help Nicodemus’s understanding with his next words. He does not give an explanation, such as, “Surely you know that you do not obey God’s laws perfectly, and so you are utterly dependent on his mercy and forgiveness. That is why I said that you need to be born again; you need God’s Spirit to give you new life.” Instead, Jesus reiterates the seriousness of his words, and simply repeats his insistence that Nicodemus must be born again. To give Nicodemus a little help, this time Jesus adds that this new birth can only be accomplished by the Spirit of God. Normal physical human birth (which appears to be what Jesus means by “born of water”) does not give entry to the Kingdom of God—even for someone born in Israel. It is only spiritual birth that will suffice. It is impossible in this fallen world for that which is merely human to please God. Only that life which has its origin in the work of God’s Spirit can enter God’s presence. E L E M E N TARY TEACHING

Nicodemus still has no idea what Jesus is teaching him, but he asks another question for clarification: “How can these things be?” (v. 9). 207


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Jesus’ response to him is that this teaching is not difficult at all. Indeed, this is such elementary teaching that Nicodemus should have been thoroughly familiar with it already. Jesus essentially says to Nicodemus, “You say you are a teacher, and you do not even know the most basic teaching of Scripture!” A D VA N C E D TEACHING

In the following sentences Jesus compounds his hard sayings. He introduces his next subject by telling Nicodemus that now he is going to teach him something truly hard. To paraphrase Jesus’ words, “You have not understood ‘earthly things’—that is, the basics—so how can you possibly understand ‘heavenly things’—that is, advanced knowledge?” Jesus’ challenge to Nicodemus is that the teaching of new birth by the Spirit of God is simple, basic, central Biblical teaching. It is “earthly” knowledge; that is, the new birth is the very groundwork of Old Testament instruction. Now Jesus is going on to teach Nicodemus something much more difficult and challenging: he will teach him about “heavenly” things. What is this “heavenly” knowledge? Jesus says there is only one person who has truly come from heaven—the Son of Man. Nicodemus might think he is on safer ground here, for he will be immediately familiar with the passage in Daniel 7 that describes the heavenly figure of the Son of Man to whom the task of judgment over all people is given. The Son of Man is granted divine authority and dominion over all nations. He shares the glory of God, and God’s everlasting kingdom is described as the Son of Man’s kingdom: I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him;

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his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Dan. 7:13–14)

But to Nicodemus’s amazement (an appropriate assumption about Nicodemus’s response, since Jesus is in the business of shocking people to the core), Jesus clearly claims to be this divine figure. He says, in effect, “I am the only one who has come from heaven. I am the Son of Man.” Jesus tells Nicodemus that there is every reason to believe the claim he has just made about himself, but he also expresses doubt that Nicodemus will believe this claim if Nicodemus could not understand what Jesus had said about the new birth. By referring to the passage from Daniel, Jesus is also urging Nicodemus to see that the eternal kingdom of the Son of Man is the kingdom of God; or to put this another way, the kingdom of God is the kingdom of Jesus, for he is the only one who has come from heaven, and he is the Son of Man who is given everlasting dominion over all the nations and peoples of the world. T H E S C A NDAL OF THE DEATH OF THE S O N O F MAN

Jesus’ next words must have been even more confusing, even shocking and scandalous, to Nicodemus. “This Son of Man,” he says, “must be lifted up, just like the serpent in the wilderness” (at). Jesus is referring to the account in the book of Numbers, where the people, judged with death for their unbelief and rebellion, are saved by looking at the image of a bronze serpent on a pole (Num. 21:4–9). Again, Jesus is reminding Nicodemus that the Israelites have always had unbelieving hearts, and have always needed a work of God’s intervention to be saved. The Israelites could not live without looking at the image of one lifted up on a pole. Just so will it be with Jesus. Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about his coming death on the cross: “I am the glorious Son of Man, but I will have to be put to death on a cross; I will be lifted up on a stake just as the bronze serpent was lifted up.” 209


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In just a few short sentences Jesus turns the theology and world of Nicodemus upside down. We need to think in some detail about Jesus’ claims in these brief words. This title “Son of Man” is Jesus’ favorite self-designation, occurring some eighty-one times altogether in the New Testament. In fact, in seventy-eight of the eighty-one statements about the Son of Man, Jesus speaks of himself. The three exceptions are (1) the crowd asking “Who is this Son of Man?” when Jesus says he must be “lifted up” (John 12:23–34); (2) the angels quoting Jesus’ own words about the Son of Man’s death and resurrection when the women come to the garden after Jesus’ burial and resurrection (Luke 24:1–8); and (3) Stephen seeing the Son of Man standing at the Father’s right hand as his advocate when he is being stoned to death (Acts 7:54–58). In Daniel 7, the “one like a son of man” is a glorious figure, and this was how most people pictured the Son of Man in their minds. Often, when Jesus speaks of himself as the Son of Man, he refers to this everlasting glory, but there are many times when Jesus delights in bringing consternation by putting together “Son of Man” and “suffering and death,” just as he does to Nicodemus, for this completely unfamiliar juxtaposition of ideas turns everyone’s expectations upside down. T H E N E C E S SITY OF FAITH IN THE DEATH OF THE S O N O F M AN

Jesus’ final challenge to Nicodemus is that faith in the Son of Man is the only way to avoid death. As the Son of Man, Jesus will die; he will be lifted up on a pole like the bronze serpent, in order to give salvation, entrance to heaven, and eternal life to everyone who puts their trust in him. Jesus calls Nicodemus to have faith in him and in his coming death. This faith is the way into the eternal kingdom. N I C O D E M US’S REFLECTIONS

Nicodemus hears far more than he expects when he ventures on his secret visit to Jesus, and he goes away with more questions than ever. 210


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We can imagine him searching the Scriptures for what Jesus calls the “earthly,” elementary doctrine of the new birth. Although this is speculation, we should recognize that it is not far-fetched. Nicodemus knows the Scriptures much better than most believers do today. His whole life is spent reading, reflecting on, memorizing, and teaching the Old Testament Scriptures. We know he became a believer in Jesus later, and it is clear that Jesus has the intention of sending him back to the Scriptures to think about how Jesus is answering his questions. So, what might Nicodemus find as he reflects on the Scriptures and turns over in his mind what Jesus said to him? I look forward to asking him one day whether my speculations were accurate regarding his thoughts over the days and weeks following his visit with Jesus. My guess is that I might well have captured the direction of his thoughts, even if the particular Scriptures I imagine him thinking through might be a little off track. Regardless, my proposal is that his meditations might lead him to the following parts of Scripture. First, he might turn to the Psalms and think of David’s pleas to God in Psalm 51: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love. (v. 1a) Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! (v. 2) Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (v. 5) Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (v. 7) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit with me. (v. 10)

David is Israel’s greatest king and is described as “a man after God’s own heart.” As we read his cry in this psalm, it is clear that David understands that without a radical cleansing and renewal of his life by God, he would be lost. Nicodemus might then try to recall if the language of birth is ever used in the Old Testament to describe those who belong to the Lord. 211


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His memory will lead him to Psalm 87, for this psalm uses the language of birth to prophesy the entrance of Israel’s enemies into God’s holy city, Zion: Egyptians, Babylonians, Philistines, and people from Tyre and Ethiopia. The psalm is clearly not speaking of literal birth in the earthly city of Jerusalem, but of new life and citizenship in the heavenly city of God. Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush— “This one was born there,” they say. . . . The Lord records as he registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” (Ps. 87:4, 6)

“Yes,” Nicodemus will think, “It will indeed take a miracle like a new birth to enable these age-long enemies of God and of his people, and these from Ethiopia who live so far away from the Holy Land, to enter the heavenly Jerusalem and be recorded in God’s Book of Life!” But then as he reflects further on Jesus’ words he will be forced to ask himself the question: “Do I, a teacher of Israel, need the same miraculous work of God as do his enemies and those from distant lands?” Perhaps his study of Scripture will then lead Nicodemus to Ezekiel 37, the vision of the valley of dry bones. This passage teaches that even the people of Israel are like dry bones that need the power of the Spirit of God to come to life. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord. (Ezek. 37:13–14)

Spiritual life is not something that people obtain through inheritance, racial identity, desire to serve God, or even the ability to be a leader of God’s people. Spiritual life comes only through the power of God. It is only the Lord who can respond satisfactorily to the question, “Shall these bones live?” Dead men are incapable of bringing themselves back to life. 212


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Perhaps this further study might cause Nicodemus to reflect on the nature of circumcision itself, that rite or sacrament that God gave to every Israelite male. Circumcision taught that a man could not trust in himself, in his flesh, but rather that he was dependent on God for spiritual life. (That is why Paul parallels the meaning of circumcision and baptism in Colossians 2.) Nicodemus might also think about the sacrificial system, which has at its heart the need for God’s people to seek forgiveness, life, and reconciliation from him, rather than through their own efforts, or through what they offer to God. Jesus’ intent of course is to unsettle Nicodemus, so that he would go back to God’s Word to search the Scriptures and reflect more deeply on what Jesus says to him. Jesus knows that Nicodemus, like the Bereans (Acts 17:11, niv), is a man of noble character—and so he will study the Scriptures to see the truth of what he has been told. Nicodemus will also have to do much more thinking about the promised Messiah, and what Jesus says about the necessity of the Messiah’s suffering. In addition, he will have to think some more about Daniel’s prophecy of the Son of Man, and about Jesus’ claim to divinity as the Son of Man. He will also need to think about Jesus’ words about his death as the Son of Man, and about the necessity for Nicodemus to come to faith in Jesus. Nicodemus’ theology is in for some dramatic changes; and it seems that it did indeed change, for sometime later he becomes a believer (see John 7:50–52; 19:39). L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Only the Spirit Can Save Even those genuinely searching and eager to believe in Jesus need to hear that only the Spirit can save us and give us life. Our own human efforts can never bring us into God’s presence. Even our searching is inadequate, for no one truly seeks God with a pure heart. Our reverence for God and our commitment to serving and obeying him are likewise insufficient. There are many people among us who acknowledge God as the Lord of heaven and earth, many who work at living a decent God-fearing life, many who worship him week by week, or even day by day, yet they all need to hear that they must be given a 213


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new life by God. They cannot be saved on their own, no matter how spiritual their present life is, no matter how eager their desire to know God and to have eternal life. This, after all, was their situation for Nicodemus. He was a devout worshiper of the one true God, committed to living in obedience to God’s commandments, faithfully seeking to understand God’s Word and to teach it to others. Yet he needed the new life that only God can give. The teaching of the new birth is a humbling teaching. That, of course, is what Jesus is eager to do in Nicodemus’s heart: to humble him so that he might cry out to God to give him a new heart and a new spirit, just like David in Psalm 51. We should take note of the man to whom Jesus says these humbling and challenging words. He is a devout and eager seeker. We are to communicate this knowledge to people as they draw nearer to the kingdom and as their hearts begin to become open to the truth. In my own experience of sharing the gospel and helping to lead people to faith, it has been when someone is fairly far along the road that I have said to them something like this: “You need to understand that becoming a Christian is far more than simply a matter of gaining new knowledge, and far more than being convinced that this is the truth. The reality is that we are all enemies of God who do not wish to know him. I am praying for you that the Lord will humble you and grant you understanding, that he will give you new life. This is not something that you can achieve by yourself. You need the Lord to work in your heart and to bring you to faith.” It is essential that people hear this who are confident in their own intellectual brilliance, in their own wisdom, in the moral goodness of their lives, or in their perceived spirituality. There are many others who are already so broken and humbled by life that it is not necessary for them to be told that they need a miraculous work of God in their hearts. They know they cannot gain life for themselves.

Honor for Christ Is Not Enough Respect and honor for Christ are not enough. Most of our contemporaries have some respect for Jesus; millions think of him as worthy of 214


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obedience, honor, and even worship. Muslims honor Jesus as one of the greatest prophets of God. Many New Age adherents regard Jesus as truly spiritual, as an incarnation of deity. Multitudes of churchgoers sing his praises week by week, and acknowledge him to be the supreme model of godliness, goodness, and love. Jehovah’s Witnesses glorify him as the Firstborn of all creation and the greatest of the archangels, come into this world to lead us to God. But none of these offerings of recognition are sufficient. People need to know that Jesus is not simply a prophet, or just a good man, or merely someone representing God, or even one who was sent by God. Rather, Jesus is both God and Man, the only one who has come from heaven. He is the everlasting ruler of the kingdom, reigning forever at his Father’s right hand and sharing divine authority and majesty with the Father, as he has done for all eternity. Everyone has to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. Only this will please and honor the Father. This is a hard teaching to communicate in our times, because it is an exclusive claim that Jesus makes, and that we make for him in obedience to him. But regardless of whether this teaching accords with the spirit of our age, we must have the humility to submit to Jesus as the eternal God, and then we need to pray for courage to make this known.

The Centrality of the Cross The cross also is central, and essential, to a proper understanding of Jesus’ work. In the New Age movement Jesus is honored and even recognized as a divine figure, but his dying on the cross is bypassed. This is also true in many churches. There is no way that we can be faithful communicators of the gospel unless we are prepared to make known these “hard sayings” to people, not in exactly the same words of course, but without watering down the message of the cross. Islam honors Jesus as a prophet, but denies his divinity and rejects the doctrine of his substitutionary atonement. Deists like Lord Herbert or Thomas Jefferson gave Christ great praise, but rejected with scorn the teaching that his sacrificial death is necessary to make us acceptable to God. 215


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Today there are many people in churches who may not openly scorn the atoning death of Christ, but who have never heard that this is indeed the only way of salvation. Such a gospel strikes against all human notions of the possibility of our making ourselves acceptable to God by our faith, devotion, service, sincerity of heart, lives of obedience, or whatever else it is we imagine that we may offer to God. This gospel also sets aside all our assumptions that these offerings we present to God somehow make God indebted to us. This, because it is exclusive rather than inclusive, is the most unpopular of all Christian doctrines today. Even among those who claim to be born-again believers in Jesus, about sixty percent appear to think that all sincere and devout adherents to other religions will also be saved. This is not what Jesus taught Nicodemus, and it is not what we are to believe or to teach. Even for those seeking truth, wisdom, and holiness, and especially for those who think of themselves as already educated in these things, the gospel must be presented as a radical message of need. People need to be “born again” or “born from above.” They need to come to explicit faith in Jesus as their Savior, and they need to know their spiritual bankruptcy and their need of the Spirit’s work to give them new life. I remember talking to two elderly people who had been faithful members of good churches all their lives, but who had never grasped this teaching of new birth by the Spirit, or of the necessity of putting their hope in Jesus’ death instead of their own devotion or commitment to serve God. How will we communicate the need for people to have a radical new start to their lives? The new birth is the most “extreme” of all doctrines, but it must be taught, especially to those who think of themselves as devout worshipers of God.

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He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? . . . I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” The Pharisees . . . ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” LUKE 16:1–15


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15

T H E SHRE W D M A NAGER: MONE Y, MONE Y, MONE Y

For this chapter we turn to another of those occasions when there are two groups of people listening to Jesus. There are disciples, those who have already committed themselves to following Jesus, and there are Pharisees, those who have committed themselves to following the law of God. The Pharisees always have questions about Jesus’ teaching. In particular, they want to probe Jesus’ understanding of that law, some because they wish to criticize, and others because they are genuinely open to learning from him. On this particular day the topic of conversation has turned to money, a subject that fascinates its hearers but at the same time tends to reveal a certain reluctance to listen, because it begins to touch the heart. Discussions of money often come a little too close for comfort. How will those present hear Jesus’ teaching on this “touchy” subject? If we had been there on that day, how would we hear him? We can listen gladly even if our hearts are challenged and convicted; or we can listen with a heart that is stubborn and intent on justifying our present attitudes and practice (Luke 16:15). Will we listen eagerly and humbly, as someone who does not yet know Christ, but who is ready to be convicted and become a disciple? Or will we listen as a Pharisee, self-confident and ready to find fault? A D I F F I C ULT PARABLE?

This parable of the shrewd manager is often regarded as difficult. It is one of the lesser-known parables, perhaps because of this perceived 219


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obscurity of understanding. Jesus tells a story about a dishonest man, and what he does to safeguard his own future. The story is simply describing the world as it is, but we should not imagine that Jesus is approving dishonest behavior by using such an illustration, any more than he desires us to approve of the behavior of the priest and Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan. The story line is simple, though it certainly raises many questions. It is about a rich man, an absentee landlord, who leaves his steward in charge of his large estate. The steward has considerable powers of decision making, and he can act as his master’s agent in all his affairs. While his master is away he abuses his duty in some dishonest manner, and the text indicates that he has squandered his master’s resources. T H E M A N A GER’S FINAL ACCOUNTING

Before the steward’s final dismissal he has to give one last accounting to his master (just as every human person will have to give an account one day to our heavenly master). How are we to read the steward’s response? He reflects that he has only two practical alternatives: begging or hard physical labor. He is ashamed to become a beggar, and he realizes that he is not strong enough to ensure his survival by physical labor. Are we intended to think of his reflections as humorous, or is he being completely serious? This is not easy to answer, but a little knowledge of the culture suggests that he is probably deeply earnest, for becoming a beggar is indeed a shameful occupation in any society; and it would certainly have been so in that culture, for it would have reduced him to absolute poverty. The steward is probably too old and not strong enough to work as a day laborer, the only occupation open to him if he loses his job. A life of poverty and shame opens up before him—so what might he do to alleviate his situation and find some way out of the dire prospect before him? S H R E W D B USINESS PRACTICE

While he still has authority, the steward decides to remit some of the debts of those who owe the estate money and goods. He reduces the olive oil debt by half, from more than eight hundred gallons to four 220


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hundred. The debt of wheat he reduces by twenty percent from over one thousand bushels (about twenty-five thousand quarts) to around eight hundred. There are two possibilities to consider in thinking about what the steward does. The first, and less likely possibility, is that he simply remits what is owed (which is altogether dishonest to his master). The second, and more likely possibility, is that the debt remitted represents interest. In Jewish society, charging interest on debts was against the law. Even so, interest was very commonly charged, and charged at exorbitant rates. (We know of examples from the time when the interest on olive oil was one hundred percent, and the interest on wheat was twenty percent.) Whatever the case, his “generosity” earns him the favor of the debtors, so much so that he will be welcome in their homes after his dismissal from his post. To help us grasp the implications of what he does, try to imagine someone remitting half of your mortgage or credit card loans. The master of the estate, realizing what the steward has done, actually commends him for his shrewdness. Our natural response is to ask, “How is this possible? How can he be commended by his master, when his master will get less back from those who are in debt to him?” The steward will be highly regarded as a generous benefactor by his debtors because he has remitted the interest and made life very much easier for them. But his master also will be seen in a favorable light by everyone around. Even though it is common practice to charge exorbitant and unlawful interest, this landowner will now be perceived by all around to be generous and even righteous, because he is keeping the law of God by not charging interest. What a model of business integrity! People will rush to do their business with him, and he will become even more prosperous. W O R L D LY WISDOM

This story illustrates the way of the world: people look out for their own advantage and they do what benefits themselves. Shrewdness in this world can even bring general praise and earn friends who will welcome you. Think of some rather well-known recent examples of 221


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business leaders who have ended up being caught in unlawful business practices. From all we read and hear, these people are apparently greedy, self-serving, and even sometimes dishonest in what they do, so much so that some have to spend time in prison. However, they come out of prison with new and even bigger business plans, still highly regarded by many, regularly appearing in the news and unbelievably wealthy. We can think of other business tycoons who have television shows parading their “shrewdness.” Listening to some of these people, it is hard to imagine anyone more self-centered, arrogant, or ruthless—and yet, they become ever more popular and wealthy. People are anxious to learn from them and even to imitate them. Think of some of those imprisoned for gross violations of the insider trading laws, people who are notorious for shady financial dealings—these convicted criminals are now welcomed to give lectures at prestigious universities and are paid handsomely for sharing their “worldly wisdom.” J E S U S ’ FA S CINATING APPLICATION

The Wisdom of the “Sons of this World” What is truly interesting about this conversation is the way that Jesus applies this story. He declares, “The sons of this world are more shrewd . . . than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8). People in this world, Jesus says, look out for themselves in their dealings with each other. They are shrewd and plan for their own advantage. Those who are successful in the business world are always thinking about their future prosperity and security, working hard to guarantee a comfortable future life until their eventual death. But then Jesus challenges the “sons of light.” What about believers? he asks. Are they sensible enough to plan for their advantage in the way they deal with one another? Are believers preparing for the future to ensure that they have security in the life to come? Are they laying up treasures in heaven? This is a sobering word from Jesus. It is very easy for us to copy the world (though that is not Jesus’ point here) and to live by the same values that govern the choices of those around us. We can 222


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live with the wisdom of the sons of this world and devote ourselves to ensuring a comfortable future here. But Jesus desires something quite different. In this present life, we are to be as wise about our eternal future as the people of this world are about their financial future.

Gaining Eternal Friends with Unrighteous Money Jesus gives believers a command which is provocative, to say the least: “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth” (Luke 16:9), and Jesus clearly declares that money is unrighteous wealth. What does he mean by this? Christians are to acknowledge that, regardless of what the world says, money is not true riches. Simply gaining money for its own sake, and desiring to be wealthy as our goal in life, is indeed unrighteous. However, money ought to be used wisely. One day our wealth will all be gone; but what will we have done with it? Will we have used it all on ourselves? Were we unjust in the way we gained our money, treating employees unfairly, paying them the minimum possible, in order that we might become as wealthy as possible? If this is the case, we will have demonstrated that our wealth truly is unrighteous. Or will we have used our money to help those in need of our aid, people who one day will welcome us into the eternal dwelling place? Jesus is challenging us to ask a very specific question, one we need to ask regularly: “Will there be people in heaven who will be praising God, and who will also be thanking us, for the way we used our money?” Is Jesus teaching salvation by how we spend our money? Of course not. However, he is teaching us that one day we will have to give a reckoning to God of what we consider to be true riches. “True riches” is not the making of money; rather, it is the knowledge of the mercy and love of God in Christ; and it is the wisdom of walking in God’s ways in all we do (see Ps. 19:10; 119:14; Prov. 8:18–21; Jer. 9:23–24; Matt. 13:44–46). We will also have to give an account to God as to how we gained and how we used our money. Did we think of our money as a means to bring blessing to other people, or simply as a means of making ourselves prosperous, comfortable, and secure here in this world? Jesus is making a point that is repeated many 223


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other times in Scripture. Think, for example, of his own words in the Sermon on the Mount, and elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel (Matt. 6:19–21; 25:31–46). Another example can be found in Paul’s first letter to Timothy: Command those who are rich in this present world . . . to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Tim. 6:17–19, niv)

Scripture is quite clear that the generous use of our money to help those in need is one of the marks of true faith and of committed discipleship (James 2:14–17; 1 John 3:16–18).

Faithfulness in Little Jesus reflects further on a basic principle in the kingdom of God: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10). God tests us first with responsibilities that are “very little” and then gives us greater responsibilities. This is a principle that we all recognize to be wise and sensible. What is difficult and challenging about Jesus’ words is the way he applies this principle. On this occasion Jesus argues that money is the “very little.” This is not exactly the way our society thinks today, either outside or inside the church. Even in the church we tend to think of the wealthy as the “big cheeses.” But Jesus is quite clear that he regards money as only a little responsibility. What then does Jesus say is the “much,” the greater responsibilities? The “much” is the “true riches,” and the true riches are justice, mercy, and faithfulness in relationships with other people. The greatest wealth of all is giving ourselves in self-sacrifice out of love for others. Once we are found trustworthy with the “little” of wealth and material goods, God will give us a wider and wider sphere of responsibility in serving people. Think of Jesus. He had little material wealth but he was rich in relationships, and relationships are a far greater wealth and hold far more significance in our lives, both now and for all eternity, than do money and possessions. 224


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Our Money Is Someone Else’s Property Jesus adds that money is “someone else’s property,” as is true for the steward in the story he tells. If it is not ours, then who does our money and our property belong to? Money and all our material blessings do not belong to us; they belong to God. This is a radically different message from that taught by our society; and it is radically different from the message taught in many churches. However, Scripture teaches us with absolute clarity that all we have belongs to the Lord. We are simply aliens, and so we are tenants of what is rightfully God’s (Lev. 25:23). Our wealth comes from the Lord (1 Chron. 29:12). Everything we think we own (home, land, business, bank accounts, savings, cash, and possessions) we do not, in fact, own. It is all God’s—not one tenth of it, or what we decide to give to him, but all of it. If our material possessions are God’s, then what is ours? Can we have any “possessions” that truly belong to us? Yes, we can have our own possessions or property; but again these possessions are not what our culture defines them to be. The inheritance which is ours is righteousness, goodness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Pet. 1:5–11). We might say that all we give away is ours, whether it is money, time, energy, talents, or, most importantly, our very selves (2 Cor. 9:6–11). Jesus ends his exposition of the parable with a challenge: “No servant can serve two masters . . . You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13). For all of us the problem of money and possessions is that we become idolaters of these things. If we love money, it will control us. If we love God, we can control money and give it away. The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that the best test of whether we love money or the Lord is whether we can be generous and give to those who are in need. If I can give generously to others, then I demonstrate that I love God and that I recognize that everything I have belongs to him. If I cannot give generously, but rather insist that what I have is mine to save up and to spend on myself, then I demonstrate that I love money and not the Lord. 225


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Speaking Clearly about Business Practice in the World Jesus calls us to speak very clearly about the business practices of our time and culture. However, he does not start by denouncing with passionate fury the dishonesty of the world. He speaks simply of the shrewdness of the “sons of this world” as a daily reality of which he is thoroughly aware. This, he acknowledges, is the way of the world. However, Jesus does not preach a condemning sermon against (or about) the “sons of this world.” Instead, as on so many other occasions, he uses the practice of the world to call to repentance those who are seeking to follow him. He uses the practice of the world to challenge and to judge those who think they are inside the church, not those who are outside. The challenge to us is this: Can we teach ourselves to speak with frankness, but without condemnation, when we reflect on the behavior of those outside the church? Can we focus our attention on the problems of those within our fold, rather than comfort ourselves by condemning those outside?

Using Dishonest Business as a Positive Example Jesus even uses the dishonest business practices of his day as positive examples to teach some very challenging spiritual lessons. Think of hearing some of our most well-known and most greedy tycoons as positive illustrations in a sermon. That would certainly surprise our congregations, and that would almost certainly run the risk of offending many people, especially the wealthy. When Jesus told this story and then gave his very challenging application, the response of the Pharisees was to sneer contemptuously, and Luke adds for the reader’s benefit that it was because they loved money (Luke 16:14). Jesus is quite aware that this will be the response of some to his story and his follow-up comments on money. The business dealings of the Pharisees might not be as shady, or as obviously greedy, as the “dishonest managers” of this world; but 226


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Jesus implies that their motives are just the same, even though outwardly they may be gaining public praise.

Exposing the Motives of the Heart This brings us to Jesus’ commitment to exposing the motives of the heart. His story reveals to the hearers the reality of their own motives—what guides them in their financial affairs, and whether those affairs are honest or dishonest, righteous or unrighteous. Is their “bottom line” seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness? Or is their “bottom line” their financial profit and their own personal comfort and financial security? Even asking the question like this may seem absurd, for many Christians in business will insist that profitability has to be their basic concern, their “bottom line.” But this is where the gospel of Jesus is so hard for us to hear, especially in this moment of history and culture. Jesus is absolutely clear that a believer’s “bottom line” must be the kingdom of God and a hunger for righteousness. This is our challenge: to seek to uncover the secret motives of the heart, and to expose idolatry wherever it is to be found. There is, of course, much idolatry of money and possessions to be found within the church as well as outside it. Can we learn to speak in such a way that the inner motives and the idolatries of the heart are exposed, without attacking people directly?

Can We Treat Money as Comparatively Insignificant? Are we prepared to be as frank as Jesus about the comparatively insignificant worth of money? He speaks of it as something of relatively little importance, compared with things such as relationships, justice, mercy, and love. Are we prepared, first of all, to live in such a way, as evident from our manner of life and our generosity, that we do not consider money to be of great importance? Would our children tell others that we place far greater value on living with integrity, on treating people justly and mercifully, on being generous and kind, and on giving ourselves up in sacrificial service? Is this how the people around us would evaluate our lives? 227


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In addition, do we have the courage to say publicly and clearly that money is something “little”? If we can do this, both in our public teaching and in our private conversations, we will find that we are communicating a message both in the church and to the world that is radically different from what people expect, and from what is taught in the culture. We might even find that unbelievers would be attracted to our faith, and to our churches, because we would be living and speaking in such a different way.

Acknowledging That Wealth Is Unrighteous Will we have the wisdom to tell people that money is “unrighteous wealth” (Luke 16:9), and that our money and possessions distinguish us in no way, in and of themselves, from all the unbelievers around us? The Greek word Jesus uses is adikos—a word that everywhere else it appears means “unjust” or “dishonest”—and is, consequently, seen as difficult to translate in this passage (for example, it simply does not mean “worldly” as the niv puts it, for this is not an adequate translation). Later on Jesus compounds the disturbing nature of his words by declaring that what is highly valued among men is “an abomination” (Luke 16:15, esv) or “detestable” (niv) to God. How are we to understand this? Almost every commentator wants to soften the impact of these words of Jesus. However, they are very similar to Paul’s words in 1 Timothy when he declares that the “love of money is a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Tim. 6:10). People want to explain away or soften the words of Paul as well as those of Jesus, but Jesus tells us that it is impossible to love God and money. Thus, if we love money, both the money and our love for it are evil, unrighteous, and dishonest. We dare not soften this message, no matter how troubling it is to us or to our hearers. Perhaps expressing this differently will help us. We can say with complete confidence that when God looks at us he does not look at the size and impressive appearance of our homes. He does not look at the kind of car we drive. He does not look at the cut, style, and costliness of the clothes we wear. He does not look at our bank accounts, our 228


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stocks and bonds, or our pension funds. To God, Jesus says, this is all detestable when it becomes a measure of our worth. God looks at the inside of a person, not the outside. He looks at the heart to see the nature of our inner commitments, and to find in them the reality of love, graciousness, mercy, justice, self-sacrifice, faith, and hope. Perhaps it is this evaluation of money that causes this passage to be so rarely preached today. Will we have the wisdom, the courage, and above all the faith to be prepared to believe and teach Jesus’ evaluation of money? Will we make this known to our children, in our churches, and in our communication of the gospel of Christ to the world?

Money Belongs to God Will we be obedient and tell people that their money actually belongs not to them, but to God? This is very difficult in our cultural setting, because we are all taught from infancy to think of our money and possessions as “ours.” However, in contrast to this, Jesus declares that all our possessions and savings are not our own, but God’s. Not even my person, or my own life, belongs to me; rather, I belong to God. We are stewards and managers of everything we possess, no more and no less. Will we encourage people to ask themselves to reflect on what does truly belong to them—love, mercy, justice, kindness, service, generosity, and self-sacrifice?

Laying up Treasures in Heaven Are we prepared to teach people that money (in and of itself) is worthless to them, unless it is used as a means of laying up treasures in heaven? This is an extraordinarily challenging message, but if it were proclaimed clearly in our churches, we might find that people’s priorities would change, and that some members of our churches who are idolaters of their money and property might be profoundly and truly converted. We need to teach much more clearly and with far greater boldness the biblical message that we will have to give an account to God, and that the choices we make today have eternal consequences. Are we calling people to make friends for themselves in the eter229


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nal habitations? I think I have rarely heard such a message. Yet this is a central thrust of Jesus’ words on this occasion. He does not appear to be afraid that saying such things will run the risk of causing people to think that they can earn their way into God’s favor by giving to the needy. He makes no qualifications to undercut the power of his words, or the convicting nature of his message. This is because his words are not about a call to give a tenth of what we have to the church or to the needy. That is not such a hard thing to do, even if we sometimes struggle with it. Jesus’ words strike much more deeply than this. He focuses on the idolatry of money, on the false security of money, on the need to be truly wise in our giving, and on our calling to be so generous with what we have that we will make many friends who will be delighted to welcome us in the kingdom to come.

Condemnation At the very end of his words about money, Jesus speaks directly in condemnation to some of those who are listening to him. He only speaks with this frank condemnation because they expose the motivations of their hearts toward their money and possessions by ridiculing what Jesus has been saying. It is in response to their scorn that Jesus accuses them plainly of trying to justify themselves before God, and of valuing highly what is detestable in God’s sight. Some of the Pharisees were provoked to disdain by Jesus’ penetrating words about the idolatrous hold money can have on our hearts. They were unwilling to hear such a challenge to their personal greed. They would not come to the light to confess it as sin. Returning for a moment to chapter 5, we can think of the response of the wealthy young man. On that occasion as well, Jesus sought to expose the motives of his heart and the idolatry of money that lurked there. The young man’s response, while not yet one of repentance and faith in Jesus, is very different from the response of the Pharisees on this present occasion. He does not ridicule Jesus’ message about money; rather, he goes away sorrowful because of his sin that is now exposed. This sorrow would eventually lead to repentance 230


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and to his becoming a true follower of Christ. He came to the light and heard Jesus’ challenge. On that occasion the disciples found Jesus’ message about money difficult, for their response was, “How can anyone be saved?” On this occasion as well, the disciples must have found Jesus’ words to be very disturbing and convicting. But one of the marks of a disciple is the readiness to have one’s sin exposed, no matter how painful the process may be. Jesus’ words concerning wealth certainly produce pain if we allow his message to settle in our hearts and ask the Spirit to use that message to reveal the selfish and materialistic passions that are lurking there. M O N E Y, MONEY, MONEY—JESUS’ CHALLENGES FOR US

Jesus leaves his disciples with a series of questions to ponder about money and possessions, questions with which we can measure our progress in understanding and obedience. These are for private prayer and reflection rather than for public discussion. 1) Is my heart and mind set on God or on money, on how to serve him or on how to save and spend what I think I possess? 2) Am I committed to daily reflection on planning my life and the way I use my money to live for eternity, or to ensuring that I (and my family) will be comfortable and financially secure in this life? What proportion of each day is spent on these two different goals? 3) Do I truly recognize that all I have is God’s and not my own, that I am his steward, or manager, and do I acknowledge that this is why he will call me to give an account of how I have managed his property? 4) Am I using what I have to bless others in need, whether I have little worldly wealth or whether I am relatively prosperous? 5) Do I truly realize that possessions are far less important than relationships, and that my attitude to my possessions is a kind of proving ground to prepare me for more significant responsibilities in serving others? 6) What do I have that I can truly call my own? Who are the people who are becoming my spiritual siblings, parents, children, friends—people whom I have given myself to in service and love, in kindness and mercy, and in self-sacrifice?

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One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees . . . there was a man before him who had dropsy. . . . [Jesus] took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things. Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. . . . For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet . . . invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. . . . So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame. . . . For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” LUKE 14:1–24


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16

NO T TH E MOST C OMF OR TA BLE GUEST!

Jesus was a master communicator, able to speak to very diverse groups of people at the same time. Jesus addressed people who were very different from each other, and yet he could reach into the most private recesses of the heart to encourage each one in their particular needs, and wound each one in their varied sins of resistance. We saw this in the parables of Luke 15, where Jesus spoke with such power to both Pharisees and “sinners” that he challenged and comforted the two groups with stories that were directed to both sets of people in the deepest places of their inner being. Our passage for this present study also finds Jesus in a complex setting with a varied audience. It is a Sabbath day, and Jesus is invited to the home of a well-known and highly regarded Pharisee. This man must have been a leader in the Sanhedrin to be described as “prominent.” He is admired by his fellow Pharisees and by all around him. It is apparent as we read down through this account that Jesus is not the only guest, for there are many others seated (reclining) around the table, invited to what must be some important social occasion, perhaps a wedding or some other family celebration. Since the banquet is at his home rather than in some public building, the Pharisee is clearly wealthy, for he must have a large dining room to entertain so many guests. As usual Jesus teaches important lessons in the conversations he has with those around him. (We are not told of any disciples present, so we may please ourselves in imagining which of the guests became 233


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a disciple at some future date, and then remembered Jesus’ words and eventually reported them to Luke.) T E S T I N G J E SUS

Luke’s first report is about a typical Pharisaic testing of Jesus. The occasion is “public” enough that there are other Pharisees present and there are also teachers of the law. Some of these decide to take advantage of Jesus’ presence in a setting where many “important gatekeepers” of society will have the opportunity to observe his behavior. Their evident hope is that they will be able to “catch him out” in some unscriptural behavior or teaching, and then the “gatekeepers,” or figures of authority, will be able to discredit Jesus’ ministry. It is apparent as we read the Gospels that there were “spiritual leaders” like this who desired to take advantage of every opportunity at hand to undermine the impact that Jesus was having on those who heard his teaching and saw his miracles. These men are watching Jesus to see what he will do when one of them “engineers” that a man suffering with dropsy (Edema) be brought before Jesus. Dropsy is a disease in which liquid from one’s lymph glands accumulates in body tissues and cavities—it is very unsightly and can be acutely painful and ultimately disabling. The “testers” are ready to criticize Jesus for any “work” he might do in violation of the Sabbath laws, for they were devoutly, even rigidly, committed to observing the laws against working on the Sabbath. Aware that the Pharisees and teachers of the law around him are watching him critically, Jesus asks them a question: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” (Luke 14:3). When there is no reply to his question, Jesus heals the man and sends him away. R E S C U I N G THE NEEDY

The Lord is aware, however, that some remain critical of his “work” of healing, so he asks them another question: “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” (Luke 14:5). Jesus, in speaking about the need to care for animals that have fallen down or that are wan234


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Not the Most Comfortable Guest!

dering away, is alluding to the requirement of the Law of Moses (Deut. 22:1–4). In that commandment God’s people are forbidden to ignore the plight of an animal, or the loss of an animal. No exceptions are made for the Sabbath, as if some might want to disregard God’s direct instructions about such situations. The text is insistent in its language: “You shall not . . . ignore them. You shall take them back . . . you shall bring it . . . you shall help” (Deut. 22:1–4). God’s command to be merciful must not be set aside for “religious” devotion or by giving oneself to overly scrupulous Sabbath observance. Jesus refers to these laws, but he makes his case even stronger by speaking not only about animals in trouble, but about one’s own child! No one faced with their child in danger will stop to think about whether rescuing them is Sabbath work. It is obvious in such a case that mercy takes precedence over the Sabbath rest laws. Mercy to those in trouble is an overriding command. As Jesus says on another occasion, “justice and mercy and faithfulness” are the weightier matters of the law (Matt. 23:23–24). I M M E D I AT E HARM

Deliverance of the animal or one’s child in such a situation is a fundamental necessity of any true desire to be obedient to the Lord. Physical danger and harm are immediate needs that must be met—just like the “work” of eating on the Sabbath (see Jesus’ discussion of this in reference to David and his men eating “the bread of the presence” from the tabernacle, 1 Sam. 21:1–6). God does not require us to go hungry on the Sabbath, nor does he demand that we leave those for whom we care in trouble or danger until a work day has arrived. In the same way, this man with dropsy standing right in front of them needs healing right away. Jesus fulfills the weightier demand of the law by showing mercy to this suffering man, healing him and sending him away whole. T H E S A B B ATH IS ABOUT MERCY

Jesus also challenges them all to recognize that one of the basic requirements of the Sabbath is to show mercy. The law demands not 235


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just that we do not work, but that we give our family members, those who work for us, and our animals a day of rest so that they can relax, be refreshed, and enjoy life as God’s gift rather than as simply labor. If we are responsible to show mercy on the Sabbath in this way every week of our lives, how much more important is it to show mercy to someone or something whose life is endangered (the son or the ox), or to a person whose whole life is a miserable burden to them because of illness? T H E P R I N C I PLES AT THE HEART OF THE LAW

As always, Jesus tries to get his hearers to reflect on the deeper meaning of the law—the spiritual and moral principles that lie at its heart—rather than devoting themselves to the rigid application of the law’s surface meaning in every situation that might arise. This rigid, external, superficial, detailed approach was how the Pharisees sought to apply God’s law, rather than seeing that God designed his law to be about love for God and for one another, about justice, mercy, and faithfulness. The law aims at the heart and at how we, in the deepest recesses of our inmost being, are to respond to God and to each other. Jesus’ question leaves his hearers silent. His simple argument leaves them with nothing to say in rebuttal, and with no grounds on which to defend their callous indifference to this man’s suffering; for their lack of concern for him is shown in their bringing him along to Jesus as if he were an object on display. E X P O S I N G THE PRIDE OF THE HEART

With the Sabbath discussion beautifully resolved (for the moment), Jesus turns to another issue that exposes the heart’s reality. As people arrive to take their seats for the feast, Jesus watches how the guests behave. Just like all of us they are conscious of their own dignity, and so they think about where they “ought” to be seated, and they choose places of honor. All of us, in our hearts, think we deserve recognition, praise, and honor. This is who we are now—for the essence of sin is the desire to exalt ourselves, to put ourselves in places where everyone will admire, thank, and honor us. 236


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But, just like these men, we too have an ever present “guest” who watches all our social behavior and understands what it reveals about our inmost thoughts and unuttered motivations. Jesus desires us to be aware of this inner life and to see this inner life of motivation as a battleground for being sanctified. On this occasion he tells a parable about a wedding feast, about guests choosing prominent or lowly places at the table, then being moved down or up by their host, and so being shamed or honored. This simple story must cause some considerable discomfort in the consciences of those who are listening to Jesus, for it is an acutely perceptive commentary on what is taking place before all of their eyes, perhaps on what they themselves are thinking as they take their own seats at the table. H U M B L E S ERVICE IN THE KINGDOM

This parable is about daily human behavior and it is also about a fundamental principle of service in the kingdom of God. Jesus urges them and us, by his story, to be humble in our public behavior and even more, to be humble in our hearts. We are not to seek honor, recognition, or public notice so that we might feel good about ourselves, or so that we might attract the admiration and praise of others. Rather we are to be content to “sit” and to “serve” in places of little importance, and we are to leave God to honor us when and how he chooses. Francis Schaeffer used to say, “Don’t seek prominence or honor; rather, let God extrude you to a place of prominence or honor.”1 The Lord is quite clear: if we try to gain honor for ourselves, we will experience humiliation; but if we gladly choose places of humble service, our heavenly Father will delight in honoring us. We all need to ask ourselves: “Why do we do the things we do? Why do we say the things we say? How much of our speech and action is motivated by a secret desire for recognition and honor?” Jesus teaches us that humility is the foundational virtue to cultivate in our hearts, humility before God and before one another. 237


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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS T R U E H O S P ITALITY

Having made those around him deeply uncomfortable (no one is going to reply to this story, or seek to demonstrate their humility for others to admire), Jesus uses the occasion to teach another troublesome lesson. This time Jesus’ words are addressed to his host: “When you give a dinner or a banquet,”—which is just what Jesus’ host is doing at that very moment—“do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors . . . But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” (Luke 14:12–13). We all are bothered by Jesus’ words here. Is he saying that we are never to eat with family and friends? Clearly not! Think of Jesus himself arranging to eat the Last Supper with his close friends; or think of Jesus encouraging John, his closest friend, to take Jesus’ mother, Mary, into his home. Of course it is right to be hospitable to immediate family members, relatives, and friends, and of course it is appropriate to be hospitable to those who are wealthy. All of these people will very probably invite us in return. But Jesus tells us that this is not enough; this by itself is not true hospitality. Our homes are not to be open and our tables are not to be prepared only for those we already love, or just for those who are part of our social circle, or for those in whose social circle we desire to move. Rather, we are also to be hospitable to those who are in need, to those who have no possibility of paying us back. Jesus must have noticed that, on this occasion, the poor and needy are very evidently absent—and so he draws attention to this oversight in a remarkably direct manner. His host is most certainly wondering by this time whether it was such a good idea to invite Jesus to his party! Jesus is teaching him, and us, that we are to go beyond what human societies usually demand or practice. Mercy is to govern our social calendar. Mercy is not to be limited to an occasional charitable act in which we give a little money to the needy to salve our consciences; instead, we must take action and give ourselves to behavior that impacts and challenges our own comfortable lifestyles and home arrangements. 238


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L O V I N G STRANGERS

Hospitality means, literally, “loving strangers” (see Heb. 13:2). Jesus challenges his host, and everyone listening, to give themselves to the true exercise of hospitality. This was, in fact, the very heart of the Old Testament law. God had delivered his people Israel from slavery. He had shown mercy to them in their need. This mercy of God to Israel is behind all the laws he gives them about their relationships with the people around them. There are innumerable commandments about imitating God by showing mercy and kindness to the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the alien. The Law of Moses required that widows, orphans, the poor, and aliens be allowed to glean what they could find after the harvesters had gone through the fields and made their first cutting and gathering of the grain. They were forbidden to reap the fields a second time to harvest what was missed on the first cutting, and in addition, the harvesters were forbidden to harvest the corners of their fields. They were also to make sure that the poor had plenty to eat at the time of harvest, and there is no way to do this without including the needy in one’s family’s celebration of the festivals. These laws are beautiful in their requirement of generosity to those in need, and it is worth quoting several of them in full. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. (Lev. 19:9–10) When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. You shall

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LEA RNING EVA NGELISM FROM JESUS remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this. (Deut. 24:19–22) At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. (Deut. 14:28–29)

When harvesting by hand, lots of grain is left behind, and so, from a purely economic viewpoint, the command to not go through the fields a second time was very costly. However, rather than thinking of their own economic advantage, the farmers were required to leave the excess for the poor, the fatherless, the widow, and the alien in the land. Widows, the fatherless, and aliens made up the great majority of the poor in Israel, as they do in every society. We should notice that there are no statements in these laws about whether the poor are the “deserving poor” (as some speak about such matters of charity). Whether a person was poor because of tragedy or because of sin and laziness is not an issue for consideration in these commandments. The fundamental issue is to remember the undeserved kindness of God for oneself and to therefore be generous to anyone in need, for at the heart of these laws is the call to imitate the character of God and to remember his mercy in redeeming his people. Israel was never to forget its history. Twenty generations after the exodus the people were still to base their actions on the reminder that they had been slaves in Egypt (Deut. 6:21). At the heart of the ceremonial requirements are the meals of reconciliation and fellowship with the Lord that take place after the sacrifices or in the Passover celebration. God is the host who invites his people to his table, a people who are always poor and undeserving and in need of his mercy and love. Caring for the needy and being hospitable to those whose lives are troubled are at the very heart of the law of God, and of any true understanding of his kindness to his 240


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people. Jesus’ words, while they were very discomforting to his host and to all the other Pharisees and lawyers present, were in truth a straightforward exposition of the commandments. These same motivations to be generous to those in need are just as applicable to the Christian today. We are called to imitate God’s generous character and to remember his gracious salvation. The principles of these “gleaning” laws, “harvest festival” laws, ceremonial laws, laws for caring for the poor, and the laws challenging God’s people to be hospitable still apply to every believer today, for the gospel teaches us exactly the same lesson. Christ has loved us in our great need. He asks us to lift up our eyes and show a little of this love to those around us. Every meal or cup of cold water given to someone in need pleases the Lord and has an eternal reward, not simply a social payback or “next Christmas at your house.” T H E B A N QUET IN GOD’S KINGDOM

One of the guests is bold enough, or foolish enough, to make a remark to Jesus about God’s great banquet at the end of the age. Rather than reflecting on the challenge of Jesus’ teaching about hospitality, this man tries to turn the conversation in what he clearly considers to be a “spiritual” direction. Maybe he is trying to show off the depth of his spiritual understanding. Maybe he is trying to turn the conversation to a more comfortable subject, one where everyone can relax and indulge in a pleasant theological discussion—rather than having their consciences so severely pricked. We should notice, of course, that his words are right. It will be “blessed” to eat at God’s table, but Jesus will not let the subject be changed so easily. He sees into the man’s heart and realizes that he appears to be trying to turn the conversation to something less troubling than the subject of hospitality to the needy. Everyone listening knows that what Jesus has said is a constant refrain of the Law of Moses. However, Jesus has some additional sobering truths he desires to communicate, so he does not let this attempt to distract him succeed. Jesus is not willing for the man who is making the “spiritual” conversation to be let off the hook, nor will Jesus let anyone else pres241


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ent off the hook. (To the end of this banquet Jesus is a troublesome guest!) He proceeds to tell another parable about a great feast. Again, this is a simple story. M E R C Y T O THE NEEDY

At one level his story reinforces what Jesus has just been saying about showing kindness to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Your relatives and friends are not always able to come. People have many excuses, some that seem legitimate, some less so. What do you do if you have planned a big banquet? Do you cancel the celebration? Or do you reflect on who else you might invite—perhaps some who are in true need of your kindness and hospitality? T H E P R I O R I TY OF THE KINGDOM

At a deeper level, this parable is about the kingdom of God. Many people whom God invites to his “table” are far too busy with other pressing concerns (property, business, marriage, etc.). God’s invitation to join him at his table is to be the most important concern of our lives. Jesus urges his hearers to ask themselves whether God’s kingdom has priority in all their choices, or are they instead putting off the call to serve and honor the Lord because they are distracted by the affairs of ordinary daily life? We should notice here that none of the distractions Jesus mentions are “bad” things or “worldly” matters (in the way Christians usually define what is worldly). They are all necessary and good parts of our human life, aspects of living in God’s world. The issue here is this: “What is of supreme importance in my life?” T H E FA I L U R E TO RESPOND TO GOD’S INVITATION

We should also read this parable as a story of the failure of the spiritual leaders of God’s people Israel to respond to his invitation through his prophets. Because many of his own people have refused God’s summons, God will call the poor and troubled and others who are despised, like social outcasts and the Gentiles, into his kingdom. Those who originally received the invitation will be turned away. 242


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The one who made the remark about “how blessed” it is to eat at God’s feast was certainly not expecting such a challenging and unsettling response. He uttered a spiritual platitude, but certainly got more back than he expected. Jesus asks him, and all those sitting around, to consider whether they have responded rightly to God’s invitation. Will they be sitting at God’s banquet on the last great day, or will the banquet be enjoyed by those who are noticeably absent on this present occasion? We may legitimately wonder just which of those present at the table that day with this troublesome guest told Luke his story. Perhaps it was someone who responded to this final challenge of Jesus and came humbly to the Lord to beg for a place in his kingdom; perhaps this man treasured the whole conversation in his heart and then relayed it to Luke at some later point. That, of course, is just a speculation. More importantly, we should wonder whether you or I would like such a guest at out table, telling us such challenging stories and making such perceptive comments about the motivations of our hearts? L E A R N I N G FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

God’s Passion to Save The words of Jesus in Luke 14:23 are truly wonderful: “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” God passionately desires to fill his banqueting table with guests. This beautiful word of Jesus should give us great confidence as we seek to make the gospel known and as we pray for people. The Lord is far more committed to this task of saving people than are we. We can therefore make his truth known with the certainty that he desires to call people into his kingdom. We may invite people to come to faith without any doubts about the Lord’s attitude. We may challenge people and urge them to believe. The Lord is eager to save! The rapidity of the gospel’s spread across the world at this present time bears testimony to this. The church is growing more rapidly than at any point in her history. Every day of our lives more people 243


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are coming to faith than on the day of Pentecost, for that was literally just the firstfruits of God’s harvest from the nations.

The Terror of Being Rejected Yet, along with this passion to save, we also see the terror of God’s rejection in verse 24: “I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.” There are many who have received the invitation to come who will find no place set for them at God’s great feast. We need to understand for ourselves the seriousness of what we are doing when we call people to faith and seek to persuade them of the truth. When people reject our words utterly and finally, when they have only excuses for not paying attention and for not responding, we have to understand that our words are, for some people, a fragrance of death. We must not, of course, come lightly to the conclusion that people have completely hardened their hearts against the Lord and against the truth; for we know how patient, forbearing, and long-suffering the Lord is. I remember as a pastor seeing a particular man come to faith and be baptized. One of my dear friends in our congregation said this at the time: “The Lord is teaching me a lesson not to give up on people. I knew this man thirteen years ago and he was the most hardened cynic I had ever met. I determined that there was no point in even praying for him, because it was obvious to me that the Lord could not possibly save him. I doubt if I will ever draw such a conclusion again. I am thoroughly rebuked by God’s amazing grace and perseverance.” If we understand anything Scripture says about the depths of sin in the human heart, and if we know ourselves with any true comprehension, then we will acknowledge how closed and how hard the heart is. We will realize how long it takes for some people to respond to or even to become interested in the Christian faith. However, Jesus reminds us that the communication of the gospel is a sobering task, and that we need to have a sense of its seriousness and its urgency. So, while we will give people all the time in the world, we must also try to warn them of the necessity of responding. We can never talk to 244


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people as if this were a game that we are playing—a game in which we win some, but we lose some.

Cutting to the Heart In these encounters we see Jesus cutting people to the heart, and we are amazed by the clarity of his insight and the penetrating power of his words. But we, of course, are not Jesus, and so for us the question is, “How are we to do this task? Is such a work even a possibility for us?” We, of course, cannot reach into the inner heart of someone as Jesus does. However, our comfort and confidence here is that we are not alone when we try to make the truth known. Rather, we are promised that the Lord, the Holy Spirit, will be with us. He is there ahead of us. He is already at work in the hearts of those whom he brings by his providence into our lives. He speaks to the inner being as we seek to make the truth known. He will continue his work long after you or I have finished speaking to a person. Our task, then, is to pray for the Spirit’s work in us as we speak, that we may speak with wisdom, discernment, and power; and we are to pray for the Spirit’s work in those to whom we are speaking. In terms of trying to imitate Jesus by cutting people to the heart, we will do better by asking penetrating questions than by attacking directly, and by sharing our own vulnerability to idolatry and sin than by confronting others about theirs. Above all, because this work of cutting to the heart is God’s work and not ours, our involvement in this work will be primarily through our careful and faithful exposition of the Scriptures. The reason for this is that it is God’s Word and it is therefore sharper than a twoedged sword and can indeed cut to the inner being—“it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12, niv). Our confidence must be in the Spirit and in the faithful communication of the Word, which is the Spirit’s sword. Every teacher of God’s Word knows that the Lord is able to use the exposition of his Word in ways that are far beyond the imagining of the one who prepares the sermon, or the lesson, or the lecture, or 245


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the Bible study. The Lord is with us, working unseen in our hearts and minds as we prepare, and working to prepare the hearts of those he knows will be present. Praise him! Elaborating on this last point as we listen in on Jesus’ words, we hear very clearly in these encounters the fitting nature of every word that Jesus speaks to people. He always knows what is “in the heart of man” and so he speaks with wonderful appropriateness to each one. We experience this in our own lives all the time as the Lord reveals to us our secret sins, and as he rebukes, warns, and comforts us. While none of us will ever speak to anyone with Jesus’ full knowledge of people, we are to pray for the gift of discernment; and we are to give ourselves to the task of loving people well enough that we will desire to get to know them and so be able to speak with wisdom to their struggles, hurts, weaknesses, failings, and needs. When we communicate the Christian message both publicly and privately, we need to ask the Lord to give us his words to say. I have experienced this on many occasions, both in preaching and teaching, and also in many private conversations. God has given me words to say that were far more fitting to their precise situation than I would have ever guessed or ever believed was possible when I began as a pastor and teacher. Like many others, I had begun teaching and preaching without the confidence that the Lord would be so kind to me, that he would be pleased to give me his words to say, words far beyond my knowledge of the service they would give to others. I have come to believe that this is his promise to us; and that this is a part of what Jesus was talking about when he gave such promises about the work of the Spirit to his disciples on the night before he died (see, for example, Jesus’ words in John 14:15–17, 25–26; 15:26–27; 16:8–15). I have also come to believe that the Lord encourages us to expect him to do this because he loves us, because he chooses to take delight in our poor, inadequate, and unworthy service, and because he is committed to this labor of saving a people and enabling them to grow into the likeness of Christ. With this trust in his unseen work in our minds and hearts and on our tongues, we are to commit ourselves to work as hard as we 246


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can with the gifts he has given us, with whatever tools of learning our training affords us, and with the attitude of Luther that “one Book is enough, but a thousand books are not too many.” With every skill available to us, and with as much diligence as possible, and above all with a full confidence in him, we are to seek to rightly understand and then communicate his Word. He will do the rest! This is true for every personal conversation we have as well as any setting of public teaching.

Humbling the Proud and Exalting the Lowly We see, in these encounters at the prominent Pharisee’s table, Jesus’ commitment to humble the proud and to exalt those of low degree. This should not surprise us, for it is what Mary celebrates when she is visited by the Holy Spirit and has conceived the Christ child in her womb (Luke 1:51–53). It is what Simon prophesies when he takes the infant Jesus into his arms in the temple at his dedication (Luke 2:34–35). This is part of our calling also—to humble the proud and to exalt those of low degree, for this is the very nature of the gospel. Without humility, the proud will never come to know the Lord; without exaltation, those who are of low degree will never believe the good news that God loves them, that Jesus died for them, and that there is a new life being offered to them. We are called to have the courage to speak with passion about the sins of pride and idolatry that afflict the wise, the powerful, the wealthy, the successful, and the beautiful. We are called to have compassion so that we might act and speak with grace, love, gentleness, and a longing to ennoble and exalt those who are weak, poor, broken, sinful, and despised. There is no other gospel than this—though this is one of the most neglected aspects of the gospel message.

A Religion of Works We also need to see that there are people who believe that Christianity is a religion of works; there are people who give themselves to observing the Sabbath, tithing, and attending worship, and to outward 247


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obedience to God’s commandments. Such works, while they have an appearance of zeal for the Lord, actually have the worship of the self as a fundamental part of their nature. The effect of such religion is to keep the deep requirements of the law far away, to enable people to feel righteous and spiritual, and to allow them to hold those who are in true need at a great distance from their hearts. We all are attracted to this kind of religion, and so we ought to be able to recognize it readily in others. All through our lives there will be people like this who will need to be challenged with the true nature of the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ—just as we continually need that challenge ourselves.

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C ONCLUSION

There are, of course, many other passages in the four Gospels that we could have studied, but I trust that these selections will have provided some insight into the way that Jesus worked at reaching such a variety of people, and also confirmed in every reader that Jesus was indeed the greatest evangelist. It is very evident from these studies that Jesus used a great variety of means to communicate the truth to people and to break through the barriers that rebellious human beings erect between their hearts and the Lord. We cannot read through the encounters that Jesus has with individuals and groups and then draw the conclusion that there is a “one size fits all” approach to evangelism. As we have watched Jesus at work reaching people’s hearts and challenging their minds, it has become crystal clear that he varied his approach according to his understanding of the place each person had reached in his or her journey either toward or away from the Lord: some needed only a gracious invitation to come and lay the burdens of their failures and sorrows, or the beauty of their lives, at his feet; others needed a gentle push; others a firm challenge; still others had to be sent away to face the idols of their hearts, or the self-righteousness of their attitudes to God and to their fellow human beings. It is also evident from these studies that Jesus spoke about many different aspects of the truth of God’s Word, again depending on the needs, the confusion, or the ignorance of the people whom he sought to reach. To some he taught the gracious nature of God’s kingdom; to some he taught the law; to some he spoke about the idolatry of money; to others he revealed his own forgiving love; to others he spoke of himself as the Messiah who would reveal all truth; to yet others he gave the challenge of the necessity of urgent repentance. We might well respond to this variety of presentation and approach by throwing up our hands and feeling that it is an impossible task for 249


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Conclusion

us to see into someone’s heart and know whether they need an invitation, a challenge, or a stern warning; or whether they need to hear about the idolatry of money or about the love of Christ. This sense that we are not sufficient for the task of evangelism is a very good place for us to be. Remember what Jesus said in response to the disciples’ protest, “Then who can be saved?” when he had spoken about the difficulty of the rich entering the kingdom of God: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:24–27). Of course we cannot save anyone—that is God’s task; nor can we see perfectly into their hearts; nor are we wise enough to know exactly what to say in any situation. However, this realization should not be a reason for despair or for refusal to participate in the task of evangelism. Rather, in seeing our severe limitations, we are encouraged to depend on the Lord, for Jesus promised that he would not leave us alone here in this world as orphans (John 14:18), but would rather come to us to help us in all our attempts to serve him. This same Jesus who was the master evangelist has come to dwell in our hearts and to lead us in following him. He has given us his Spirit richly so that we are not alone. The Spirit is the primary witness to the unbeliever, and our calling is to ask for his help and to follow his lead as he reaches into the hearts of family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors who do not yet know the Lord. The Father who so loved the world that he sent his Son to be our Savior loves us and gives us his love so that we may love those around us with the same love he has shown to us. Whenever we begin to pray for a particular unbeliever we have met, we may be confident that the Lord is there before us. He is at work in the inner recesses of hearts that we cannot see or touch. He has a far more passionate desire to save than you or I. Because of this, we can pray with certainty that he is able to give us wisdom to know what to say and how to say it, to teach us what questions to ask, what stories to tell, and what aspects of the truth to share. Jesus was not only the greatest evangelist when he did his work of ministry on this earth almost 2,000 years ago; he is still the greatest evangelist today and every day. He always works tirelessly, without 250


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Conclusion

any Sabbath rest, drawing people to himself. He has committed himself to use our stumbling efforts and inadequate words in this great work that he is doing. Remember his sending the Samaritan woman back to her village as a witness, and then his words to his disciples: “I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor” (John 4:38). The Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son are at work in every corner of this globe, and they are delighted to call us to add our little labors to their great labors, and to share with us the joy of calling people to faith in the Savior of the world.

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ST UDY GUIDE

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 1: THE CHRISTIAN’S CALLING TO THE WORLD 1. Why did the Father send Jesus into the world? What Scriptures would you use to support your answer? 2. Why does Jesus send us into the world? Again, what Scriptures would you use (in addition to Jesus’ words in John 17) to support your answer? 3. How would you express what you think it means that we are to be “in the world, but not of the world”? 4. Why does the world hate Jesus, and why does the world hate those who believe in Jesus? Does this hatred and hostility from the world mean that Christians are to hate the world in return? 5. What principles should we use to decide which aspects of Jesus’ life we ought to imitate, and which aspects we should not imitate? 6. Is the “regulative principle” a new idea to you? Historically it has been a formal conviction of most Reformed and Presbyterian churches, and an informal conviction of believers from Bible-believing churches of different denominations. What Scriptures might you appeal to in defense of this view? 7. As you think about Jesus as an evangelist, what Gospel stories come to your mind? Do you have a favorite story of Jesus communicating the truth to those who do not yet believe in him?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 2: CAUGHT IN THE ACT 1. What in your life would you hate to have exposed for public humiliation? This is a question to answer on your own, just between you and the Lord. If you are considering these questions in a group setting, it might be valuable for everyone present to take a few minutes to reflect on this question before discussing the following ones.

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Study Guide

2. Are there particular sins in the lives of others that you have exposed for condemnation or even for the public humiliation of the sinner? 3. Are there unbelievers, maybe in your own family or workplace, to whom you need to apologize for the way you have criticized or judged them in the past? 4. What are the sins that preachers most often tend to parade for the church’s condemnation? 5. Are there particular kinds of sinners from whom you have desired to separate yourself? 6. Why do we all find it so much easier to see the sins of others and to criticize them, rather than to see our own sins and to criticize ourselves? 7. Are there examples in your life and ministry where you have shown the kind of mercy to a sinner that Jesus shows to this woman?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 3: THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA 1. Do you think that too much was read into the words from John 4:4, “Now he had to go through Samaria”? 2. What are the most striking aspects of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well? 3. What would it mean for you to “go through Samaria”? What groups of people are equivalent to “Samaritans,” “heretics,” “women,” or “sinners” for you? Can you think of people you know whom you will be required to treat differently, as a result of following Jesus’ example? 4. Are there people you have had trouble respecting, in your family? in your neighborhood? or in your workplace? What practical steps could you take to build a new relationship with people whom you might have treated without due respect in the past? 5. What other examples can you think of from the Gospels that so clearly demonstrate Jesus’ respect for people?

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6. What other examples from the Gospels can you think of that demonstrate Jesus’ commitment to be the Savior of the world, and not just the Savior of the Jewish people? 7. Do you know unbelievers who can do something to help you, and if so, would it be wise to ask them for help? Do you know someone who might benefit from learning about your vulnerability and need? 8. Who are the “Samaritans” for your church? What might it mean for your church, as a congregation, to be ready to “go through Samaria”? What changes in attitude and practice might have to be made? 9. In your own life, what is the most precious example of Christ’s ongoing gentleness and grace to you?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 4: JESUS AND THE BIBLE TEACHER 1. Is the parable of the Good Samaritan your favorite parable? Why? If not, which one is your favorite? 2. What do you think would have been the most difficult part of the encounter with Jesus for the Bible teacher? If you were in his place, what would you have found to be difficult? 3. Do you know anyone like this “expert,” or any other people who are not yet ready to hear the gospel? What are they ready to hear, or rather, what do you think they need to hear first? 4. Have you recognized how necessary it is to learn to ask people good questions? As you think of people you know, can you think of some questions you might like to ask them, if you had the opportunity and the courage? 5. Do you know people who think they are decent, upright people but who need to hear the law of God and truly understand it before they are ready to hear the gospel? 6. Some Christians love to engage in theological, ethical, political (you name it) disputation for its own sake and to show off their learning and verbal skills to others. Is this a problem in evangelism?

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7. Have you understood what it means to love your wife, husband, children, parents, and dear friends—the people you care for most? Do you realize that love means sacrificing for others the energy, time, money, convenience, and security—the effort that you expend on yourself? 8. Where have you restricted the command to love your neighbor? Who have you excluded from its scope? 9. Who are the people excluded from “neighbors to be loved” in our society right now, or in our Christian circles? 10. Where is the parable of the Good Samaritan working away subversively in your heart and mind?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 5: A WEALTHY YOUNG LEADER OF THE CHURCH 1. How deep is your understanding of the commandments? Do you think of them as commands from God that require purity of your words and thoughts as well as your actions? It might be helpful here to go through the second table of the law, commandment by commandment, asking your own heart this question. 2. Have you found this story somewhat confusing, or are you troubled by the words that Jesus says to this man? 3. Jesus asks a very challenging question: what governs the choices that we make? Is it our present comfort, security, and happiness, or is it the life to come? Are we saving up for ourselves treasures in heaven, or merely spending and saving treasures on this earth? Again, this is a difficult question to discuss in a group. It might be wise to spend several minutes in personal prayer and reflection about this issue, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the devotions of your heart. 4. Calvin said that our hearts are idol factories. What about the idols of your heart? If you were to meet Jesus today, what question or challenge might he bring to you that would send you away sorrowful? Have you ever forsaken any idol to follow Jesus? 5. Do you understand that each one of these questions is so difficult that you are required to answer, “Lord, this is impossible for me to do—you

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must change my heart, or else I will die without ever knowing or serving you! I cannot save myself”? 6. What is your response to the point about earning the right to ask people penetrating personal questions? 7. Do you understand that saving people is impossible for you? It is, of course, possible for God.

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 6: AN UNUSUAL DINNER INVITATION 1. What aspects of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus are most interesting and special to you? 2. What kind of person do you think might be the contemporary equivalent to a man like Zacchaeus? You do not need to name names, for no one wants to get their church discussion group sued for libel! 3. In the story of Zacchaeus, we see the love of Christ bringing this man to a beautiful repentance. Do we believe that only this kind of love and grace has the true power to bring repentance? Or do we secretly feel that it is condemning and morally “beating up” on people that will bring about true change? This is a challenging question for preachers in particular. 4. In this story the repentance of Zacchaeus is truly beautiful. Have you thought of repentance as beautiful? Can you think of other examples of repentance that reveal its true beauty? You can use examples from the Bible, other literature, or your own life. 5. What was your response to the story about my father-in-law offering his firstfruits to God? 6. Design for yourself, or for your church, home, or business, some equivalent of Dad’s firstfruits service. Try to use some other Old Testament ceremony as the pattern or starting point for the service you design for yourself. 7. What is there about your personal life, and what takes place in your home, that demonstrates to the world that salvation has come to make its dwelling at your house?

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8. I am acutely aware that what I have written about intimate fellowship with unbelievers and sinners is the most controversial section of this book. How do you respond to what I have written about this? How do you respond to the pastor’s paper which I quoted?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 7: THE LOST SHEEP AND THE LOST COIN 1. How have you pictured the shepherd in the parable of the lost sheep? How have you imagined Jesus as the Good Shepherd? Again, please do not be embarrassed if you have pictured Jesus as the young man carrying a lamb. Scripture describes the Lord as the one who “carries the lambs in his arms.” 2. Are you bothered that Jesus would include something in his first parable that is not technically true: that there are many people who do not need to repent? Are you satisfied with the explanation I proposed of why he makes this statement? 3. Had you noticed before reading this chapter that in the second parable, a woman is representing God, as the searcher for those who are lost? What do you think about this? Does it bother you? 4. Do you find these first two parables comforting or challenging? 5. Is this a new idea to you—to picture heaven as one constant party, celebrating the finding of lost sinners and their repentance? It must be a very large and joyful party because there are more people becoming believers every day than on the day of Pentecost! The church is growing all over the world, more rapidly than at any previous point in her history. 6. Do you think it is appropriate to see that some parables operate on four levels? 7. Are there people whom you are tempted to categorize and so dismiss as “sinners’? How do you think one can set about thinking of people in more appropriate ways? 8. What was right and what was wrong in my stories of the two young Christians and how they dealt with “sin” present in their fellow employees?

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9. Do you have favorite books or movies that reveal the dignity of what it means for us to be human? These can be books or movies that are the work of Christians or non-Christians.

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 8: THE TWO LOST SONS 1. What do you make of the older brother in the parable? 2. How do you see the three parables climaxing in this third story? 3. What is the point Jesus is making by not finishing this story completely? 4. What do you think this parable teaches us at level three? (How does it reveal the character of the kingdom of God?) 5. How do you think the sinners and tax collectors heard this third parable? What would have been particularly comforting to them? 6. How do you think the sinners and tax collectors would have been challenged by this parable in its portrayal of the younger son’s plight and resolve to return home? How might they have responded to the older son? Would they have wanted to hear the father’s gentle words to him, or might they have looked for a rebuke? 7. What do you personally find especially comforting or challenging in this third parable? 8. Most of us have heard many sermons and Bible studies on the parable of the Prodigal Son. Did you learn anything new from this study? 9. Now that we have studied these stories, who would you like to think was converted by hearing Jesus, and then treasured these parables in their hearts to pass them along to Luke one day? 10. Do you have favorite stories or movies that tell glorious truth in more hidden ways (similar to Tolkien’s work)?

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STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 9: THE “SINFUL WOMAN” AND THE “RIGHTEOUS MAN” 1. Do you find the story of Simon and the adulteress offensive in any way? Before you quickly respond “No!” try to imagine a similar scene today. How would you react if a dirty and unshaven homeless person—or someone clearly suffering from AIDS, or a prostitute, or an obvious drug-pusher or gang member—broke into a church meeting or church dinner and started washing your pastor’s feet, or serving him in some other startling way? Picture such a scene or something like it, and consider how difficult it would be to respond as Jesus did. 2. As you think about your own city and community, who are some of the more obvious “sinners”? What is being done to reach out to them with the gospel? 3. Do you have friends or relatives who are trying to earn their way to heaven or to a relationship with God? What part of the law do you think you might tell them to observe that might help them to eventually see that they cannot earn their way to heaven? 4. Do you have friends or relatives who are aware that their lives are in trouble, and who are therefore perhaps more ready for the good news? How might you approach them to tell them of the mercy of God? 5. The concept of teaching our children to show mercy to unbelievers, rather than to be separate from them, is very challenging. What Biblical passages would you look to, both to affirm and to challenge what I said? 6. What aspect of the law of God keeps you humble and aware of your constant need for the forgiveness and the mercy of Christ? 7. Do you think that you challenge yourself sufficiently about keeping God’s law? Do you think your standards are high enough?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 10: REVEALING THE PHARISEE’S HEART Some of these questions will be difficult to discuss in a group setting. Their purpose is to reveal deep areas of sin in our hearts, so it might be appropriate to spend some time in quiet reflection and private prayer. Some of the other questions can be readily discussed more openly.

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1. Where do you see the problems of the Pharisee in your own life? I know this might be a painful question to consider, but first try to look at the issue of pride: what aspects of your own personality, talents, family, social background, education, or Christian life tempt you to become prideful? We can, of course, be thankful for good gifts in all of these areas in our lives; but what is the difference between appropriate pleasure and gratitude on the one hand, and inappropriate pride on the other? 2. As you think of your own prayers and the thoughts of your heart, where do you sometimes find yourself saying to the Lord, “Well, I managed to tithe, or attend church or Bible study, or . . . At least I am not like the people who do . . . ” Fill in the blanks! 3. Where do you see in yourself the problem of a critical spirit? To put this question another way: who are you tempted to look down on and criticize? Is it particular groups of people in our culture, in your church, or in other churches, or certain individuals whose lifestyle offends you? Some aspects of this could be profitably discussed openly—but be careful here not to hurt anyone present. 4. Are there people toward whom you find it difficult to be merciful? To put this question another way: to whom are you showing mercy? How much of the time, energy, and money of your church is devoted toward acts of mercy to those in need? For whom is your church a Good Samaritan? At the personal level, this is obviously difficult to discuss without encouraging boasting—so that part of the reflection should perhaps be private. 5. What did you think of the story about the Christians who put up a confession booth to confess the sins of Christians and the church? Would it be possible to do something like this in your own community?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 11: RELIGIOUS AND MORAL TRADITIONALISTS Again, I am aware that some of the questions here will be very personally challenging, and possibly difficult to discuss in public; so leading such a discussion needs to be handled with care.

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1. Are you surprised by the passionate nature of Jesus’ denunciation of the laws that sought to help God’s people to know that they were all priests and holy to the Lord? 2. What do you think might be some contemporary evangelical equivalents to the laws about ceremonial cleanliness? 3. How would you express in your own words the criticisms that Jesus makes about adding our own rules to God’s commands? 4. What examples can you think of where believers add to the commands of God? As you think about your own life, where have you been tempted to do this? 5. What motivations for creating new rules for our children and young people sound reasonable and appropriate to you? How would you respond to your own heart, and to others, as to why these rules might not be such a good idea? 6. What do you think would be some contemporary equivalents to the law of “Corban,” or devoting things to God, and so ignoring (or even disobeying) some requirement of God’s law? 7. Do you know examples of missionaries and pastors who have neglected their families for the sake of the way they understood their call to proclaim the gospel? 8. Are you persuaded by Jesus’ criticism of human rules? Which of his criticisms do you find most troubling and which do you find most compelling?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 12: FAITH AMONG THE CANAANITES 1. Were you troubled by Jesus’ words to the Syrophoenician woman, or by his initial silence? Did you wonder if he was being rude to her? 2. Are you distressed at the commitment of Jesus to devote the three years of his ministry primarily to the Jewish people?

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3. Do you recognize that, in a sense, all of us owe our faith to the people of Israel, that they are the “olive tree” into which those of us who are Gentiles are grafted (Romans 11)? 4. Are you committed in any way to praying for Jewish people and reaching out to them with the gospel of Christ? Should you be committed to this task? Ought the church to live by Paul’s words “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek,” in this day as well as in the New Testament period? 5. The Syrophoenician woman addressed Jesus by two titles: “Son of David” and “Lord.” How do you like to address him? Which of his titles are your favorites? 6. Is the persistence and courage of this woman’s faith an encouragement to you? What makes it difficult for you to persevere in your faith? 7. What are some examples from the Gospels of Jesus’ “making it difficult” for people when they come to him? Why is it wrong to avoid difficult issues and try to close the deal easily? 8. What other examples can you think of today where we can find a bridge of something admirable in a person’s life? To help you, I will put the question another way: as you think of non-Christians you know, what are their admirable qualities? How could you use these admirable qualities as bridges for communicating some aspect of God’s truth to them?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 13: THE FAITH OF THE CENTURION 1. Were you bothered by the differences in Luke’s and Matthew’s accounts of this healing miracle? Are you satisfied by the explanation that the two authors have “used shorthand” in some places, and selected other parts of the story to emphasize for their readers? 2. Had you noticed (1) that Jewish elders came to plead for this man, (2) how unusual that is, and therefore (3) how highly respected this man must have been? Are there people you think of this way, people who are different racially or culturally, whom you respect so highly that you would go to Jesus on their behalf if he were visiting and teaching nearby where you live?

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3. Are you struck by the centurion’s belief that Jesus could heal at a distance? (Jesus was amazed by this man.) Do you have difficulty believing that Jesus can answer your prayers for those you love, even though he is not physically present? Ask yourself whether you would find it easier to believe he could answer prayer if he were to visit your home in person. If he did visit your home, what would you ask him for? 4. I think that many of us, especially in Reformed churches, are reluctant to admit that Jesus “marveled” at the character and wisdom of anyone. Do you find this idea comforting or disturbing? Are there unbelievers whom you know whose character and wisdom you marvel at? 5. Which of the characteristics of the centurion that this chapter draws attention to do you most admire? Which do you most lack, or (perhaps easier to answer) which do you most desire to have for yourself? 6. Do you find it difficult to hold on to the teaching of judgment for those who do not have faith in Jesus? How would you try to express such a conviction to someone who is not a believer? 7. As you think of the great feast in the kingdom of God, which of the characters described in the Bible would you most like to sit next to? Why? What would you like to ask them?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 14: A NIGHT VISITOR 1. People need to be sent away with their world turned upside down. Jesus purposely disorients Nicodemus to get him thinking more carefully. We have to learn to do the same, to undermine people’s most cherished ideas, to get under their skin, to question especially their sense of adequacy before God. As you think of your family members or friends, what might you ask them that would disorient them and help them to think in a new way? 2. How would you try to communicate to someone the need for being “born again” without using those words? Jesus used language that was new to Nicodemus in order to get him thinking. So what might you say? 3. There are many other possible passages of Scripture that Nicodemus might have considered after his conversation with Jesus. Do you have any suggestions for other passages he may have turned to?

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4. What other saying about the Son of Man do you recall from your readings of the Gospels? 5. Do you know anyone who, like Nicodemus, respects Jesus but does not presently think of Jesus as truly divine? 6. What groups of religious people in our society have inadequate views of the person of Christ? How would you try to tell someone about the true nature of Jesus? 7. Do you know anyone who thinks highly of Jesus but is unhappy with the need to believe in his death as a sacrifice for sin? 8. What is it about the cross of Christ that makes people uncomfortable? Does the cross make you uncomfortable?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 15: THE SHRE WD MANAGER 1. Did you find this story that Jesus tells a difficult one? What was problematic about it for you? Was it that the manager’s dishonesty was commended or something else about this parable? 2. What was your response to Jesus’ exposition of the parable? Did you find it difficult to follow and understand? 3. Do you hope that there are people who will welcome you into their eternal dwellings because of your kindness to them? 4. Was it a new idea for you that money is not true riches, but simply “worldly wealth”? 5. As you look back at your life, what kind of a struggle has it been to come to the convictions that Jesus expresses in this parable? 6. Do you find it easy to accept Jesus’ teaching that money is “very little”? What do you think are the “biggest” or the “much” responsibilities with which God has entrusted you? 7. Jesus teaches us that our material property and money all belong to God, not us. What do you think of as truly your own—that is, those

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things you hope that you will possess not just for a few years in this life, but forever? 8. Did you find yourself trying to justify your attitudes to money during this study, and if you did (as I expect we all did at some point), what will you do about these attempts at self-justification? 9. Do you think it would help or hinder the communication of the gospel if most Christian believers and churches clearly taught and faithfully practiced the things that Jesus teaches in this section of Luke’s Gospel?

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 16: NOT THE MOST COMFORTABLE GUEST! 1. Have you understood that “showing mercy” is a central meaning of the Sabbath law? The law was not just about stopping working oneself, but also about giving rest to others. What do you think were the other main meanings of the Sabbath law? 2. Is showing mercy a part of your Sabbath observance? How might you incorporate more mercy into your Sundays, and into the rest of your week? 3. Do you think we have the same problem today that the Pharisees had? In other words, do we sometimes think about God’s laws in an external, detailed, rigid kind of way, rather than asking the tough questions about the moral and spiritual principles at the heart of the law? Can you think of contemporary examples of this problem among Christian believers, and particularly in your own life? 4. As you reflect on Jesus’ words about the guests taking the places of honor, are there occasions you can recall when you have done this kind of thing? Have their been times when you have felt publicly humiliated because you were put down “lower” that you thought you should be? Have there been times when you have been put “higher” than the place you had chosen? (You do not have to discuss this question with others openly. This is a question simply for internal reflection.) 5. Did you find Jesus’ words about being hospitable to those in need troubling? Can you think of times when it would be good to include on your guest list someone truly in need, whom you would not normally invite

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(perhaps an international student, someone sick or troubled in mind, someone widowed or alone, someone poor or homeless)? 6. What are some of the excuses you have given to God to avoid doing what you know he has asked of you? 7. As you think about the coming banquet in God’s kingdom, what in particular fills you with anticipation? 8. Do you know people whose need to come to repentance and faith fills you with a sense of urgency?

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NO TES

CHAPTER TWO: CAUGHT IN THE ACT 1. “It is a picture of a boy learning to do things by watching a man at work. I think we may even guess what memory, humanly speaking, was in His mind. It is hard not to imagine that He remembered His boyhood, that He saw Himself as a boy in a carpenter’s shop, a boy learning how to do things by watching while St. Joseph did them.” C. S. Lewis, “Christianity and Literature,” Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces, ed. Lesley Walmsley (London: Harper Collins, 2000), 415.

C H A P T E R T H R E E : T H E W O M A N O F S AMARIA 1. Farrar writes of the Samaritan in the parable Jesus told and the Jew who cared for him, a Jew who would have found the Samaritan’s shadow a cause of religious defilement: “But a Samaritan journeying that way—one on whom he would have looked with shuddering national antipathy, one in whose very shadow he would have seen pollution—pattern of that Divine Speaker . . . ” (William Farrar, The Life of Christ [New York: E. P. Dutton, 1874], 131). 2. Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1975), 357 n.19.

C H A P T E R F O U R : J E S U S A N D T H E B I B L E TEACHER 1. A section of my book The Heart of Evangelism (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001) gives several biblical and personal examples of the great variety of means that the Lord uses to call people to faith in his Son. 2. Paul Weston, “Evangelicals and Evangelism” in Not Evangelical Enough, ed. Iain Taylor (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003). 3. I heard Francis Schaeffer say this on many occasions as he was giving advice to those who worked with him at L’Abri Fellowship, the ministry that he and Edith founded in the 1950s in Switzerland. For a good introduction to the ministry of L’Abri, see Edith Schaeffer, L’Abri (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1992).

C H A P T E R F I V E : A W E A LT H Y Y O U N G LEADER OF THE CHURCH 1. We should remember that Jesus is modeling for us true humanity. Being truly human, Jesus needed to grow in wisdom and understanding, just as we do. 2. “Accordingly, the knowledge of ourselves not only arouses us to seek God, but also, as it were, leads us by the hand to find him. Again, it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, The Library of Christian Classics, vol. 20 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), I, i, 1–2.

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Notes C H A P T E R S I X : A N U N U S U A L D I N N E R I NVITATION 1. John Calvin, Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, The Library of Christian Classics, vol. 20 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960).

C H A P T E R S E V E N : T H E L O S T S H E E P A N D THE LOST COIN 1. My comments on the background to these parables, and their content, are indebted to the marvelous little book by Kenneth E. Bailey, Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15 (St. Louis: Concordia, 1992). 2. John Calvin, Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, The Library of Christian Classics, vol. 20 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), I, i, 1–2. Calvin insists that despite the terrible ruin (“misshapen ruins,” Institutes II, ii, 12) that the fall has brought upon our race, yet the image of God is not completely obliterated, for there are “remaining traces of the image of God” (Institutes II, ii, 17). In discussing loving those who are evil, he writes that we are not to look at their sin but “to look upon the image of God in them, which cancels and effaces their transgressions, and with its beauty and dignity allures us to love and embrace them” (Institutes III, vii, 6). He argues with great passion that unbelievers still have knowledge of the truth: “Whenever we come upon these matters in secular writers, let that admirable light of truth shining in them teach us that the mind of man, though fallen and perverted from its wholeness, is nevertheless clothed and ornamented with God’s excellent gifts” (Institutes II, ii, 15). 3. Tolkien wrote: Though now long estranged, Man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed. Disgraced he may be, yet is not dethroned, and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned. He also speaks of us portraying an “image blurred of distant king.” Both of these quotations come from the poem Mythopoeia, which Tolkien wrote for C. S. Lewis after the late-night discussion that he, Lewis, and Hugo Dyson had in September 1931, a discussion that God used to draw Lewis into the kingdom a few days later. (See J. R. R. Tolkien, Tree and Leaf: Including “Mythopoeia” [London: Harper Collins, 2001].) 4. Francis Schaeffer often referred in discussions and lectures to the mixture of glory and shame there is in all human persons, and he would use the expression “glorious ruins” to try to capture this double element in our human nature.

C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E T W O L O S T S O N S 1. Kenneth E. Bailey, Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15 (St. Louis: Concordia, 1992). 2. Henry J. M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming (New York: Doubleday, 1994).

C H A P T E R T E N : R E V E A L I N G T H E P H A R I SEE’S HEART 1. Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 116–25.

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Notes C H A P T E R E L E V E N : R E L I G I O U S A N D M ORAL TRADITIONALISTS 1. Papias, who lived at the end of the first century and the early part of the second century, knew the apostle John and wrote this about Mark’s Gospel: “Mark, who had been Peter’s interpreter, wrote down carefully, but not in order, all that he remembered of the Lord’s sayings and doings. For he had not heard the Lord or been one of his followers, but later, as I said, one of Peter’s. Peter used to adapt his teachings to the occasion, without making a systematic arrangement of the Lord’s sayings, so that he had one purpose only—to leave out nothing that he had heard, and to make no misstatement about it” (Papias, quoted in Eusebius, History of the Church, trans. G. A. Williamson [London: Penguin Books, 1965], 3.39.15). Irenaeus, Origen, and Tertullian all support this view, as does Clement of Alexandria, who wrote that Mark had been encouraged by those who heard Peter’s teaching in Rome to write down what the apostle said: “When, at Rome, Peter had openly preached the word and by the Spirit had proclaimed the gospel, the large audience urged Mark, who had followed him for a long time and remembered what he been said, to write it all down. This he did, making his gospel available to all who wanted it” (ibid., 6.14). Also see Irenaeus: “Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter,” and, “Wherefore also Mark, the interpreter and follower of Peter, does thus commence his Gospel narrative” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.1, 3.10:5). Tertullian takes the same view: “That [gospel] which Mark published may be affirmed to be Peter’s whose interpreter Mark was” (Tertullian, Against Marcion, 4:5).

C H A P T E R S I X T E E N : N O T T H E M O S T C OMFORTABLE GUEST! 1. This is advice I heard Francis Schaeffer give repeatedly. He addresses this issue of not seeking prominence and many other related matters in his volume of sermons, No Little People (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003). See especially the sermons “The Weakness of God’s Servants,” “The Lord’s Work in the Lord’s Way,” and “No Little People.”

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GENER A L INDEX

Abraham, 93–94 adultery, 23–26, 73 atonement, 136, 215–16

cultural practices, 173 cultural profiling, 202 Culture War, 144

blasphemy, 26 Bradley, Anthony, 124–25 business practices, 220–22, 226

death, 125 deists, 215 discernment, 246 disciples, 219 discipleship, 32, 41, 165, 206 diversity, 103–4, 111, 127 divorce, 39–40

Calvin, John, 63, 77, 114 capital punishment, 26 Christian liberty, 177 Christians and fellowship with sinners, 96–99, 113–15, 141–42 and living intentionally, 36–37, 46 and “loving your neighbor,” 56–60, 94, 145, 159–60 and the secular world, 11–18, 48–49 church discipline, 30 church membership, 172 circumcision, 213 “Corban,” 168–69 covetousness, 73 cultural barriers, 46–47 cultural customs, 41–42, 47 cultural identity, 201 cultural isolation, 14

emotions, 64 eternal life, 54–56, 69, 75, 136, 141, 222–23 evangelical church, 112–13 evangelism and asking questions, 76–77 and condemnation of unbelievers, 29–31, 78, 142– 43, 146, 159 “direct,” 64 God’s involvement in, 60–61 and human dignity, 110–15 process of, 62–63 and social downcasts, 200–201, 242 and storytelling, 64–65 Evangelism Explosion, 70

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General Index

faith, 76, 135, 151, 176, 182– 84, 187–88, 202. See also law, and faith family values, 144 first fruits, 92–93 foot washing, 134–37 forgiveness, 11, 55, 65, 73, 115, 123, 135, 137–39, 146, 159 Four Spiritual Laws, 70 Gaul, 86 gender, 38–39, 110–11 Gentiles, 165–66, 172, 180–82, 194–97, 200–201, 205, 242 God blessings of, 156, 197–98 character of, 77–78 glory of, 114–15 image of, 15 judgment of, 27, 198–99, 203 kingdom of, 75–76, 91, 105–9, 122, 124–25, 197–98, 206–9, 224, 227, 237, 242 knowing, 64 knowledge of, 223 presence of, 50 promises of, 105 and unmerited favor, 139 goodness, 71–74, 214, 225 gospel attractiveness of, 32 communication of, 61, 201, 246–47

and Jesus’ righteousness, 95–96 need for, 98, 149 rejection of, 244–45 See also law, and gospel grace, 44–45, 49–50, 55, 66, 78, 88, 90–91, 102, 112, 124, 127, 146, 150 hatred, 73 healing, 234–35 heart, 62–63, 71, 74–78, 140, 150, 155, 171, 214, 227, 236, 250 heaven, 75, 105, 157, 209, 229 hell, 203 Hindus, 49 history of redemption, 187 holiness, 77, 98, 139, 154, 172, 200, 216 Holy Spirit, 62–63, 80, 207, 213–14, 245–46, 250 hospitality, 88, 238–40 humility, 126, 145, 151, 155– 56, 195–96, 199, 237, 247 hypocrisy, 166–67, 172 idolatry, 26, 38, 78–80, 98–99, 225, 227, 229, 245, 247 incarnation, 83 Israel, 184–85, 197–99, 239, 242–43 Israelites, 163–66, 209–10

274


3/26/09 2:35 PM

General Index

Jehovah’s Witnesses, 49, 144, 149, 151–52, 215 Jesus and the adulterous woman, 21–32 authority of, 196, 208–9, 215 and the bible teacher, 52–66 character of, 122 as Creator, 42, 111 eternal glory of, 15–16 and fellowship with sinners, 89–90, 94–95, 101–3, 133–35 humanity of, 188 imitation of, 13–17 as Lord, 89 and the righteous man, 135–39 and the Roman centurion, 192–203 and the sinful woman, 133–35 as Son of Man, 209–10 and the Syrophoenician woman, 179–90 and the wealthy young leader, 68–80, 230 and the woman of Samaria, 34–51, 187, 251 Jewish communities, 117–18 Joseph of Arimathea, 76 law adding to, 47

ceremonial, 154, 163–66, 169–72 and condemnation, 28 and faith, 150–51, 157 and gospel, 65–66 and human tradition, 167–68 moral, 87–88, 165, 236 obedience to, 13, 25–27, 72–73, 143–46, 248 and the Sabbath, 234–35 and sacrifice, 154–55 teaching of, 140–46 legalism, 173–77 Lewis, C. S., 65, 200 Lord’s Supper, 90 love, 12, 31–32, 47, 62, 66, 75, 80, 98, 108–9, 123–24, 135, 155, 225 man finiteness of, 188–89 as image of God, 46, 64, 84, 95, 109, 114–15, 199–200 marriage, 44, 125 material possessions, 225, 229 mercy, 28, 31–32, 66, 88, 102, 127, 137–39, 150–51, 154– 55, 160, 235–36, 238–39 Messiah, 43–44, 180–81, 213 missions, 188–90 modesty, 47 money, 79. See also wealth moral comparison, 139 moral perfection, 15 moral poverty, 74

275


3/26/09 2:35 PM

General Index

moral traditionalists, 163–77 Mormons, 49, 144, 149 Mount Gerizim, 38, 43 murder, 73 Muslims, 49, 144, 149, 215

praying, 12–13 prejudices, 202 pride, 13, 64, 152–53, 156, 158, 176, 207, 236, 247 purity, 47, 87–88, 98, 139, 172–75

New Age movement, 49, 215 new birth, 206–7, 211–14, 216 Nicodemus, 64, 205–16 “older brother syndrome,” 127 orphans, 125, 239 Orthodox Jews, 144, 149 parable of the Good Samaritan, 52–66, 150, 160 of the Good Shepherd, 104–7 of the Searching Woman, 107–10 of the Shrewd Manager, 219–31 of the Two Lost Sons, 117–29 uses of, 57–60, 104–7, 129 parenting, 185–87 Pharisees, 23–25, 57, 102–3, 106–7, 127, 132–33, 152–54, 157, 163–65, 172, 176–77, 219, 226–27, 233–34 Pilot, 86 poor, 74–75, 88, 125, 239–40 pornography, 28 postmodernism, 127 prayer, 153, 156, 182–83

race, 42, 110–11 regulative principle, 17 repentance, 76, 90–91, 102, 105–7, 110, 122–23, 140, 150–51, 226, 230, 249 righteousness, 75, 78, 133, 141–42, 166, 174, 225 Roman Road, 70 salvation, 44, 61, 70, 92–93, 146, 149–50, 200, 202, 205, 216 Samaria, 36–40 Sanhedrin, 69 Satan, 12 Schaeffer, Francis, 62, 115, 186, 237 Scripture authority of, 17, 22–23, 174–75 obedience to, 59–60 truth of, 249–50 and women’s roles, 109–10 self-righteousness, 106–7, 121, 127, 144, 152–53, 156–58, 201, 249 self-sacrifice, 224 self-satisfaction, 156

276


3/26/09 2:35 PM

General Index

self-understanding, 63 Sermon on the Mount, 79, 166 shame, 110–11 sin confession of, 77–78 conviction of, 26–29, 74, 78 and guilt, 28 inner vs. outer, 153–54, 168–70 and judgment, 31, 65, 159 trapped in, 122 and uncleanness, 133 stewardship, 229, 231 suffering, 236

virtues, 64 wealth, 74–75, 79, 223, 227–31 Weston, Paul, 62 widows, 125, 239 wisdom, 214, 216, 221–23 works, 70, 135, 175–76, 247–48 worship, 43, 125, 155–60, 171 Zacchaeus, 43, 83–99, 102, 135, 202

Ten Commandments, 53, 72 Tolkien, J. R. R., 114–15, 127–28 trinity, 12

277


3/26/09 2:35 PM


3/26/09 2:35 PM

SCRIP T URE INDEX

Genesis 49:10

44

22:22

25

24:19–22

240

1 Samuel

Exodus

21:1–6

235

19:6

164

20:2

154

20:17

72, 166

2 Samuel

22:1–5

91

12:1–6

64

23:4–5

59

12:6

91

30:17–21

163

40:30–32

163

Leviticus

2 Kings 17:21–24

38

17:21–41

38

6:5

90

8:5–6

163

1 Chronicles

19:9–10

239

29:12

20:10

25

25:23

225

Numbers 5:6–7 21:4–9

225

Psalm 8:3–6

114

10:1

183

91

19:10

223

209

23

105

36

144

49:7

136

Deuteronomy 6:5

75

51

214

6:21

240

51:1a, 2, 5, 7, 10

211

10:16

166, 171

51:16–17

166, 171

14:28–29

240

87

42

18:17–19

44

87:4, 6

212

22:1–4

59, 235

119:14

223

279


3/26/09 2:35 PM

Scripture Index

Proverbs

6:19–21

224

8:18–21

6:24

79

7:3

31

7:21

146

8:5–13

192

8:6

194

9

153

9:9–10

89

9:9–13

148, 174

9:12–13

150

10:5–6

185

11:19

174

13:9–17, 34–35

57

223

Isaiah 49:6

35

49:6–7

198

Jeremiah 9:23–24

223

12:1

183

12:5

183

17:9

63

23:1–6

105

Ezekiel 34:11–16

89

34:11–31

105

34:17–24

105

37:13–14

212

Daniel 7

210

7:13–14

209

Hosea 6:6

154

Micah 6:8

15:21–28

178

15:22

180

15:23

181

15:24

181

19:3

39

19:22

69

23:15

175

23:23

154

23:23–24

173, 235

23:37

176

24:14

185

25:31–46

224

28:19

185

Mark 154

Zechariah 7:9

13:44–46

154

Matthew

4:9–13

57

6:53

163

7

172, 173

7:1–23

162

7:4

164

7:7

167

5:17, 19

26

7:8

168

6:19–20

75

7:9

168

280


3/26/09 2:35 PM

Scripture Index 7:13

168

10:27

55

7:14–15

169

13

86

7:17–23

170

13:1

86

7:19b

170

14:1–24

232

7:24–30

178

14:3

234

7:25

180

14:5

234

7:25–26

181

14:12–13

238

7:27

182

14:23

243

7:28

182

14:24

244

7:29

183

15

110, 150, 233

10:17

69

15:1–2

101

10:21

70

15:1–10

100

12:28–34

55

15:3–7

104

15:8–10

107

Luke

15:11–32

116

1:51–52

201

15:31

121

1:51–53

247

16:1–15

218

2:34

201

16:8

222

2:34–35

247

16:9

223, 228

2:49

36

16:10

224

6:40

31

16:13

225

7

131, 141

16:14

226

7:1–10

192

16:15

219, 228

7:7

196

18

173

7:36–50

130

18:9

152, 153

7:37

132

18:9–14

148

7:39

174

18:10–13

152

7:44

136

18:11

152

7:45

136

18:18–24

143

7:46

137

18:18–27

141

7:47

137

18:18–30

68

7:50

157

18:19–20

71

8:8–10

57

18:20

72

8:49

69

18:21

72

10

66, 70

18:22

74

10:25

53

18:24–25

79

10:25–37

52, 57, 141, 143

18:24–27

250

281


3/26/09 2:35 PM

Scripture Index 18:26–27

79

5:19–20

21

19:1–9

43

6:29–59

195

19:1–10

82

7:50–52

205, 213

19:5

85

7:53–8:11

20

19:6

87

8

22

19:7

85, 174

8:7

31

19:9

92

9:41

176

19:10

88, 135

11:33

98

21

23

11:49–50

26

21:38

23

12:23–34

210

24:1–8

210

12:49–50

22

24:47

185

12:49

36

14:6

149

John

14:15–17, 25–26

246

1:11

185

14:18

250

3:1–15

204

14:31

21, 36

3:2

206

15:26–27

246

3:3

206

16:8–15

246

3:9

207

17

253

3:10

205

17:14–23

11

3:16

29

19:39

205, 213

3:14

209

21

23

3:17

29

21:25

23

4

35, 187

4:4

36, 253

Acts

4:7

41

Book of

172

4:9

41

1:8

185, 189

4:7–26

34

4:12

149

4:16–19

44

7:54–58

210

4:22

187

10:28

87, 171, 196

4:25

44

17:11

213

4:27

41, 181

17:22–31

4:29

44

4:35

45

Romans

4:38

251

1:16

184

4:39

44

3:19–20

27

4:42

35

3:23

72

282


3/26/09 2:35 PM

Scripture Index 7:8–11

175

9–11

190

9:3

184

9:4–5

185

11

263

1 Corinthians 5:9–12

30

8:1–2

156

2:23 4:5 4:6

1 Timothy Book of 5:8 6:10 6:17–19

Book of

4:2

188

6:14–7:1

98

6:15

98

Hebrews

7:1

99

9:6–11

225

4:12 11:16 13:2

Book of

172

James

2:11–16

171

3:25

145

3:26–29

39

3:28

180

5:1

177

2:8–11 2:14–17 3:1 3:9–10 4:6

5:6

135

Galatians

Ephesians 46

Colossians

245 51 239

28 224 60 114 196

49, 112

2 Peter 1:5–11

187

172

1 Peter 3:15

Philippians 4:8

172 169 228 224

2 Timothy

2 Corinthians

5:16

167 46 49, 112

225

1 John 3:16–18

Book of

172

2

213

Revelation

2:8, 20

175

3:20

2:9

83

224

96

283


3/26/09 2:35 PM

David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“I can think of no other living educator who better embodies the gospel’s tough love combined with its unconditional acceptance of flawed people than Jerram Barrs. In this wonderfully moving account of Jesus’ approach to evangelism, Barrs shows us the ways in which the Lord’s message penetrates deep into the human heart, uncovering its darkest secrets while always defending the dignity of its owner.”

William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary “The fruit of Jerram Barrs’s years of evangelistic experience comes to expression here for our benefit as he traces Jesus’ interaction in the Gospels with various individuals and groups.”

David Clyde Jones, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics, Covenant Theological Seminary

“In his practical, biblical, and winsome style, Jerram Barrs challenges us to humbly share good news with our friends who are far from God.”

Darrin Patrick, Founding Pastor, The Journey Church, St. Louis, Missouri

BARRS

JERRAM BARRS, a former staff member at English L’Abri, is the founder and resident scholar of the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theological Seminary, where he also teaches apologetics and outreach as professor of Christian studies and contemporary culture. His books include Crossway’s The Heart of Evangelism and Through His Eyes: God’s Perspective on Women in the Bible.

LEA RNING E VA N GELISM FROM JESUS

“This is not a book about evangelistic technique but about doing evangelism biblically. There is a difference! Jerram Barrs shows us that Jesus had no wooden formula that he followed but rather was about engaging people in the depths of their being. As a result, this is an unusually wise guide to doing evangelism. The great truths of the gospel shine forth undiminished while at the same time the recesses of the human heart are explored with real insight.”

L E A R N I NG E V A N G E L I S M

F R OM

J E R R A M U.S. $15.99

J E SUS

B A R R S

Learning Evangelism from Jesus

Learning from Jesus: A Spiritual Formation Guide

The Heart of Evangelism

Saving Jesus from the Church

Evangelism for the Tongue-tied

Learning from Accidents

Learning from Asian Philosophy

Learning from School Choice

Learning from Gandhi

Learning Japanese from Songs

Learning from Sure Start

Learning from Six Philosophers

Learning from the Qur'an

Learning from Teacher Research

The Master Plan of Evangelism

WINNING THE WINNABLE: FRIENDSHIP EVANGELISM

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism

Jesus

Journey to Jesus: The Worship, Evangelism, and Nurture Mission of the Church

What Jesus Demands from the World

The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture

Learning from Accidents, 3rd Edition

Learning to Learn from Experience

Complete Evangelism: The Luke-Acts Model

Evangelism Handbook: Biblical, Spiritual, Intentional, Missional

Black Jesus

JESUS-CHRIST

Jesus Incident

Jesus' Son

Jesus Incident

Learning Evangelism from Jesus

Learning from Jesus: A Spiritual Formation Guide

The Heart of Evangelism

Saving Jesus from the Church

Evangelism for the Tongue-tied

Learning from Accidents

Learning from Asian Philosophy

Learning from School Choice

Learning from Gandhi

Learning Japanese from Songs

Learning from Sure Start

Learning from Six Philosophers

Learning from the Qur'an

Learning from Teacher Research

The Master Plan of Evangelism

WINNING THE WINNABLE: FRIENDSHIP EVANGELISM

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism

Jesus

Journey to Jesus: The Worship, Evangelism, and Nurture Mission of the Church

What Jesus Demands from the World

The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture

Learning from Accidents, 3rd Edition

Learning to Learn from Experience

Complete Evangelism: The Luke-Acts Model

Evangelism Handbook: Biblical, Spiritual, Intentional, Missional

Black Jesus

JESUS-CHRIST

Jesus Incident

Jesus' Son

Jesus Incident

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